Candy Crush-ing Me: an Addiction, a Confession & an Apology

NOTE: The following is a repost from a blog I wrote in January of 2010, a time in my life when I was forced through the ending of a 12-year relationship to start over and rediscover who I was and where I was going.

Last night I deleted the Candy Crush and Hay Day game apps from my iPhone. They were a huge time suck, a comforting drug, a waste of time. It’s time again for me to pull up my big girl panties and start over — and this time it is also not my choice, but it is, indeed, time for a new start. And you can’t start over if you aren’t paying attention.

So, therefore, I have pulled my focus away from the tiny screen to look into the face of Christ. I see His face in your face, in my own face, and in the faces of the creatures of this world — of the REAL world — and not in the cute smiling faces of farm animals and cartoon characters in a game application. You are a beautiful people and I don’t want to miss another moment of loving your beautiful faces.

Dr. Phil says that people don’t break habits; they replace an unwanted behavior with a new behavior. “Close your accounts. Get out of FarmVille,” he instructs Teresa. “Reintroduce yourself to your family. Cook a meal. Go on a date. Go to a movie. Go jog. Go sit out in the backyard and watch the grass grow. Do something…. Actually, start a garden for real.”….Today on Dr. Phil.
—My controversial facebook status post on 01/20/2010.

AN APOLOGY TO FELLOW FARMVILLERS:

I did not mean to imply with some of my posts on Facebook that everyone who plays FarmVille is an addicted loser who is wasting their life.

I know some people use games like FarmVille as a productive stress-reducer; a nice sort of controllable simulation in this crazy chaotic world.  Some people have crossword puzzles, some people knit, some people watch TV, some people clean their grout daily with a toothbrush and don’t step on cracks in the sidewalk.  Whatever makes them feel like they’ve got a little control and makes them happy, fine.  As long as your family, your job and your health aren’t suffering from inattention, games are generally harmless and fun.

But MY family and MY journey was being affected adversely by the time I spent in FarmVille.

Maybe people thought I was judging them.  Even if I WAS judging them, it’s never nice to do it publicly.  I did not mean to come off as a one-woman FarmVille intervention team — but then I know who I am, why I play the things I play, and why I have guilt about it. If FarmVille or facebook or any other computer game or activity interferes with happiness, healthiness, relationships or responsibilities then there is a problem. But you have to discover the problem for yourself, it is not MY call to make.

There is a HUGE difference between preaching about the evils of cupcakes when you are a fat person with health issues and preaching about the evils of cupcakes at a childrens’ birthday party.

I am the fat person with the health issues. Let the kids play and have fun, I say, but for us fat people, perhaps it’s better that we just send a card with a little money tucked inside and stay away from the party altogether.