From the Brink to the Bricks: Why I Started SHE BUILDS.
There was a time not so long ago where I was so numbed by grief, stress, and the isolation of expatriate life, that I could do hardly more than shower, work, and help my husband keep the kids alive for many months. It was not a phase of life marked by excess energy or creativity or original thoughts. Rather, it was a heavy, dark, and scary phase I was eager to get out of even in the moment - but just, couldn't. It was certainly not a phase of life in which I expected to unlock a new creative outlet and passion.
Nevertheless, I did -- in the form of tiny, multi-colored plastic bricks I could position and lock into endless configurations. To be clear, I'm talking about LEGO®. And it would not be hyperbole to say they were responsible for bringing me back from the brink. Because they were.
The quiet, still stretches of time required to assemble a bouquet of LEGO® roses or the soothing, mindless hours of repetition needed to capture the detailed feather design of a LEGO® KingFischer were as close to achieving a meditative state that I've ever gotten. I would eagerly crave the time at the end of a long workday when I could revisit my creation and add new pieces and parts. The ritual felt like what I imagine going to church feels like for the pious. Surely, the simultaneously calming and brain-stimulating benefits were more powerful than any religious experience I've ever encountered.
Completing each build - either a free form design or a boxed set following instructions - felt like a tiny victory, a mini triumph. At a time when I was struggling to see the finish line, these micro-accomplishments mattered. I now know - with the gift of hindsight - what was actually happening. Through LEGO®, I was re-discovering solid ground and beginning to rebuild my confidence one brick at a time (literally & figuratively).
It's not as if I am alleging to possess some sort of novel skillset here. Millions of people (mostly children) call themselves LEGOphiles. I am just grateful to now be part of that community. So grateful in fact that I felt a calling to pay it forward to people in my life who hadn't yet witnessed the full extent of LEGO®'s pure, transcendent joy and healing properties.
You can't build a LEGO® without connecting individual pieces to one another. It's really no different with people. You can't build a community without connection. So, on one particularly weepy day a few months ago, when I was reflecting on my own lack of communities in my life, I had the idea to initiate something special for the females in my orbit. An intentional coming-together of female friends, family, and colleagues to play with LEGO® -- and one another. I decided to call it SHE BUILDS.
Because, let's be honest - "she" (as in women, in the collective sense) can build anything - and we do, already. So, the name felt appropriately empowering and relevant.
The response to my little brick baby idea was overwhelmingly positive and it lifted me up. We just celebrated the inaugural meeting and it was a soul-lightening experience that exceeded my expectations. With a lightly facilitated prompt, the group set off building small creations that reflected their individual personalities. The builds, while superficially simple were extremely deep and intricate in spirit. Oh the things you learn about people when they reveal their artistic self! Then, we took each of our builds and connected them to one another - creating a literal bridge across all of our unique domains. It was a bit on the nose for our inaugural task, admittedly, but it worked. It was moving, profound, and a hell of a lot of fun.
You may be thinking - okay, so what's the point? The world demands so much from us every given day and we are all starved for connection, community, and creative outlets. And maybe instead of searching for those things in the form of more activities and even more obligations, we should consider a simpler source. Something you can find in a $30 rectangular yellow box filled with 2 inch plastic bricks, perhaps?
The point is: LEGO® changed, and sort of saved, my life. And through SHE BUILDS, I hope to positively change the lives of many people I love, too. I have no doubt that it could change yours, too.