The year is like the days. There are moments when we have energy and others when we can take advantage of our low battery to regain strength, fill ourselves with what is valuable, and let go of what is not.
Taking advantage of the fact that there are new people here! The whole format of this letter is biweekly. I like to call myself Geeknifer, a Mexican writer who shares recommendations, a story, and an essay with occasional bad ideas.
I am also the text server of my impulses, and I send letters because it is a more intimate format. I hope you like this one. You can always write to me soon by hitting “reply” to the email or leaving me a little heart and a comment.
Today, I want to talk about how we are different as the year progresses. So today’s menu includes a spring video game 🎮, a book with a summer flavor 📕, a story in honor of autumn 🍁 and a winter reflection 💭.
A (spring) video game 🎮
There are times to create and times to enjoy during the year. For some reason, I noticed that my video game consumption grows exponentially in spring and autumn. Unintentionally, it is a season in which I give myself permission to “do nothing” and get into digital stories.
I have stated several times that, when I started playing, there were not so many options to enjoy female characters. Today, things are different. And Ubisoft has just released a video game with a female protagonist: Star Wars Outlaws.
I love games that require stealth, and this is the case. It is not a story about Jedi but about bounty hunters. In other words, the protagonist, Kay Vess, is something like a Han Solo. We are accompanied by a tiny being that is a mix of an axolotl and a dog. Long live axolotl games.
So, if you are a gamer, it is worth playing it. There are mixed opinions out there, there are just people who love or hate it. I’m one of the first, and it’s nice to start the fall knowing that I have a video game to inspire me, get lost in the galaxy, and work for different criminal organizations.
You can get it for PS5, Xbox and PC.
A (summer) book
Summer is for children. And if there’s one thing that brings out my inner child, it’s water. When I was little, I loved swimming. I loved being thrown like a dog into the deepest part of the pool, where the diving pit was, so I could go get them and have my ears wholly blocked. I also liked to imagine sea monsters chasing me.
Yes, my fascination with terror seems to come from scaring myself in the water. To this day, with some concentration, I can make my imagination trick me and make me nervous while I swim. That childish, creative spirit is the same one with which I build stories while swimming a lane.
One of the best books I read this summer has to do, in part, with the strange feeling of being lost in water. Twenty-two lengths, by Caroline Wahl, is about a young teenager named Tilda who is the head of the family, given that her mother has severe problems with alcoholism. It is a bildungsroman. That is, we see how a girl has to start making serious decisions because she can win a scholarship for Mathematics. Her great dilemma is: should she abandon her sister Ida in pursuit of studying?
Well, it seems that water gives serenity of thought, too.
You can get it at this link.
A story (of autumn)
The closet
There was an argument in the closet.
–Their problem is that they are always disgusting –we heard from the right.
–Because we are useful –answered a pair of voices in unison on the floor.
–But I still don’t love going out with you, I feel like you don’t enhance my beauty.
The one saying this was a blue dress with a sing-song voice. She was arguing with the boots that, although they looked shiny, had soles full of mud.
–Although I have to admit that your company is better than thinking about the forgotten clothes –the dress added in a whisper.
–Yes, I remember when we saw the second Toy Story. The old penguin with the shattered voice reminds me of you, scarf –said a sweatshirt that wasn’t ineffective for being old.
The scarf began to tear up. She always had winter depression.
–Leave me alone! You’ll see how I’m the chosen one now that the cold starts.
–Please, scarf! You never leave here because the temperature never drops low enough. We live in Mexico City, not in the Alps –the tennis shoes mocked.
–But there are other seasonal clothes that are also forgotten during the year –said the dress viciously. –Like a certain headgear…
The clothes were silent, expectant. They knew that the greatest enmity was between the dress and the many hats and caps that rested near the ceiling. The owner adored them.
Only one hat spoke:
–Envy eats away at you, dear. You’ll see how you’ll keep the scarf today.
–Of course not! I’m the prettiest here!
Suddenly, the daily miracle brought the stillness of the clothes back. The closet opened. The dress shone in the sun.
But she took the beret, who chuckled. Autumn had begun.
Her kingdom.
A (winter) reflection
Productivity experts say that an excellent way to get more done is to think about our circadian cycle. Almost all of us have two energy peaks: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. However, not all people have these peaks at the same time. So it makes sense that I am a zombie very early in the morning and that I am the most prolific writer around eight at night.
The five o’clock club is not for everyone, by the way.
I’ve been thinking that, just as there are cycles in the day, there are also cycles in the year. There is a constant in my last few trips around the sun. For example, summer is always my season with the least productivity for personal matters, I don’t like to overthink, and I am not in a very creative mood either. But it is the time when I read the most, when I go out with my friends the most, and when I feel like exploring the outdoors.
I love spring because I am a daughter of the sun, and the energy drives me to create. The same thing happens to me in autumn, when I feel like doing “everything” that I didn’t do in the summer. Also, it turns out that I was born in this season, so I have always had some affection for it.
I am taking this short break to tell you that next week there is a special edition because it is my birthday, September 25th.
Also, it is the season of terror and the Day of the Dead. I love the smell of marigolds and incense.
Winter is my season to close the year, I like to reflect on what happened and what is to come. It is almost taciturn in mood, but with the exception that I am excited about the December holidays.
So, my recommendation today is to prepare your favorite drink, light a candle if you can (I’m the candle dragon), put on a good song, and think: if you had to define your cyclical energy by your seasonal behavior over the last, let’s say, five years, what conclusions do you come to?
Maybe this fall will be your turn to create a lot. Or discover new friendships. Or not. Maybe it’s a season to drink chocolate while the rain patters on the window. Whatever the case, I hope that 2024 is going swimmingly for you.
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Is this your first time? I’ll leave you more letters here.
With virus-free love, J. McNamara, aka Geeknifer.
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