What I Am Thankful For About Home
by Jin Lovelace, HSM team writer & filmmaker
I don’t have a snazzy opening for this article.
I can come up with “this” amount of reasons about how Home has created the best experience for gamers, networkers, developers, aspiring artists, writers, et cetera — the many who wish to expand their minds in more ways than one, to simply showcase the love that they have for their lauded medium.
You also have the ones who log in for escapism from reality; a world which we are reminded of when we turn off our PlayStation 3 consoles to go to work, to school, to a coffee house, wherever.
For me, Home has been something much different. I can express to you why I love Home, or how Home has given me the best experiences of my time — and some of the worst. While most of my major experiences in Home thus far have been unforgettable, it’s more than that: it’s been a learning curve for me.
I can name the names that have been nothing but inspiration to me in my life. I can thank my family, immediate friends, even this organization for allowing me to write and showcase my seemingly creative talents that I may possess. But in actuality, it’s not so much what I’m thankful for, but why I’m thankful for Home.
Home has allowed me tremendous freedom of expression. To tap into realms of talent that had never existed. Ever look back on something you’ve written or filmed and think, “Whoa! Did I do that?”
The work may not be laced with high-end special effects or complex transitions — or, for the writers reading this, lots of fancy verbiage and deep thought — but you know what? You did it! I did it. The important thing is to do. Because I never could do. Moreso, I never knew how to do any of it.
For the most part, you hear a lot about how particular artists would start off with nothing but just a music instrument and a dream that they wish to fulfill. For instance: my favorite smooth jazz musician of all time is Paul Hardcastle. While growing up, I was barred from listening to many types of profane music in my household due to my family’s values. I’ve never questioned it, neither did I care — because at that time, there were other artists that I enjoyed that didn’t have to lace their lyrics with stories based on the hard life in the ghetto or how many shots it took to drop someone. But believe it or not, I was ridiculed during high school for believing in something different (I’m sure many of you reading this can relate to that). While everyone around me was listening to artists like Kilo and Too Short on their personal Walkman, I were sitting back to the smooth sounds of Paul Hardcastle, with his masterful keyboard talents and synthesizer tracks. Every time negativity came my way, the less I cared — because this artist had inspired me on how I create and express myself through the passion of what I endear the most: art.
Here’s the important part: he’s a self-taught artist. So am I. I was never taught how to draw, nor was I shown how to create videos. I never knew what to expect when it came to my work; people liked them, so I kept drawing. Raise your hand if the same is true for you.
But behind all of this is why. Simple: because I grew up with little to nothing. All I had were my games, art, and a goal for me to just be somebody. While it’s a bonus (a nice one at that), I didn’t care how many fans I would accrue, or who would like my work or who could do it better; the fact is that it didn’t matter who does it first, but who does it best. I’ve never won any school achievements, nor was I an all-pro for anything whatsoever. To some, and depressing as it may sound, I was just nothing. But to me, I’m someone that wishes to tell a story.
Sometimes you meet people who are given every advantage in life, and it seems like they never amount to what they should have been (or, worse, spend their lives in rehab and counseling). Whereas there are others who grow up with ultimate pain and hardship, and sometimes — not always, but a surprising amount of the time — usually end up being driven to give the most back.
The biggest “why” here is, perhaps, the year of 2010. I was wrestling with a perianal abscess that sidelined me from doing any sports, any work, any actual sitting for years until I made it up in my mind that I would resolve the issue. During my times in pain, Home remedied those unsettling times and gave me perspective on what I wish to accomplish: express art through fashion and machinima. Aside from personal goals, I didn’t care how much pain I was in (and believe me, it was excruciatingly the worst I’ve ever felt in my entire life), I wanted some form of escapism in my life. Home was that for me. The pain I’ve endured was a part of that drive.
I know I may be off the wall here with this article, but the point is this: I wanted a goal that I’ve never set for myself. I wanted to achieve and accomplish something while having a humble mind to be around good people to actually learn something for once in my life. I wanted to feel rewarded for something I’ve contributed to my community — and Home was right there to do so. The leverage and the stability for me to express through my own vision, and perhaps in some way help to inspire the many that do see it and learn for themselves.
This publication, over the years, has contended that you have to be slightly “damaged” in some way to truly understand the appeal of Home. Maybe that’s true. But from such damage can come tremendous works of expression, because it is only stretched souls that make music.
So what am I thankful for about Home?
My answer: for its existence.
December 12th, 2013 by Jin Lovelace | 5 comments
Jin Lovelace is a machinimist and team writer for HomeStation Magazine, as well as the founder of Twilight Touch Inc. -- http://twilighttouchinc.com and http://youtube.com/twilighttouchinc. When not found in PlayStation Home, Jin studies graphic design and illustration (character design and fashion), gaming, and the culinary arts.
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Home is therapy lol. Most of us wouldnt be able to or even want to do what we do on home in reality. Id be concerned if any of my family turned up dressed in bug huggers with a purple beard saying let’s chase balls of light for a mundane item. Or if my brother said I’m going to buy a Barbie with loads of clothes then take pics of it. Home like anything on the PS3 is a release from daily life but shouldn’t be relied or depended on. What you do on home is you choice and defines who you are on home. But it shouldn’t but life defining that’s dangerous.
Does Home define who you are? In that definition, would you say that you might have learned a little bit more about yourself in using Home and having fun?
Most every person I have met in Home uses it to play with their imaginations and share that with others.
Home doesnt define who I am. I’m not that reliant home. That’s the danger that your home life replaces your real life and your real life suffers for it. I’ve met so many people where the boundaries seem so blurred. People getting tattoos related to they home life. People using home as an escape for a marriage that’s getting boring. People falling in love on home and getting depressed when it fails because it never actually started, people going sick from work because of something in home. A friend spent too much time on home, fell asleep driving, crashed they car, lucky enough they weren’t injured. Have I learnt anything on home. Yes I’ve learnt I don’t need home have fun, because you have to be so guarded on home now, the amount of prominent users and articles that say we don’t go outside of personal spaces for example. Me I’ll have fun with anyone anywhere but when I got a user that’s quite prominent saying they want to be my online sister and won’t leave me alone while I’m at a prominent clubs party I can see why people hide.
Home is a part of the definition of my life and I have a healthy social life. I’m able to get into tournaments, go on a date if I desire, connect with a few friends and spend time with my family. All of this and can understand the emotional backdrop what most purvey inside and outside of Playstation Home.
We’re human, Gary. It’s what we are and how we feel that connects us, be it virtual or reality.
Healthy lives on home are fine, but not just home other social applications are littered with socially inept people that become reliant on these applications for some sort of misguided need. What happens when users become too blinded to make informed decisions on something. What happens to these people if the thing they reliant on, disappears tomorrow. Fortunately I’m not so reliant on home.