Ice-cream Biro

I like to think of the story I am about to share as one of my original catalysts. It’s abstract, but bare with me, like great fairytales I hope there’s a moral to be found…

At school it was mandatory to learn D&T (Design and Technology), which meant everything from designing the packaging for a bar of chocolate you had invented to making a CD rack out of sheets of acrylic. But before all of that was the ‘Pen Project’.

The pen I designed and would have to make was incredible (so I believed) it was an ice-cream cone which meant it fitted nicely into your hand, had a textured wafer cone, a different colour for the scoop of ice-cream and of course a flake to top it off. This pen would be fabulous, kitsch and creative and something to take home and make my parents proud.

We presented our ideas in front of the class. Someone had decided they would use red acrylic in a square shape, another person had a squiqqly shape out of yellow acrylic, and then I presented my cone of glory. Everyone laughed. I mean really, even my friends told me it wouldn’t be possible to create something that shape, with different colours and textures. They told me I was aiming too high, why didn’t I just pick a shape and colour like the rest of them. In fact, these friends took me to one side to advise me on this, they didn’t want to see me humiliated when I failed and the laughing started up again.

So, what did I do? I made that ice-cream biro and it was a grand success. Those friends I had were in awe, told me they knew I could do it all along, and other than getting top marks, I had a huge sense of self pride and achievement.

The moral to this isn’t to be aware that the fickle friendships you have when you’re 11 probably wont be your friends for life; but more that if you have a goal that might seem ridiculous or absolutely out of reach to others, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pursue it with absolutely all of your might.

I have a list of goals, and this year I have crossed two of them off…❤