I admit freely to some necessities in my life.Oxygen - that's one.
Chocolate - but of course.
The Internet - I know I could survive without it, but why would I want to?
And Bejeweled Blitz.
It's one of those mindless but HIGHLY addictive games that you can download in a minute and waste hundreds - nah, thousands - of useful hours playing it.
These games are carefully designed - they obviously make money for someone. I love the following observations from a game designer about Bejeweled:
A bunch of social features -- leaderboards and achievements -- making it massively multiplayer in a lightweight but fun way - simple to understand; two clicks and you're in - presents a clear problem with a clear solution - provides an element of randomness / unpredictability / intermittent reward. The reward system and its cascading consequences ensure that we achieve a variable but deeply satisfying result from our simple, clear action.
But the title of this blog (which hopefully drew you in) reflects a comment my oldest daughter made about playing the game (and since she normally at least doubles my highest score, I was paying attention):
PLAY THE PIECES YOU HAVE, NOT THE ONES YOU WANT.
This has helped my game considerably.
And I think it's also appropriate advice for life.
So much of our lives seems to be wasted in "what ifs" and "and only when" - it's sort of a refusal to deal with our lives at that particular moment.We want certain pieces - the perfect companion, the ideal job, the right housing - and until we get those pieces, we by god are not gonna be happy or content or fulfilled.
While we miss out on the majority of our lives - waiting for those pieces.
Just a thought.
