Jump, Land... and don't do that...

A little known fact about me is that I am a gamer... Yup its true, maybe even a nerd of sorts!

As a kid and as a teenager I would spend hours upon hours on the Nintendo, the Atari, the computer and various other consoles playing racing, fighting and adventure games. I absolutely LOVED it! Unfortunately the past few years have had me adulting wayyyyyy too much and I haven't had all that many opportunities to sit and play... until recently!!

A couple of months ago I decided to move back to Victoria after having lost my Dad and my Grandmother within 2 weeks of one another. It was an intensely hard time and to be honest I wasn't sure how I was ever going to come out of the grief and depression that came with such loss. Thankfully, not long after the move I was blessed enough to have made a fabulous new friend who also happens to have a passion for games. Together we have spent many hours playing everything from 'The Smurfs to Gran Turismo 5, Leggo Marvel and our favourite (until now) Toy Story 3!! It has been a wonderful adventure and a perfect escape from the 'real world' which we both sorely needed!

(As a side note... playing video games in moderation is a fantastic way to settle the nervous system.., so for those of you with Anxiety, Depression, PTSD etc... you may want to consider gaming as a healing tool! It distracts the brain, keeps it busy with complex problem solving tasks therefore giving the nervous system the time and space to return to a nice equilibrium. A great article on the subject can be found at this link https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-benefits-of-video-games)

Lately my friend and I have been playing a game called 'Rayman Legends' which is a sensational (albeit challenging) adventure game filled with timed challenges, synchronised musical levels, and hilarious characters!! It has given us many many hours of entertainment, laughter and surprisingly... WISDOM!!! Yes... Wisdom! Let me explain...

After repeating a particular timed level over and over and ovveeerrr ( I said we were gamers... I didn't say we were necessarily good at it hahahah) My friend proceeded to explain the winning sequence to me... All you've got to do (he said) is 'Jump, Land.... and DON'T DO THAT' (the last part was said as he was kicked in the head by a skeleton mariachi guitar player for the 5th time in a row...)