Summary of Summer and Plan for Life 1 - Gaming

So, even though in many ways I consider myself 'retired' in this aspect of my life since I've done masterful things in the following areas:

Written and Published a supplement with a major rpg company
Run a gaming company
Run a masterful PBEM that was the crescendo of 10 years of epic play
Run almost two dozens awesome face to face campaigns
Played almost every conceivable character
Done hundreds of random 'things' I've wanted to do in games.

So, I think I can call that a lifetime of achievement. Obviously I could do more or less, but I'm satisfied with it. But even when 'retired' one can do things.

In this case, I've spent the summer thinking of a lot of things. Recovering, drifting and the like. It might seem a little silly to 'plan' one's life but things have been so upside down for me that the inertia that most people have simply doesn't apply to me. Everything was literally in flux. And it still is but I'm finally at a point where I can at least pick *A* direction and move that way.

Dragon Con 2010 was a crucible for me, which was very painful in some ways, but it was also at the same time a creative reset. I had a rather nice LARP experience that was quite fun. I have determined that I'm going to want to go back next year, which this year was very much in flux.

The chance of my staying in Atlanta at this point has gone up to about 67%. Basically, I'm going to try and make as much of a life here as I can. I'm moving out on my own again in early December and I'm going to spend six months after that establishing as many friendships and ties as I can, building a life as if I intended to stay a long time. If I feel satisified with my life and I'm still employed I'll stay. If I lose my job again, or I really feel only partially fulfilled, then I'll give some place else a try.

The night of my divorce, I had a conversation with someone that emotionally scarred me, forcing me to question a lot of my associations and hobbies. I've decided that while I do need to expand my life into other areas, quite frankly I'm satisfied and proud of a lot of the 'geekier' things I've done. Here's a hint: There were (by my count) about 40% of women for every guy at Dragon con, in some of the most nerdlike hobbies imaginable. So the primary argument of my 'nemesis' as she referred to herself, is essentially null and void. The flip side of that is that most of them are about 10 year younger....good for younger generations, not so helpful for me but (shrugs) the other major decision I've made is that while I'm open to dating at this point, I'm going to spend my time putting my damn life back together first since I still have occasional mental/emotional break downs. In fact, the truth is that given all the baggage I carry at this point, those won't ever entirely go away. Its a fact I have to understand going forward. High maintenance, impersonal or empathetical companions are best avoided in general, but especially in my case because I'd end up emotionally investing in someone that is just going to cause problems later on down the line. One step at a time.

So 'the plan' is as follows:

While I'll still do incidental board games and table top rpg's with friends, I'm kind of 'done' with that on a regular basis. LARP's on the other hand, I've found I love. I'm definitely upping my activity in that area, so I'll be spending the next few months finding one (and only one) that I really like. I'm kind of partial to trying out the Forest of Doors first because they ran the LARP I liked so much at Dragon Con.

The second thing I'm going to do is something competitive and something physical. If the Martial Art X (something I hope to start after the 15th of this month whatever it might be) is fun and I enjoy it, I'll try tournaments in that area. If it isn't, I might try competitive shooting (since I now know from experience I like shooting guns....which shouldn't really be a surprise) or perhaps billiards. That decision will ultimately be made at the end of the year.

More posted each day as I plot out my 'life'.

Oh and I'm retiring Red Anvil at the end of the year. What that means EXACTLY is still kind of vague but it certainly doesn't mean I'm not going to be doing many creative things. In fact, in some ways, this is only the beginning.