by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer

I know I do, I really really do.

Many think that the phrase from which this article’s title comes from is an ancient Chinese proverb. It is neither. It’s a curse, but it’s not Chinese, nor is it ancient, unless you think that 1936 is ancient. And there are other sources date it as recently as the 1950’s. It was written by a British man, and is more a statement, saying may you live in troubled and calamity filled times.

However, I have always sought to take it as a good thing. I like to see it as living in times that are genuinely interesting. Times filled with wonder and things to kneel down or crane your head up and look at. Times that are uninteresting are, well, uninteresting. Life can be a bore when there is nothing happening, and we spend all day watching the paint dry.

Don’t get me wrong — I like a day where we can simply sit and watch the grass grow, but there is a distinct value to what we are doing here in Home. Yes, there is even a spice to all the trolls and drama that can happen here, because it adds to the flavor. Yes, Home would be great if all things worked perfectly and everybody was kind and polite. The simple fact is that is not the reality we have, so I decided to see Home as filled with the things that make this walk a little more interesting.

But for so many people that come to Home there is a real life that sits like a mad gorilla on the sofa next to us. Though we want to sit and spend hour after hour being with friends and loved ones on Home playing and socializing, we are forced to go to work, tend to those around us, or our own health and welfare. For so many other reasons, life is a forest that has to be navigated through. There are many forces in Home too, that we have to wade through. And sometimes it seems that for some, it is an army of Goliaths and we are the sole David, slingshot in hand waiting to take on a giant of an enemy with so little.

This is a good illustration of what the social can be like here on occasion.

I personally have waded through some deep waters in regards to Home, both in Home and outside. There have been the trolls, and the drama queens, the failed relationships, and the mockery and misunderstandings. It is this last part of the list that I want to examine.

One of the real world issues I come across is a thing that is basically new to me as I have (recently) been a lot more vocal about my existence in Home to those that are not in Home, chiefly to friends on Facebook. Many of these are people I know from high school and friends of theirs. These are people totally disconnected from Home and gaming or Sony. With these people, there is a weird way they react to me when they learn of my life as FEMAELSTROM.

It is usually the seed of curiosity followed by a sense of  “Oh, ok , that’s …different.” Or the more common, “Ok, whatever makes you happy,” with that vocal or text connotation of, “Sad sad man, lost in a world of fake fantasy.” Or the implication that I am on some weird online community that caters to weirdos and geeky loners, all wearing our Spock ears and quoting Conan The Barbarian as dogma.

I knew of a woman that once left her family and husband for people she met in an online group. This has tainted the view of online friendships and relations for those around me that know of that story in its deep detail. These are the views that some may have when they do not know the truth about what Home is, and is about.

I find it hard to explain the glory of a place like Home to those that are bogged down in a life that is so “in the box” that they can’t think outside of said box. People think, “Ewww, creepy eHarmony” full of Jedis and men being women. They think that this place is ripe with perverts and deviants roaming and being lurid with all manner of people, even the underage. The fact is, they just presume from a position where they don’t know the truth. I take time to explain that it is far different from the image they think they know.

There is the misunderstanding that we are all people that should just “get out into the real world and make friends.” This is an easy thing to say for others, but in fact it is harder to explain to those same people that there are people in this world that don’t have such an easy time with the world at large. It is easy for them to tell you that you should move out into the world and “just make friends.” But for so many this large and wondrous world of Home is more fair than the world outside, since you can be what you want to be regardless of your race, gender, or economic state. 

May we live in interesting times. I hope so. In the good way, not the cursed way.

Our possibilities are well…

If you allow your mind to wander far on this thought, we all really live in interesting times. In Home we can have clubs and be part of other people’s clubs. We can dress as we want and be what we want. We have places to travel and games to play. There are things to buy and things to win. There are free things given out and there are countless people to know. There new chances everyday to make a change in your walk or the walk of another person that is positive. Here, the constructive even have some say in the direction that Home takes. We can meet people that become very close, and in so many cases closer than family. We are limitless, we are truly a community. Together, we can show that we are a community that is helpful and positive, friendly and welcoming.

I have friends who have spent their own time working to greet newcomers into Home, and others that are willing to give the less than friendly a friendly chance. I know others that walk through Home trying to be kind and pleasant, no matter who they encounter. This brings to mind that back when we were all experiencing problems getting into Home with the infamous D5021 error, people were more than helpful and accommodating in getting others in. People were sending out friend invites once they got in, just to help their friends get into Home, too.

Here in Home, we have a weekly surge of imaginative and innovative content that is up for sale or even sometimes, up for grabs for free. The developers listen to us, and watch what it is the buying populace wants. Many of the developers do their best to help when their are issues, and some are very proactive. We can live in farms, cities, yachts, wizard homes, tree houses, and orbit Earth. We can dress as witches, bats, soldiers, aliens, storm troopers, divas, and gangsters. We can roam a variety of lands that range from a New York playground to a rubble-strewn Washington DC, fancy nightclubs, alien bars, sky-born puzzles, and yes even a mall. Home is full of things to see and places to go. There are people to meet and games to play.

What is my point?

This means so much potential met.

We do live in interesting times and an interesting place. I say, when people around you ask why you are in Home, answer how you will, but remember that Home is an “interesting” and fascinating place to be, especially now.

Enjoy these interesting days, embrace the time that is, and see Home for the fun and magic that it has. This is a rare time, and we don’t know if it will continue on the PS4 or see its end at the end of the cycle of the PS3. But we can know this: this is a unique time to grasp onto what is great about Home and have the fun you want. Don’t worry about what non-Home bodies think. Just ask the only question that really matters: it is fun for you? I know it is for me.

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One Response to “May You Live in Interesting Times”

1. ted2112 says:

   July 1, 2013 at 2:44 pm

   Another great Home is life article Strom! I really enjoyed this. May we all have interesting days!

   Reply