I’m in the middle of making the second placement of my settlement, right at the start of the game. It is difficult. I am not experienced in this game, so I am hesitant. Shall I build closer the center, so I have more chances of connecting my roads for the ‘Longest Road’ 2 victory points, or what, or how. It is probably my tenth game, ever, in life. I remember seeing people in groups in cafes together pre-pandemic playing Settlers of Catan with great joy. I stayed far away from these groups, off to the sides of most group things (I do not like cliques), and writing in my journals or somesuch personal activity.

Having space now to start all over with setting new goals is nice. A podcast is one. Also, seeing what the fuss was about, with those things I saw other people enjoying, and engaging. Like Catan.

Catan

I have become a fan of Catan but it is slow-going, since my opponent has been playing with a much better league and for at least five years. To decide where and how to place my second settlement, I googled ‘Catan Strategy.’ I found a WikiHow on it. https://www.wikihow.com/Catan-Strategy. My opponent finds it a trite page. I remember when we were embattled in Carcasssonne last year, and I was struggling with its strategy, and similarly, went online to discovery ways to lose less badly. Then, too, my highly talented gamer opponent also had less than praiseworthy things to say about it. Did it help that I read the page about how to play? A little, in the way that reading the instructions fora medication helps before you take it.you feel like you are ‘educating yourself.’

I can’t decide if I should put it next to two Hays and one Sheep, or somewhere more diversified. Hm. And this is the step that everyone who does anything that leads to wherever they go knows is the most important. Starting.

Overcoming hesitancy

So what if it’s not perfect. So what if I lose. I can’t just get lost in thinking out all the ways it could go badly. Can I? Of course I can, and that is what stops so many people from starting. Failure to launch syndrome is a real thing. So is backing out, holding ourselves back, and stopping ourselves from pursuing what it is we really want. Maybe there’s a strategy guide for what step I should take next.

But, no. There isn’t.

Two Hays and one Sheep. 

Let’s go.

***

‘This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band.’