A month in review: Of miniatures, and mental health

 A month in review: Of miniatures, and mental health

I am not a massive Stormcast fan, but man I have painted a few

     It is july 29th, and I am sitting in a doctor's waiting room as I pretend to read a white dwarf until my name is called. I am about to ask for a month of mental health leave. The doctor calls me in and I explain the events that have led me to this. He is understanding, and goes through some questions with me. He asks me what I plan to do with my month off, and what I hope to achieve. For my part I tell him that I plan to go walking, spend time with my son, and paint some miniatures. To engage in my hobbies, try to see some mates, and try to build myself up again. He nods and smiles saying that it was the right answer. He tells me not to just sit around the house all day. 

I was meant to enter this in the monthly painting comp

    It is the 4th of August and my first day to myself. With no real agenda or plans. My walks had been going well and my son enjoyed going out. I sponteanously call a mate and arrange a 1000 point game of 40K at my local store. My first in some time. At the 11th hour my friend calls me and sadly tells me that he has to go and get a covid test. Sad, but hey there is still plenty of time. 

My first actual Ogor mini finised and good in the meta

    It is the 5th of August. I have been going walking twice a day, and when my son is asleep I attack all the hobbying and writing I can. We are at my son's allergy test, and we were planning to go and enjoy the sun. A picnic after this, a trip to the hobby store to buy some supplies including my first Beastclaws start collecting box, and run some errands. I decided to go and get a coffee. As I make my way back iced coffee in hand, an older man runs past me to his car in an oldly comical parody of the scene from Starship Troopers, however instead of telling me we are going to war he shouts 'we are going into lockdown". I saw my plans for the month implode. 

    There had been an outbreak in Sydney, and previous experience had taught me to expect it to spread. Namely due to people from Sydney never staying in Sydney. Hey, the shoe fits. I accepted that any plans I had for the month would have to be rethought. I decided the dive into my hobbying, and make the best of things. To that end I had a pretty extensive backlog of minis to work on. Those familiar with my #LunchHammer efforts know that I enjoy painting and finally had time to do so.  I also had heard of a new gamestore and decided to try and get an interview. I really enjoyed the experience and you can read about it here ( https://theliterarykhan.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-beacons-are-lit-gamers-call-for-aid.html ). 

I decided to clear some backlog

    I fell into a enjoyable pattern of being a stay at home husband and hobbyist. My half hour #LunchHammer became one and half hours, and I was amazed at what I achieved. I even dabbled in some PVA water effects. I put together and painted over a dozen small projects during this time. My wife made the comment I had done more painting in a month than all year. From a production stand point I had to agree with her. All of the monthly miniatures I had not completed I finished off, and even rounded off my Hrothgorn's warband set I had purchased as my first official Ogor Mawtribes miniatures. I enjoyed working on these, and having painted the Gnoblars I am very keen to paint more. I want to run a unit of 40 of them. What I soon came to realise was that this painting time was more than my usual #LunchHammer. This was progress at a rapid pace,  and I found myself far more relaxed. The half hour sessions were, and I believe still are, great for just getting paint on miniatures. However these longer sessions give you a more relaxing, and almost meditative experience. Being able to just zone out and enjoy the act of painting to a greater degree. 

    The completion of so many projects was incredibly rewarding. I would get a sense of achievement as each would be finished and placed in my display cabinet. More over when looking at my growing number of Stormcast miniatures. I had been buying the Mortal Realms magazines as a way of getting some cheaper miniatures should I want to play some Age of Sigmar with friends (or possibly family) who did not have armies. I also wanted to use them as a challenge for myself to paint faster. I wanted to channel my inner Bob Ross and speedpaint them in such a way they looked great. 

    This challenge also made me approach another painting area I have always hated. Painting white. I have had a collection of Imperial miniatures from the Star Wars Legion game. I wanted to have that classic white Stormtrooper look. So I spoiled myself with a little lockdown retail therapy. I purchased a Legion Imperial paint set and tucked into our 'not so straight shooting' villians. 

From one Imperial to another

    After two weeks spent in this insulated bubble of hobbying and homelife I felt I was hitting my stride. I was sleeping better, I was more focussed, and I was feeling more like my old self. In advice regarding mental health it is often advised to engage in hobbies and excercise and between walking my hill covered neighbourhood, and attacking the mountain of backlog I had I was starting to feel amazing again. The hardest part of managing your mental health in the day to day, is that the day to day leaves you worn out and tired. You do not feel like exercising or sometimes even hobbying. However, sometimes you need to force yourself. Those first weeks of changing my routines entirely were hard, but it was so rewarding. I found myself becoming more present. The fog of my mind had cleared, and I was able to approach things. Aside from the miniature painting I was also squeezing in a little time with another great passion of mine. Videogames. Namely one of my favourite franchises of all time. Mass Effect. 

Hello old friend, we have work to do

    Those who know me, know that I have loved this game since finding it during my university days. My wife, my love, my light, my laughter had surprised with with it one afternoon and now I finally had some time to play. So I settled in to play some epic space opera. I was not so keen on finishing the game. I just wanted to drive around and mess about with the Mako.

Majestic as hell

    I was also doing the same thing in my real life. As lockdown continued to grow in duration people were all desperately trying to find ways to brighten their days. In my area people took to drawing messages in chalk on the footpaths, and driveways. I would take my son for his morning walk and look for the latest bright addition. Locals also took to hiding painted stones in the front yards of the neighbourhood, and one particular house created a 'spoon village'where they encouraged you to decorate a plastic spoon and add it to the village. If you could not smile at these efforts then there was something wrong with you. I also took to watching the sun come up, mainly due to my son getting me up so early. Spring approaching with great morning views. 

    As I approached the end of my leave I had completed over a dozen projects. It had sparked an thought. When I started #LunchHammer it was just to get things done, and now to paint again with less time constraints I started to muse over the various styles painting. The is no doubt that we all put alot of pressure on ourselves to paint well. However, I have come to see all painting coming into three separate categories or schools. #LunchHammer could easily be seen as being the 'completionist' school of painting. For me this is categorised by being the approach to painting that aims purely to get miniatures painted and ready for the table. The four colour standard, based, and ready to score ten points. This is not a judgement call but is more to do with deadlines, both real and imagined, leading to a hobbyist just wanting to get them done as soon as possible. There is also a progressional school of painting. This is the style of painting where the hobbyist is always looking to do better than their last miniature. This could be out of a personal desire to do better, or rather to enter them into competition. This school of thought you will see hobbyists will always look for new techniques to help improve their painting. Finally their is the school I want to be more a part of. Painting to contentment. To me this school is just about finding enjoyment in painting and being able to zone out and paint. To accept the 'happy accidents'when it comes to painting. I am going to definitely be using painting for relaxation. 

    As I look back over the month of leave and to where I am now I want to say this plainly. Take care of yourselves. Check in regularly to see where you are mentally. I was shocked to see just how much the tyranny of the day to day had overtaken me. I did not fully appreciate how things were until I stepped out of that situation. How much I had lost as I slipped into an unhealthy state. I did not think I was too bad. After a fortnight of leave I was watching some cartoons with my son and during an episode of Duggee an episode nailed it on the head. 

    Once I was in a position to work on myself, and actually get out of the high paced day to day rush I operate in. Then I slowed down, and started to rest and repair and slow down I was starting to see how much I was not experience things fully. Once I was relaxed, once I was able to start unpacking things mentally and reengage with the things that made me happy. I was able to be the normal happy Khan that I usually am. My month of leave was not only something incredibly beneficial, but something I should have done a long time ago. If you need to take leave, then do so. 


    Remember as always. Hospitality is sacred.