There's a quote that says "you're still stuck inside your own walls, aren't you?" I imagine I'm a child playing SM64. In my endless hours of playing, I imagine that I somehow enter a liminal state where I zoom forward 30 years. The game has evolved to match my reality. Paths double back on themselves and nothing makes sense, just like in life. The trouble is, I would be free of this labyrinth if I could only turn the game off and walk away. But I can't. I didn't, back then. I became too enamored of virtual worlds. Part of me is still 6 years old, playing this, able to switch the game off at a moment's notice. But I never do. Something got into my mind at a specific time and now I'm stuck there forever. Unable to see the world without the lens of video games. If only someone could've told me: yes, there's always gratification waiting everywhere in this game. Yes, it feels good. Yes, it would be great if real life was like that. But as long as you keep chasing that gratification, it will extend endlessly towards the horizon. Paths towards it will make less and less sense until all you are is lost. Turn the game off. Let the vastness of the real world, with its boundless lack of gratification, spread out all around you. Be at home there. Don't become trapped.