Lizzie Fourman
For those of us in the United States, Thanksgiving is a time quite a few of us spend with our families, stuffing ourselves to the point of oblivion with turkey and the like.
I know there are a few of us as well who either don’t celebrate it due to being in Europe or don’t celebrate the holiday with family. It may be a few days late, but I still wanted to talk about what I’m grateful for in terms of the gaming community.
I have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to gaming since I grew up as a gamer along with my younger brother. There are a couple of things I wanted to talk about in particular, though. What are you thankful in the gaming community for these days?
It gives me an escape from reality.
As a young adult, I was bullied mercilessly for being a nerd. I was open about the nerdy side of my personality, which some would say makes me even more of a target. Being able to come home after school and being able to play video games made me a happy kid.
I’m still grateful for the escape from reality that the video games give me. I’m still one of those nerds who can escape into a video game for hours at a time without realizing the time passing by. I prefer games like Dragon Age when I have the hours to spend playing the game. I also like playing Crash Bandicoot when I have a couple hours to spend.
There have also been times when I can keep my mind focused on the game even after I’ve stopped playing it for whatever reason. I get excited to return to it as I wonder what’s going to happen next. It gives me a chance to daydream a little bit if I’m bored while out on errands or spending time out of the house.
I’ve even created a few fanfiction storylines on Wattpad from the events of video games I’ve played in the past. The escape from reality gives my imagination just what it needs to survive the more mundane tasks of my day.
It gives me a sense of community.
I’ve only just started looking for a like-minded community of fellow gamers in the past few months. I’ve been living under a rock in this way, I suppose, since I never really thought about talking to other gamers about what I think of the games I play. I’ve always talked to my brother about these things since becoming a gamer as a teenager.
Now that I’ve realized that there are other gamers out there who think some of the same things I do about the games we play, I’m always on the hunt for a community. I do enjoy being a nerd, especially with other people who think and act the same way. I’m thankful that there are other gamers like me who love the games we grew up with.
I’m thankful that there are places like Twitch where gamers can showcase their talents for playing our favorite games. It’s a great place where I’ve met great people who are great at what we do. Twitter is another place where I’ve met and spoken with so many others who love gaming as much as I do. I’m just grateful that I have social media and a computer to speak with other gamers. Aren’t you?
