One of the key learnings I had last year was making sure that the time I spend with my partner was quality time. It means being mentally present in the time that you spend with the people you love. Or at least that’s how I understand it so far.
I spent most of today trying to work on my academics and came to think that while I invest a lot of time into doing them, they might not necessarily be quality time. Because of burnout, my mind is often not completely into the task at hand, so I end up getting distracted easily, and it’s a vicious, vicious cycle.
But looking back, I’ve come to think that maybe the burnout I experienced happened precisely because I wasn’t spending enough quality time with the work that I was given. I know I enjoy learning. But if I am not mentally present in the tasks that I do, they quickly become mundane chores that just ramp up in levels of tediousness.
I then compared this to the other things that I enjoy, such as video games, like Genshin Impact and League of Legends. I invest a lot of time in them, too, and I get to enjoy playing them with my friends. But does the time that I spend here add quality to my life?
I realized that the conversation needed to level up from there. Quality time should actually add quality to our time in this world. The time that we spend with our loved ones can help us grow in love, learn more about our partner or our friends or family, and it can help enrich the human experience. However vague that might sound.
But in the individual things that we do. Like hobbies, games, or interests. How much quality do they bring to our lives?
For example. I fell in love with Genshin Impact the day I started playing it. It had a wonderful story premise, engaging characters, and enjoyable gameplay, but where does it take you from there? The endgame is severely lacking, and once you clear the Spiral Abyss, what else is there for you to do? And once you get the characters that you want… what then? The story takes literal months per update, and it won’t be concluded until 2025 at the earliest. So why bother playing? Why have I invested so much time and money into this primarily single-player game?
As for League of Legends, if I play enough and train hard enough, I can maybe try to go competitive and earn money from this, but realistically, how many people can even reach that point where they can get paid enough money to make it their living? It is completely possible for me to gear my life towards that, but is the life of a competitive gamer really the life that I want?
Don’t get me wrong. I like these games. And I’m 99.9% sure that I am going to keep playing them. But I know what I want, and I want to be a storyteller. I want to work with pro wrestling business, not only because it is storytelling primarily, but by working with the local scene, I have a chance to help others earn money. And knowing that I’ll be investing my time into something that helps others as well makes it a worthwhile endeavor. Because I believe that helping others adds quality to our time.
So for today, I will be realigning my priorities, and spending quality time with the things and people who add quality to my time on Earth.
Music used: Inawashiro by Crownie Lofi
https://www.youtube.com/c/CrownieMusic