[TVGCTU] Bubble Spinner -- A Microcosm of Epic Proportions
A bit of a digression from the original mission of this blog, but I came across a game that one of my good friends sent me amidst my preparations for 5 finals. A daunting set of preparations which called for 0 distractions of any sort. -_-.
Bubble Spinner. I'm sure you've heard of it, but if not, know that it hooks you like Harold to Mr. Fudgie Bars, like Helga to Arnold, like Lorenzo to his schedule.
This game isn't special in any way. In fact, its just like the million other match-the-units games littered across the web, except its ambient music is quite comforting and uncharacteristic of arcade games. You shoot a colored bubble at a set of other bubbles and try to match 3 or more and try to complete as many consecutive matches as possible.
What was different this time, was that I began to take notice of the emotions, thoughts and strategies that crossed my mind as I sprayed bubbles for about 45 minutes. Little trends began to appear and patterns of thought developed. I took these trends and patterns and generalized them to real life as I do for these cartoons. Here's my message:
Life is a peculiar thing. We each have one, and within it, we all have a purpose which comes to fruition based on the progression of our life's events. Some get lucky and find their path early, others bear the blessings of learning through struggle. Regardless of how or when, our lives' trailblazing requires us to step into the brush. This brush is the life outside your door. Specifically, its the life you want to live for your remaining days, or in other words, what you need to be happy.
Its not easy to find what makes you you. Out of the endless possibilities of occurrences made even more confusing by the theoretical infinity of our universe, we're supposed to find the right combination of moves that sets us up for what we consider to be success.
School has taught us that success is optimized and maximized by planning. You have to know where to start, and from there know what paths are available to you, and be able to see a few steps ahead to judge which path is right for you. However, like in Bubble Spinner, you don't always get an ideal situation. Not every color is placed in twos for you to point, click and be automatically one step closer to your goal. And even if you do get that lucky, there's no telling how far you have to go to know you've made the right choices (which calls upon the saying that "happiness is a journey, not a destination").
Sometimes the hand you're dealt gives you teasers to the ideal, or just straight up nothing. Here, you gotta just assess what choices you have, and pick one that doesn't exactly put your foot in the door, but gets you a step closer to the window next to it.
Sometimes you know an opportunities there, but not within arm's reach. This could be your dream job that you may not currently be qualified for, a girl/guy you like that may not feel the same, or even a grade in a class that depends on points you may or may not have gotten to achieve. When life smacks you with apples like these, don't give up. Don't try to reset. Go for it. Close your eyes, take an educated guess, spray if you have to, but nevertheless, go for it. What's the worst that can happen? Sure you may miss completely, but know that life keeps going, the bubbles keep spinning, and more opportunities, different opportunities, and perhaps BETTER opportunities may result from that struggle. Don't be afraid of failure, for failure is but life's greatest teacher.
So just because you can't always lay out how your days going to be, or perhaps you happen to be a little black clouds preferred rain-zone, or even have just struck a random streak of bad luck...don't be discouraged. No matter what, there's always a way to stay in the game. Sure the game may change, but change is not bad. Change is just another test of self, and who doesn't want to see how far they can go? How strong they really are? How brutally wrong others' judgments can be?
If things don't go your way, most importantly, be OPEN-MINDED (number one rule if you want to learn to be creative with life's games). Once your emotions are under control and your psychological and neurological pathways have fully opened, take a step back, weigh your options, and look not for what is absolute, whether absolutely right, or wrong, but the choice you know you can work with and brings you closer to greater happiness.
I'm sorry this was so disorganized, but I wanted to throw this down before it escaped my mind or went through some subconscious rearrangement. My readers are all intelligent, capable people, so I'm sure you get my point. Respond with your take on it, I know someone can help me realign what I'm trying to say!