Don't Discount The Mundane
I've been playing Stardew Valley on the Nintendo Switch since sometime in December. The perks of marrying a GamerTM is living in a house akin to a gaming cafe - multiple gaming consoles and games that might take a lifetime for me to finish. Anyway, I know there's a mobile version of Stardew Valley. But in my bid to reduce my phone usage (and the fact that I have a tiny phone), it's just been easier to play it on the Switch - which can be connected to the TV, yay my eyes!
The game is essentially a "slice-of-life" game: you play a character which is essentially you, and you go through life in a new town/neighbourhood as a new farmer.
It's kinda relatable - the whole moving somewhere new. Teehee. (Un)fortunately, I don't have to forage for fruits and seeds, plant stuff, mine for minerals to craft instruments and tools, etc. The only foraging I do is in Leclerc or Normal.
On the rare day when I've managed to achieve ALL the missions that other villagers have thrown at me, it feels quite liberating. But there is always something to do to maintain the land: water the crops, pick up the crops to sell or keep for personal use (I gotta eat!), feed the chickens, get more hay to feed the chickens (chickens eat hay in this game, apparently), clear trees and bushes, make preserves from fruits, and many more. There is ALWAYS something to do. They are so simple, so mundane, but so important to maintaining my farm and the wellness of my animals.
Sometime in 2024, when I quit a full-time job, I had what was called The Stress of Time Freedom. There seem to be "nothing" going on in my life. But I think, it wasn't "nothing", it was that I didn't see everyday living as noteworthy enough.
But it's the everyday, mundane things - doing the dishes, cooking, preparing the table for meals, making coffee, EATING, sweeping the floor, vacuuming, mopping, cleaning, doing the laundry, READING, writing, washing the bathroom, cleaning the toilet, taking a shower, and MORE - which are essential to maintain our existence as human beings.
I once read a beautiful essay by Rachel Katz, called "If You Were Rich, Would You Do Laundry?" and something hit me at the end:
It's easy to fall into the trap that life maintenance tasks like cleaning and cooking can be easily outsourced, especially when your lifestyle allows space, time and effort for them. But it's these little life maintenance tasks that, instead of seeing them as inconveniences, give us a break and breather from the stressors of professional life.
Life is one long, ongoing project, one that will keep evolving and changing and whatever routines we have will not be set in stone. They'll change depending on who you live with, the seasons you live in, the state of mind you're in, your physical abilities, and the amount of time you can spare.
But it'll all be worthwhile. I can only hope.
Anyway, let me get back to my farm. My chickens have laid eggs.
