In fairness, I really am not judging myself on this one. What I'm seeing is a deep, psychological need to GET AWAY from reality. Even before any drug addiction, fantasy and pretend was an escape. I was SUCH a big reader when I was little; I would get super sucked into a book, and then for days or weeks afterwards I would relate everything to myself as if I was the main character in the book.
I chose playing this game over exercise, over eating anything healthy, over taking my kid anywhere, over getting laundry done, doing my JOB... blah blah blah... just like any god drug addiction. Seemingly, escaping my life was THE priority for a couple days. I wonder why? I am happy with my life. I love being a parent. My job is rewarding-ish. I have plenty of "to-do's"....oh, wait, the to do's, thats a whole nother blog (YES, I said "nother", I am in a love-hate relationship with this nonword).
"Fable 2" is this role playing game with non-turn based fighting that still isn't too hard for me, a treat. "Your" character is nicely customizable, and interacting with the NPCs is quite entertaining. There is a strong story line and plenty of main quests and side quests to give the player something to do for... well, probably for many, many days on end. I'm a fantastic beer slinger! My history knowledge sucks, but it is full of wood furniture, horse drawn carts, pots to piss in, long skirts, corsets, striped pants for the gents, gypsies, farmers, and city folk. Characters are even characterized as straight,, gay or bisexual. And there are cross dressers. And what you eat affects your weight. ANd of course you can choose to be good or evil.. I have a halo of course!
Sigh... if only, if only I could play for 5 days straight! But now I am running late! Gabe is curled up on the couch watching TV, OBVIOUSLY not wanting to go to school today... *another sigh*... I have to be the grown up dammit, and make it look like it's a GOOD thing at the same time. "YAy! Let's get dressed and go enjoy our day! Yippee!"
;)
5 comments:
hmmmm.... we all look for our own escapes. I TOTALLY relate to reading fantasy and science fiction when I was younger. And even to this day I prefer it. But you know that. You know how hard it is for me to watch Law and Order with you or movies that are serious and dramatic. And playing Fable 2 is not bad. And I bet if Gabe HAD gone to school you wouldn't have stayed home all day playing it. It didn't stop you one bit from going out and socializing Sunday with Bethums and Dave. I think you are being hard on yourself because you didn't have the discipline you KNOW you have to put it down and do what you needed to do. But no one will fault you on that. It's good to take a break. I am sure that you didn't leave anything undone that couldn't have waited another day.
.... BUT.... If you truly are remorseful over it ... feel free to send me your 360 and fable 2 so that there is no longer any temptation. ^.^
I'm not down on myself, not at all. More-so I';m trying to look at the behavior to understand it. Not everyone chooses a "thing" or an activity over responsibilities that they believe are important.
I socialized on Saturday. Sunday and Monday were total, COMPLETE Fable days.
p.s.
You go through moments like this.
It's just that this time you happened to be going through it while playing a video game instead of vegging on the couch. I think its better. It gets your mind to concentrate and the entire moral battle associated with the story is wonderful too.wicsom
I get this way any time I get a new "toy" be it a game, book, cd, snack, etc. so don't feel bad. I think its normal. One of my best friends, Suzy, just got her first cell phone and with it access to text messaging. Now she is driving everyone crazy. Eventually though the "new" will wear off and she'll go back to normal... well normal for her anyway, lol.
When I was younger I played Playstation waaaaay too much. I love rpgs like Final Fantasy, Legend of Dragoon, Suikoden III, Crono Cross... the list goes on and on. One day after I'd beaten all the games I owned at least twice I realize how much time I was wasting, hehe. I didn't feel too guilty though because frankly I had enjoyed myself. However now I try to stick to my hobbies that actually produce something. (however that is still just an excuse to not do the house work I should when I should, hehe)
We all need to escape reality on occasion. The difference between addiction and not is if you can get what actually HAS to be done taken care of. If you miss a day or two of exercise it thats not good but you won't die. However you do have to remember the longer you wait the longer it'll be to get started again. Gabe was sick and you took care of him regardless of anything else. (you are a great mom! I probably would have called my mom to sit for me, or at least thought about doing so.)
As Joe said though "I think you are being hard on yourself because you didn't have the discipline you KNOW you have to put it down and do what you needed to do." I can't fault you for that either sweetie. I'm that way more than I like to admit. The good news? We'll get it all done eventually and still have time to play. ^_^
Sorry I got a little wordy. I'm only about 1/2 awake and my brain is a little fuzzy still.
I think if you are going to be addicted to something, video games -- fun, entertaining, socially interactive, visually stimulating, creative, oh, and fun -- are probably one of the better things to be addicted to. I would be more worried if you suddenly stopped Twittering, going to work, feeding Gabe, all so you could play your game.
But just like I am with WoW, we need to balance the escape from reality with reality. And you can do that just fine... Just like we always say, it's about balance. Anything can become an addiction if you choose to let it rule your life instead of it being one part of your life...
But if I had to choose work or WoW? Well, we know the answer to that... and just to make you feel better, it took every ounce of will power for me to go to work today. I just wanted to keep playing my new warlock. She has so much potential for perfect evilness if she can just expand her talents.
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