A game is a piece of myself I give form outside of myself because I want to be seen. A Manifesto.

A game is a piece of myself I give form outside of myself because I want to be seen.

> Seen by who?

1. Seen by myself. I want to know myself deeply and intimately, and in this way love myself deeply and intimately. I want to look in the mirror and love that man looking back at me. And I will do this, and I do do this, because I am a beautiful man down to my core. 

I have in the past been sick of myself and been scared to know myself more in case I do not like what I find. But as I grow and learn and look back, I realise that fear of knowing myself is entirely due to external pressures. When I came out as trans, a vast majority of the people around me were disgusted and hateful. It did not hurt less because it came from ignorance. I showed them myself and they responded so negatively that I took that on myself. I feared that should I show more of myself to myself, I would respond negatively like they had.

But that could not be farther from the truth. Every time I turn to know myself more, I find more to love. Yes there are wounds and faults and flaws that I dislike, but if I only loved perfect things I would never love at all.

2. Seen by others. This is second because it is secondary. I receive joy from being known by others, but a different joy from being known by myself. It is a vulnerable thing, to show myself to strangers, and even to friends, and surely to family.

When I show myself, I want the beholder to see the beauty I see. To say, "Wow, what a precious thing!" To say, "I see you in here, and I know you better now, and we are more connected this way."

But sometimes people say, "I don't get it." or "That's not how I see it." or "If I twist it this way, it makes more sense to me." None of these responses are wrong, they are just not what I am looking for. They do not build connection.

And yet I still put my games out into the wide world of the internet, where anyone may see and comment in any way they choose. 

Why? Because I hope to keep finding people that see the precious thing, to build connections where we truly see each other. For as I continue to be seen by others, I continue to see myself. 

> And thus we are brought back to point 1. I make games to see myself over and over, and to love him more and more each time.

[This is the entirety of the manifesto. PDF exists if you would like to download it.]