Change can begin anywhere. It only requires that we desire it and that we’re prepared to take a chance on it when we see it for what it is.
Hades Lestary had been a chef for most of his life, honing his routine like a rock smooths in the ocean. Wake up early, work hard, sleep late – every day a tumble and turn in the sea. And he was used to hard work: he’d been a US Marine before, though he’d left active service 10 years ago, taking PTSD with him as a kind of ironic souvenir. His life was predictable. Comfortable, perhaps. But inside he was unfulfilled, and deeper down, a more unsettled part yearned for something else.
Lestary came home one day to find his roommate on their sofa playing a game. He didn’t, however, recognise what was being played. So he asked: “What are you playing, dude?” To which his friend simply replied: “I’m farming.”
Perhaps taken aback by the bluntness of the answer, or perhaps bleary-eyed from work, Lestary momentarily struggled to comprehend what he was being told. So he asked again: “You’re what?” To which his friend again replied: “Farming.” And when Lestary said nothing in response, finally a little explanation came. “It’s a simulator.”