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One of the games I’ve been playing lately is Death Stranding. It’s a fascinating unique game, where you build structures, while trying to deliver packages to different locations, all while trying to avoid ghosts and mules (delivery people gone rogue). But that description really doesn’t begin to do justice to what the game is about. Over on my fiction blog, I’ve written about the connection aspect of the game, but here I thought I would write about the spiritual aspect, because this game has made think about my own spiritual journey quite a bit.
In Death Stranding, you have to figure out the best possible path to deliver your goods, without letting them get damaged and that isn’t necessarily easy, even with the array of tools you have available to help you. You have to figure out how to navigate the inevitable obstacles, both natural and unnatural that you encounter and you need to be patient and take your time. It’s a lot like spiritual work actually.
As you may know, I’m in the process of doing some intensive spiritual work with the Sphere of Art. I’ve now entered into my second year of doing this work daily and it is very much a journey in its own right, which continues to evolve and change in nuanced ways that have required me to adapt and adjust. I welcome it, because it providing me an opportunity to redefine my relationship with magic and with the journey I’m on.
As I’ve been playing Death Stranding, I’ve been reflecting on my journey. One of the biggest lessons of that journey has involved learning to let go and trust the journey, instead of focusing on the end of the journey. There have been times where I’ve thought I’m close to ending this particular segment of the journey, and then new data and experiences have come in that have informed me otherwise. And each time what I learn is to let go, focus on the journey itself and do the work without expectation. And really that’s a lot of what Death Stranding seems to be about. You’re walking along, trying to get to the place you need to go, but what you really need to do is focus on the journey and be present with it.
It seems to me that a lot of people ignore a key dimension of spiritual work, which is that it is long term work that is oriented around a purpose. That purpose dictates what you do and why you do it. And there isn’t necessarily an end in sight. You are on a journey and on that journey you take on what you need to carry to get you where you’re going, but the journey changes and you, by necessity, must change with it. And yeah I’ve been learning that all a long, but playing a video game which is all about the journey can be a great mirror to remind you of the lessons that you’re learning along the way.
