Summer is over.
This summer was very, very eventful — and it also serves as a kind of summary of where I am in life. (Spoiler: in a good place.)
It was such an intense summer that I want to leave a record of it somewhere. It started with me running the third Bitva pod Horou. Even though it faced quite a few issues, it turned out to be quite successful (post-mortem here). But it also took a large chunk of my energy and sanity.
Then I ran two intense multi-week camps: one for 20+ people in Czechia, based on experiential education, and one in England for some very talented 16–20-year-olds. I learned a lot, hopefully taught something, and realized once again how lucky I am to have such cooperative, great people around me. I also just kind of wrote Saudade, a small larp combining spaceship simulation and crisis decision-making. Writing it with someone who had never created a larp before, but is very good at app design, was a unique experience. Maybe I’ll make a website and run it sometime. Takeaway: I’ve probably found a thing that makes sense to do — and I actually have meaningful skills to contribute. Yay extracurricular education, I guess.
Part of my life is still working on policy, but in a way where I can honestly say: “I fully believe in the people I’m working with, and they clearly have a positive influence on the world.” That feels good.
I’ve also gotten better at this “friendship” thing. It took me way too long to realize I was terrible at keeping up relationships. So in the past few years I’ve been more proactive: setting up regular, intense events. I spent a week on one such retreat and came back refreshed and happy. Also, it´s just great to do hard things together, the real friendship glue. Yay friends.
And at the end of summer — 97 Poets of Revachol. I could talk about years of writing and months of building, but for me the most important part is the contrast between last year and this year. To be direct: 97 Poets was the game that nearly killed me. I spent almost four months writing 12+ hours a day (on top of other work). When the floods and other problems hit, I was wrecked. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat properly, and every single day for three weeks I would wake up at 5:30 with my stomach in knots and my body in a state of panic. Yet somehow we managed (the “we” being the whole team, everybody did a huge amount of the work). When the reviews came in, the decision to run it again was clear.
The first night on location this year was tough. I woke up at 6:00, unable to sleep, in a fight-or-flight state. That mode helps with problem-solving, but it’s not exactly pleasant. It bothered me, but the memory seemed to strong and body remembered. And then — I realized how well everything was working. We were prepared. The team wasn’t just competent, they were also wonderful people to be around. The following weeks were exhausting, but I enjoyed them. Sure, there were darker moments too — but that’s life. I’m deeply grateful for the team, for what we’ve built for the game and also for what we’ve created in Terezín over the past decade - it´s like a home now. I met people I want in my life long-term. I met people who inspired me. And I hope once again that people had fun.
And of course, throughout the whole summer — while I was away most of the time or busy running games — Kamila was the best partner and support I could have hoped for. Through all the adventures written here, and many just between us. And I’m marrying that woman. Isn’t that nice?
Last fall, I decided to change major parts of my life, and for a while the choices and lost opportunities haunted me. Now I can safely say: even when things get really, really tough, my life is simply… better. More meaningful. Filled with amazing people.
There’s no neat takeaway. Summer is over. It was an intense benchmark of my life choices. Even if my body aches and I have a mountain of work to catch up on, I’m in a good place — thanks to the great people around me. And cats, of course.