Modelling mojo and state of mind

[Mallard60022]

There are questions of personality-type to think about, too: some people have a natural inclination to plough one, very long, and neat furrow; others have a natural inclination to want to start new furrows every now and then, using different ploughs. Think about Rev Denny, pursuing and developing a single theme for approaching fifty years, and Gordon Gravett, who has pursued several different themes.

 

Then there is the question of whether other activities in life are consuming the mental energy that might go into modelling, or are giving alternative outlet for the creativity that might go into it.

 

Then, if it does feel as if it isn't either of the above, but a 'mojo problem', there is the possibility that something physiological is at the root. If anyone consults a doctor about 'mojo', I would strongly advise pestering for a full spectrum of blood tests, to check if that might be the case.

 

My own manic period eventually turned out to be due to an overactive thyroid, which made me feel and act like a man who was drinking a double espresso every quarter of an hour, 24/7/365. It made me insanely productive on all fronts, hobbies, work, the lot, for long periods, but gradually started to cause me to burn out for periods, during which all mojo went awol. Then the cycle would start again. Once identified, which took several rounds of blood tests over about six months, it was cured by a simple, reducing-to-zero, course of tablets.

 

Kevin

Good advice Kevin. The NHS is brilliant but one needs to ask, ask, ask and persue, persue and persue. I have done huge amounts of investigations into what might be happening with my situation and my GP, being a very open minded professional, is aware of this and very supportive too. I too am very much of the opinion that the ancients have the correct viewpoint in that 'balance in all things is essential and particularly the balance between the gut and the mind. Think about what goes into the gut these days compared to long ago and then what in the undeveloped but fruitful parts of the world. The Environment, climate and lifestyle of humans has a lot to answer for.

Phil

[APOLLO]

I've not done a great deal of modelling this year. Last year was more productive in that I finally signalled my O gauge North American layout - 20 years into building. Layout lights still to fit though I have made a start. On my OO loft layout very little done - though not a lot to do up there in terms of large projects. Although I have virtually finished spending, apart from an occasional splurge, I have a growing list things to do though (weathering, detailing, repair / renovation etc) which I must get a grip of.

 

This year has been a bit hectic for our family, Son has just graduated, starts a graduate training programme with an oil company in September - that's him sorted !!. Twin girls awaiting GCSE results and then start college.  

 

Lots of jobs done / need doing around the house / cars etc - all  these come before I get to "play with my train sets".

 

Also as its summer I like to laze in the garden when I can, or sit in the conservatory with a load of old magazines and a cup of tea. I also like to run trains rather than work on them during summer. I run my layouts at least twice weekly minimum for a hour or so.

 

Rushing to deadlines and pleasing others at all hours of the day and night (except family) I don't do anymore, I've done over 40 odd years of that, I'm fully retired now. Life ain't perfect but it could be worse.

 

Brit15

[Big James]

Reading thread makes me feel I'm not so alone. I do seem to have a quite a lot of mojo. Then something happens and it effects my manic depression then that's it for weeks or months at a time. Swmbo has been a force for good always encouraging me to push myself or just to play. When I lost my uncle last week she managed to track down a Hornby manston to make me feel better. But i find some days more of a struggle then others. I'm already half way through the year and I haven't even started the new layout I've been promising myself yet.

 

Big james

[The Johnster]

Good advice Kevin. The NHS is brilliant but one needs to ask, ask, ask and persue, persue and persue. I have done huge amounts of investigations into what might be happening with my situation and my GP, being a very open minded professional, is aware of this and very supportive too. I too am very much of the opinion that the ancients have the correct viewpoint in that 'balance in all things is essential and particularly the balance between the gut and the mind. Think about what goes into the gut these days compared to long ago and then what in the undeveloped but fruitful parts of the world. The Environment, climate and lifestyle of humans has a lot to answer for.

Phil

 

Don't forget that the wisdom of the ancients included stoning people they thought were possessed by demons.

[Poggy1165]

I think the world "we" have built for ourselves is incredibly stressful and destructive of the human spirit. I actually think we would be a happier society if we were allowed to be more like Alf Ventress in Heartbeat instead of being encouraged to emulate work-obsessed Americans.

 

However, the hobby we all follow ought to be a massive help. Unfortunately, it isn't always, and dare I suggest there are times when we allow it to be over-complex. Just wiring up a point these days seems to require an electronics degree - perhaps the older, simpler ways of our hobby were better.

[Nearholmer]

Given that we are animals that evolved for a certain kind of existence, there is bound to be a bit of stress in operating in the "modern world", which has popped into being in "the blink of an eye" in evolutionary terms - we are to some degree "maladapted".

 

So ...... my personal theory is that an excellent way to de-stress is to do something that touches on what we are adapted for: pretty hard physical work, with a good mentally-testing component, outdoors, 'in the green'. Gardening is a good one, some people like things such as orienteering, rambling, even angling, and personally I enjoy a fairly challenging bike ride.

 

I know that it isn't simple for everyone to partake of these things, but even a small sip of what we evolved for is a huge tonic ....... a better tonic, dare I say, than railway modelling.

 

Kevin

 

PS: wouldn't an RMWeb mammoth hunt be fun!

Edited August 1, 2017 by Nearholmer

[runs as required]

PS: wouldn't an RMWeb mammoth hunt be fun!

Um...

You might find Jim Reece's re-creation of the Steam Elephant at Beamish

 

Apparently forgotten until this elegant oil painting of it at Wallsend turned up in 1931

HTH

 

dh

[leopardml2341]

Don't forget that the wisdom of the ancients included stoning people they thought were possessed by demons.

Let he who is without sin etc etc.....

[Mallard60022]

Don't forget that the wisdom of the ancients included stoning people they thought were possessed by demons.

Not the 'Ancients' to which I was referring. I meant, and should have clarified, the Spiritual ones that created meditation and the balance between mind and body. I should have inferred peaceful ancients not the violent drawdowns from Stoneage people (and these still exist across the world sadly whereas the peaceful & meek have not been inheriting the Earth, sadly.)

I actually hate most of the behaviours in the world at the moment as it is violent and destructive with hate and 'look at me/us and how we are beating our chests (see 2001 A Space Odyssey first opening sequences), style of leadership. Also the look how great I am and how much I have compared to you attitude of so many.

I am becoming more spiritual as I get older and much of my problem comes from  having to fend off/try to ignore this sort of human. Even on RMWeb we have people that have an inflated ego and think thay they are superior and can not see another person's point of view without being patronising and aggressive. Fortunately they get away with very little on here.  

There we go, that starts the day off with a smile don't it!

Phil

[Reorte]

Given that we are animals that evolved for a certain kind of existence, there is bound to be a bit of stress in operating in the "modern world", which has popped into being in "the blink of an eye" in evolutionary terms - we are to some degree "maladapted".

 

So ...... my personal theory is that an excellent way to de-stress is to do something that touches on what we are adapted for: pretty hard physical work, with a good mentally-testing component, outdoors, 'in the green'. Gardening is a good one, some people like things such as orienteering, rambling, even angling, and personally I enjoy a fairly challenging bike ride.

Agree, although we've still got a bit of a problem that those involve finding space to do them in your own time rather than being a fundamental part of life for most of us. I definitely think any move to make things faster and more convenient is actually a very bad move. Go back a while and of course most people just had a bloody hard life. Probably not stressful in the same way as life is now, but just unpleasant in too many other ways to be worth wanting to return to. Now we've got the ability to have the best of both worlds but aren't making use of it. You often hear about people being accused of having rose-tinted views of the past, which carries an implication that it sounds good from both people... Well, now we could create something like that. And it doesn't  have to mean giving up everything more modern, the combination can work very well (probably why I like so much living in an old house with modern amenities).

[Poggy1165]

The complexity of modern life is an issue. Avoiding politics, so let's stick to model railways. DCC. It's great in many ways. Gives you all kinds of features that you never had before. If you're young and used to technology you may wonder what all the fuss is about. But for old gits like me, simply sticking two wires from a DC controller to the track and then going straight into operations is so much easier. I have no wish to spend hours with a piece of test track adjusting this and that to get the right degree of acceleration for a Dean Goods hauling a 20 wagon train in 1946, or whatever. 

 

Of course, there are real-life examples too. In my view, the simpler the life and the less stress the better. "Choice" is a much-overvalued thing, that too often forces us to waste time "choosing" between several similar or identical products. Time is too precious to waste on stuff that doesn't matter. Eventually you run out of it.

[Nearholmer]

This has a danger of getting political, but picking-up on mallard and reorte's points, it does now seem conceivable that a reasonable degree of material comfort could be delivered for most people without the need for most people to work like the robots that are progressively taking on "our" jobs - clearly a prospect that is a lot further off for many in less-developed countries, but look to China to see how quickly things can move.

 

So, this could result in a sort of heavenly work/life balance, lots of self-actualisation, the ability to choose a life containing the best of ancient and modern etc, but, there are a few buts:

 

- adjusting to 'purposelessness' until 'purpose' is redefined in a way that doesn't assign zero value to anyone who is not both a worker-bee and model-consumer;

 

- how to distribute the spoils generated by the robots;

 

- how to deal with the part of human nature that both provides the drive behind creative energy, and the drive to "hog" resources, which in turn leads to "hogging" of power and it's close friend money.

 

My sense is that, at the moment, the negative outcomes of human nature are in the ascendant, that technical progress is being used (as ever) by the sharpest of the current power-elites to serve their own ends; law of the jungle stuff. But, that is nothing even slightly new. It certainly happened during the first wave of the industrial revolution in a very obvious way, and I'd be willing to wager that it happened when somebody invented the first wheel.

 

The question is: how long before, and in what ways, can "the masses" appropriate and spread the benefits more broadly? Because that also always happens, eventually.

 

Anyway, I'd better stop, before my natural cynico-communist outlook tips over into some sort of neo-Marxism!

 

Kevin

[runs as required]

... for old gits like me, simply sticking two wires from a DC controller to the track and then going straight into operations is so much easier. I have no wish to spend hours with a piece of test track adjusting this and that to get the right degree of acceleration for a Dean Goods hauling a 20 wagon train in 1946, or whatever.

 

Nice to hear that "old gits" are all different.

 

You see back in 1946 I was really frustrated - on Stratford station - with what I thought was a brand new Ian Allan LNER ABC to find that it was out of date because everything had just been re-numbered!

I never ever did return to (that kind of) trainspotting

 

Plus my hero - a badly burnt airman - made the most beautiful scratchbuilt Tilbury tanks which he ran on a bewilderingly complicated DC layout with isolation switches that I was only allowed to watch but not touch. This sort of sphistry I have never ever been able to master.

 

But with plain vanilla DCC my G2A can creep around my roundy-round at a scale 7 mph trailing a long line of PO empties while Grandson's GNER HST blasts past at a scale speed of 300 mph +.

 

Only prob (as my pic shews) is that the mojo is in need of a bit of re-polishing just as Vic the Guinea Pig airman used to shine up his buttons.

And there is the new Oxford Dean goods to encourage to plod around like the Bowen-Cooke ...

...once I've tidied up.

dh

 

Edit:

an appalling confession: because it posted next to this, I've only just discovered that  "A Nod to Brent" (surely the most clicked up RM thread} isn't about boringly stodgy old 4Fs on long lines of empties.

Edited August 3, 2017 by runs as required

[Nearholmer]

Yikes, RaR.

 

I prescribe a short-course of doors.

 

They look bland in the extreme, but these ones across the end of our study hide a multitude of sins - the untidiness still exists, but is invisible, which makes SWMBO and I (each part-owner of the chaos) feel a whole lot better!

[Tricky]

The Johnster put me on to this thread through his post over on the MRJ 256 thread in the magazines section. I was posting over on the MRJ thread because a letter of mine got published in the mag about my recent experiences with a nervous breakdown.

 

All I can say, which I said in the letter, but will repeat here is that it is a minor miracle that in the depths of my illness the only thing I could do was modelling and posting on here. I will also reiterate that you are all a fantastic lot and the encouragement I got spurred me on to do the best modelling I have ever done. Apart from one time I remember having to wait a few days before tackling some fiddly lettering because my hands wouldn't stop shaking! For me though, the distraction was key and I could, for a few moments, be absorbed in something creative that took my mind off the outside world which at the time would literally scare me sh**less. I don't say that lightly either...

[Coldgunner]

rmweb has helped me in some respects. WIth the kit building I do see some of the great work that is posted and think that I can do that too (I can't, as I'm still a bit rubbish haha). I'm really suprised at the kind of responses I've had to this thread as I expected it to get lost in a plethora of better topics, alas it seems to have brought to the surface an aspect of rmweb that I knew existed, but was never discussed. They say talking about a problem, is a problem shared. This ain't half true here. Sometimes finishing a kit seems like climbing everest and it can take months or years to complete.

[Tricky]

The first time I made it out for a coffee with my wife we ended up sitting next to this advertisement...

 

Helpful. I had to smile...

[Mallard60022]

The first time I made it out for a coffee with my wife we ended up sitting next to this advertisement...

 

Helpful. I had to smile...

Actually Vitamin B12 is depleted by certain malabsorbtion conditions of the gut and is also lacking in much processed food. We are also lacking Vit D these day as we take care of our skin during sunny weather. Deficiency of Vit B12, Vit D, Magnesium and Seratonin are responsible for much of the Depressive and Anxiety conditions that we have.

Phil

[Coldgunner]

I've taken to having some multi-vits, especially when I'm on nights as there is a lack of vit D. It does help.

[Poggy1165]

You can also buy a "SAD" lamp for use in winter months. It helps replace sunlight.

[Edge]

I'm not usually affected by motivation ups and downs in my railway modelling, as I tend to buy RTR stuff rather than do it myself and I dont have a layout to work on at the moment.

 

However, painting and constructing my Warhammer models do fluctuate quite drastically depending upon my mood. I had a lot of bad news earlier this week (didn't get a job I was going for and it turns out I'm not the father of my girlfriend's kid) and I needed a mellow day like never before. In that one day I did more than I have done in the past year and a half, and up to a damn good standard as well. 

 

Motivation is a funny thing, but it was nice to have to do nothing that mattered for a change

Edited August 5, 2017 by Edge

[Mallard60022]

You can also buy a "SAD" lamp for use in winter months. It helps replace sunlight.

Absolutely and it also helps control your brain's Circadian Rhythm.

Worth a quick scan.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/03/your-bodys-internal-clock-and-how-it-affects-your-overall-health/254518/

[The Johnster]

You can also buy a "SAD" lamp for use in winter months. It helps replace sunlight.

 

And makes a fairly good layout lamp if you are trying to recreate the light of a warm summer day as well.  The idea is to stimulate the production of the endochrine Melatonin in the brain, something done naturally by sunlight, to improve mood levels.  It works, but sadly not for very long on me...

[Alcanman]

I tried this last night and it's worked wonders for me!

 

 

 

 

Mal

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2017 by Alcanman

[ian@stenochs]

I tried this last night and it's worked wonders for me!

 

 

Mojo beer.jpg

 

 

Mal

Yip, a bit of yeast is good for you!

 

Ian.