When I'm not busy tapping away at my keyboard on a blog post, I like to unwind with...even more words! While most folks who write a lot like the idea of getting as far away from language as possible, I spend a good deal of my free time play word games.
My three favorite ones are: Boggle, Lexicon and Super Letter Linker. I also have versions of Scrabble and Anagrams housed on my computer too.
The two I play the most often are Boggle and Lexicon. Both are timed games played against the computer in which the letter tiles I plan to use in my next turn always seem to be used first by the cotton pick'n computer!! It used to drive me right up the wall. There I was, set to put down a killer word worth mega points and my computerized opponent would snatch the key vowel or consonant I needed. Arghh!
I've learned to handle these situations better by employing a bit of wu wei. Instead of attempting to formulate a word to spell out during my next turn -- while the computer takes its turn -- I stare at the ceiling. When my turn comes, I quickly scan the letter board to see which letters currently are available and then, often, I make a killer word without consciously thinking about it.
I realized that all my careful planning was based on old information. Since the whole point of these two games is to use ONLY the letters available when it's your turn, I was creating a lot of internal stress by trying to plot things out ahead of time with letters that may or may not be available.
While playing word games on one's computer is not an important facet of life, I offered this example solely to illustrate how Taoist principles can easily be integrated into our everyday lives.
P.S. If any of you know of a word game that is fun AND free, please let me know. I'm always on the lookout for new ones. : )
My three favorite ones are: Boggle, Lexicon and Super Letter Linker. I also have versions of Scrabble and Anagrams housed on my computer too.
The two I play the most often are Boggle and Lexicon. Both are timed games played against the computer in which the letter tiles I plan to use in my next turn always seem to be used first by the cotton pick'n computer!! It used to drive me right up the wall. There I was, set to put down a killer word worth mega points and my computerized opponent would snatch the key vowel or consonant I needed. Arghh!
I've learned to handle these situations better by employing a bit of wu wei. Instead of attempting to formulate a word to spell out during my next turn -- while the computer takes its turn -- I stare at the ceiling. When my turn comes, I quickly scan the letter board to see which letters currently are available and then, often, I make a killer word without consciously thinking about it.
I realized that all my careful planning was based on old information. Since the whole point of these two games is to use ONLY the letters available when it's your turn, I was creating a lot of internal stress by trying to plot things out ahead of time with letters that may or may not be available.
While playing word games on one's computer is not an important facet of life, I offered this example solely to illustrate how Taoist principles can easily be integrated into our everyday lives.
P.S. If any of you know of a word game that is fun AND free, please let me know. I'm always on the lookout for new ones. : )
i like playing the physical version of boggle and scrabble... when i'm on the computer i don't really like to play games for some reason. but i also recreate with words... reading books! :P
ReplyDeleteBook? What's a book?
ReplyDelete