In the language-learning app I use, like so many games and gamified platforms, it takes an ever-increasing number of points to graduate to each subsequent level.

For example, it might take 100 points of gameplay to go from level 1 to level 2, and 1000 points to get from level 9 to level 10.

This is good game design, taking advantage of the nature of operant conditioning.

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I lost some momentum in my life shortly after college.

I spent a few months volunteering full time, then came “home” to my parents’ house where I tried to figure out what was next. As the Beatles’ song goes, “Out of college, money spent/see no future, pay no rent.” It was summertime, and I had a job lined up for September—a job I was dreading—and nothing until then.

I was so used to being busy that I didn’t cope well with all of the free time. I tried to practice music and write songs, which I had always longed for more time to do, but it felt like dropping coins into a bottomless well.

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Moving to Maine hasn’t been good for my tennis game.

I didn’t feel comfortable going to the indoor tennis courts during covid, so I signed up for one of those flex leagues that allows you to find compatible players. Well, I found three players total, and the closest one was 20 miles away. That was a bit discouraging after spending almost two decades in a tennis haven in which there were dozens of players in my neighborhood alone and a bunch of drop-in classes available throughout the week in various parks and tennis centers.

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Here we are in late-stage pandemic. God, I hope this is late-stage.

Some of us have made it to the “other side” — vaccinated and ready to party — and some of us are still waiting. But it still doesn’t seem to be over, and there is no clear end point in sight. There’s no armistice to be signed, no bells that will ring.

In times of high uncertainty and stress, humans seek comfort. When our everyday circumstances provide little in the way of natural neurochemical highs, we go looking. Some of these are destructive even in moderation: cigarettes, hard drugs, dangerous places online and offline. Some of them are fine for awhile, but it’s a slippery slope: alcohol, work, gambling, gaming, TV, shopping, social media.

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When I was in tenth grade, I suddenly developed a passion for the guitar.

My dad played, so he lent me a guitar and showed me my first chords. Late at night, I would sit on the edge of my bed and work out songs.

One afternoon, I spent about three hours going through a book of Beatles songs, painstakingly reading the tiny chord grids above the piano part.

The intense effort paid off. I started in March, and by May of that year I was jamming regularly with other musicians, performing onstage, and writing my own songs.

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