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Engagement Strike 13 in Real Life

Posted April 3rd, 2013 at 11:17 AM by Sylvano the Wasabus
I know several friends and good people who seem to be just sort of hanging right now. Not hanging by their necks or feet but rather just sort of waiting around for life to come and scoop them up. But life doesn’t scoop you up. It passes you by.

One fellow was in a different country where there were many civilian protests, some of which were violent, and he declared himself to be on the fence- he was against what the government was doing but the anger of the protestors was too much for him too. What could he do? So he decided to do nothing.

Yes, I think, doing nothing is doing something. It’s making a choice- a choice to not engage. A choice to turn the other way and ignore something- and isn’t that the same as being indifferent or against it? It has the same result. My friend was against what the government was doing and yet by choosing nothing, was he not condoning it?

He did not have to join in the protests. A person with imagination can think of a thousand other ways, non violent friendly ways to help things along- things as simple as baking cookies and bringing them to the protestors, or stepping out of the protestors line and offering them to the police. I’m sure the police would have refused them but maybe it would have changed the direction of events. Encouraged mutual respect for both sides.

I’m not saying cookies are the answer to the world’s problems (though secretly I believe they are) but what I’m trying to say is that by doing something, a person can influence others, who influence others and groups influence events.

My friend whined because he was sitting on the fence but that is what he has always done all of his life. And he always whines about it too, because he likes to think that his lack of engagement with life wasn’t really his fault. But I think that it is.

Our society has become one of watchers. We watch sports, “play” video games, watch TV, watch “Reality” shows, sit in church - the people I know who are unhappy have filled their hours with activities which do not involve them. They are only required to show up. Their input in not required in their own life.

A woman I know is searching for meaning in her life. She doesn’t do any real searching so she just repaints and redoes her house over and over. She hires painters and decorators and watches them work. She’s still unhappy.

I won’t pretend that I know a lot or have a great big pot of wisdom. I don’t understand much of the world but perhaps that’s because much of it doesn’t make sense?

But I do know that I personally – and most bodies- are meant for moving around – action. When I do things, I feel good. Even hanging up laundry seems to make me breathe better. I am involved in a few things, but the involvement is active.

When we play Scape we are constantly evolving our game, trying to perfect, adding new ideas and new customs. Most games are followed by twenty minutes of discussion.

The discussion can be as simple as appreciating what happened or as complex as reworking the pointing for no-water penalty on our cards and discussing strategies on how to engage certain figures or terrain features.

I know that it can be hard to participate in life when no one seems to be interested in having you around. Action is the first part. Finding the right place for it is the second.

A couple years ago I joined a sport league and played until my knee fell off. But I also was the only person on my team who shouted encouragement from the sidelines. I think it embarrassed some people. I knew I felt embarrassed doing it. But I kept doing it because I wanted to be involved. When my knee blew up I came to a couple games but when I realized I was going to be out for the season I told them I was dropping out. To my surprise, they tried to talk me out of it. They wanted me on the sidelines, shouting.

I don’t know how to tell you how to become engaged. It’s trial and error. You’ll get better at it as time goes on. The more you do, the more you do. You don’t have to do anything of course- but if you’re unhappy, why wouldn’t you try to change that?

If you don’t know how to change that you begin by trying things – it’s like riding a bike. You don’t know how when you start but you figure it out. It’s true of pretty much everything.

When I was young I joined the Navy, which was not for me. I went to Africa and worked with Save The Children. I went to Europe in search of myself and found out that I was not lost, but wherever I chose to be. Home is where I made it. None of those things were what I wanted to do but by doing them I learned much about myself. It was my searching time.

Engagement Strike 13 is an awesome ability. In our games no one engages Arkmer. He stands there, doing nothing, waiting to be engaged. Waiting to use his awesome ability. The game passes him by. His team loses. And it’s not his fault because no one engaged him.
Total Comments 4

Comments

Old
greygnarl's Avatar
Great blog! (The Arkmer tie-in came a bit late so it felt tacked on.)

I know exactly what you mean about wanting to do something. When I'm up and around I feel so much better.
Posted April 3rd, 2013 at 06:51 PM by greygnarl greygnarl is offline
Old
flameslayer93's Avatar
@grey: something tells me it was supposed to have that tacked on feel.

:applaud:
Posted April 3rd, 2013 at 07:41 PM by flameslayer93 flameslayer93 is offline
Old
Arch-vile's Avatar
Nice blog, Sylvano. (Arkmer is a favorite of mine.)
Posted April 3rd, 2013 at 07:45 PM by Arch-vile Arch-vile is online now
Old
chas's Avatar
You are right. Keep your dukes (and your ego) up!

"We're much too pretty to die."
--Nathan Fillion as Sgt. Mal Reynolds, during a hopeless battle, in Firefly


"I really am ruggedly handsome, aren't I?"
--Nathan Fillion as Rick Castle in Castle.
Posted April 5th, 2013 at 04:57 AM by chas chas is offline
Updated April 5th, 2013 at 05:07 AM by chas
 
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