Frank

The beginning of a day is probably the best time for reflection, as your mind is just waking up, trying to center and focus itself so that it can be the best that it can be, and as it’s in the morning, is a time where you’d likely be preparing to do what you’re intending to do for the day itself. For this, it’s sometimes helpful to view, see, or imagine a time and place that is just beginning, just as the scene that’s presented in this particular entry does. The feeling that seemed to take hold in me is one of reflection, and one where I was imagining myself sitting on a porch, seeing the picture or scene in this game, and watching the sky light up with the sunrise just beginning to brighten the way to another day.

Here’s some more Meditation Games goodness for the middle portion of September!

Distance relationships are perhaps one of the biggest challenges for any two people to overcome. Regardless of how any relationship that has a bit of distance between it can try to simulate the feeling of being there on a regular basis with each other, there’s no substitute for being around and being able to be together on a regular basis. I have the deepest respect for anyone who can make it work, just because of the difficulty of maintaining things in that situation, which I think makes any move to change that all the more satisfying.

In games, I’ve never found any stigma associated with activities that are normally group events but could be potentially just soloed on one’s own. Like going to the movie theater on your own, the choice to engage in such an activity by yourself does have a certain sense of value, even if normally you wouldn’t expect to do so. When it comes to nature, and nature outings, this becomes even more apparent, as was evidenced by this entry.

Driving has perhaps been, for me, one of my most freedom-inducing activities that I typically engage in. The idea of me going from one destination to another, under my own power, and with choice for where I want to go has always been a way for me to relax and know that I don’t have to think about the stresses of the world. All I need to think about is concentrating on the road, getting to where I’m going, and being as safe as possible – and perhaps as a bonus, taking in the scenery and activity as well.

This entry is closer to me than quite a few others, mostly because of the fact that I’ve had to deal with those who I’ve loved engaging in this very fight against cancer, one of the worst and most insidious diseases ever. The agony of choosing between two outcomes that aren’t particularly good in order to get to a chance, and only a chance, that it might be beaten forever, is one that I’ve felt a lot while going through some of the same things that the developer went through. In a series that is meant in part to elicit some kind of feeling from the people playing the games in it, this one was harder than most.

Memory is perhaps our most precious resource, as it allows you to recall the things that are most important in your life, and be able to, more importantly, reflect on them and remember what you might have learned by them. Memory allows you to retain the skills you’ve learned as well as be cognizant of how far you’ve come in an effort to be able to better know how far you have to go and what potential you can reach. This is why the destruction of that memory, the eating away of it by disease, is perhaps one of the most terrifying prospects one can face.

One of the hardest things that I’ve had to accept in my life, as someone who values connections and relationships with others, is accepting the reality that for all the connections you make, some of them can strengthen and weaken, and sometimes drift in and out, of your life as time passes. A friendship once close can drift apart as life progresses, a connection made might seem to be sustainable only for it to experience a disconnect, and life in general can take us from circle to circle of people as we ourselves get to other places in our lives where priorities can change. I’ve always wanted to maintain and be significant in anyone’s life that I touch, and letting go of that can be difficult, which is why this game speaks to me more than others in the series.

Occasionally, at my busiest of days, I have a great deal of envy for pets, and in particular, dogs who are living their best life cared for by their owners and given the opportunity to explore and be, well, the best doggos they can be. While cats do this as well, the style in which they live life is distinctly different than those of dogs, many of whom are eternally curious, happy to run around in places, and dig and sniff to their heart’s content.

There’s a kind of wonder in the toys that you get while you’re growing up. As a kid, you’re impressionable and someone that has a certain sense of wonder about the world around you. This makes getting and playing with toys a kind of exponentially positive experience – it feeds into the curiosity that you’re experiencing and also serves as a way to be entertained and amazed at the possibilities of creativity through play. Sometimes that wonder can come from the simplest of toys, as well.