Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.
This one is easy! Video games. Picture this — you’ve had a long day at work, you’ve taken time to bond with your kid and your cat. You’ve had your social battery drained significantly by dealing with folks on and off through your shift and you need to unplug from the world.
That’s the magic of a video game. You get to disconnect, even for a few hours, from the rest of the world and de-stress your body. If you’ve been standing all day? You get to sit. If you’re runnin’ and gunnin’, now you’re sitting still. If you’re in a constant state of forcing a straight back with your chest out? You can finally relax a bit.
There are worlds that you never experience that a game can immerse you into. There’s things you’ll see that reality can never provide and all of this…without drugs. Whether it’s the Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario Bros., The Land of Shadow in Elden Ring or the upside down version of Dracula’s Castle in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, you’re taken for a ride as far detached from reality as you can.
Once that ride ends, I experience a sense of relief where, after I get sleep, I wake up and have a refilled mental battery to start a new day.
How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?
Wal-Mart is no longer 24/7. Honestly, the biggest change has been that public transit did not return to pre-Pandemic levels. Efficiency has decreased significantly. Before, my usual buses ran at every 15-20 minutes weekday and weekends every 30-45 minutes. Now at least one bus I need is every 30 mins while another is hourly.
Beyond that, it’s felt like business as usual…but with more homeless folk in Tampa. More homeless means more frustrated and mentally-disturbed people. This situation then leads to a lot of beggars and, sadly, more drug addicts.
Last weekend was an important one. I celebrated 40 years of my life on this earth. I didn’t fly to the land of my parents in Puerto Rico. I didn’t fly to my birthplace of Brooklyn, New York. Instead, I flew to Washington, D.C. for a change of scenery (and spent time with my girlfriend as well). It was cathartic. It also induced many moments of reflection as I flew back down to Tampa, Florida. I enjoyed soaking in the energy and vibes of the Native American Museum. If not for needing to experience other things and sights, I would’ve been lost inside that museum. Perhaps it was the Taino blood that ripples in my bloodstream but I felt connected. I got to enjoy all the Cherry Blossom trees in the capital. It was fitting. I had recently finished my playthrough series of Persona 3 Reload. The game has a starting and ending setting that involve Spring and said trees. I got to also enjoy the African American and Asian American museums, as well as viewing Capital Hill. It had been my first time since I was 12 years old. That alone gave me some sense of nostalgia. The weather was also very fitting as it was my ideal weather discussed in a previous blog entry. Last stop of notable places were the Botanical Gardens and the Air and Space Museum. I had never been to the former. The latter was greater in scale than I had recalled back in January 2011 when I visited it last.
As I traveled back home, I arrived at full circle to reflect on my life journey. It made me also ponder where my parents were at my age and where I’m at now. More importantly, I thought about their health compared to mine. I’ve succeeded them in some ways, but I also considered how much I have left to go. I’m grateful every day that I have a healthy heart rate, no sugar issues, no mobility issues of concern. At 40 years of age, I feel at least 32. If anything makes me realize that I’m 40, it’s how my life experiences changed my view of love. They also changed how I perceive parenthood, heartbreak, loss, and the struggles of life.
Leaving my parents’ nest changed me. The weight of fatherhood, heartbreaks, marriage, and divorce is significant. Being a pet parent also affects me. All of these things have changed how I view the world. They influence how I view life as it moves behind, inside, outside, and ahead of me. I’ve had women I loved come and go. I’ve seen dear friends, classmates and family members wither and die (either suddenly or through the abyss of time itself). I have watched my daughter be born and begin to grow. I’ve come to understand what loving a pet is like compared to human life.
Even with my current knowledge to alter my past… I regret nothing out of my life — mistakes and all. If a New Game Plus version of my life were to emerge, I hope that I keep all the lessons. I want to apply this learning in the future. Like Moira MacTaggart, I want to use this knowledge to make the next life more successful.
