As a former scout, and as a professional who has had to gameify a few things, yes this resonates with me! The badge I would like to earn someday is to be a scout leader, but I confess it sounds intimidating to my introverted ways. I am always the one running a little drawing table or game table with the quiet kids at neighborhood parties.
Do like I did and offer to be a co-leader of a troop! We worked with each other well, and used our strengths to present different opportunities to the girls. And all of the burden/responsibility wasn’t on one set of shoulders. My co-leader had a baby and I was able to take over while she needed to step back. A wonderful time!
The badge I’d like to earn is the Hermit Badge. I love staying home and not leaving the house as long as I can.
Favorite bean is easy: coffee bean!
I’d like to loosen up on my drive. It seems wonderful to be able to turn off that drive and just sit and watch a show, or read a book. But I simply cannot do that. But I do like the end products of my drive, so…. Maybe I’ll be happy the way I am. lol
"I don’t need to gamify. I do the things I have to do simply because I have to do them. I just think it would be nice sometimes to earn a reward, to level-up, to acknowledge consistent and hard work."
This sums up my feeling on gamification. I don't expect pats on the back for overcoming struggles, big or small. In fact, I don't share most of them, so it isn't like people even realize that challenges happened, that I held on to the edge of the cliff with calloused finger tips and managed to pull myself back up. This week I faced a major plumbing disaster, that is really an accurate metaphor for a lot of my days.
I admit that I went back and reread your post to make sure I didn't miss a reference to beans. I was going to say lentils, but then I read the other comments and I am with Michelle, it is all about the coffee beans.
I was a girl scout in early elementary school, and I remember enjoying it. At that age I would have relied on my mom to keep me involved, and I am not sure that happened. I secretly love wearing uniforms, and a beanie and sash? Sign me up. I loved earning badges and I would definitely still do it if it was an option. Today, it manifests as 100 percenting parts of my video games, things like catching all of the starred fish. My long reach badge would be "earned income for her art." A more realistic hurdle would be "did what she needed to do each day."
I would like to loosen up future dread. Obviously overcoming a generalized anxiety disorder situation isn't that easy, but I would like to find ways to train my body not to react so strongly to non-preferred upcoming events.
I appreciate your response - and I think many of us have similar approaches and ways of thinking about it….and even anxiety. I appreciate you putting your thoughts into words. I’m really sorry about the plumbing problem this week. That was probably one you weren’t actively worrying about, too, right? So I see you on your loosening up goals. I really don’t know the solution to that. The beans…. It’s pretty funny now. It wasn’t related to anything. Definitely a non-sequitur. Coffee didn’t cross my mind, so now I’m smiling just in general.
Opposite ends of the spectrum, right? Daydreamer and focus…. I hope you find the focus this week you need to allow time to daydream without feeling stretched.
What leaped out to me while reading: Every one of your illustrated affirmations could itself be a badge.
I don’t need (and in fact very much dislike the idea of) gamification. But I love the idea of badges as declarations rather than rewards. It’s an oddly Calvinist (and older, likely gendered) value proposition— that the work itself is the reward. And being seen, wow: Gravy.
Here’s to the satisfactions of mastery. And here’s to the day-dreaming hermits!
The affirmations could be badges ones aspires to earning/claiming…. Totally. But they do have to be earned or internalized (I would say) because an affirmation is often aspirational…you say it until you believe it (so to speak). (I also think many affirmations are repetition of things we already know and believe to be true, but the affirmation singles out a thread and empowers it or suggests it is, in and of itself, empowering. So I see both kinds. Some I know to be true and some that are designed to convince me.) But sure! I can see something covered in my own patches! (I doubt that’s what you mean, but it sounds good in the moment.) If the journey wasn’t reward in and of itself….yeah…I would do a whole lot less creative work ;) — Clearly there’s a call for a hermit badge.
p.s. You’ve mentioned Wolf Hall more than once . . . . Last time I went straight to the shelf with that ridiculously heavy volume that I’ve lugged coast to coast unread. Dusted it off (literally). Gave up (who am I?) and got the Kindle version. Binged all three books in a row. Wonderful!!!! (And the perfect practical antidote to the miserable anxiety dogging me this spring). Thanks for the nudge ❤️🩹
Really? Wow! No slow read for you! That’s awesome. It doesn’t sound like anxiety-busting reading, but I’m glad you dove in! I am reading Wolf Hall (the Cromwell trilogy) as a year-long slow read with Simon (Footnotes and Tangents). (I am also reading War and Peace with him.) I have fallen a bit behind in Wolf Hall, but I’m not out. Even though you’ve finished the trilogy, you might enjoy some of Simon’s weekly notes…. Full of supplemental art that fits the text and adds dimension.
Amy, will you still communicate with me if I tell you that I've never read any of those series and that, in fact, I've never been drawn to comic series or graphic novels in general. My brain has a hard time staying on track when it's trying to process images and words all in the same space. Or I think that's what it is. :(
I was a Girl Scout longer than might be considered normal. In fact, as I remember it, the troop folded because we couldn't find leaders, not because the young women grew disinterested. My own mom was a leader for many years, which brings back mostly good memories. I also still have my sash with all the badges (I guess at some point they replaced those with vests.)
I liked the badges and the feeling of accomplishment that came with them. I wasn't a sports kid, not really a stand out at anything, and didn't have many other ways of earning recognition. I kept the whole uniform for a long time, but now I think (?) I just have the sash. And the GS issue flashlight. LOL!
I'm not a gamer or a gameifier. Competition makes me squirmy. I don't love losing, and I don't like having to confront that. I DO LOVE your list of badge-earning ideas. Brilliant!
Badges I'd like to earn: Intuitive. Loyal. Cultivating goodness.
Favorite bean: It's a toss up between a fresh fava bean and a Dr. Martin lima bean.
Lol. Of course I will still communicate with you. I think you are definitely not alone in your responses here. I just happen to talk often about illustrated books (including graphic novels). I find they offer "space," but I know they are not everyone's cup of tea. (It's good to know I have multiple real books and audio books going, too, right?) I love that you were a scout. I can picture that. (And I think they still have sashes. I remember a sash as well. I drew the vest because it was a better use of space ;) ) I think the badges you would like to earn are excellent. There seems to be an anti-gamification sentiment (in the aggregated comments), but when the game is just with ourselves..... I think there is something to be said for "recognizing" our strengths/skills/accomplishments.... It's really just a whimsical line of thought in the overly serious and anxiety-ridden day to day. Thanks for reading and playing along (or thinking about why it didn't sit well). Great bean options. I hope you have not caught any matching hours on the clock today. There is something nice and random and innocuous about it simply being 5:48 right now. ;) Thanks, Elizabeth. I am glad we connect in ways despite differences. That is as it should be!
I would like a badge for savoring a really good cup of coffee. I love the list of what you want a badge for and join you on the "stares out the window" one. Can I ask what bird walking is?
My favorite bean is the long runner beans they use in Chinese dishes but reading the comments here, really it has to be the coffee bean!
I'd like to loosen up on being a dilettante because that is just what I am. To celebrate loving so many different things in my life. Reminding myself that the root of the word is "to be delighted".
That's an excellent addition, Catherine! It's fun to think of our everyday things this way. Bird walking.... I guess it's not as clear as I often think. It's a phrase that references a way of talking about one thing and following multiple tangents (or wandering) along the way. I am laughing at the dilettante comment. I love the connection to delight. And, it's funny about the beans. Coffee never crossed my mind, so I've had to smile at how that played out. I'm glad to be surrounded by people who can admit to enjoying a cup of coffee! Thanks for commenting!
I enjoyed reading (and listening to) this, and love your drawing of the Girl Scout vest with the colorful badges and the unicorn! There is something fun about badges visually and the meanings behind each one. I remember that I earned some too, but can remember any specifics, but the general memory is nice.
My nickname for my little dog is Sidney Bean…I guess because it rhymes with kidney bean? I always seem to come up with little rhyming nicknames for my dogs. So I guess that’s my favorite “bean”.
I’m a week late commenting here, but my favorite bean is probably garbanzo beans. I did use some dark red kidney beans in chili this week (but don’t tell my fellow Texans! Such a bone of contention, lol).
My patches really made it to my illustrated pages! I got very into that idea!! I loved the Brownie Try-Its era of my daughter’s Girl Scout era. We tried exposing the troop to a wide range of topics at all levels—science, health, cooking, outdoorsy things, and we had a lot of arts and crafts woven into our meetings and area events. But I can’t remember much creative writing. There were topics the girls wrote about at the older levels that were more serious. Proposals for projects and summarizing their learning comes to mind. I never was a Girl Scout as a child, and I think I would have loved it.
I’d like to loosen up the thoughts running through my head that are future-problems oriented. I spend too much time ruminating on the negative!
Claiming the "You survived the Month" badge this month and the "You got out of bed AND left the House" badge but only about 5 days out of the month as Ive had bad flu with underlying severe Anemia. Had an iron infusion today so next month I hope the health and energy to work on 3 badges "Reclaim your house from the dust bunnies and dishes", "Grow your own food" and "Prepare for Winter" Fingers crossed
LumberJanes!! The premise sounded great and did not disappoint. To my surprise my local library had 14 issues of it available to download. Ive got the first one out for a read. Quirky and sassy.
If only i could just do things because they need doing *insert crying face here* but my friends Procrastination and executive dysfunction like to party in my head. So gamifying my life so I get my little successes and dopamine hits sounds like a fun plan lol
I hope you are feeling MUCH better, Lisa. It sounds like it has been a really trying month, but I love your playful response to the badges. I'm glad you were able to see the Lumberjanes, too, since it sounded interesting. It's a lot of fun. I think you are not alone in responding well to gamification! Knowing how we individually respond (and what it takes) is half the battle!
As a former scout, and as a professional who has had to gameify a few things, yes this resonates with me! The badge I would like to earn someday is to be a scout leader, but I confess it sounds intimidating to my introverted ways. I am always the one running a little drawing table or game table with the quiet kids at neighborhood parties.
I bet you would be an awesome scout leader, Lauren! Maybe after the move you’ll find the right group.
Do like I did and offer to be a co-leader of a troop! We worked with each other well, and used our strengths to present different opportunities to the girls. And all of the burden/responsibility wasn’t on one set of shoulders. My co-leader had a baby and I was able to take over while she needed to step back. A wonderful time!
I love this idea, thank you!
Three cheers for public transit! You can do it!
Thanks, Kortney!
The badge I’d like to earn is the Hermit Badge. I love staying home and not leaving the house as long as I can.
Favorite bean is easy: coffee bean!
I’d like to loosen up on my drive. It seems wonderful to be able to turn off that drive and just sit and watch a show, or read a book. But I simply cannot do that. But I do like the end products of my drive, so…. Maybe I’ll be happy the way I am. lol
That’s a great badge to proudly claim! Very interesting response about loosening up! Always two sides of the coin, right?
My bestie is making her domestic badge series ❤️🐾🔥 https://www.instagram.com/p/C35t7cQJrDz/?igsh=cmd3enpiYnE1dmI1 I’m going to urge her to check out Lumberjanes, and I wanna read it too! Love your vest.
I am going to go check this out!
What a great project your friend has going. Interesting how a discussion like this turns up connections!
I'm excited to check out the Hilda books. I seem to have missed those somehow!
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one! Enjoy!
"I don’t need to gamify. I do the things I have to do simply because I have to do them. I just think it would be nice sometimes to earn a reward, to level-up, to acknowledge consistent and hard work."
This sums up my feeling on gamification. I don't expect pats on the back for overcoming struggles, big or small. In fact, I don't share most of them, so it isn't like people even realize that challenges happened, that I held on to the edge of the cliff with calloused finger tips and managed to pull myself back up. This week I faced a major plumbing disaster, that is really an accurate metaphor for a lot of my days.
I admit that I went back and reread your post to make sure I didn't miss a reference to beans. I was going to say lentils, but then I read the other comments and I am with Michelle, it is all about the coffee beans.
I was a girl scout in early elementary school, and I remember enjoying it. At that age I would have relied on my mom to keep me involved, and I am not sure that happened. I secretly love wearing uniforms, and a beanie and sash? Sign me up. I loved earning badges and I would definitely still do it if it was an option. Today, it manifests as 100 percenting parts of my video games, things like catching all of the starred fish. My long reach badge would be "earned income for her art." A more realistic hurdle would be "did what she needed to do each day."
I would like to loosen up future dread. Obviously overcoming a generalized anxiety disorder situation isn't that easy, but I would like to find ways to train my body not to react so strongly to non-preferred upcoming events.
I appreciate your response - and I think many of us have similar approaches and ways of thinking about it….and even anxiety. I appreciate you putting your thoughts into words. I’m really sorry about the plumbing problem this week. That was probably one you weren’t actively worrying about, too, right? So I see you on your loosening up goals. I really don’t know the solution to that. The beans…. It’s pretty funny now. It wasn’t related to anything. Definitely a non-sequitur. Coffee didn’t cross my mind, so now I’m smiling just in general.
I do wish I could earn a “Daydreamer” badge. I’m good at it and have lots of practice. That said, maybe a “Focus” would be the better badge to earn.
Favorite bean is jelly.
This week I would love it if I could stretch time or at least stay on task to make it seem like time is stretched (see badge above).
Opposite ends of the spectrum, right? Daydreamer and focus…. I hope you find the focus this week you need to allow time to daydream without feeling stretched.
What leaped out to me while reading: Every one of your illustrated affirmations could itself be a badge.
I don’t need (and in fact very much dislike the idea of) gamification. But I love the idea of badges as declarations rather than rewards. It’s an oddly Calvinist (and older, likely gendered) value proposition— that the work itself is the reward. And being seen, wow: Gravy.
Here’s to the satisfactions of mastery. And here’s to the day-dreaming hermits!
The affirmations could be badges ones aspires to earning/claiming…. Totally. But they do have to be earned or internalized (I would say) because an affirmation is often aspirational…you say it until you believe it (so to speak). (I also think many affirmations are repetition of things we already know and believe to be true, but the affirmation singles out a thread and empowers it or suggests it is, in and of itself, empowering. So I see both kinds. Some I know to be true and some that are designed to convince me.) But sure! I can see something covered in my own patches! (I doubt that’s what you mean, but it sounds good in the moment.) If the journey wasn’t reward in and of itself….yeah…I would do a whole lot less creative work ;) — Clearly there’s a call for a hermit badge.
p.s. You’ve mentioned Wolf Hall more than once . . . . Last time I went straight to the shelf with that ridiculously heavy volume that I’ve lugged coast to coast unread. Dusted it off (literally). Gave up (who am I?) and got the Kindle version. Binged all three books in a row. Wonderful!!!! (And the perfect practical antidote to the miserable anxiety dogging me this spring). Thanks for the nudge ❤️🩹
Really? Wow! No slow read for you! That’s awesome. It doesn’t sound like anxiety-busting reading, but I’m glad you dove in! I am reading Wolf Hall (the Cromwell trilogy) as a year-long slow read with Simon (Footnotes and Tangents). (I am also reading War and Peace with him.) I have fallen a bit behind in Wolf Hall, but I’m not out. Even though you’ve finished the trilogy, you might enjoy some of Simon’s weekly notes…. Full of supplemental art that fits the text and adds dimension.
Badges as a theme for ICAD, using your list as a jumping off point — sounds like a plan for me!
That’s an awesome idea!
Amy, will you still communicate with me if I tell you that I've never read any of those series and that, in fact, I've never been drawn to comic series or graphic novels in general. My brain has a hard time staying on track when it's trying to process images and words all in the same space. Or I think that's what it is. :(
I was a Girl Scout longer than might be considered normal. In fact, as I remember it, the troop folded because we couldn't find leaders, not because the young women grew disinterested. My own mom was a leader for many years, which brings back mostly good memories. I also still have my sash with all the badges (I guess at some point they replaced those with vests.)
I liked the badges and the feeling of accomplishment that came with them. I wasn't a sports kid, not really a stand out at anything, and didn't have many other ways of earning recognition. I kept the whole uniform for a long time, but now I think (?) I just have the sash. And the GS issue flashlight. LOL!
I'm not a gamer or a gameifier. Competition makes me squirmy. I don't love losing, and I don't like having to confront that. I DO LOVE your list of badge-earning ideas. Brilliant!
Badges I'd like to earn: Intuitive. Loyal. Cultivating goodness.
Favorite bean: It's a toss up between a fresh fava bean and a Dr. Martin lima bean.
Stretch or loosen: My grip on routine.
Lol. Of course I will still communicate with you. I think you are definitely not alone in your responses here. I just happen to talk often about illustrated books (including graphic novels). I find they offer "space," but I know they are not everyone's cup of tea. (It's good to know I have multiple real books and audio books going, too, right?) I love that you were a scout. I can picture that. (And I think they still have sashes. I remember a sash as well. I drew the vest because it was a better use of space ;) ) I think the badges you would like to earn are excellent. There seems to be an anti-gamification sentiment (in the aggregated comments), but when the game is just with ourselves..... I think there is something to be said for "recognizing" our strengths/skills/accomplishments.... It's really just a whimsical line of thought in the overly serious and anxiety-ridden day to day. Thanks for reading and playing along (or thinking about why it didn't sit well). Great bean options. I hope you have not caught any matching hours on the clock today. There is something nice and random and innocuous about it simply being 5:48 right now. ;) Thanks, Elizabeth. I am glad we connect in ways despite differences. That is as it should be!
I would like a badge for savoring a really good cup of coffee. I love the list of what you want a badge for and join you on the "stares out the window" one. Can I ask what bird walking is?
My favorite bean is the long runner beans they use in Chinese dishes but reading the comments here, really it has to be the coffee bean!
I'd like to loosen up on being a dilettante because that is just what I am. To celebrate loving so many different things in my life. Reminding myself that the root of the word is "to be delighted".
That's an excellent addition, Catherine! It's fun to think of our everyday things this way. Bird walking.... I guess it's not as clear as I often think. It's a phrase that references a way of talking about one thing and following multiple tangents (or wandering) along the way. I am laughing at the dilettante comment. I love the connection to delight. And, it's funny about the beans. Coffee never crossed my mind, so I've had to smile at how that played out. I'm glad to be surrounded by people who can admit to enjoying a cup of coffee! Thanks for commenting!
I enjoyed reading (and listening to) this, and love your drawing of the Girl Scout vest with the colorful badges and the unicorn! There is something fun about badges visually and the meanings behind each one. I remember that I earned some too, but can remember any specifics, but the general memory is nice.
My nickname for my little dog is Sidney Bean…I guess because it rhymes with kidney bean? I always seem to come up with little rhyming nicknames for my dogs. So I guess that’s my favorite “bean”.
I’m a week late commenting here, but my favorite bean is probably garbanzo beans. I did use some dark red kidney beans in chili this week (but don’t tell my fellow Texans! Such a bone of contention, lol).
My patches really made it to my illustrated pages! I got very into that idea!! I loved the Brownie Try-Its era of my daughter’s Girl Scout era. We tried exposing the troop to a wide range of topics at all levels—science, health, cooking, outdoorsy things, and we had a lot of arts and crafts woven into our meetings and area events. But I can’t remember much creative writing. There were topics the girls wrote about at the older levels that were more serious. Proposals for projects and summarizing their learning comes to mind. I never was a Girl Scout as a child, and I think I would have loved it.
I’d like to loosen up the thoughts running through my head that are future-problems oriented. I spend too much time ruminating on the negative!
Claiming the "You survived the Month" badge this month and the "You got out of bed AND left the House" badge but only about 5 days out of the month as Ive had bad flu with underlying severe Anemia. Had an iron infusion today so next month I hope the health and energy to work on 3 badges "Reclaim your house from the dust bunnies and dishes", "Grow your own food" and "Prepare for Winter" Fingers crossed
LumberJanes!! The premise sounded great and did not disappoint. To my surprise my local library had 14 issues of it available to download. Ive got the first one out for a read. Quirky and sassy.
If only i could just do things because they need doing *insert crying face here* but my friends Procrastination and executive dysfunction like to party in my head. So gamifying my life so I get my little successes and dopamine hits sounds like a fun plan lol
I hope you are feeling MUCH better, Lisa. It sounds like it has been a really trying month, but I love your playful response to the badges. I'm glad you were able to see the Lumberjanes, too, since it sounded interesting. It's a lot of fun. I think you are not alone in responding well to gamification! Knowing how we individually respond (and what it takes) is half the battle!