Lessons From Desierto

 I recently played Desierto, a minimalist game about the simple act of getting lost in a pixelated expanse. Traversing a chronic illness can be very similar to this experience. You spend days searching through the sand for answers. The struggle is in the feeling that the horizon never changes no matter how hard you walk.

But the truth is that you are never lost in reality. Being lost is a feeling that is born from exhaustion, the reality is your presence. Even in the middle of a desert or a chronic illness, you have a location, a weight and a purpose. It takes an iron willed resilience to keep moving but you are not lost at all. In fact, you are the pioneer in your own landscape and that shows incredible strength.