I had a conversation with a friend this weekend about in-school social workers using Wide Open Games\u00a0in their work with adolescent boys. My friend was saying how the games could help start conversations in a way that regular talk therapy sometimes struggles to with teenage boys. I love this idea, and it’s\u00a0not something I would’ve ever thought of on my own.<\/p>\n
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I was thinking of what sorts of games I would make for these hypothetical sullen middle-schoolers. I was getting a little stuck. Sometimes this happens when I think of what messages I could possibly have to send out into the world. What do I know? Do I know anything??<\/p>\n
Then my wife asked me, “What sort of advice would you want to give yourself<\/em> at that age?” That unlocked me. Instead of focusing on what I know now, I started thinking of everything I\u00a0didn’t<\/em> know then. There’s a hell of a lot more of that!<\/p>\n What do I wish I had known? What messages do I wish I received?\u00a0Yes, if I have learned a specific strategy that’s useful, I can share that, but I like this idea of thinking from a more audience-centric point of view. What’s worth hearing rather than what do I think is what’s worth saying? If there’s something I needed to hear, I know<\/em> that there are others who could use hearing the same thing.<\/p>\n And this doesn’t only apply to my teenage self, either. I’m giving my current self advice all the time. I don’t need to know any great secrets of life to do so – they’re just little things I’m working on.<\/p>\n I like thinking of my work this way. It’s humbling. It’s less pressurized, and I believe it will end up being more friendly and useful to players and readers.<\/p>\n So here’s my advice to myself with this piece: Don’t worry about needing to impart great wisdom to your readers. Just think of what advice you want to give yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I had a conversation with a friend this weekend about in-school social workers using Wide Open Games\u00a0in their work with adolescent boys. My friend was saying how the games could help start conversations in a way that regular talk therapy sometimes struggles to with teenage boys. I love this idea, and it’s\u00a0not something I would’ve… Continue reading Games *to* myself<\/span>