My life unfolds in a small room: 1 desk and chair by the door 1 window 1 cot-like bed 1 bookshelf 1 fan 1 closet This room is my prison. It makes me a lethargic caged animal, like the lion at the zoo who just sleeps stretched out in the sun. It stifles my desire to scream and knock down one of the walls. It turns my rage to despondent tears. It turns my snark to soft meekness that wraps itself in sleep for self-preservation till soon I stop using all my room’s small space and just curl up on my bed. And soon this cell becomes a haven against the scary sprawling world too big for a tired mind like mine to navigate. It gives me rest when I am weary. It hides my tears from prying eyes. It lets me think my thoughts uninterrupted. I’m the queen of this place. It’s mine to use as I see fit. Nothing can be lost, and I cannot be lost in space so small. In my prison, I am free. But I know it’s not real freedom. It’s a mockery of
I mentioned in my first post that one of my hobbies is dungeons and dragons. Since my last post was more on the serious and introspective side, I’ve decided to dedicate this week’s post to that beloved hobby of mine. In all honesty, playing d&d has been one of the things I’ve done the most consistently since March. It’s the first time in two years that I’ve had a consistent group to play with, and it feels great. How the Game Works Let me give you just a basic overview of how the game works so I can share why I love it and my gushing will make at least some amount of sense to you. At its most fundamental level, I think of dungeons and dragons as collaborative storytelling where the story is told partly by the people making decisions for their characters, and partly by dice, which determine how successful characters’ actions are. Dice can also determine other events and effects in the world—e.g., if the guard sees your character trying to sneak into a castle, whether an atta