What's going on everyone!? Today I thought I would start a new piece I'm going to try to add to the blog on a somewhat regular basis... "Random Thoughts".
I was sitting here today by myself while my lovely wife is hard at work and my beautiful daughter is at school hopefully having a good time learning and making new friends and I had time to think. I figured I would try to write some of it down on here just to share a little insight as to some of my day to day thoughts.
As some of my readers may know, I suffer from depression as well as other mental and physical ailments. Today's topic has to do with this. Depression to be more specific.
Now I know it's ALL over the internet when it comes to depression any more and I don't feel like my personal experience with it is something that is ground breaking or any more/less important than others that go through with it. For me though, it's something that I experience every single day and while I do take medication for it daily sometimes you just can't help but get dragged down by it.
Lately I know I've been posting a LOT about Star Realms Mobile from White Wizard Games and I'm sure some of you may or may not be bored of seeing such posts for my "Game a Day" challenge. I apologize if this is getting a little stale to anyone but the honest fact is that this has become a staple in my life. A positive one.
Now, it could be said that it's a bit of an "addiction" which is true to some form or another but really, at it's core, it's just another way to help me personally cope with day to day things. I almost feel like a day is not complete if I can't get a game in.
You see, my lovely wife and I have gotten it we have played at LEAST once a day and usually right before bed or even while laying in bed falling asleep. It's something that I've come to expect will be there to end my day. Sharing time with my wife while she kicks my ass at the game.
As I've said MANY times over, I don't mind losing at all. It's the experience of playing a game that I enjoy, not so much the winning. Sure winning is great! But I don't feel that I "NEED" to win in order to have a good time with a game.
You're probably wondering where depression comes into all of this. Well, the answer is in the game itself. Or ANY game for that matter. You see, no matter how lousy a day seems to be for me (and we've had some REALLY bad ones as of late) I can count on one constant. The Game. We may not have a chance to set up the table with a game every night but we ALWAYS have time to play a game that required no set up.
This is the case with Star Realms Mobile. It's something that I know can happen every day, no matter what. Now, I mentioned that I play this game with my lovely wife all the time. While this is true, in recent days I've found this awesome group of fans of the game that play as well. On there you can just post up when you're wanting to play a game and before you know it you've got a few people or more who are ready to play with you as well!
This is something that ALSO helps with depression. Because even if you don't personally suffer from it, you know just as well how lonely it can feel if you don't have anyone to share your interests or passions with. The world can all the sudden be a very lonely place. With groups and spouses you can always feel like you're "wanted" or "needed". This in turn makes the world feel like a very good place to be at most times.
Now, if I keep going I'll just end up repeating myself(which is a bad habit of mine) so I'm going to stop here.
Just remember, if you or someone you know is a gamer of any type, take time to appreciate the game for what it is. An intimate experience of the mind that you share with others. There are so many ways to play games with people all over the world now that it doesn't HAVE to be a lonely place. If you just put little effort in looking, someone out there will be doing the same. With a little bit of perseverance you will be playing a game with someone who appreciates it as much as you do.
As always, thank you for reading and don't forget to stop and smell the meeples! :)
-Tim
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