Hmm. At this rate, I think every other post will be one of these, in which I lament the lack of updates, and I tell you all that I plan on updating this site more often. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stick with it this time. At the very least, I hope to finish my thoughts on Terranigma.
I’m sure you’ve found your way here through the piece I will publish on Kotaku.com within days of posting this…
If you have, this is my blog…
I hope you hate it.
Wow, I really enjoyed your piece on Kotaku. The story was inspiring! I too have games at such a point you do. The Gaming time is quickly leaving me with just 1 or 2 hours to play in College now. I have a partner, Girlfriend, What ever you may call the significant other in the pre-Proposal stages of life. I enjoy making her speechless. I hope to follow your example one day with a Fiancee’ and make the next step into life as meaningful as your story. Thank you for the great piece again.
Just another gaming reader from Kotaku
-Suerlink
Thanks for the kind words! I’m happy it inspired someone.
You have an excellent heart for your soon-to-be wife, sir. Respect your past while acknowledging your future. There are a good deal of similarities in our respective circumstances. It would be fun to chat a bit over email if you have the inclination to.
Thanks for the kind words. Absolutely, I’d be happy to chat with you over email. The link is on the right. I look forward to it.
Just wanted to let you know that I thought your piece on Kotaku (my first time there btw) was well written. I have found that my love for gaming (mostly 360 now) can work in my favour in discussions about things that my partner does that annoy me, like watching soaps.
Thank you for the comment. My wife doesn’t really mind my gaming habits, though she doesn’t really partake in them with me (not yet, anyway 🙂 ). I have cut out a lot of my gaming time, but I still try to get in a bit here and there. Mostly portable now — bus rides, and downtime at work, and what not.
I found your story extremely depressing. Not because I disagree, but because I too am going through a period of fewer video games.
For the past month I haven’t played a single minute of video games, because my significant other lost her job. So I decided to devote my free time to help her with the job hunt. She started a new job last week (only 2 weeks of unemployment, we did damn well), but I haven’t had any desire to go back to playing games. I feel like I should keep being productive, and that games are making me miss out on life and other activities. Is that weird?
And now reading this article, it’s almost like mourning my past self. It’s as if I’m watching a sappy movie and the main character’s best friend just died tragically. Except, the person in the coffin is your past video game playing self. YOUR best friend. Anyone else feel the same?
Great article. Thanks for writing it.
Thanks for the comment! I think there is a level of mourning that has to go on, in something like this. You are shearing off a piece of your old life. It doesn’t have to be video games. As we grow older, it can be any number of things. For example, I’ve long since come to grips with the fact that I will never smoke again. I miss smoking. I haven’t smoked in 8 and a half years, but I still miss it. Every day. I’ll never go back, though. I like being able to jog a block without getting winded. I’ve grown older, my values have shifted, and my life has changed. It’s ultimately a good thing.
Kudos to you for sacrificing your time to help your S/O in her troubled times. Humans, by and large, are selfish creatures, and it’s nice to see someone react in such an unselfish way. I don’t think it’s weird that you feel like you should keep being productive. That’s a good thing. I believe it’s our job, as human beings, to leave our mark on this world, whether it’s through art, traditions, or just being a good person. We can’t do that sitting on the couch, playing video games.
That said, don’t discount the benefit of “zoning” a bit; otherwise, you might find yourself burning out, and that hurts productivity about as bad as doing nothing.
Just keep in mind: your old self hasn’t died; it just looks different now. Not better, not worse, but different.