I'll start off this blogoff with the question straight from Let's Blogoff:
"What was the one thing you longed for when you were a child? . . . what was that one big thing? Furthermore, did you ever get it? Did it provide everything it promised? How do you think your childhood longing affects you as an adult?"
I understood this question to mean more like, "who did you want to be when you were a child?" This is because I never really wanted for anything. I was a pretty happy kid. Sure, there was the set of Legos, but I had lots and lots of Legos, which brings me back to my interpretation of the question at hand.
"What was the one thing you longed for when you were a child? . . . what was that one big thing? Furthermore, did you ever get it? Did it provide everything it promised? How do you think your childhood longing affects you as an adult?"
I understood this question to mean more like, "who did you want to be when you were a child?" This is because I never really wanted for anything. I was a pretty happy kid. Sure, there was the set of Legos, but I had lots and lots of Legos, which brings me back to my interpretation of the question at hand.
More than anything, I wanted to be somebody who MADE something. First I wanted to paint. Then I wanted to sculpt. And then I decided I wanted to be an architect.
It was a weird answer for people to hear when they used to ask me what I was going to be when I grew up. They'd say, "You don't want to be a super hero? or a movie star? or a popular singer??" No, I didn't want to be famous. I just wanted to make stuff. I liked painting pretty things, sad things, happy things, trees, lakes and buildings. I liked making dough things and clay things...
Then I got the Legos. I loved those little plastic things. I made big houses and castles mostly. I had opportunities to play with the space ship set, but I didn't want it. I wanted the castle set with the swords, shields and flags. I had regular Legos - lots of them. But they were red and blue, and seemed fake when I made houses out of them. Eventually Mom broke down and got me the set I wanted.
I still probably have those darn things in mom's basement. I outgrew them very slowly. By the time I was in middle school I had decided I wanted to make houses. all the time. I wanted to look at them, tour them, photograph them and draw them. And that's what I did whenever I wasn't busy getting As in school.
Did I ever get it? Well, I suppose I did in most ways. I don't feel deprived because I don't yet have an architect's license - the one aspect I haven't achieved. I have spent many many hours working on houses in all different ways. And I spent many hours working on other types of buildings, which was really interesting and educational. So far it hasn't provided everything it promised.
I don't feel like I'm done making things though - this is good because I'm still young in terms of architectural practice. I could be twice my age, just starting to enjoy some amount of professional architectural satisfaction, and it would be completely normal. So I have a lot of time left before I can really say time is up. time to judge whether I "got it" or not. time to decide if it provided what I wanted.
Architecture in general has affected my whole life for the better. Times may be tough right now, but in general I am happier this way than I would be doing just about anything else. I could be working in some lab, pushing papers, filing suits, answering phones for somebody else, making change at some register or treating diseases and broken bones and I don't think I would be happy.
My longing to make something for this world has tainted me. So now no matter what I do, I have to make it fit into this framework. If I find myself SELLING something other than architectural plans, it had better have something to do with making buildings better for whoever lives or works in them. And I think that is working out for me now.
This goes back to another blogoff where I said I'm always happiest following my heart, and my heart has never led me astray. Wow, never thought about THIS that way.
So what did YOU want as a kid?
I'm interested to find out what the other bloggers have said about this topic today. Here is a list of them. I encourage you to check them out as well!
It was a weird answer for people to hear when they used to ask me what I was going to be when I grew up. They'd say, "You don't want to be a super hero? or a movie star? or a popular singer??" No, I didn't want to be famous. I just wanted to make stuff. I liked painting pretty things, sad things, happy things, trees, lakes and buildings. I liked making dough things and clay things...
Then I got the Legos. I loved those little plastic things. I made big houses and castles mostly. I had opportunities to play with the space ship set, but I didn't want it. I wanted the castle set with the swords, shields and flags. I had regular Legos - lots of them. But they were red and blue, and seemed fake when I made houses out of them. Eventually Mom broke down and got me the set I wanted.
I still probably have those darn things in mom's basement. I outgrew them very slowly. By the time I was in middle school I had decided I wanted to make houses. all the time. I wanted to look at them, tour them, photograph them and draw them. And that's what I did whenever I wasn't busy getting As in school.
Did I ever get it? Well, I suppose I did in most ways. I don't feel deprived because I don't yet have an architect's license - the one aspect I haven't achieved. I have spent many many hours working on houses in all different ways. And I spent many hours working on other types of buildings, which was really interesting and educational. So far it hasn't provided everything it promised.
I don't feel like I'm done making things though - this is good because I'm still young in terms of architectural practice. I could be twice my age, just starting to enjoy some amount of professional architectural satisfaction, and it would be completely normal. So I have a lot of time left before I can really say time is up. time to judge whether I "got it" or not. time to decide if it provided what I wanted.
Architecture in general has affected my whole life for the better. Times may be tough right now, but in general I am happier this way than I would be doing just about anything else. I could be working in some lab, pushing papers, filing suits, answering phones for somebody else, making change at some register or treating diseases and broken bones and I don't think I would be happy.
My longing to make something for this world has tainted me. So now no matter what I do, I have to make it fit into this framework. If I find myself SELLING something other than architectural plans, it had better have something to do with making buildings better for whoever lives or works in them. And I think that is working out for me now.
This goes back to another blogoff where I said I'm always happiest following my heart, and my heart has never led me astray. Wow, never thought about THIS that way.
So what did YOU want as a kid?
I'm interested to find out what the other bloggers have said about this topic today. Here is a list of them. I encourage you to check them out as well!
RSS Feed