Life Lessons From Unexpected Places

Something I like to do is look at what happens in day-to-day life and observe it as if it were in a good movie; one with depth. Exceptional movies, books, works of fiction in general all play with symbolism and themes. These include things like recurring objects or totems, actions happening at just the right moment, someone walking on the scene just as another person leaves in perfect timing.

A basic example of this in ordinary life can be having someone text or call you just as you were talking about them. Another can be wind or rain outside during a seemingly innocuous conversation that later reveals more than you could have guessed.

One that amused me happened not long ago occurred while I was getting ready to take a shower. At the time, I had a ring that I was using to track my sleep and general heart rate. I'd had it for four weeks and was satisfied with the data I was getting from it. I could see how a glass of wine or caffeine both negatively impacted my sleep. The visualizations were powerful and helped me change some habits. And, I felt like I had learned all it had to show me.

Before getting into the shower I stood up from the toilet, turned, flushed, started taking my ring off and dropped it for the very first time. It landed perfectly in the middle of the bowl at the apex of the flush and vanished. The whole thing took less than two seconds.

It literally went down the drain. Its role in my life was done and it was swiftly executed like a character from Game of Thrones.

Then, as if on cue while I was in the "no way" shock, Emily walks by. Flush → Drop ring → Ring vanishes down the toilet → Emily walks by. We had a good laugh about it while shrugging and moving on.

Looking at the world like this gets me thinking about finding more beauty in my walks during lock down. These things are always there and now they just pop a little bit more. The more I can see and appreciate these moments of beauty the more present they continue to be in my life. This certainly plays into the Frequency Illusion (Baader-Meinhof phenomenon) where, upon learning something you see it everywhere. These can lead to fun moments of creativity where something happens, a car honks and a crow flies north, and I spin something satisfying up as quickly as I can, the other routes are blocked; follow your true path.

I'm sure there's a line that gets drawn somewhere between looking for symbolism in one’s life and being superstitious. A black cat! Duck and cover! If you break a mirror and then spill a glass of water on your computer I would sooner say confirmation bias than a terminal case of bad luck.

On the flip side, I also like looking at works of fiction and try to superimpose life lessons and narrative symbolism onto them where they probably weren't intended. The more unintended (to my primitive mind at least) the better.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Brought to you by Super Mario Brothers in 1985. You'll get to Princess Toadstool someday, Mario.

Lately I've been playing the 2016 release of Doom. A brief aside, I can tell you this game kicks ass. Note that I am a fan of aggressive gameplay styles and heavy metal so this game is made for me. As far as I can tell, the way to succeed while playing this game is to constantly, aggressively pursue your enemies. Never stand still, never run away, never hide; move and execute quickly.

Why not take that framework and see how I can apply it PRODUCTIVELY to my actual life?

What would Doom Guy do (WWDGD)?

• He'd evaluate what he can see.

• He'd choose a demon to slay.

• He'd select the right weapon to use.

• He'd exploit the demon's patterns and behavior.

• He'd completely destroy the demon beyond any shadow of a doubt.

He'd take in what is in front of him, not worry about the future or dwell on the past. He'd prioritize his objectives. He'd choose the right tool to accomplish his objective. He'd make the circumstances play to his advantage to gain the most leverage. He'd be adaptive with his strategy until the objective is met.

There are many types of games out there. Each one deserving its own style of play. And, generally, they all boil down to:

1. Determine your objective 2. Accomplish your objective.

Cover based shooters are more planned out and strategic. Real-time strategy games are akin to chess (certainly chess can be made a metaphor for life). And then there’s Doom where you’re best off running straight at a demon to rip out its heart with your bare hands after sawing another demon in half with the chainsaw you keep in your back pocket.

Imagining how to apply that to ordinary, now locked-down, life is such a contrast that I delight in how ridiculous it is.

"Alright, today I want to make keto cookies, do tissue work for my squat depth, read these three things, call my parents and start making a game with Unity... What would Doom guy do? He'd aggressively run at and destroy his problems.

Okay.

Prepare to engage."