Soma SoulWorks Podcast

Hello! The Soma Soulworks Podcast is going on summer break - many big things are happening behind the scenes here, from our annual conference to our upcoming game title. As such, we need some time to herd the cats and organize our thoughts. In this episode, we share a bit about why the break and what's on our minds as we head into the summer, and we look forward to catching you all on the next one in the Fall.

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Soma Games earns a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you, but all of our recommendations and opinions are our own.

Welcome to the Soma SoulWorks Podcast! This podcast serves to help people, particularly those who may label themselves as "creatives," to seek wholeness and calling so they are ready to embrace the mission God has for them. Consider this podcast a rogue harmony of professional development and self-care, hosted by Chris Skaggs.
What’s covered in this episode:
This Achievement Guide series suggests a set of practices and ideals meant to shield our hearts and minds from the most common pitfalls we encounter. At its best, it is an expression of community, taken up in the belief that none of get through this world alone. We need help from one another to live the lives God meant for us. It is also embraced in humility, recognizing that we are all prone to specific lures and spiritual threats that require us to take extra care with our practices.

Few things could be more dissonant than a crew of game creators, living in their 'dream job,’ yet devoid of any mirth. Yet the ‘all business’ mentality is in the norm throughout our industry. Instead subjecting all other concerns to the draw of the bottom line we cultivate an internal culture of humor, celebration and serendipity. We recognize that joy is one of our most precious gifts from Heaven and regard its presence as the welcome fruit of an abundant life. Yet we know it’s a fragile thing, vulnerable to the pressures of productivity and profitability, which we also cultivate, but as junior sisters to the fundamental fun that ought to define our work and workplace. In this episode, we dive deeper into the role/importance of humor in our everyday environment

• What role, if any, does humor play in a high stress environment?
• What is the value of humor in the workplace?
• Applying the same question to church, is humor appropriate in that seemingly serious environment?
• “If we can’t imagine God laughing, then we are missing out on something so precious and good”
• Team discusses the difference between humor and joy; humor sounds like something you have to work towards, while joy feels much more organic and natural

Resources:

• Sign up for the Tempus Divum newsletter
• Become a Patron

Email us ideas, questions, or suggestions at [email protected]

Today on the Soma SoulWorks Podcast, we talk about what it's like to play video games for the first time. What hurdles do people face if they want to get into gaming? What technologies and techniques are out there to help ease people into the hobby? What does this mean for developers when we create games?
Gaming for a Non-Gamer
Find more information about us on our website and consider joining the conversation with your circle with our small group studies that loosely follow our podcast, which is available every week for free.

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Soma Games earns a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you, but all of our recommendations and opinions are our own.

Welcome to the Soma SoulWorks Podcast! This podcast serves to help people, particularly those who may label themselves as "creatives," to seek wholeness and calling so they are ready to embrace the mission God has for them. Consider this podcast a rogue harmony of professional development and self-care, hosted by John Bergquist and Chris Skaggs.

What’s covered in this episode:

• In this interview with Aaron McHugh, author of Fire Your Boss, we look into the workplace and how we can change our mindsets to help improve our role in them.
• The idea that every employee is an interchangeable cog is prevalent in the workplace. There is an emphasis on the service and resources an employee brings, rather than on the human being themselves; this is expected and normalized in the workplace. “We’ve outsourced our happiness and contentment to other people,” Aaron says. “It’s a fundamentally flawed system...There is a spirit of slavery over the workplace.”
• Aaron describes watching his grandfather work at Disneyland in its early years. Seeing the joy his grandfather had there helped him articulate something he wanted in his own work-life: Work is supposed to matter, make a difference, and be purposeful.
• The fundamental question Aaron asks here and in his book, Fire Your Boss, is, “What would it look like to bring all of yourself in an honoring and godly way to your work environment? How do I move from fear, being compartmentalized, and being complicit as a victim to living out freedom, wholeheartedness, and being empowered enough to hold myself responsible and accountable wherever I am?”
• Like in the serenity prayer, Aaron puts an emphasis that we should be seeking God’s input to understand what we can change internally and externally—that we can discern when we need to be adaptable vs. when we need to remove ourselves from a situation that’s causing us suffering.
• The good change comes with a shift in your mindset. Rather than waiting for an ideal opportunity to do your work well, you should be bringing patience, dignity, honor, spirituality, forgiveness, grace, and love to whatever job you’re doing. That’s the way you get promoted. “That’s the way of the kingdom.” Aaron says, “Wherever you are, you can become the kind of person who learns to thrive.”
• “Always believe that you are uniquely qualified to make a lasting contribution to the future of work.” - Aaron McHugh

Resources mentioned:

• Fire Your Boss: A Manifesto to Rethink How You Think About Work by Aaron McHugh
• Work, Life, Play Podcast
• Aaron’s Blog
• Serenity Prayer
• Sign up for the Tempus Divum newsletter

Email us ideas, questions or suggestions at [email protected]

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Soma Games earns a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you, but all of our recommendations and opinions are our own.

Welcome to the Soma SoulWorks Podcast! This podcast serves to help people, particularly those who may label themselves as "creatives," to seek wholeness and calling so they are ready to embrace the mission God has for them. Consider this podcast a rogue harmony of professional development and self-care, hosted by John Bergquist and Chris Skaggs.

What’s covered in this episode:

• What does the Performance Stronghold look like?
  • Coming into something—an event, a job, etc.—and already feeling unworthy.
  • Imposter syndrome: “I’m a fraud and I don’t deserve this.”
  • Comparison
  • “I’m not enough, so I have to really work at this.”
• The Enemy will use strongholds like these to take artists out. In any creative culture, there’s the 24/7 work-pressure that eats artists up. Mark describes it feeling like, “you’ve got a barcode on the back of your neck.” It’s this fear of being replaced that you compensate by overworking yourself.
• It comes back to identity. Having full awareness of who you are in Christ—that you aren’t alone, and that he co-labors with you—means you’ll be able to take pretty much anything that comes at you because your wellness is founded in The Kingdom, and not in the validation of your peers. Then, you’ll be prepared to respond out of love rather than defense.
• It’s not about the paychecks, comparison, or the promotion. Invite the Holy Spirit into your work, and have a dialogue with him about it. Ask him what you’re constructed to do.
• Mark describes a time when he began working for LucasArts as an art director for “Battlefront”. He felt the stronghold of oppression and imposter syndrome walking into his office for the first time. “I’m six feet, but I felt like I was 6 inches.” He said he asked himself, out loud, “What do I have to offer this place?” And he felt the Holy Spirit warm his heart and dispel the fear. It can be challenging not to put on a stronghold of comparison when you’re working in a building with skilled specialists, but at this point your choices are either to break down, or to break through and grow.
• There will be people who are horrible to you. When you feel those strongholds, turn to prayer. “Hey, you knitted this person together. You know their heart, I don’t. What would you like me as a vessel to speak into this person?” Submit back to The Father. Adapt to the situation, and bless the people you interact with.
• There were times when Jesus had to go into the wilderness and seek His Father’s voice. We need that rest, and the patience to wait for God’s voice. Many times there isn’t an answer right away. It’s about a posture of submission to him.
• Take off the pressure that we have to be the best to have influence. Instead, you just need to show up, show love, and share your story.

Resources mentioned:

• The Power of Vulnerability TED Talk by Brené Brown
• Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek
• War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Seth Godin
• On Moral Fiction by John Gardner
• On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft by Stephen King
• Sign up for the Tempus Divum newsletter

Email us ideas, questions or suggestions at [email protected]