I have loved Lego for as long as I can remember (And yes, the correct plural is just Lego, or Lego bricks if you really need to add an "s"). There are endless creative possibilities with these modular plastic bricks, and I have spent countless hours searching for just the right piece, building my own creations, and simply playing.
It sounds a bit immature to say I play with Lego, but I don't think there's a better way to put it. The brand name "Lego" is derived from the Danish leg godt, meaning "play well." I was introduced to Lego at a very young age and was immediately hooked.
I can build anything?
Yes, anything you can imagine. How cool is that?
At some point, my parents allowed me to turn a portion of the basement into a space just for Lego. I set up tables with city dioramas, airports, harbors, and construction sites. Epic Star Wars battles were shrunk to adorable scale. One Christmas, I received a couple train sets and a bunch of track. It soon became a tradition to set up the train around the tree and as far around the room as it would reach. I eventually got enough track to loop around the whole room!
If I ever felt stressed, I would go to my corner of the basement and build. If life wasn't fitting together the way I wanted it to, the bricks always would. Like Benny from the Lego Movie, Starships were always a favorite build of mine, as well as custom Bionicle creations. Sometimes I would have an idea in my head from the start, sometimes one would evolve as I found the pieces, but completing a build always left me with a great feeling of accomplishment.
Lego also indirectly helped to spark my passion for film and video. In high school, I started making rudimentary stop-motion films with some of my custom builds. Though painstaking to create, and honestly quite crudely crafted, these shorts helped further my passion for creation.
Even now, at the age of 25, Lego is a great form of stress relief. If I ever need a "Treat Yo Self" day, I run down to the Mall, grab a set, and spend some quality time building.
So if you're looking for a creative outlet, put down the game controller or TV remote. If you don't have Lego already, go out and grab a set or two.
Follow the instructions, or use the pieces to build anything you can imagine.
Have fun, and play well.
