I have a habit of putting together lengthy posts to try to make short points. And trust me, I’m still very much doing that…I’m working on one now. 🙂

But because it’s already getting close to polls closing in some states, let me just start over and be brief (or at least, my definition of it).

I started Intelligame because I really, really, REALLY love games. But I also knew that I wouldn’t feel right focusing exclusively on games when there are real-world issues to tackle.

I thought that maybe by fusing the love of games with discussion about our outside world we could learn and grow together. And I thought that we could take those skills back to our communities in the physical world and make real change.

I still think that today.

Let me tell you some other things I think:

I think if you’re the kind of person who comes to a community like this, a person who shares their stories and experiences and learns from others, then you’ve crafted a powerful toolkit for change. You’ve got an opportunity that some other folks don’t have, and it’s one that we all need.

I think you’ve got a head that’s willing to try and solve large-scale problems, or at least approach them with openness.

I ALSO think you’ve got a heart that cares about making a difference in the ways that are both big and small. I think you have a heart that cares about making change, sometimes in ways only YOU can.

There are SO MANY terrors surrounding this election, the US as a whole: the rampaging perils of Imperial power, the horrors of climate change, genocide enabled by US tax dollars, a continued rise of fascism and so much else…

But it doesn’t have to KEEP being this way. You can make a difference. We can make a difference. And I genuinely believe that.

Voting is not the only way, mind you, nor should it be. Voting might feel small, it might not “change things” in that it may not create the direct outcome you’re looking for. But large outcomes are the result of many, many small outcomes, a wide variety of actions and focuses that pool together in sometimes unexpected ways.

Sometimes they take time…far more time than is either fair or justified. I know that.

Whether you choose to vote or not, you are making a choice. That choice is YOURS to make. I respect that.

But I hope that your choice, both now and in the future, is to act. I hope you choose to cast your vote, both literally now and metaphorically in the future, and create an opportunity for change.

I care about the change we make together. I care about the ways we can help others learn and grow. I care about the ways that we can shape understanding, that we can shape policy. I care about the ways that we can impact our communities, our people, through our work.

But to be clear: the change I’m most concerned about RIGHT NOW is the one that you make on yourself when you choose to act. The change where you say to yourself, “what I do matters. So I’m going to do something now…and I’m going to do something tomorrow, too.”

There are a million reasons to get demotivated, to lose hope, to check out.

But I think there are a million reasons and a million more to step up, to get involved, to use the power we DO have.

We create those reasons together. Today, tomorrow, and the day after that.

Whatever happens today, whether you’re casting a ballot or whether you even have the ability to (for a whole HOST of reasons in this country)…

We still come back tomorrow and we do the work. We make the change.

We create the future we believe in.

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Don’t give up. We’re still in this together.

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Keep your eyes up. Keep your hearts open.

Keep Intelligaming.

And, if you can, please vote.

-Josh