There are two main programs to which we are currently subscribing: Goals and Life Improvement. Both topics are exactly what they sound like. My girlfriend found guides towards both and we're practicing them simultaneously. For organization's sake, I'll label each blog accordingly.
Here's step one of Goals: Envisioning the Goal.
The Goal exercise involves aiming for three goals: a Small Goal, a Moderate Goal, and a Crazy Goal. The guide recommends constantly envisioning these goals, viewing them as entirely plausible, and convincing yourself that viewing them as such will help you reach the goal. I'm not really sure if I can attain the third part of that, but the focus should help nonetheless.
When you begin the program, you are to spend 30 minutes visualizing your Crazy Goal. We decided to do this right before bed, with our eyes closed and the lights off.
We didn't last long.
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I've always loved Collectible Card Games. I've played at least a dozen in my life and own literally thousands of cards. If you've heard of it, I can probably hold my own in it. So, after several years, I've tried my hand at crafting one of my own. Several of the attempts have failed either due to lack of interest or my profound revelation that the game I'm dealing with is a horrible idea.
One's stayed with me, though, and I've designed over a hundred cards for it: Grimm Forest. It's a card game based on the various fairy tales we grew up with. It reconciles each stories mythos with one another (mostly for fun) and is, thematically, about the light and dark in each of us. I love this game and have been working on it for a while.
So my vision was this: A tournament. A competition for all things geek and Grimm Forest has a table in the middle of the room. Only a couple of players are left, and there's only a moderate amount of interest, but it's there.
I show up to the game, my favorite deck in my pocket. It's not as good as everyone else's even though I made the dang game, but I don't care. I turn the corner and see the last two players engaged in battle. One of them is a late 20's geek, much like myself, who has every card and memorized all the wording. He's equipped with a knowledge of all the loopholes in the game's rules and an understanding of the metagame. The other one is a young teen who doesn't know what "metagame" means. He simply loves the game. He made his deck from a cobbling of cards he was given as a gift and some boosters he could afford with his small budget. Somehow, though, it's taken him clear into the finals.
I sit with them and watch the game, my mind taking in every move. At this point in the vision, I watch the game play out for a while. I won't bore you with these details, but it's fascinating for me to watch. I comment on game design, compliment their strategies, and generally enjoy what's going on.
They're having fun and forming life memories of exciting tournaments and defeating their rivals, and I'm the one who gave them the tools for these moments.
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As I've told many people before, Grimm Forest is the culmination of many things in my soul: The love of fairy tales, the constant battle of evil and good within all of us, my competitive edge, a love of games... I hope to see it published and played someday. It's one of my life goals.
... Scratch that, I will see it published some day. It's just a matter of getting there.
