The Little World

Or ” Epictetus Builds A Short-Run Kit “.

Stoicism is not just about cold showers and lumpy porridge. It is a whole philosophic outlook designed to increase the happiness and tranquillity of the practitioner. A good deal of it is internal dialogue with someone who should listen more.

This applies particularly to the scale modeller…the one who loses parts in ridiculous situations where it should be impossible to drop things. Or who cements a part on only to have it de-bond in a week. Or foolishly floods a finish so that the entire rest of the project is spoiled. At these junctures it is either going to be philosophy or a hammer.

I am surprising myself these days with the amount of stoic calm that I can muster when kit building. It also comes in handy when dealing with house repairs and commercial transactions. Change, failure, and vile behaviour are constants in the world now, as much as they were in the times of the first Stoics. Fortunately we have their writings and teachings to help us cope when we discover the eternal nature of the thing.

In the end, getting angry at another person is as foolish as getting angry at a marginally-moulded kit. And getting angry at yourself is even less sensible. There are work-rounds for nearly every problem we can make…and we do ourselves good by finding them. The kit cannot supply our ingenuity…only call it forth.