Ride Like the Wind
...and carry a sharp sword
My husband and I are in the midst of playing a popular video game called Ghost of Tsushima. In the story, you play as Jin Sakai, a fearless former Samurai who wanders ancient Japan, almost single-handedly fighting off the marauding Mongols in an effort to save his homeland. The game is visually stunning and mentally challenging, with plenty of swordplay to master, puzzles to solve, treasures to find, and bad guys to vanquish.
It’s a lot of work for one poor Samurai. Luckily for Jin, he has a few otherworldly (read: computer programmed) tricks up his sleeve to make things easier. One of these is something called the “Guiding Wind.” Whenever Jin Sakai becomes lost in any way, whether spatially in the terrain or strategically in terms of keeping track of the various missions, he has only to call up the Guiding Wind for help. One quick swipe of the touchpad on the PlayStation controller, and bam: a blowing, supportive gust instantly appears to clear up the confusion.
This way, the wind says. Just follow me.
Each time I see that breeze, I feel a rush of giddy relief. It’s mostly, but not quite, transparent, with a soothing array of swirls and eddies. Depending on the season, it kicks up leaves, snowdrifts, and flower petals as it goes. You can call it up whenever you want, with no penalties for use and no judgement whatsoever from the other characters or the game programming gods.
The Guiding Wind, in other words, is pretty perfect. And sadly missing from my own, real life.
Now that we’ve been playing Ghost of Tsushima for a while, I find myself thinking about that wind while I’m out-and-about in everyday situations. Standing in the grocery store, debating between two options. Fighting with my suddenly broken turn signal in the car, wondering if I should bring it in for costly repair or just wait to see if the problem corrects itself. Or wandering through a new city, as I did a few weeks ago, staring down at the GPS on my phone, looking for a business that’s supposed to be right there, on that corner, but somehow isn’t.
Then there are the bigger things. The marauding Mongols to my ancient Japan. You know the things I mean: The ones that keep you up at night in a cold sweat. The dilemmas without obvious solutions. The dead-ends, the difficult choices, the feelings of powerlessness that knock you off your feet each time you get sucked into one of life’s relentless, sneaky undertows.
I have a recurring nightmare that I’m out in public and need to use the restroom. When I find one, I peer into the first stall and find disgusting conditions. The second one is even worse. And so on and so on, until I’m hopping up and down in physical and mental agony. That’s usually when I wake up with a gasp.
When I looked that one up in a dream dictionary, I was surprised to learn that it’s actually a pretty common nightmare—we tend to have it when we’re faced with an important decision, but we don’t like any of the choices. Option A sucks, and so does Option B and Option C. Nevertheless, we have to choose one of them.
If only I had a real-life Guiding Wind. If only. Just think of all the nightmares and despair that could be avoided! The agony and unrest that could be eliminated! One swipe, and I’d know which way to go. Which choice to make. How to avoid the invading aggressors and find my way safely back to my camp of allies.
In Ghost of Tsushima, Jin also has a trusty horse to accompany him on his journey. The horse doesn’t need food or water. It doesn’t need rest. Jin can wander away from the horse for long periods of time and lose track of it without consequence. Then, when Jin needs his equine companion again, he needs only to let out a whistle and voila: The loyal and uncomplaining beast appears instantly at his side.
The Ghost horse has me thinking a lot about motherhood, about family, about marriage, about friendship. If only… But that’s a yearning best left for another day, I think. Probably the day after I figure out how to tame these frigid New England gales.
Seriously, Wind: It’s April. If you can’t be more helpful, the least you can do is be less cold.
Trisha Blanchet is the author of the forthcoming Murder Like Magic (due out August 25, 2026, from Crooked Lane Books) and Herrick’s End, Herrick’s Lie, and Herrick’s Key. She’s also the producer and host of A Mighty Blaze Podcast, a member of the Tall Poppy Writers, and the founder of Operation Delta Dog: Service Dogs for Veterans.