Some days are bright, others are dim. Others are rainy and some hold clear skies…
No matter the day, you are where you are.
There’s a silver lining to every moment. Acknowledge it. Embrace it.
To focus on the good is a challenge on it own, but allows for fires out of your control to be acknowledged as the beautiful flame that it is…
Perhaps a new start, or to rid yourself of something.
Learn from each bad experience and take the good within it.
To anyone who doesn’t know, I work as a Removal Technician Manager for a funeral home.
Yes. I move dead people.
To be open, I don’t only move the dead. I respect them and handle them with grace and dignity, as all the dead deserve.
The sound of burning exists. Retorts cremating those claimed by Death. Memories and ash are all that will remain.
Heat creeps from doors which transform flesh to ash.
A warm welcome in the winter season.
When she smiles,
my legs tremble.
Shakes the come from within.
An empty space.
The darkness resonates.
A single note is played.
Creativity is such a wonderful thing. Imagine where we would be without the act of being creative: inventions, innovation, science, engineering; creativity opens the gates to a world of endless possibilities, which we all utilize in our every day lives without acknowledging it.
Allowing yourself to be creative is like releasing a unique, personal form of yourself into the world where you can feel free from boundaries set by reality. This can also be a visual or auditory freedom: paintings, sculptures, writings, dance, speech, etc. Being creative is allowing yourself to be free from your own mental prison and letting loose to whatever feels right. Accept that it’s okay to be creative and know that in the universe of creativity anything goes, and that is totally okay…
Close your eyes and picture yourself doing something fun. What is it that you see? If your first response is, “I don’t know”, you’re thinking too hard. How about this: Close your eyes, take a deep breath, hold it for four seconds and release. Instead of trying to see something, what is the first random thing that comes to mind? Jumping on a trampoline? Playing in a marching band on a snowy evening while carolers throw peanuts at you? Riding a purple giraffe into a horde of tuba players that have no ears? There is no wrong answer. The goal is for you to just let your mind loose and let creativity flow freely for a single moment. Practice this a few times a day and there will be a time where you can put the most random things together and it will still fit somehow, no matter how crazy it might sound.
This is a form of pure mental freedom.
Embrace chaos in the mind and let go. It’s relaxing, fun and will play a huge part into your Creative self while providing you with a great form of self mental care.
Be careful not to mix this with Automatic Drawing technique. Although Automatic Drawing is a nice meditative process (which I HIGHLY encourage you to try, artist or not), being creative with it is arguably counter productive.
Being creative can be extremely challenging, but first find out what kind of creative outlet fits your thought process and your mind. There are many different ways to be creative and finding the right kind of creative outlet helps the creative process flow easier than you can imagine. You’ve learned how to open your mind, but unless you can control the flood of creativity into something, you just end up with mindless thoughts that might come off as a waste of mental energy. So where do you channel the flow of creativity? This is where your Creative Outlet comes into play.
Later on, let’s talk about the Creative Outlet and how to figure out which works best for us. Until then, let your mind run free time to time.
Yes, it is a hard thing to do, but when you master it your mind will thank you.
With Time Traveling Ninjas, moral filled short stories you’d probably want to tell your children and pets, demons and sass combined with tight 2D platforming, The Messenger pulls off a fantastic blend of nostalgia, reward, flow and creative writing.
But first I want to start off by saying, “This game kicked ass.”
The tutorial is straightforward and quick. Naturally it forces the player to use each ability at least once when you and then test the skill immediately. One thing that it does well is combining the skills for base progression:
It’s just that simple. Remember the good old Screw Attack from the Metroid series, that just forced you forward? Well imagine doing that but being able to sit still in the air as long as you master the timing of the Jump > Slash skill combo.
You might be thinking, …”that’s it?” No. The level design is built to accommodate the skills, and well designed levels they are. Most objects you will be hitting in mid air contain Time Shards (currency/xp) and this design choice not only pushes a good forward momentum with reward and visual aid, but it forces you to practice the most basic skill set necessary.
Once things start to get comfortable, you should always expect developers to add more challenge with the progression…
“Get ready for an amazing experience” – probably said by every kind of developer out there.
Being a Game Designer and Developer, you’ll get to see basic explanations of games, their designs and what my brain thinks of them.
That means there will be spoilers, so please keep that in mind as you read.
Enjoy.
The Reticent Owl 