Your History Leaves Clues To Unlocking Your Happiness
A story of renewal and reclaiming what the pandemic took away from me.
“Woohoo! We did it! We’re back, baby!”
Shouts of joy erupted over Voice Chat. My gaming friends and I had just defeated a difficult boss that required planning and coordination across 10 players.
And it was at that moment I finally felt like my life had gotten back to normal.
Day The World (As We Knew It) Ended
Five years ago the world started to change. Many of us wouldn’t understand the scope of those changes until many years later.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, I had things in my life that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was part of a home brewing club that would meet monthly to swap beers and recipes. I belonged to a church where I loved the worship and the community. And as more offices began to shut down and people worked from home, I joined a guild of people who played a game called Guild Wars 2.
Side note: For those unfamiliar with GW2, you might’ve heard of a (lesser) game called World of Warcraft. Both are MMORPGs, otherwise known as Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. These are games where you spend hours leveling up your character to take on tougher challenges for greater rewards.
It became difficult to meet in person with both my fellow home brewers and community of believers as the pandemic raged on. Sure, we tried Zoom meetings but it just wasn’t the same. So over time I stopped going to those events.
Making Memories
Gaming culture is a hard thing to describe to those who haven’t already experienced it.
In my gaming guild, we would meet for in-game events a few times a week. And when we weren’t doing those events, we would hang out virtually in VC talking about all sorts of subjects.
Beyond games, we would host movie nights. We would even play board games virtually.
Regardless of what you think about video games, I will tell you that some of my fondest memories have been made while overcoming tough challenges with a group of globally dispersed people whom I may never get a chance to meet in real life.
And there was no better time in human history (at least the part that I’ve been alive for) that’s been more conducive to these activities than during the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home with nothing but their devices and an internet connection.
Fast forward a couple years as social distancing and masking policies became things of the past, the guild I loved started to unravel.
Our in-game events started to slow down. Less and less people would join. When free time would roll around, I would often select a game that wasn’t Guild Wars 2.
It’s not like we all collectively said one day that we would stop meeting. It was just like a favorite hometown bar that over time even the regulars stopped going to.
We’re Getting The Band Back Together
Two weeks ago, I had just finished dinner and was starting to get comfortable in my usual spot in the living room when I received a notification on my phone. It was an announcement from our guild leader in a chat that had been lying dormant for over 2 years.
GUESS WHAT?!?!?!!?!
After two years and 9 months (At least since the last time I played), we are rebooting and rebuilding the guild!!!
As the kids say, this was not on my bingo card for 2025. But I was SO ready for it.
Within mere moments, our chat fired back up and friends were coming out of the woodwork. We were cracking jokes and catching up on life. We had picked up right where we had left off.
It was amazing.
I hadn’t realized how much I missed those connections until they were rekindled.
Blast From The Past
Along with getting back together with my gaming buddies, I’ve rejoined the church I left many years ago. I also found a men’s group that meets in person which recharges my spirit.
While I haven’t rejoined the home brewing club, I have been thinking about restarting brewing.
If you’re like me and still haven’t felt quite right 5 years after the pandemic, try connecting with your past. I admit you might not regain everything you lost.
But you might get close.