Anyone can achieve their fullest potential,
who we are might be predetermined,
but the path we follow is always of our own choosing.
We should never allow our fears
or the expectations of others to set the frontiers
of our destiny.
Your destiny can't be changed but,
it can be challenged.
Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one.
― Martin Heidegger
Welcome to The Art of Caesura!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
There is a word in radio jargon for when they re-introduce the show after the break, you know "You're listening to Celtic Knot with Ryan O'Shea on CFUV 101.9" I think that word is a "reset" but I might be wrong, the word is escaping me at the moment.
Today, I had planned to start to show you the work on my Bladeguard Veterans, but a lot is going on at the moment, and I'd kind of rather reflect on that for a moment. So today is going to be a brief reset of sorts.
Caesura means "a pause" in poetry or music - it has it's own symbol (two oblique lines) which appears in the background of my blog's logo and has been modernized into two vertical lines on the pause button of your remote. I chose this as the name for my blog for a few reasons:
1) It is a pun on my last name, and let's face it, puns are the highest form of humour.
2) It's a cool and captivating word, which is, unfortunately, quite difficult to put into notation how to pronounce (Say-zhur-ah).
3) But mostly because of what it represents: a pause from the business of life to focus on something you love; in my case painting miniatures.
The past few months have been...out of the ordinary. I have had some family and personal health stuff that have a large impact on my lifestyle, but more importantly it has re-focused my outlook on life.
In addition to this, I am currently working through a major career decision whilst simultaneously picking up two other jobs (the first day of one I just had yesterday!) in addition to my 'career' job.
Meeting with a financial advisor has also shone a spotlight on important dark corners of personal finance that I had been wilfully ignorant of.
Anyway, this is all to say that I have cherished my hobby time through all of this. I actually have a massive backlog of stuff to show you guys! The pictures in today's post were actually taken on the first of May 2022. ALMOST A YEAR AGO!
In these photos there are a few observations to be made. Firstly, I was going to discuss what a joy these guys are to build. The Bladeguard fit together beautifully without any seams showing and they even have sword handles to fit into their empty scabbards if they do not physically have their sword drawn. Details like this really show that a lot of love and thought was put into designing the models. Until the dedicated Black Templars received their update, the Bladeguard were my favourite Primaris Space Maries.
Such reflections on the design quality of these dudes were going to be what this post was all about, but as you can see, we are deep in the woods now.
Another observation I made, while preparing this post is that my hobby setup changed a bit in the process of building these guys. I replaced my small LED light (only the second ever hobby light that I have used, seen in the pictures above) with the two big daylight lights that you can see in the photo below.
This might seem like quite a banal topic for conversation, but it got me thinking of how my relationship with the hobby has changed in the SEVEN YEARS that I've been doing this blog, which has pretty much chronicled the entirety of my return to the hobby after nearly a decade-long hiatus.
Below you will see the very first photo ever posted to The Art of Caesura! The totality of my paints and hobby supplies. Man. That picture was taken on a corner of our kitchen table. I now have an entire room dedicated to the hobby. I am so grateful for this and for this hobby and for a wife who, right from the beginning, effortlessly and insightfully recognized that this so much more than just a hobby for me. It is my way of pausing; and it makes all the difference.
Much love to my fellow Caesurians (hint: if you're reading this, that includes you!) I'll see you next week, wherein we shall properly dig into those Bladeguard. Thank you for tuning into The Art of Caesura.
Reading: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals - Oliver Burkeman
Listening: Just a Dream - Coco and the Butterfields
Next Week:
Bladeguard Vets...for realz.
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