In my ongoing search to be happy, I've found this article which seems to justify my world view. (Admittedly, I'm sure I can find anything on the internet which will justify a world view that eating frogs whilst juggling knives is the key to happiness, but let's go with this).
Especially when I moved to the UK, I realized I have very few possessions of my own. Clothes, several books and my desktop are the main things. Everything else really belongs to my folks and I don't even use it that much. So most of my money sits in investments or has been burnt into experiences. Holidaying, parties, dinners, these are the things which has eaten most of my money.
There is one oddity in all this though. Games.
You see, games fall into that gap of being an possession (you own it forever) and an experience at the same time. I was wondering about the many, many hours I've sunk into gaming in my lifetime and considered if this was a mistake. After all, I know many people who have amazing stories of nights out on the town and with friends whilst I was younger. I can certainly believe that during uni, I would have burnt through as much as everyone else on drinking and met many wonderful people, who I'd subsequently throw up on as part of the uni drinking bonding ritual.
But no, I was playing games. And I can't really regret this. Gaming is an experience in itself. It is like that deeply emotional movie you love to see over and over, a nail biting competition of wits and fingers or merely a creative, piss-farting-about experience between friends.
Whilst demonized by the media for being a solitary medium played by anti-social introverts and psychopaths, I'd argue the vast majority of gamers are very sociable and gaming is a powerful relationship builder. I have memories of games of 8 player Warcraft3 in between working on the same assignment together in uni, being on the phone with my friend Jack for hours whilst we figured out Age of Empires strategy and of play testing Quake 1 maps with another friend during high school.
Some of the friendships I've developed over the years have stemmed from shared experiences in gaming. I became close to some of my friends at work because we would finish up work, go home and get on Teamspeak together to play games at night. I've met so many random people at LANs who have gone on to become friends who invite me into their homes and share their lives with me.
Ignoring the benefits of relationship building, I recollect many fond memories of the stories and gameplay of various games. I still remember the heartache that accompanied the ending of Dreamfall. I can remember various nights having the shit scared out of me by jumping Howlers in Clive Barker's Undying. And as sad as it is, I remember the romance of winning over the druid Jaheria in Baldur's Gate. Yes, these aren't real experiences. They aren't unique, there are millions of people worldwide who have experienced it. But they form fond memories for me, and that's still important.
So whilst these are "things" I possess, they create so many experiences that are were influential in the way I grew up. When my time comes and I think back on my life, will I think I spent too much time at work. Most likely. Will I think I spent too much time on games? Probably not.
Whilst demonized by the media for being a solitary medium played by anti-social introverts and psychopaths, I'd argue the vast majority of gamers are very sociable and gaming is a powerful relationship builder. I have memories of games of 8 player Warcraft3 in between working on the same assignment together in uni, being on the phone with my friend Jack for hours whilst we figured out Age of Empires strategy and of play testing Quake 1 maps with another friend during high school.
Some of the friendships I've developed over the years have stemmed from shared experiences in gaming. I became close to some of my friends at work because we would finish up work, go home and get on Teamspeak together to play games at night. I've met so many random people at LANs who have gone on to become friends who invite me into their homes and share their lives with me.
Ignoring the benefits of relationship building, I recollect many fond memories of the stories and gameplay of various games. I still remember the heartache that accompanied the ending of Dreamfall. I can remember various nights having the shit scared out of me by jumping Howlers in Clive Barker's Undying. And as sad as it is, I remember the romance of winning over the druid Jaheria in Baldur's Gate. Yes, these aren't real experiences. They aren't unique, there are millions of people worldwide who have experienced it. But they form fond memories for me, and that's still important.
So whilst these are "things" I possess, they create so many experiences that are were influential in the way I grew up. When my time comes and I think back on my life, will I think I spent too much time at work. Most likely. Will I think I spent too much time on games? Probably not.
