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Five Red Legos
5 December 2009 06:15Had an interesting conversation about Legos tonight.
She said: When I was little, I had taken all the Legos out and they were spread across my room. Mom wanted me to clean them up, but I didn't want to. There were just so many of them. It felt overwhelming, just thinking about having to clean it ALL up. So my mom said, "Pick up 5 red Legos." And I picked up five red legos and put them away. Then mom said, "Now put away 10 yellow Legos." We went through the whole thing like that, in 5s and 10s, and the next thing I knew, all the Legos had been put away. It's become a bit of a mantra for me. When the schoolwork gets overwhelming, when the lists seem endless, I just take a breath and tell myself, "I'll just pick up 5 red Legos."
And I said: My problem is that the Legos are all still in their boxes, and the boxes are all locked inside my head. I know what I want to make today, but I look at the boxes and I don't know where any of the pieces might be.
And he said: I hate it when you're putting them all together and the shape is really starting to show itself, and then you can't find the next piece that goes in. I'll put the project down, and start looking around for the piece, sure that I have one, sure that it is somewhere around here, and the next thing I know, I've accidentally stepped on it all.
And I thought of her, and wanted to fix the moment in my mind, make it so that when I told her this, she'd feel like she was right there. I thought of her, and I thought of the pile of dishes in my sink that I think of as my Mental Instability Meter, and how we were all laughing at the list of things we hadn't done, never knew how to fit into our day. I thought of Dan Savage's campsite rule, and wondered when I decided to pitch my tent , and who was the idiot that left all this garbage in her head about not being able to share your frustrations and griefs and grievances with Those Who Are So Very Fond Of You?
So I wrote it down. All I need to be is the man who tells her, "Just five red Legos." All I want is someone who will say that to me.
Don't you see? Every one of us has to put our dreams together one block at a time.
In this way, starships and moon bases are built.
She said: When I was little, I had taken all the Legos out and they were spread across my room. Mom wanted me to clean them up, but I didn't want to. There were just so many of them. It felt overwhelming, just thinking about having to clean it ALL up. So my mom said, "Pick up 5 red Legos." And I picked up five red legos and put them away. Then mom said, "Now put away 10 yellow Legos." We went through the whole thing like that, in 5s and 10s, and the next thing I knew, all the Legos had been put away. It's become a bit of a mantra for me. When the schoolwork gets overwhelming, when the lists seem endless, I just take a breath and tell myself, "I'll just pick up 5 red Legos."
And I said: My problem is that the Legos are all still in their boxes, and the boxes are all locked inside my head. I know what I want to make today, but I look at the boxes and I don't know where any of the pieces might be.
And he said: I hate it when you're putting them all together and the shape is really starting to show itself, and then you can't find the next piece that goes in. I'll put the project down, and start looking around for the piece, sure that I have one, sure that it is somewhere around here, and the next thing I know, I've accidentally stepped on it all.
And I thought of her, and wanted to fix the moment in my mind, make it so that when I told her this, she'd feel like she was right there. I thought of her, and I thought of the pile of dishes in my sink that I think of as my Mental Instability Meter, and how we were all laughing at the list of things we hadn't done, never knew how to fit into our day. I thought of Dan Savage's campsite rule, and wondered when I decided to pitch my tent , and who was the idiot that left all this garbage in her head about not being able to share your frustrations and griefs and grievances with Those Who Are So Very Fond Of You?
So I wrote it down. All I need to be is the man who tells her, "Just five red Legos." All I want is someone who will say that to me.
Don't you see? Every one of us has to put our dreams together one block at a time.
In this way, starships and moon bases are built.