How a Childhood Passion Became a Museum Masterpiece

(And What It Teaches Us About Life's Unexpected Paths)

We've all heard the well-meaning platitudes after life knocks us down: "When one door closes, another one opens!" or "Something better is coming!" While sometimes true, these clichés miss the deeper lesson - that life's most extraordinary journeys often begin without any destination in mind.

The Crossroads of Uncertainty

When faced with the unknown, we essentially have two choices: Freeze in fear of making the "wrong" choice, or Flow by following our curiosity one small step at a time.

My stepfather's story proves how magical the second path can be.

As a child in The Netherlands my stepfather (Piet) enjoyed building castles out of cardboard and playing with horses and soldiers. Life moved on and study, work and family took over. As an adult he looked for a hobby and started to paint little toy soldiers (you know the ones you buy in a kit at the model shop). He liked painting them with their different historical uniforms and being able to use all different colours and textures created by different armies and battalions.

After a while he noticed that he kept coming back to one particular era in history the 1800’s which really piqued his interest, and from there his interests delved deeper into focusing on Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo. What began as a stress-relieving hobby soon became an all-consuming passion project: recreating the entirety of the Battle of Waterloo.

This hobby pushed him to visit any and all bookshops and op-shops around the world whilst travelling, so that he was able to create the most accurate and in depth model possible.

Once this passion really started to take shape and the scope of the work started getting quite exponential, he engaged with his stepson who worked with specialty packaging, and had him design and create the perfect boxes to store each segment of model in as it was completed, as there was just no other possible way to store such a momentous creation, especially in the incredibly small room in which he worked for so many long hours over the many many years.

30 odd years later he finally finished the last segment of this magnificent 35m2 model. And at this stage he had no idea what to do with it, or how it even looked all put together!

As it happened he had a friend that had a large shed that was empty in between seasons and it was then, he actually saw all the segments put together for the very first time! This first exhibition also allowed for a lot of friends, visitors, historians and reporters from all over to come and see the display for the very first time.

Once packed up after the exhibition, it took a few more years before it was displayed again. One day along the grapevine his wife had heard that the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam was going to be hosting a Napoleon Display for a season, once she heard this she contacted them directly and they were thrilled to add such an amazing piece to their collection. It was so fantastic to be able to have it out on display in a museum for people from all over to be able to come and see and enjoy the majesty of the piece.

After the display in the Hermitage Museum, it once more got packed up and stored, with no real future in mind. They contacted a lot of museums in The Netherlands to see if any of them would be interested in hosting this incredible model. Many of them where interested yet unfortunately not one museum had the capacity to fit such a large model.

Years then passed when suddenly they got a phone call from an enthusiast that had heard about the model and who was determined to again have it on display somewhere.

And it was not long before he called again to say that he thinks he found the perfect museum for it…

And guess what, it is now on display in the best possible spot in the world for it; In 'the Museum of the Battle of Waterloo' in Waterloo, Belgium itself.

Miraculously the entry hall to the Museum was just large enough to accommodate the model, and so now it will live on in the beautiful museum that resides on the land where the incredible battle itself took place.

The permanent installation was completed as Covid entered the world, and I was unfortunately not able to fly over to be there myself.

Finally in 2024 I was blessed to be able to go over and actually see it for myself in it's entirety, and to have my 85 year old stepfather be able to show it to me himself. I felt so very privileged and honored to be able to stand next to him and see his 30 years worth of work come together in the most magical and perfect way possible.

The Hidden Magic of Small Steps

This incredible journey never started with dreams of museum displays or historical acclaim. It began with one man simply following what felt right in the moment, Ignoring those who called it "childish", and allowed curiosity to guide each next step.

Along the way, the universe provided exactly what was needed:

A supportive partner, a son with a specialty packaging business, knowledgeable strangers and friends, as well as some perfect timing!

Your Invitation to Curious Living

If you're feeling directionless, try this instead of waiting for inspiration:

• Notice what brings you joy right now (no matter how small)

• Follow that thread without demanding a destination

• Trust that each step will reveal the next

As my 85-year-old stepfather proved - when we move through life with curiosity rather than expectation, we might just create something far grander than we could have ever planned.

What small joy will you follow today?

If you'd like help turning curiosity into action, join one of our Choices Workshops. No grand vision required - just the willingness to begin.