A strange thing happened today: I spent the morning beating around the bush, not procrastinating but spending time on non-essential things: performance, tweaks, and such; not really wanting to tackle the big things for the release. As I wasn’t progressing and feeling quite miserable, I took work to the library, and I set myself to implement the landing screen, but no amount of effort put me beyond the title. I was exhausted and complaining to myself.
Then I remembered an experiment I had done weeks ago: that the logo would be constructed by the game itself. The experiment was thought as a stage, but it presented many problems and I abandoned it. This time I found the same problems, but as it was a perfect fit for the landing screen I just flew through it. I flowed like I haven’t flowed in weeks, and I left the library in a very different state of mind: hopeful and energetic, despite having pushed the release later (again). I find tremendous difficulty in implementing work I don’t like, but when I like what I’m doing it emerges naturally and it revitalizes the soul.
So I’m not done with the landing screen just yet, but I’m happy with the result, and wondering just how work can drive me both crazy and sane, depending on the approach. Exhaustion comes from resistance to work rather than work itself. I’ll keep on exploring this phenomena.