Winning or losing: they both contribute in understanding what works, and iterating upon it

Sometimes, it takes a lot of effort, do overs, and what feels like an absolute eternity of retries to get something exactly the way you want it.


Spite is a perfectly valid reason for getting out of bed in the morning: trust me

That’s why today’s words of wisdom are iteration salvation, and how the concept can be a saving grace in times of hardship. I looked back on the week, and realized a common thread that ran through a lot of the happenings in the world of gaming, from constantly pushing back about an abusive market, in possessing a resilient spirit in never giving up, refusing to let fear drive you away, or simply standing courageously in the face of defeat, they all shared that commonality of trying and trying again, until we all got it just right.

In that regard, and borrowing from the very notion of gaming itself, one of the key ingredients of great games, is just how long developers usually spend honing them to perfection. The best games that have ever come out took years to develop, and a lot of that time was iterating on what did and did not work, and doing it over and over and over again, until it was the most ideal version of itself it could be. Testing is key, and you’ll never know what works or doesn’t, until you put it to the test…to a nauseating degree.

Within that spirit, I borrow a quote not from a philosopher today to reinforce the notion of my wisdom, but one of my favorite poets, that being Charles Bukowski, in what is usually paraphrased as “find what you love and let it kill you”. The full passage reads thusly:

“My Dear,
Find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it’s much better to be killed by a lover.
-Falsely yours”

A great sentiment, and one that stretches even beyond the realms of traditional romance, in advocating for iteration salvation, in all of it’s maddeningly messy glory. No matter what it is you care about, truly love, and have nothing but the utmost respect for, do yourself a favor, and follow Bukowski’s advice: let it kill you. Do it so much that you begin to absolutely loathe it…and then do it some much. This is taking the idea of iteration salvation and pushing it to it’s utmost extremes, though it gets to the very heart of the matter. In order to master a craft, truly understand an intense love, or become one with an art form or discipline, spend enough time with it through iteration salvation, so that it ends up completely destroying the very visage of your entity in the rampant midst of a torrid entanglement of tremendous temerity. Only then will you truly find yourself through your perseverance.

As always, take care of yourself, and others.
~Pashford