As this is being typed out, it’s been about two and a half months since isolation, shelter and stay in place orders, and social distancing have all become parts of the new normal. And the mnemonic device I use to keep track of that is how long ago Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out, because theꦆ timelines are basically the same.
Most of the world has spent at least some portion of the last 70 days or so tucked away from the rest of the outside world; and like me they've racked up some serious gaming hours (New Horizons alone weighs in at 350 hours). But now, that solitary lifestyle is starting to change. States and businesses are starting to poke their heads back out into the sun. Whether or not this is a good thing or ꦓpremature isn’t for me to decide—I was an English 🌳major, the study of infectious disease wasn’t really my jam. So, it looks like soon the world will be back in full swing.
But, things are a little different for me.
My experience in isolation has been a little unlike the usual. Of course, I’m on lockdown just like most others; but I’m also immunocompro🐭mised. That meanไs that this will drag out a lot longer for me as a high risk individual.
After a full calendar year of blood draws, scans, eli▨mination dieting, and waiting to see this or that specialist I was finally diagnosed with an autoimmune disease at the beginning of 2020. And just a month later the world got sick and my anxiety went Super Saiyan.
Suddenly, I was a high risk. For someone who has never smoked, ridden in a car without a seatbelt, eaten undercooked pork, or crossed the street without looking both ways to all at once be diagnosed as sick forever and at high risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms and outcoꦬme threw me for a hell of a loop.
Having an autoimmune disease as a physically active and fit person in her 20s is frustrating enough as it is; adding the fact that it pu🎃tꦆs me in the high risk category of a pandemic with those 60+ years old is just shy of infuriating.
I can’t go to the grocery store. I cross the street if I see someone on the horizon while walking my dogs. Things are actually starting to open up again in my town—but not for me. I can’t💜 go to the bars with my friends. I can't rock climb at my gym, something I used to do four days a week. I really can’t ev🌸en go to a friend’s house and sit next to them on the couch.
For however long this lasts, it will la𒁏st for me, and people like me, for probably a few months more.
With all of the gloom and doom, the com🧔pulsive cleaning, and the fact that I might not be able to unpause life until well in to 2021 video games, both new and old, have been an incredibly welcome distraction for me. They’re the only way I can see my friends without a mask, gloves and six feet, they’ve allowed me to reconnect with some of my favorite stories, and give me a reprieve from the panic.
I’ve always been a huge Legend of Zelda fan, and even though I’ve beaten Breath of the Wild two ▨or three times now I’ve started up a new file just for gallivanting. Even though the world is only as big as my TV screen, it’s a lot more open world and interaction than I’ll get the chance at for the foreseeable future.
So I can talk to needy Hyrulians and beat up bad guys without worrying about them breathing on me. I can even 🎐rock climb to my heart's content again, thanks to Link’s sweet climber outfit.
I’ve also found myself getting really angry a🧸nd upset during this whole mess, in ways I didn’t expect. Heading to an appointment and seeing multiple people without masks of any kind, seeing friends and family doing high risk things full well knowing my situation, just the news in general most days𒆙—it’s all profoundly hurtful and disappointing at times. But it’s nothing my Nintendo collection can’t take me away from, at least for a little while.
Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Super Mario Bros. , Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Bros. - all of these games are what got me to start gaming. Now, they’re what is getting me through an incredibly tough time. Instead of focusing on the numbers on the news, I can focus on the damage percentage of my opponent in Smash. Rather than worry about whether that cough was from a tickle in my throat or the first sign of the end times, I worry about making sure I hit Magikarp into the water fall in Pokémon Snap! so I can get that killer Gyarados shot.
To keep me from worry about the things that I can’t change, I decide to 💃tune in to the things that are absolutely under my control, like which Pokémon to catch or where to plant my next flower bed for hybrid gardening.
Gaming has also been one of my main connections to my friends. I’ve played more online Mario Kart with them than I’ve played in general since middle school. I’ve hosted people to my island in New Horizons more times than I ever have to 🌟my actual house. Thanks to Jackbox and Twitch I’ve even made a few new friends though game nights put together by old friends. Quarantine has been a great equalizer; suddenly, people aren’t as busy, so they have time to play online or set up a digital hang out.
None of this is to say that when recess is out—that’s the term I’ve been using instead of saying “when quarantine is over” or “when we’re a🌠ll allowed to hang out again” every time—I’ll stick to the screen. I’m still chomping at the bit to hug and dance and climb and not be afraid to breathe through my mouth. For now, though, these high-res graphics and the chance to dive back in to simpler times a𝕴re a huge part of what’s keeping me sane.
I may not have the invincibility of most other thriving 20-somethings, but luckily, I have unlimited lives thanks to my collection of fairies and heart co﷽ntainers.