Imagine life when we did not have irrigated fields of food and we were hunter gatherers. Food had to be identified, found, prepared, and cooked. Sometimes, this required a nomadic way of life or one that was always on the fringes of survival. Getting out of the game requires that old rules be broken and new ones formed.

For the hunter gatherer, getting to know a plant would have provided many clues on forming new alliances with the natural world. Plants can propagate through many types of division; stem, root, leaf, seed, and today cells. Even domesticating animals would’ve been considered crazy. Humans crawl, walk, and run. It takes us time to travel far distances. Imagine the first person who decided they wanted to get on the back of a large animal and ride it across the world. Crazy. I know.

The games we’ve created for ourselves are many. The great news is that we can change the game, make a new one, and create new rules. The game of gathering shifted to the game of gardening, a new game with new rules. The rules now are to learn how to cultivate plants instead of just finding them. As rules change, our knowledge grows and expands to encompass new areas. With the birth of a new idea, more possibilities are available. For example, with gardening came the sciences and the arts. We had more time to waste looking at the stars building civilization as we know it instead of looking for things to eat. The advent of the internet allowed for commerce through online stores rather than a physical one; now, you can shop from the convenience of your home instead of going somewhere.

Game changers create a new way of life, some better some worse. The key is finding a way to change the games you’re in and make it better.