Constructing Castles

Constructing Castles

“Damn, they aren’t drying fast enough,” I say to no one. “I need 400 of these plaster blocks to get this thing done.”
I open the oven door again, just like I have every ten minutes for the past hour.

5 am. Four hours left.
If I don’t get this done, I won’t get that A, and if I don’t get that A, I’ll wash out.

Even with all the pressure, it's still fun. Just like the fun I had as a kid building Lego cars with my dad. But it’s more than that. This time, it hits deeper.
It’s not like carving stone either. That’s all subtraction. This is modular. I can add, rearrange, subtract, and start over. That’s freedom.
I lay out the pentagonal blocks, connecting them side by side. Unexpected patterns emerge from their geometry. I start to see it—a three-story castle rising from the floor.
The real beauty is that I can always take it apart and build something else.
That’s the moment it clicks—freedom is power. Power to create and recreate.
Later, I’ll call it structuralism. But right now?
I just joy.