609 Zen And The Art Of Allowing Yourself To Be Influenced

Recently, I finished reading Zen and the Art of the Motorcycle. Unfortunately this is a games-focused blog, so I can’t wax poetic endlessly about my opinions on it. (spoiler, I loved it. well, most of it.)

But, it has got me thinking about things in life we allow to influence us.

Really, this entire blog is about being influenced and inspired. I didn’t set out to do it like this, but it’s become of sort of game design journal. Things that happen to me in my life directly influence the types of games I create and write about. And in some ways, the things I create on the blog directly influence my life. It’s a two-way street. Well, it’s more like a one way street with cars driving either direction they want. Which is how many of the streets in rural Italy are like.

When I met Madeleine, many of my posts were affected (and still are!). She has a heavy focus in her life on food, which has by proximity caused me to care a lot more about food. It led me to think more critically about food, and then apply that to my ideas of interactivity and game design.

This has happened with many other things too… my partner Kevin, my brother Lance, moving to Oakland, moving to Italy, traveling to Japan, every game I play, and so on. These are the things that affect this game design journal, and in return affect me.

But, I think it’s most important to note that I’m open and receptive to it (maybe thanks to Kevin in many ways). This isn’t what my initial idea of what this would’ve been. But letting it evolve in this way has been a very positive thing. So, now I have to consciously allow myself to be influenced to get the most out of this.

We are constantly being influenced in small, unknown ways. We can’t do anything about this. But if we open up ourselves to be influenced and are more consciously aware of when it’s happening, it can lead to a lot of really interesting and new experiences.

[ Today I Was Playing: Two Dots ]

#game-opinion