4 years "real"

This is a post I originally made for Facebook - that I though I would share here with the wider Funomena audience. TLDR: Thank you, everyone. <3

4 years ago, I posted a photo of the tiny little proto-office Martin and I made at his apartment in the Haight, saying something pithy like "All it takes is a positive attitude". Looking back, it seems so naive... and yet in many ways, it resonates deeply.

Just a few months prior, we had filed to incorporate, and were making plans to bring Keita to the US. About 6 months after this post, we had keys to a "real office" and funding to make "real games". And now... we are here! Poised to release two very different games that each aim to express the same core messages about community, empathy, and the ultimate value of every person on this planet.

Time passes quickly, yet every day shapes our experience. The comment that I made with this original post is just as true now "four years real" as it was when we were just two people and a dream. Making games is a process of creative discovery - embracing the unknown. With each challenge, we have learned new ways to collaborate, to face uncertainty and most importantly to accept our own mistakes and failures as a part of the learning process that makes each of us better colleagues and creatives.

Building the company has been one of the most influential experiences of my life on just about every level. I'm always learning, always reaching beyond my comfort zone - which is a positive way to say I'm constantly failing and processing difficult feedback :) :)LD:D:;;And as a result, every day I am grateful for each and every person who has helped shape Funomena - from followers, play-testers and advisors to friends, creators and collaborators. You are all part of our story.

It can be difficult to think that making games *matters* in a time like this. But the more we do just that, the more I see how we must. People need art to express and explore their thoughts and feelings, to ask questions, demand change, and to demonstrate how human imagination can help us design entirely new realities. Most importantly, the process of making art together helps us grow as individuals, capable of dealing with the ups and downs that naturally emerge while solving difficult problems, together, as a team.

It's gonna be a strange, active and exciting year for us all. I will be making games at Funomena and UCSC... with and for people we really care about. At times we will really need your help and encouragement. Know that it matters, that you matter, and that we all make a difference in our own way, each day.

Peace!!