The ultimate limitation
Last Sunday there was another Melbourne #brickstameet.
As I was packing Lego on the Saturday, with rain and hail pelting the roof, Shelly’s post about setting boundaries and limiting choices hovered over me. As every minifigures was placed in the container, her words “taking a less is more attitude” became louder.
Cause they gave you a limiter
Are you limited for life?
Decendents – Limiter
As the train pierced the rain on the way up to Melbourne the next morning, with my backpack bulging with Lego, I decided to accept Shelly’s challenge. It was too late to limit my load. I wasn’t going to jettison minifigures from the train.
My limitations were to take the form of a voyeur. As a co-organiser, the past #brickstameets have been an amazing opportunity to take photos in locations I wouldn’t normally be. This one was no exception; the amazing Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens and surrounds. But I wanted to take it all in. This wasn’t about me. This wasn’t organised as an opportunity for me to fill my camera with fodder. It was about connections. It was about experiences. It was about the “brickstameeters“.
He’s a watcher
And a voyeur
Bystander
And destroyer
The Hellacopters – By The Grace Of God
Sure, I took a couple of photos of LEGO on the day, but for me, the day was about the people. It was about watching people share minifigures, share ideas, help each other with shots, share tips and tricks, lend Blu-Tack, borrow accessories, talk LEGO, talk not LEGO and share an ice-cream purchased from a ice-cream van by @llworld on our way back to the city, only to be upturned onto the ground as a prop!
On the good ship #brickstameet
Leaving my camera and LEGO in my backpack for most of the day, spending extra time talking with the attendees, sharing ideas and tips, learning tips and tricks, was as rewarding as scrolling through hundreds of shots captured at previous meet-ups as I took the train back home.
If not more!
I learned this lesson after the Stockholm meet-up. I should have been doing a lot more talking and less photography. When the Seattle meet-up came around I didn’t mind leading the group because it kept me out of the mind set of taking photos. I had more fun helping the video team gather interviews and watching my fellow participants. I actually managed a few behind the scenes photos which was a first.
We get together so seldom that the talking, sharing, swapping war stories and bitching about social media is actually more fun than taking toy photos. Hell I can do that anytime! Talking to my friends in person, that only happens a couple of times a year – infinitely more precious.
I’m glad you all had a good time despite the weather (isn’t it supposed to be spring there?). Plus, the photos look great!
It was a refreshing experience! So rewarding and invigorating.
And yes, the rain. Well, it is Melbourne, with it’s four seasons in one day!