I have recently been wasting time by playing The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess that I never finished on Wii instead of doing something productive like writing, or writing songs, or playing music, or reading a book, or taking care of chores around the house. I must say that I am enjoying playing it (even though the storyline is sometimes a little less motivating than I sometimes prefer). When I play a game like Zelda or any RPG really, I always need to have the storyline pushing me to the next step, so I can see what happens in the story (must be the literati in me). There is enough in The Twilight Princess to push me forward.
What I like about this game and the game franchise in general is that I have to solve puzzles in order to get where I want to go. Each room in a dungeon has its trick to get through it. Sometimes things are hidden in corners. Usually you have to have some kind of tool to get what you want. For instance, say I have to cut a rope to lower a bridge-- well, I have to have a bow and an arrow in order to cut the rope. Or say I need an item that I cannot reach, then I have to have the boomerang to retrieve the item for me. Regardless of how long and arduous the journey is to get where I am going, I have the small victories of crossing each room and getting to the next door to keep me motivated, and my small sense of accomplishment is enough for me at the time. It is odd, but I show a lot more patience in playing an inconsequential video game than I do in life.
Take for example the attainment of my Master's degree. There were times when I just wanted the thing already. I didn't want to go through the steps, and I had trouble celebrating the small victories, like making an A on a paper or an A in a class as a whole. Of course, I had to have certain tools to even pursue my Master's degree: namely a Bachelor's degree and a good score on my GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). I also needed tools along the way, such as EBSCO Host to find articles to help me write papers and the indispensable MLA Handbook. I often found myself discouraged and unable to see that these seemingly small achievements brought me closer to the end goal. In Zelda games, you have to make it through the whole dungeon area before you can face the boss of the dungeon and attain whatever it is you are after (which are pieces of shadow in my current game (they were pieces of the tri-force in the original game)). In the "dungeon" that was my Master's degree, it was the writing of my thesis. Sure, it was hard, and I kept having to use all of my tools to beat the boss, but I finally finished that thesis, and then the Master's degree was mine.
Another thing about The Twilight Princess is that I often find myself having to jump over these gaps to get from place to place. There are rock pillars that stand out in the middle of nowhere, and it is a long drop if I don't make it. If I don't make it, then I die, but is it isn't really much of a death. All I have to do is select "Continue" when it asks me if I want to try again. Zelda forces me to take risks that I would not otherwise take.
Too often in life, I am unwilling to take the risks. Take, for instance, my unwavering desire to play live music and write songs. I still haven't really pursued this. I am afraid of rejection. I am afraid that I won't like my own songs (and I don't like everything about my songs). This fear seems to paralyze me. It seems like too much of a final death if I don't succeed, but in reality, I could just choose to "Continue" and try again. Write another song. Play another show. Sure, I might lose heart(s) (heh), but eventually, I can probably get it right, or at least right enough to get to the next door.
From this moment forward, I think I will choose to be a little more like Link: I will make sure I have the right tools to get where I want to be. I will celebrate the small victories throughout the process of getting where I am going. And I will take the risks necessary to get there-- it's usually not life or death, not really.
No comments:
Post a Comment