This class has brought a huge amount of comfort to me. I used to be very much into playing games when I was young, but haven't reconnected with that part of me in a while. Allowing myself to re-explore this creative medium has awakened a nostalgia and appreciation for my formative years.
In the past three months my body has been experiencing extreme stress and anxiety related symptoms that I have never experienced before. A sudden longing to hug my mom and be cooked for and be driven to the grocery store has overtaken my life. I've lived on my own before and loved it, but when COVID hit, I reverted back to a much younger mental state. I became reliant on my mother's love and attentiveness fused with existential and social anxieties due to the pandemic. It was the perfect storm. Now that I have moved back to school, I am experiencing an emptiness that I stuggle to find the words to explain. I have never dealt with this before so it took me until very recently to realise what this feeling was- homesicknesss. This feeling has had me questoniing my identity as a person who used to pride herself on being independant.
This game in particular was inspired by my favorite childhood Nintendo series Professor Layton. It is also mixed with the recent frequent visits to see my sister in Brooklyn Heights. On weekends, we would go to Joe Coffee and people watch. Children being pushed or carried by their mothers in their neighborhood- This game is the child of nostalgia and lonliness. Through this class, I've been able to recognize my appreciation for the things that remind me of being young and safe in my childhood home. It's helped me get through a very unfamiliar and challenging semester and in a week- I'll hug my mom.