Collecting the dots

Are you a squirrel? 

Not sure what I’m talking about? That’s okay. I only really found out what a squirrel was and whether it was a good thing to be one the other day. 

Sitting in a masterclass with Mr Marc Lewis, as he asks us to explain what he means, before telling us what he means. 

You see, squirrels collect nuts, and store them, ready for the winter, where there are very few nuts to be found. The squirrels then take these nuts and hide them somewhere for safekeeping; knowing that they will have enough nuts to get them through the winter months and feeling pumped and ready for spring! And of course, squirrel Christmas and New Year!

The squirrel, small though it may be, is savvy. It knows and remembers where it has hidden its nuts and will know, later on, where it kept those nuts. 

Rambling about something random? 

I promise there is a point to all of this…

See, we at SCA are all squirrels, or at least we wish and aspire to become one. 

We collect the dots.  We collect diverse dots. We make unexpected connections.

We write things down; we capture things and we remember them; we file them away. And, in those moments, where we feel stuck or completely and utterly stumped by a brief, we hark back; we dig through those mental filing cabinets and we find exactly what we need. 

Whether it be the story of the peculiar person I encountered on the train home, waving in the air, a dead fish in a blue plastic carrier bag, or that of the child with a huge bag hung around his neck, inside which was a gorgeous Pomeranian dog!

It’s safe to say, that my first week(ish) at SCA has been cray zayyy (me trying to make this rhyme). 

I have found a space that is full of extremely talented people, from all backgrounds, with heaps and heaps of exciting mentors. Has SCA met my expectations? In one word: No. However, the reason being is that I honestly had no expectations. Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a place such as this one, full of such brilliant people. 

If you’d have told me that I would be longing for Monday to come around quickly, I’d have laughed. “No way! No chance! Not possible!”, but alas, here I am looking forward to the Mondays, the early start not so much, but the time on the tube is becoming weirdly more therapeutic; giving me time in the morning commute to have a go at the crossword, read some of my book, find my inner teacher, before switching over from the Northern line at Euston and riding the wave, all the way to the end of the line: Brixton.

I know it has been mentioned in previous SCABs, but I will say it again. Four days at SCA and I’m sure I’ve made friends for life. I’ve learnt some of the most random things and had my ups and downs along the way. But the whole way through I have been smiling; through the tough first lunch, the panic of missing the deadline and the sensory challenges of wearing a mask from 7:30am until 7:30pm. 

Bring on week two!