In a bid to feel in control of something in my life during this damn pandemic, I turned to The Sims. What I got instead was unexpected, yet far more important—mindfulness and clarity. It can likely do the same for you.
My most recent playthrough of The Sims 4 started at Thanksgiving. Well, more accurately, following Cyber Monday, when I randomly dropped $60.52 on four expansion, game, and stuff packs despite not having played the game for two years. Why did I do this? Who knows. Let’s blame the food coma. I’ve been playing The Sims since the original game was released 21 years ago (on February 4, 2000), and most of my playthroughs involve me building a parallel, alternate, or idyllic version of my own life. (Shoutout to the versions of me in other dimensions who perhaps made some better choices and are chilling on a boat in the Mediterranean right now!) This time was no different.
I spent, as I usually do, a lot of time in Create A Sim picking my interests and outfits for various seasons and social scenarios. “Who am I?” is always the major theme during this portion of gameplay. How honest I am with myself when picking these depends on the day and what’s going on in my real life. This time, I went with accuracy: My Sim wanted to be a writer and was nerdy, adventurous, and liked reading books. While I have rarely changed out of my pajamas over the past year, and even then have rotated through the same four outfits, my Sim was rocking the latest fashion—from ballgowns to swimsuits. Then I created my cat, Gatsby, because I can’t live without him even in the digital world.
