I'm sure we all have them. Things we don't tell people or admit. There may be many reasons; we can't reconcile them with our image, we don't think friends will like them or understand, legal reasons maybe, or whatever. In one organisation I am a member of there is a saying we're as sick as our secrets. the corollary being 'the truth will set us free' (apologies to whoever wrote that bit in the bible but I am sure we're out of copyright now).
I'm off to Hanmer for 3 days and I feel like explaining why.
When I first joined Facebook I did a quiz, 'how geeky are you?' I don't see myself as particularly geeky, I can't programme, I don't like Star Trek or Lord of the Rings and I don't own a blue anorak. I was stunned to fly through the questions and score a rating of more geeky than any of my friends who had done the quiz and 75% of Facebook users. This was perhaps the first inkling of the issue. This year, after a series of major changes in my life in 08 I decided I needed to meet more people and get back to doing things I love.
I immediately rejected salsa dancing (I'm a male and I have a partner), cricket (which takes hours and hours and hours and I'm crap anyway), and getting back into politics (I'd rather have my head superglued to a Holden).
This weekend I am off to a board game weekend. Most Wednesdays this year I have been playing board games, I love them, have done since I was small. I used to invent them. And the idea of spending four days playing lots of them really appeals. This isn't monopoly the game of life or Cluedo, but Eurogames; high-end strategy and complicated multi-objective board games. I'm even a member and patron on Boardgamegeek.com. I browse catalogues and watch videos on board game reviews.
Why do I love boardgames? They're social, the people who play them are interesting (and almost all are intelligent), and you have to think.
But the most interesting thing I think is that it addresses one of life's great issues. Life is very complicated, it can be very unfair and often is. Your best efforts are sometimes not good enough, and other times you have incredible luck. I always wonder sometimes where the rule book is. With board games the variables are all defined and controlled; how much luck, how much skill are all quantified and controlled. If someone has an unfair run of luck it will be evened out. You can learn and improve. You can make a hash out of a situation and make bad decisions and at the end start again.
And people also play games with the same approach to how they live. When you get experienced you can work to adjust your playing style. This isn't just true of games. I noticed it when I worked in a supermarket when I was studying; the way people approached their work was exactly how they approached everything else in their lives (work, problems, study, relationships...).
I like games them as they can take you to other places and scenarios, there are thousands of modern games, and a huge industry churning out board games on just about anything you can think of.
Board games are metaphors and they are a metaphor in themselves.
Now as with all deep dark secrets some of you will never think well of me again. Some may smirk. Or say what a freak. Some will say - that's interesting. Others might want to give games a try. I'd ask - Is how you react the way you often to react to new things? And that is why board games are really good for learning about yourself.
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