Missives from Isolation #17 – Being a Kid

I’m the first to admit that my inner child isn’t really inner. Seldom is this more apparent than the fact that I spend every Saturday building LEGO with a group of actual human children for the Toy Project. Even with social distancing (which for a workshop designed to help kids socialise is a massive pain) it’s great fun, and the regular attendees are becoming some of my best friends.

Also, I get to play with LEGO, which is honestly just as therapeutic for me as it is for the kids. I spend a few hours letting go of everything except what I’m building, and at the end of it there’s a tangible something there, that I’ve made with my own two hands and what passes for my brain.

[image error]All 6 Toa Mata. My 6-year-old self is very happy indeed. My 8-year-old self is just as ecstatic with the 6 Rahkshi downstairs.

Yesterday, though, I had an even bigger wave of nostalgia, because this box got brought in.

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I spent half my childhood playing Yu-Gi-Oh with my cousins. We had little tournaments, we traded cards, we were all annihilated by my oldest cousin thanks to his loose interpretations of deckbuilding rules, and we had fun. I’ve dabbled in newer cards since upon occasion, but nothing’s ever quite hit the same nostalgic spot as the old stuff, the cards that were new when I was young.

And this box is full of them. The very first deck I bought – the very first deck released in the English language – is in there. I haven’t had a chance to search through the whole collection (because it’s enormous) to find every single card from it, but it’s definitely mostly there, and it’s still in the (battered) original box!

I love moments like this. You pick up an old book, or an old toy, and suddenly it all comes flooding back. Proper nostalgic overload. It’s one of my favourite feelings, and I seek it out wherever I can find it. Volunteering at the Toy Project provides plenty of it.

So, basically, if you feel like being a kid again, embrace it. It’s good for you.