musings { A guild is like a garden

And sometimes a game can help real life.

The last six weeks have been painful ones. I'm not ready to talk about it. But something helped me get through it. That something was a game, World of Warcraft. It wasn't the game itself, it was what the game provided, a distraction, a community, someplace where I could go and feel like I accomplished something. Things that the real world(tm) were lacking. During the last six weeks this game has allowed Nerdwife and I to have an outlet where the pain and frustrations could be funneled into something. It was something we could share. An experience we could do together. It allowed us to spend time with people, our friends, who still care about us; but who live far from us. Celeseathene, Allthingsspring, and the friends I've made from around the world in my guild.

I read once that my generation (gen X) doesn't have a sense of the family, more a sense of the tribe. We come together in tribal units, from many different backgrounds to share life's experiences and hardships. I think that is true. My family has never really understood me, but my tribe, my nerdpod, my friends have. They've been there for me in times of need more than my family has. I've known some of my friends for over half my life. Some of them are to me siblings. Not by blood, but by experience.

This June will mark the 1 year anniversary of my having been a guild leader or co-guild leader in some capacity. I'm not a leader of people. So the last year was a learning experience. I learned a few things. Things like you can't make everyone happy, but you can try your best. I've learned a guild is like a garden. Its a fertile base upon which things can grow. I've been lucky, that base has been friendship. Its been a social framework where common experiences have been shared. Its not perfect, it has its problems, but nothing in life is. There can be tensions and conflicts.

I've been wrapped up on all things WoW the last few weeks, not only because of my excitement that Nerdwife is playing (and enjoying it), but also because I've been brokering an alliance with two other guilds so that we can pool our resources and efforts to field a 25 man raid group, a new tribe. Our first raid is this Friday night. It will be a journey into the heart of the Blade's Edge Mountains, to the home of Bladespine Ogres, where we will confront their High King, and kill their demi-god Gruul...or try to. Our trip into Zul'Aman was a bloody expedition, sadly one where more of our blood than theirs was spilled, but that didn't bother me. It was an experience shared with 9 other people (and a few watching our progress in guild chat). We laugh, we cried, we 'qq'd moar', but we had fun. I'm hoping Gruul's will be that.

Reading my "stories" today over lunch I stumbled upon a beautiful piece of machinma by the same person who did 'Super Duper Ultimate Edition Extreme'. Its a song about when life blocks your path, find another way.

'Through the Roof n Underground' (music by Gogol Bordello)