Lessons from My First LEGO Set

I just got my first LEGO set. Of course, my way into the world of LEGO was through their F1 partnership, and now I can see what millions of others see: "The art of building offline, with hands."

Here is what I observed:

1. There is something strange that happens when we create something with our own hands and see it finished.

2. It is a feeling similar to writing on a rough piece of paper with a pencil that is not smooth.

I miss this feeling. Lately, I have started to hate typing things out. It could be my age too, but that feeling is creeping in. Maybe that is why the universe decided to put an F1 LEGO in my hands, reminding me that my work on my computer has real-world consequences, the kind that impact people's lives.

When I was building the LEGO, I could feel my brain working out new things. I have not had this feeling in some time now. It was a clear reminder that there is so much left for me in this world to explore, and when I put my mind to pulling the pieces, placing them on a table, and looking at them with an open mind, I am able to create beautiful craft.

It is amazing how someone's piece of work can generate chemicals in someone else's body, creating emotions that were stashed away for a long time. This is why I always tell people that their work life is as important as their personal life.

Somewhere, someone is feeling some emotion when they get their hands on the work you put out.

I believe that every craft has intent, which produces intensity. For example, someone at LEGO's office worked so hard with intense focus, giving it their all to create this small set that I had the chance to touch, feel, and hear the sounds of each LEGO fit.

Once I finished the build, I sat in complete silence, observing the piece of art that someone enabled me to experience. What an amazing world we live in.

I cannot imagine the happiness someone would have experienced when they took off in a flight for the first time. In fact, I have had the opportunity to put so many of my team members on their first flight, and observing them from a distance, looking at their faces of fear, excitement, and pride, looking at their parents' faces, and the way they bless their kid for their first flight, those moments are indescribable to me. For a person who thought "No new scientific discoveries like the Einstein age happen today," these are the firsts I embrace and enable with my work.

That is insane, isn't it? And it is insane to think that so many such thoughts flooded my brain with a small LEGO set that I was able to complete in five minutes.

The universe has a strange way of reminding people what their purpose is.