Game Fast
When I first started writing here at the beginning of the pandemic, I didn’t mention that I was also in the middle of my ‘Lenten Gamefast’.
At the same time, I had been forced to give up coffee because of medication I was taking. It was inadvertently a radical lifestyle change: no games, no caffeine, and of course most importantly: no work. The result of this was much more sleep and periodic intolerable boredom combined with a surprising amount of energy, which led to me writing again and practicing quite a bit more than usual.
I’m now trying to recreate part of that atmosphere as I enter my own new phase of the pandemic. Recently I found out that I was considered at a high risk for suffering from a severe case of the corona illness, and am now again in the same position I was in March/April: no work. I know from my experience playing quintets, that although the measures put in place by our office to protect us from infecting each other were sufficient in theory, but woefully inadequate in practice. After consulting my doctor, I decided not to play for the rest of the season. It’s been over two weeks since then, and I’ve been struggling to get back to a feeling of purpose. As a first step, I again erased my addictive internet games: Agricola, Siedler of Catan and also my new chess app, which has addictive puzzles. I allow myself to use the games and crossword on the NYTimes app, each of which has a finity to it, (why isn’t that a word?) as opposed to the infinity of successive interactive internet games. I know there are worse vices, but it makes me sad to know that I’m better off without my addictive games.