If you aren’t sure if you are an architect or if you want to be, click here and read that post first.
Otherwise, let’s say you ARE an architect. You have met the Lead Architect and love him, so you want to work with him forever at his company. That’s awesome! Being an architect can be really hard work, but if you stick close to the Lead, you will find it is not too much work, and you will really enjoy it. It is worthwhile work, and the buildings you help to build will last long after you are gone.
Sometimes you will work for a long time doing really hard foundation work for a new building. You will dig and dig and your back will get sore. It’s possible that during digging you will encounter ants that bite and you will want to give up digging. With encouragement and help from the Lead Architect, who has given you a better shovel, you will lay some seriously solid foundation. Then the Lead Architect might pull you to work on a different building. You might NEVER see the other building completed, and you might never have the opportunity to step inside the building and benefit from a delicious iced coffee. Please know that the work you did, whether or not you ever see its fruit, was really important. Your name might not be put on the building. It might be that no one ever acknowledges you were on the team when praising the building. Sometimes digging the foundation is uncomfortable for the building and it gets resentful of that. That’s okay. The Lead Architect knows you were on the team, and the most important thing is that the building got built.
Please be aware that as an architect, you will need to build and maintain your own home as well. The Lead Architect would like to be heavily involved, which is great news for you! His ideas are all good, and he knows you really well and has a good vision of what kind of house would work best for you, in terms of both functionality and joy. The Lead will undoubtedly set parameters for how your house should be built. If you’ve chosen to work for his company and call yourself an architect, please understand that part of that means you have recognized the Lead is your employer, and you’ve invited him to give you boundaries and assignments. It is a sign of respect and love when you adhere to the parameters he sets.
Some good news is that the Lead’s rules are not arbitrary- every boundary he sets is for your benefit. He will give you a LOT of creative freedom in designing your house (though he loves having the conversations with you), but he will advise, for instance, not to build your house with matches. Matches in and of themselves are not bad in their intended purpose, and you might think it will look really cool and unique, but the Lead knows that it is very risky and ultimately not safe. You will likely regret building your house with matches, even if not right away. It is better to use the materials that the Lead has suggested. He is more experienced than you are. Houses were his invention, and he knows how they should be built.
As an architect, your house will never be done. There is always upkeep. You will need to keep the Lead Architect in your life. You will also want to be in community with other architects. You might need help figuring out a conversation you had with the Lead, or maybe you didn’t understand the email he sent. There are more experienced architects who have been where you are and can help you.
A house is a lot to manage, and you will need assistance. There is a bulb in my house that I cannot reach to replace, even with a stepladder. I have friends who are taller and can reach it, so they help me. It is important that I let them help me. It is okay that I can’t reach it myself. If I am prideful and do not let them in, I will end up sitting in the dark. I can get by with a flashlight or a candle, but eventually that is going to be annoying, and there is no reason not to sit in full light.
You might be afraid to let someone in to change the lightbulb because then they might see that you have a pile of garbage in the corner of the room too. Everyone’s house is a work in progress, and you don’t need to hide in shame of your garbage piles. The person might have instructions from the Lead to change the lightbulb for you but not mention the garbage pile.
Maybe they knew the garbage pile would be there, and feel like they should mention it, in case you don’t know it’s there. Sometimes we get so used to our piles of garbage, we can’t see them! Hopefully they pointed out your pile of garbage with love, because they want what is best for you. If you aren’t ready to deal with your garbage pile yet, you can say that. I would encourage you to give that person permission to ask about the pile of garbage again later. It isn’t good to ignore garbage piles indefinitely. You will end up with infestations of mice and bugs.
If you continue to hide it and let it fester, you could get cockroaches. You do not want a cockroach taking up residence in your ear. If you have cockroaches and are living under piles of garbage but do not want to make any changes, and you really like having cockroaches living in your ear, you are probably not actually an architect! You should know that the Lead Architect will not live with cockroaches. You can have one or the other, not both.
If you have cockroaches and really don’t want them, but you are afraid and embarrassed, please ask for help. A mature architect, and certainly the Lead Architect, will want to help you get rid of the cockroaches. They will not condemn you, but they will get rid of the cockroaches. Do not get comfortable living with cockroaches. That is not the kind of home existence the Lead Architect wants you to have. It is better to address a small pile of garbage early on than to wait for your house to be overrun with cockroaches, but it is never too late to make changes.
Some people might try to convince you that having an infestation of any kind is not so bad. Please don’t be tricked. Those people hate you, and probably themselves too. If the Lead Architect does not want you to have bugs and garbage, then you absolutely do not want to have them! A person who loves you will not want you to have unresolved garbage or infestations. Someone who tries to make you feel good about garbage, mice, or any other sort of invasion is confused about what love is and does not know how to bring healthy help.
If someone comes over to change your lightbulb and points out the pile of garbage but does NOT do it with love, please be aware that it is likely because they are an immature architect, or not an architect at all. Sometimes architects have piles of garbage in their own houses that they want to ignore, so they make a big deal out of other people’s piles. Don’t let that deter you from addressing your garbage pile and inviting people to help you with it. Just keep in mind that they probably really need help with their own garbage, too.
There might be things that you don’t like about other people’s houses that are NOT cockroaches or piles of garbage. You might notice that they are doing something during the construction process that is not contrary to a parameter set by the Lead Architect. For instance, maybe you prefer all the art on your walls to be in shades of blue, and primarily realistic ocean scenes. Maybe you visit someone that decorates their house with plain beige walls and no art at all. You do not like it. You should absolutely keep your mouth firmly shut. It does not matter that you do not like it. The Lead Architect is fine with it. It is not hurting anyone. You might notice that the Lead Architect has used a lot of color in the things he has created. That’s a fine observation, but it is not fair to say that your neighbor cannot use only beige.
The Lead Architect expects there to be differences in all the houses. Not all architects will decorate the same way. The Lead actually has plans that involve lots of different types of houses. Your neighborhood might have houses that are wildly different, and maybe that makes you uncomfortable on your daily walks, but it is actually a really good thing that can help you grow. Let me be clear- you have NO business rejecting a house that the Lead Architect has approved.
Some architects (maybe even you!) may have a very well put together house from the outside. Maybe even the rooms you can see when you enter are very well put together. No dust, up-to-date, according to code. If the person (or you!) seems determined to show the house off and stress how perfect it is, and how they are not struggling with anything and have finished all the work, please be aware that the person (or you!) has a secret door in the back of the house, maybe hidden behind a curtain, that is locked with many locks and is probably filled with garbage. It might even be several rooms of garbage. No one’s house is perfect, and it is better to be aware that it isn’t.
You might not be ready to open the door, but at least take down the curtain and be aware that it is there. Invite the Lead Architect to examine it. If you try to ignore it forever, it will fester and mold will start to come under the door and infect other parts of the house. You don’t need to force the door open though- maybe you are just working hard to maintain swept floors in the living room and that feels honestly like just about too much. Don’t worry. The Lead will help you open the door when the rest of your house can sustain the pressure of what’s inside.
If you are visiting someone and see their locked door and notice they are working hard to keep one room clean, don’t try and force open the door. They know it is there. It is noisy. The Lead Architect knows when it is time. It’s better for you to make sure you don’t have any locked doors in your own home that you haven’t addressed yet. If someone is ready to open their locked door and invites you over to help, invite the Lead Architect too. You are not qualified to open locked doors without the Lead Architect’s guidance and support.
If you spend all of your time with the Lead Architect, and you understand his emails pretty well, and stay up-to-date on architectural studies, and your blueprints stay to code, and your house is in good order, you may feel inclined to take some time off. Please understand that every architect, at whatever stage, will need to take breaks from construction. It is okay to hang out with friends without working on a building. The potential problem arises when you feel like your work is complete, and your break becomes indefinite.
If your house is clean and you want to sit down on your cozy couch and read a good book, you can do that. Just keep in mind that your house will need maintenance. If you don’t accept calls from the Lead, and you spend too long sitting in comfort, before you know it, your house will be covered in dust. If you left a window open, which was fine for a while, you may find that you let in a fly. One seemed like not a big deal, not too annoying, but then you continued to sit around apathetically, and soon the original fly invited friends. One of them was a fruit fly, and moments later you have a million fruit flies. That is harder to live with, and now you have to clean some areas of your house nearly from scratch!
If you had taken a break while keeping in touch with the architect, you would have seen his text reminding you to shut your window before it became a problem. Since you ignored him, trusting you were fine because of a momentarily clean house, you now have to spend time and money filling cups with apple cider vinegar hoping to catch every unwanted gnat. It would have been easier to stay on top of it from the beginning. Dirt is a slippery slope that can quickly get out of control when not managed. You can rest and relax and have fun without cutting off contact with the Lead Architect.
The most important takeaway here is that the Lead Architect (let’s call him Jesus), loves you dearly, wants you in the company, and absolutely wants to help you build a really great house. The best thing you can do is get to know Jesus really well, and give him a master key to your house. That is what it is to be an architect.
The Words of My Mouth 