📺 What to do when I don’t have to do anything else
Screen-jumping and friendship
Hi pal!
I spent this week alone because my partner went on a company trip. I don’t mind being alone, but it makes me live differently. I cook in a lazier way and let stuff pile up more in general (clothes on the floor and stuff in the kitchen).
My days looked pretty much like this:
Wake up (07:00)
Eat breakfast while watching Ranking of Kings
Work while listening to podcasts
Make lunch and watch something while I eat
Work some more (and watch video essays)
Do groceries
Make dinner while watching Netflix
Play video games or be creative (on some kind of screen again)
Go to bed (01:00), and repeat
Usually I play a lot of guitar, but I barely touched it at all this week. Instead I ended up in an almost constant state of screen-jumping. Once I was done with one screen I went straight to the next. Maybe it was my way to deal with loneliness? It’s as if I needed to kill the silence.
I try to take a walk per day and read books to add some variation.
Technically I don’t have to do anything when I’m all alone, I just need to make sure it’s nice for my partner when she comes home.
Despite this I find myself constantly thinking about what I should do. The answer that comforts me the most is to make something, sink into a project, it’s almost the only thing that can capture my whole mind and make me not second-guess what I’m using my time for.
What do I do when I don’t have to do anything else?
It’s an invisible question, I ask myself this all the time without noticing it.
I could put a bit of extra time into Surmount. Or work on a side-project. But at some point I gotta set a limit. Or do I? If it’s as fun for me as it is for other people to watch Netflix, then why shouldn’t I just do that?
What I put my time into defines what I value. When I’m all alone I only make stuff, I don’t get to appreciate the people I love. I’d say it’s fine to do my self indulgent creativity as long as I remember my friends.
Last week I wrote about The Fabelmans, I’m gonna reuse a quote from that:
“Art will give you crowns in heaven and laurels on Earth, but also, it will tear your heart out and leave you lonely. You’ll be shanda for your loved ones. An exile in the desert. A gypsy. Art is no game. Art is dangerous as a lion’s mouth. It’ll bite your head off.”
I get too caught up in myself. I gotta remember to focus more on love and friendship. But at the same time I gotta get this stuff out of my head.
- Recent Finds -
🕹️ Game (trailer) - Animal Crossing: New Leaf
To me life simulator games are one of the most interesting types of games. They package what life is about, but they have to add a little something that is missing. In Animal Crossing life is simple, just hang around, sell some fruit and in a few months or weeks your loans will be paid off.
I bought New Leaf on release day 10 years ago (can’t believe that much time has passed), I poured 400 hours into it since then. It might be my most played game of all time.
They’re shutting down the 3DS eShop soon, so I made a last visit together with a friend this week incase it won’t work anymore. Even though I remember it as a happy place, it felt strangely empty and melancholic to be back there.
🔴 Music video - Many Mirrors
Been so hooked on this song, listening to it on repeat as well as a bunch of other songs by Alvvays. I also learned to play a bunch of their songs on guitar. Also, the music video is made by the creator of Stardew Valley! Apparently the band members are SV fans.
🐦 Tweet - Even Pixar Cheats
If artists at Pixar take liberties like this to make shot work, then we are free to take shortcuts as well. What matters is how it turns out.
What do you do when you don’t have anything you need to do?
Thank you for reading! Have a creative week.