Smooth Moves
Posted by terrepruitt on August 3, 2020
I am not sure when, but probably within the last five months I downloaded a solitaire game into my iPad. I usually play it right before bed. The game awards you little gold crowns on a calendar for every day you win the daily challenge. If you win the daily challenge the day of the challenge you get a gold crown with jewels. It is silly, but I like to win the hand on the day of the challenge so I am usually playing it after midnight when the new daily challenge comes out. So, like I said right before I go to sleep. Well, I was playing it recently and I was agitated. The way the cards were “moving” or more accurately NOT moving was very agitating. At first as I was playing I thought, “This is not relaxing! Usually I am not feeling like this. What is up?” Then, I noticed the cards were “behaving” oddly. At first I thought I was imaging things and the cards were behaving like they always do, but the more I played the more I realized that they were not moving like they normally do. I was sad because I thought there had been a change and that the cards were going to have this weird movement from now on. It really is about movement and about what calms or agitates you.
As I played I realized that the cards normally float either down into the pile or over to where they can be played. The floating is kind of calming, but with this new thing the cards were just “phfth” and it was there. The space where the card had been either just changed – ABRUPTLY – to the new card – or the space where there hadn’t been a card, a card would just appear. The more I noticed it the more agitating it was. I had to stop clicking on the cards to get them into play and I had to actually move it there myself. That cut down on the weird movement a bit. I still wasn’t 100% sure that it hadn’t always been this way, but I was 95% sure because I was going to have to give up the game because it was no longer soothing. But to be sure I would see how the winning “ceremony” was.
When you win a hand the cards do various “dances”, sometimes they form a castle, sometimes they form a heart, sometimes just circles that spin around, but it is nice and smooth and it is like the equivalent of applause. Then your crown appears and then floats to your calendar. Well, after I won the hand it – I don’t know how to describe it but there was no fanfare just some glitching. So I closed the application and re-opened it and —–ahhhhh! It was back to floating cards and calmness. I am so happy it was just a glitch and they didn’t change the way the cards moved.
But I found it so interesting that the movement of the cards had such an effect. I made me realize how the floating cards are really a nice calming thing and the glitchy ones were aggravating. Reminded me of how movement can be that way, nice smooth movement can calm the nervous system whereas frantic movement can aggravate it. I thought it was fitting that I am re-taking the Nia White Belt which is all about movement and I happen to experience weird movement in the game and notice how it affected me.
Have you ever noticed frantic movement affecting your nervous system? Do you play any calming games before bed?
Shaheen Reviews said
Interesting 🤔🤔🤔🤔
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terrepruitt said
I thought it was. 🙂
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Alien Resort said
Solitaire’s a good one. Lately for me it’s been Scrabble against the computer. Not exactly calming but it sure passes the time.
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terrepruitt said
🙂 Yes, there are a few other games I play that might not be considered relaxing, but I have seemed to land on this one before bed. And again, I didn’t even realize it was relaxing until it was not!
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Frank Hubeny said
I might (rarely) bring a physical book with me to bed, but since I’m on the computer most of the evening I don’t bring a device. I do pray which is calming. The last computer game I played was PacMan decades ago but that kind of game seemed to focus on frantic motion and wasn’t calming. It did seem to affect my nervous system making me want to beat the game (and so I’d try again). Playing that in bed might keep me awake.
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terrepruitt said
Yes, a lot of people are on the computer most of the day . . . and “experts” say NOT to do things on devices before bed, but it works for me. And yes, prayer is a great way to find calm. PacMan was a chase game, so yeah, not to calming – at least not to me. And, yes, that kind of game . . . where you are being chased most certainly would affect your nervous system.
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