Wowza… it’s been quite a while since we held a TSTO Anonymous meeting here on the site and once again it’s my fault. Last time we gathered it was August 1st of last year. Jeesh how the time flies by. Lots of stuff has happened since then. New levels, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas… phew. Just a “few” months between meetings and Wookiee needs a topic… hmmmm… guess nothing else to do but fire up the coffee pot and get started, right?
I guess we could start out by just asking how everyone feels about their games since August but that doesn’t seem fun. Heck… all you have to do is read comments on past posts to get a jist. It follows a pretty predictable pattern: Woo hoo.. new stuff! Glitches… blah. Is this event over? Will this event be extended? Meh… next.
Of course I’m oversimplifying and by no means is that a generalized opinion. Often… this game makes me think of other addictions. You can choose whatever substance you want. Love, coffee, moon rocks, whatever. The high feels so good at first but then it takes more and more to get that fix each and every time. There’s good days and bad days but most of the remembering falls on the negative side. Makes ya wonder why you’d want to be called an addict in the first place? No one wants to be an “other”. (Well maybe besides me, Comic book Guy is my favorite and Lisa is a close second.)
Here’s the truth as I see it. We’re not the others. We’re not just addicts, we’re TSTO Addicts. Why would anyone in their right mind want to be an addict? Easy peazy lemon squeezy… It’s this place! A community that takes life one tap at a time and for 99.9% of the time is fun, welcoming, free of trolls and a fun place to spend some time away from the real world. Where else could you find folks who admit to tapping on the toilet? Where someone says they got married but made sure to tap beforehand? (We won’t even get into what they tapped that night.)
How about a place where folks from Australia are friends with folks from Montana? Where comments sometimes come in foreign languages and get translated using Oogle? Where a grown man goes by a Star Wars name and is besties with another who is a cray cray rabbit and another who wears Crocs too often? We’re all cogs in the big machinery that is a TSTO blog. Everyone of us has a part in making this place what it is.
You picking up what I’m putting down? It’s about belonging. It’s about not having it all together but together having it all. It’s about realizing TEAM is just MEAT spelled funny and that you can’t spell slaughter without a lot of laughter. It’s about identifying with a four-fingered yellow character for a few minutes of the day. It’s about that board meeting where Homer says “better him than me” when someone gets yelled at or “Visitors… better put on pants” right when you enter a crowded room.
Life can be tough. You feel like you’re playing duck duck goose with Ralph Wiggum. Life is expensive and Jebus knows your mobile game isn’t helping by tempting you with Truckasauruses, castles and donut deals. But it IS just the internet and a tapping device, right? It’s just a game. EA and Oogle don’t control us…
Anyone besides me wish they knew when the Oogle Street Crew was going to be in their neighborhood? I have to say that one of my favorite things about TSTO Addicts is the sense of humor shared by so many. Not a day goes by where I don’t find a smile on my face after spending even just a few minutes here. Laughter is the fuel that fires the engine of my life. If I’m not laughing… I’m probably asleep. Maybe Krusty’s Pyramid of Laughter could be helpful in furthering this meeting?
Ok… I’m gonna go with no. Not that I thought Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofski would be any help here. We all know he’s the kind of addict who makes us all look very fine indeed. I actually looked up topics from other “Anonymous” organizations before writing all this and the first two suggested were “Acceptance” and an “Attitude of Gratitude”. Call it laziness, finding a list sorted A to Z or cosmic intervention but I thought those two sounded like nice topics to round out this meeting.
Acceptance is what this site is all about. Regardless of personal background, location, etc. we’re all tappers possibly addicted to a mobile game that is “life ruiningly fun”. You ever see the EA commercial in that regard? It’s funny while also mildly sobering.
They say the first step towards beating an addiction is admitting you’re addicted. Well… the site name says it all. Step one… done. We accept we may play the sky finger role a bit more than other so-called “normal” people. We accept we probably spent more of our entertainment budget on a parcel of pixels than other forms of fun. We accept that sometime our games/town designs/ grammar/(insert gripe here) aren’t perfect. It’s all good… nothings ever perfect. Just look at the poster and breathe.
As for an attitude of gratitude, that’s sometimes easier said than done, right? Everyone is always saying to just be grateful but the only person stuck in your head is you. Oscar Wilde had a witty saying in this regard: “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
I can certainly say I am grateful for this game and all the social sites for introducing me to people I would probably have never met. It’s such a big planet while at the same time such a small place. I know the value I place on this community. Also helpful to leave the price stuff to the lady addicts lol. I’m grateful for everything TSTO brought into my life and all of the like-minded individuals who can join together in a silly place like this. EXCELSIOR!
So here’s my deal for the next week or month or however long it takes for life to slap me back to a my normal stance of optimistic realism. I am going to try and be grateful not just for TSTO but for life in general. Despite glitches, being poor, some personal struggles… the glass will be half-full. (NOTE: The nerd in me wants to point out that a glass is never empty. It’s always filled with something.) I hope all of us can do the same and maybe, just maybe make a small difference in the grand scheme. What can it hurt? A smile can go a long way.
As usual, we’ll end the meeting with the TSTO Anon serenity prayer:
“EA, grant me the serenity to accept the updates I cannot change, the courage to recommend the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Hope y’all have a great week and that your games are everything you need them to be. More importantly, I hope your real lives are full of joy, laughter and other amazing people. If you’re lacking one of those items on the list, that’s what places like this are for. Sound off below with your thoughts, what you’re grateful for, your view of acceptance or whatever. Much love from a grateful fuzzball. To quote Harry Chapin… “the new jobs a hassle and the kids have the flu but it’s sure nice talking to you.”
TTFN… Wookiee out!