#NerdsUnite: Confessions of a videogame journalist (Finding Your Zen)
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy John. We started talking on the twitter not too long ago, and then he reached out and asked if he could write for us regarding his journey through the nerdy realm. I was all DUDDEEE!! That's so raaaddd!! And now, here we are. Like right now, in real time, this is happening. Pretty cool huh? HIT IT JOHN!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's John Sollitto
I was having a conversation with my sister the other day on the Facebook machine and she said something to me that really struck a chord. Jackie, my big sis, has always been one of my closest friends in the world, and I’ve always taken her advice to heart. While we were talking she said one of the most important things she wanted was for me to find my peace, to stop and find a way to let myself be.
Lately I’ve been really involved with work and school and chugging along in my life. Things have just been going really well and I’ve wanted to capitalize on that momentum and really push myself to do the best that I can.
Jackie was worried I wasn’t taking time to slow up and really take some stock in my life and make sure I’m happy with who I am. That’s very important, but to be honest, I’m not the kind of person to slow things down when I’m doing stuff. I’m always doing SOMETHING. If I’m watching TV I’m thinking about the Vault too or shuffling cards. If I’m writing I’m listening to music. Even when I was a kid I was kind of a spaz. But the idea Jackie had, letting myself be, that was the key thing I took from her.
I started really seeing how to do that while working in my dad’s shop. There’s that old saying that working with your hands shuts off your mind and really allows you to be at peace, right? I have no idea who says that. I think lumberjacks say it. Yeah, lumberjacks, that sounds right.
Okay, point is, they’re right. When I was working on signs or banners and whatever I really started to feel calm and at peace with what was going on in my life. I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to explain. Things started to fall into place in my head and I was able to look at them in a whole different perspective. I started to really value all the things that’d happened to me lately and find all the good things in my life.
Now, I’m not saying you all need to go out and start making signs. You need to find the thing that Zens you out. Sign making isn’t the only thing that Zens me. I mean, part of the reason I’m in video game journalism is because video games calm me down. I get angry? I play some violent games. I need to take my mind off of something? I play something like Skyrim and hunt for supplies to make a bunch of armor. Because I’m always doing something, being engaged in something I like or that’s fun or that requires little work Zens me out.
Now, what does that mean in relation to you? Since everyone isn’t the same finding your Zen is a bit of a personal thing. Some people like to meditate, others do crafts or take up some sort of trade. Heck, I know some people work out cause it calms their storm. The point is that you need to think of the things that you like, all those things you really enjoy about life or really enjoy about yourself, and start exploring those.
It’s like that Sound of Music song! But instead of raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens I think about stabbing a dragon in the face and driving the Russian army back from the coast of New York. Totally different but eerily similar in effect. Trust me. Writing has the same effect too which is why I like working for this site.
Eccentricities aside, this is kind of a therapeutic thing. I mean I really learned a lot about myself and was able to actually cool myself off from an argument with my parents by Zenning out. You’d be really surprised what you can accomplish internally and personally when you just kind of let yourself be. Also, if by letting yourself be you end up doing something in the process and it gets completed, then it’s a win-win! Right?
#nerdsunite
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