One of the activities that I enjoy greatly is a daily walk, or rather walks, as I do one in the morning, then one late afternoon.
4th April 2025
For the last 30+ years I’ve worked from home, building models, writing and editing magazines. It’s been a solitary and at times, lonely existence.
Though this has simply been part of the job, I’ve often wondered if I’ve missed out on the kind of interactions that I often enjoyed in my previous working life or that others simply take for granted.
But there is more to it than that. Working on your own and in my case at the end of the Nineties, living on my own, can be an isolating experience. Without the chance to vent at another person or persons, you can easily drop into a hole that’s hard to climb out of.
Recently I’ve become more and more aware of the solitude and the fact that I spend so long in my studio, or in front of a computer, alone. With my wife now retired, I’m nowhere near as alone these days, but I still feel the need to get out, stretch my legs and when the chance presents itself, spend time with others.
One of the activities that I enjoy greatly is a daily walk, or rather walks, as I do one in the morning, then one late afternoon. I find that this helps to clear my head, allows time to chat to Liz, or if I’m on my own, just think about life, my plans and how my day or perhaps week, is going to pan out.
It also gets me away from my computer, my phone and the temptation to constantly doom scroll on social media. A surefire way to depress my mental health, I have to get away from such things, or at least put them in some kind of perspective. And that’s where the walks, trips out or the simple pleasure of a beer with friends, come in very handy.
I can’t get away from the need to be alone, but I can moderate that time with other activities that take me away from the bench and back into the real world. Will it make me a better modelmaker? Perhaps. Will it make me a better person, with a more fulfilling life? Definitely.
See you tomorrow.
TODAY’S MUSIC CHOICES…
Steven Wilson: The Overview
NoSound: Sol29 (Remastered)
The Pineapple Thief: Your Wilderness
Marillion: Script For A Jester’s Tear
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That’s certainly a nice community to go walking through from that photo, Spence.
As a fellow author and modeler involved with a “nerdy” life, I can say I am (and you are likely) someone somewhere “on the spectrum.” Alone time not only doesn’t bother us, it’s the preferred default. And yes, having someone to share life with and forcing myself to get “out and around” is a good thing. But despite the “normal world” classifying us as “weird,” nope – we are not.
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This hit deep. As someone who dances between writing, editing, and plotting my next escape route (aka travel plans), I feel this in my bones. Solitude is a strange companion—it fuels the craft but can gnaw at the edges if we’re not careful. Those walks? They’re golden. Not just for the fresh air, but for keeping the soul from fraying. Cheers to balancing the quiet with just enough noise—and to recognizing when it’s time to step away from the screen and back into the real world
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