Gaming has always been a pretty big part of my life. It may have started with Spider and Solitaire as an innocent way to kill an hour or two, but now RPGs have taken over my free time and my mind. Series such as Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls, Fable, and Witcher are among my favorites.

For a long time, I despised myself for loving videogames. Queue all the stereotypes: they are getting in the way of my productivity, it’s a waste of money and time, and they are dumbing me down as a person. Eh, nothing like some good old self-loathing to keep me “motivated”, right?

Wrong, oh, so wrong. The truth is, videogames gave us some amazing storytelling and inspired thousands of people to create art of their own. Be it illustration, fanfic, or ships no one has ever asked for, people got influenced by the games and went on to express their creativity in amazing and unique ways.

Now that I’ve said it, I won’t be addressing the stereotypes anymore. The way I see it, people who are frowning upon playing videogames are just barring themselves from some of the most awesome stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. It’s like refusing to watch TV on principle. In any case, you do you, just please don’t judge others for spending their time however they like.

So, back to the sense of joy I discovered in videogames. For many years, I’ve been enjoying lovely storytelling, roleplaying, and seeing the world from different points of view.

Last year, I started wondering how I could feel more comfortable about my love for videogames. I made my peace with it, but isn’t there more to it? Like, can I genuinely enjoy my games without getting jabbed with the inescapable sense of guilt every now and then?

As I turn thirty this Friday, I want to spend my time doing things that I truly enjoy. And even though I don’t expect this particular passion to provide me with a full-time income, I still just want to give myself a chance to do what I love for work. It’s not a job, but it’s something that I’d like to commit to and pour my heart and energy into. My biggest dream right now is to build a friendly creative community where people can share their passions and support each other along the way. I’ve gotten so many eyerolls over the years whenever I tried talking about videogames, roleplaying, unconventional storytelling, and cosplay; I just want to have a circle of people where these things unite us rather than give someone a reason to judge.

And of course, this is bigger than just videogames. I want to uplift people pursuing their creative passions. I’d like to encourage people to be their creative selves, be it for work or pleasure. They say you’re a sum of the people that surround you; I want my online circle to consist of wild, passionate, and creative people.

This is my North Star for the next decade of my life. I hope that I’m strong enough to see it through.

If my vision aligns with what you’re into, welcome to the club! Please feel free to reach out, share your work/hobbies here in the comments, and let’s keep in touch! Feel free to share your preferred method of communication, and links to your socials ok to post here. And when it comes to connecting with me and the rest of the community, you can do it on Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, Discord, Youtube, and of course, here in the comments! 

I have a vision and goals that may be too big for me. But the bigger the community grows, the more realistic they sound.