A Life Inspired by Nintendo's Animal Crossing

There are things in Animal Crossing that every human should learn from. A story of how I am taking some hints back in my own life.

🎵 Oh, life. It's bigger than you and... me.

It's been almost 2 months I play Animal Crossing and I got to say it made me realize some things about the way I deal with money and food. When I started playing I wanted to buy all the prebuilt stuff in the store. They all looked so cool! I wanted them all! Yet, I realized at some point they were all pretty useless. A fax machine? An electronic kit? Why would I need any of this on a deserted island?

Useless?

Translate this to my real life. I came to own so much stuff over the year, even though I told myself I was buying "quality" stuff. Stuff is just that: stuff. My credit card statement has never been so low. I don't have the urge to buy as much as before. Sure the fact I'm stuck at home helps, but still it made me realize my needs are satisfied. OK, now I see you coming telling me I bought a switch and ANIMAL CROSSING.

Yeah. I know. I still have some issues!

Another thing I realized in AC, is that I prefer building my own furniture. I feel a bigger attachment to my twin bed I made with my hands than the fax machine I built. I had to go and cut some trees, get some stones and flowers. I invested time in that bed. It's MY bed.

Building emotions

Real-life, similar situation. Last year I built my kitchen. It was a huge project, took me months to finish. How proud am I? Very. My kitchen is awesome. I would have trouble selling the house now that I did this. Every little thing we build creates attachment. I think it's a constant that defines us.

Then there is gardening. I believe it could be better implemented in AC though. But the whole process of planting a flower (I wish there were vegetables) and water them, waiting for them to grow and open their petals. I made a garden last year in my backyard and really enjoyed the whole process so much I'm doing it again this year. I loved eating what I grew. It was so satisfying.

Waiting

Ah. Waiting. This is another major point about AC. You HAVE to wait sometimes. This is what I love the most about the game. This is also what a lot of people hate about the game. Taking time to enjoy what is being made. This is something some people can't understand. But I believe we should all take time.

Hive

On to Hive. Hive is a bit like Animal Crossing. It takes time to build a community. It takes patience. It takes commitment. It even takes balls of steel not to power down. But in the end, it's worth it.

How about you?

Did you change anything you do for the positive during the past months?