Chanting the Buddha's Name with Every Stitch

It's been a slow month, dev-wise. The first person controller bugs are squashed, a few more loose ends tied, and I'm working on getting ship maintenance pages added to the in-game help menu so that the new damage system doesn't feel totally opaque. That's ... pretty much it.

I spent a week visiting family out of state, which was great. I kind of needed the break and I was too busy drinking slightly different beers than usual to worry about Black Road Sky. Then I got back home and was promptly hit with some sort of fever which knocked me on my ass for about another week. And now I'm writing this. So that brings you up to speed. Back to work tomorrow, hopefully.

One Year Anniversary

I've been working on this version update for a year now. It's kind of depressing.

I was hoping to finish up by the end of this month so I could tell myself that it "only" took a year, but I'm not sure if that will happen. According to my notes, I originally expected to be done by the end of 2022. And that was before I dramatically cut the scope. What the fuck was I thinking? I try to be kind, tell myself it doesn't mean that I haven't accomplished enough, only that I lack prescience. The important thing is that I keep working and that I avoid burning myself out, and I am doing both of those things.

There are these Zen Buddhist priests who hand-sew their own ordination robes. It takes months of meticulous, daily work. Tomoe Katagiri, who introduced this robe sewing practice in America, was once asked what they consider to be the most important aspect of the sewing practice. She responded:

"When you think how many yards you will sew, chanting the Buddha's name with every stitch, if you count all the stitches, you say, 'I cannot do it!' But, if you do this stitch: one stitch. One stitch. One stitch continuously, you will finish. If you stop, if you quit, even if you are very good at stitching, you will never finish. Just continue!"

Coming Up Next

"Just continue!"

(https://tricycle.org/magazine/tomoe-katagiri-zen-sewing-stitching/)