Brick Walls
As a home owner we see brick walls as great things. They keep the roof firmly above our ahead and they keep our properties safe from intruders.
As a developer we tend to see brick walls as bad things. They’re the thing that is stopping us from achieving our goal. They’re the thing that is stopping us from moving forward. As a developer, brick walls are bad.
or are they…?
I love playing video games. I love games such as the fantastic Uncharted series, and of course, Tomb Raider. Both of these are a series of explorations, connected by brick walls. In these the brick walls may be a grouping of enemies that you need to defeat, or perhaps scaling a precariously positioned train, miraculously getting to the top by making unfeasibly large leaps just as it goes plunging deep down the side of a dangerously icy mountain. (cue dramatic music and a gory cut-scene).
Each time we pass one of these brick walls, we feel elated and pleased that we made it. Each time we make a mistake, mistime the jump and see the dreaded death cut-scene, we learn, we try again, we persevere and, give time, faith and hard work, we beat that part of the game. We move forward. The brick walls get tougher, and each time they push us that little bit harder. Each time though, we get past them.
Without those brick walls, how would we know we were improving ? Where would the challenges be ? If The Last of Us was simply a walk through a mysteriously beautiful dystopian wasteland without any Clickers, Runners or Bloaters… well, it just wouldn’t be fun, would it ?
Brick walls help us to level up.
Brick walls are the levels we beat.
Brick walls aren’t bad, they’re the challenges that make us see how we’re evolving, how we’re improving and how we’re better than we realised.
So, the next time you hit a brick wall remember, you’ve gotten past many of these before, you’ll get past this one and when you do, congratulations!
You just levelled up.
