I'm going to be honest with you all for a moment; I'm tired. I just got home from a long shift at work, the back of both my heels are cut from trying to break in my new boots, my back hurts and I haven't eaten anything today except 2 glasses of water and some aspirin. All I want to do right now is sleep for 12 hours without being disturbed. Except I can't do that because I have to wake up early to go back to work tomorrow. Do you see where I'm getting at, people? All this time working plus the fact that I will be starting school again next week means I barely have time to have a personality let alone play video games.
I would insert a "first world problem" joke here but you kind of already get the idea.
Gaming is - without question - an important part of my life. It's up there with playing music and writing. I try to find time to do all 3 activities during whatever time I have off - If any. But time and time again gaming is the one that keeps getting pushed back. I'm not sure if any of you feel the same but there is a certain kind of guilt that I get when I spend my free time playing games. "I could be spending this time buying groceries, paying bills or drinking. Why am I wasting it on video games?!" I angrily yell at myself. I know it sounds stupid when you say it out loud - "I wish I could play games way more." See? Totally stupid! But it really isn't. Let me elaborate in the next paragraph; this one is getting too long.
Ah, that's better. Gaming is just as mentally stimulating as listening to music, watching a movie or reading and writing. So why is it only treated as mindless fun? I understand how many great games can be considered as such (I'm blaming you, Plants Vs Zombies 2!) but The Last of Us? To say that playing that game is a time waster is an insult to artistic talent. Yet, even with that knowledge (or opinion, whatever) I still feel as though I'm not being even the slightest bit productive when I play games.
I dare you to name me one reason why video games can be a bad idea.
There is nothing quite like video game marathons. I used to beat every game I played in one sitting because I had absolutely nothing else to do. Now, those days are nothing but an unobtainable fantasy - an admittedly tame unobtainable fantasy but that's not the point. The point is that I truly miss the days where I could pick up a controller any time I wanted and play to my heart's desire. Now that I'm stuck with the mindset of "Okay, you can play for a little while but don't you dare get comfortable!" I find it considerably less fun.
I don't see myself quitting video games any time soon but it is an increasingly difficult hobby to maintain. At least enjoyably anyway. Even still, I refuse to give up such an important part of my life because of minor little things like "responsibility" or "survival". Pfft!
Please leave your thoughts and experiences! And if you really want to be awesome you can follow me on tumblr at http://readingrightonthelines.tumblr.com/