Concept

As part of a philosophy discussion group called Internet Real Life, hosted by Peter Limberg and Katherine Dee, I had the opportunity to share a 10-minute presentation on a topic related to the human relationship with the internet.

I chose to design an RPG-style, choose-your-own-adventure Zoom experience that shared the values behind Hijinx World.

Group decision-making

At one point in the presentation, the audience had to decide: Do they hand over the manifesto, or kick him in the balls?
As I suspected, everyone voted to kick him in the balls.

Alternate ending

Of course, I still prepared an alternate scenario where the audience does hand it over.
This is one of my favorite videos from the entire project, though sadly, it never got played during the session.

Slowing down time

There’s a moment when I ask the audience: Are you ready to slow down time?
I used this animated watch face to prompt a collective deep breath and help everyone anchor into the present.

The booklet

I wanted the audience to feel what it’s like to truly hold The Hijinx Manifesto.
So I photographed a printed booklet and used those images as slideshow prompts. This POV trick helped make it feel like they were escaping their digital environment, even briefly.

Planning

While designing this presentation, I asked myself: How could I encourage the audience to create their own hijinx?

To avoid distractions, I storyboarded everything on paper. It was like designing a video game—I had to predict the audience’s behavior and build in prompts for action and surprise storytelling.
I truly believe the presentation raised their inner-hijinx levels. Even if just a tad.

The Mother Tree

One of the central characters in the experience is The Mother Tree.

She’s not just a character—she’s real. This tree lives beside my old elementary school, and I’ve been climbing and lying in her branches since I was a kid. There's a nook in the middle where you can nestle in, and it feels like you're being cradled. She's ancient, generous, and grounding. That’s why I call her The Mother Tree.

Whenever I need a meditative break or moment of clarity, I visit her.