Farmville vs. Reality

I began to play Farmville because it helped me clear my head. I was mindlessly moving from task to task, crop to tree, sheep to horse, clicking away, earning coins, and arranging my buildings to yield aesthetic results. I didn't think about my pending college loans, didn't worry about documenting my interaction with clients at work, and didn’t care about anything, except which crop to plant and how long I had to harvest the crop before the batch withered. Mindless, clicking, refreshing, plowing, fertilizing, and finally harvesting.
After a few months of denying my addiction, I realized that my time may be better spent if I blogged about what's in my head, instead of trying to clear it by engaging in a fantasy life. Of course, I didn't know where to begin. I stared at the empty page for hours. I attempted to hold a pen and begin writing in a notebook - well I ended up making many picture of flowers and shaded patterns.

So now, I've finally inaugurated my blog by the one thing that I can't seem to stop doing - Farmville. Many of my clients use substances like alcohol or drugs to empty their minds. I use my farm. It's a perfect setting when you think about it. I have a plot of land all to myself. I can build a house, a lodge, an estate, or just a resting tent. I can have barns, storage buildings, gardens sheds, chicken coops, and my latest addition: library and school. I can plant any crop I want at any time of the year. As long as I harvest the crops at the perfect time, I'll always get fresh pumpkins, grapes, even green tea. The real money making machines are the trees. I can plot lemon trees next to the plum tree, I don't have to water them, I can harvest them whenever I want (trees don't wither like the plowed crops) - I always get fresh fruit. Just like with the crops though, I the fruits get automatically sold at a generous price, without even having to put up a shop (although I have a general store and a couple of fruit stands just for decoration purposes: P ). Crops and trees only take a small part of my time though. I spend lots of minutes harvesting eggs from my multi colored chickens (yes, I have white, black, brown, even gold!), I brush reindeers (it was fun during the holidays, but now their sole purpose is to make me money), I collect wool from sheep and lamb, truffles from pigs, horse hair, and even circus peanuts from my two elephants (only available to join Farmville before it gained stardom). The best part is when I find baby calves in cow sheds and chicken eggs with mystery presents all my friends. BTW, it's also important to have real life friends playing this game with you because they are the ones gifting you flower bouquets, trees and animals. Currently, I'm attempting to get my friends to help me expand my barns and build my horse stable.

For those of you still reading this, I ask you this: how is our reality similar to life on Farmville? Just like on our farm, we have to create our own tasks, refine it until it's ready to be implemented, and finally follow through with the task until the end before the deadline. Consequently, we must arrange and re-arrange our daily schedules based on our needs, based on the needs of others, and based on availability of resources. We walk through mundane routines at work, hoping that the balance in our bank accounts continues to rise, we spend money in the marketplace for goods based on how much we have in those bank accounts, and we make sacrifices when we realize that our wants are greater than our pockets. And of course, there are the seasonal changes that automatically affect our daily routines and personal goals.

This to some is real life...this to me is my farm life. Thus, I have dedicated my first blog to all those who recognize the truth of our reality and especially to those who choose to live that reality on their farm.