I love this quote from author Jay Gatsby, “For the most part, it is our own minds that are the masters of our fate.” I think that is true for us all. We think, speak, and act without thinking, speaking, or even speaking about what we are doing.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’d much rather be in a place where I knew exactly why I was doing what I was doing. When we’re lost in thought, we rarely even notice our minds are occupied. It’s a very passive state of mind. We can only control what we notice. But, when we’re out of our minds, we are in control of ourselves and our actions. It’s like having total control of our thoughts and our actions.
Maybe this is why I’m more comfortable with other people’s thoughts and actions. I only know about myself and I have the freedom to do what I want without the fear of being wrong. I can feel safe. For me, I get to decide when to do what I want, without having to worry about someone else being there to judge me or make me feel like I don’t have a say in the matter. I’m not always right.
There is a way to be in control of our actions and we can choose to be. You can decide when you want to be on the beach in this time loop, but you can also decide how you want to feel about it. Maybe you want to feel like it’s okay to be in control of your thoughts and actions, and enjoy the freedom to do what you want while feeling as though you’re in control.
I think that’s exactly how I want to feel about playing the game. Or maybe I just want to make the game seem like a good idea. That’s not so much to be self-aware (and I’ll admit I’m self-conscious about it) but to feel like I’m doing something good by being part of it.
I’m a bit of a fan of game designers who understand the importance of the “I’m a person” statement. And I’m a fan of game designers who know that they have to be self-aware about their own role in their games. So if I wanted to design a game where “I’m a person” was the most important thing, I’d probably want to write it as a female character.
But how does this apply to me? Well, I’m a woman. I’m not self-aware. But I think I’m self-aware enough to realize that I have to take responsibility for my actions and decisions. I’m not going to claim to be a perfect person, but I’m going to try to be better.
This is why you can’t have a game about a character who is a person. A person can only have a person as a role. I am not going to claim to be a perfect person, but I am going to try to be better.
The problem with this is that being self-aware doesn’t automatically mean you know what to do. Sure you can be aware of your actions and not be aware of the consequences, but being aware of your actions doesn’t mean you necessarily know what to do. In fact, it might make you do things that you might not have done before.
So, what makes a person self-aware? Well, first of all, a self-aware person sees things from all angles. That’s good because that means that they are not just oblivious to the consequences of their actions but to the actions of others. The second aspect of self-awareness is that a person is aware of the consequences of their actions.