My story - I’ve suffered with mental health issues for as long as I remember. It all started when I was in junior high with depression, with anxiety becoming an issue in college, and most recently with a diagnosis of being bi polar. I’ve tried a lot of medicines, therapy, and just white knuckling it while trying to hold on. Currently I see a therapist roughly every other week, but sometimes more, and I see a psychiatrist every month.
- Hook your friends into playing with you.
- Once you’ve hooked your friends into playing, roll to the LGS together.
- Be open to new people joining your group and becoming friends with them.
- I’ve def done it by myself though. I remember that’s how I met Ryan. I was casually collecting World of Warcraft cards and one day when I was at my local comic store I saw that people were playing in tournaments with each other. I called the store to find out when tournaments happened and just showed up.
- This was very difficult for me to do, but I really wanted to get back into playing cards and make new friends.
- Big tournaments
- Magic - I’ve always been into card games and have played several over the course of my life at varying levels of competitiveness. This was not something easy for me to do, but I found tricks that helped me get over my anxiety and play.
- Eventually the WoW card game was discontinued and I started getting curious about MtG again. My current roommate, Brando Calrission, and I had vowed to stay away from Magic due to price concerns, but eventually got sucked back in with some Planeswalker Decks.
- I remember at the time I was also playing a Star Wars card game and went to spend a week with a friend in Houston who used to be a big MtG player. He told me I should look into playing something called Elder Dragon Highlander.
- Not long after I got back Ryan and I were talking and he mentioned he and some friends had been playing EDH. I started playing for a while, but due to the anxiety caused by the size of the card pool and not knowing what a lot did I sort of backed away.
- Eventually I came back to EDH when Ryan started a league that I ended up running for a few years.
- I know that was a lot of build up, but that brings me to the podcast. Ryan at the time needed a third host for the podcast and asked me to fill the position. At first I was very nervous about it because I felt like I didn’t know enough about the cards or at that point EDH to coherently discuss EDH on a weekly basis. I agreed to do it though, because I had wanted to do a podcast in general for several years, but added the caveat if I didn’t like it, I’d stay until they could find someone to replace me.
- I’m not going to lie, it was hard to get over the anxiety and at times I’m still very anxious about recording because I don’t feel like anyone would want to hear what I have to say.
- The number one thing that has gotten me through this adventure is my partnership with Ryan. I couldn’t ask for a better co-collaborator in a creative endeavour.
- He’s always been my biggest cheerleader, fan, and advocate. When I feel self conscious about things he’s there for me. He’s always willing to listen.
- The second thing that has gotten me through content creating are the listeners. Nothing makes me happier than to hear a “good episode” from someone and over the years some of our listeners have become some of my best friends.
- Content Creation
- Covid has definitely been a blow to me depression and anxiety wise, as it has been to a lot of people.
- I personally have to actively fight this. I stay in contact with friends and I find ways to busy myself.
- Despite having Ryan and an internet full of friends, I often feel isolated, sad, and bored.
- One of the ways I find to keep myself busy is to play mtg via spelltable. Moo and I started a stream to play more and to get to play with / meet more people. Ryan and I try to get in as many patron games as we can too.
- Magic isn’t the only thing though. I’ve tried to take up new hobbies, such as bread making, and focusing more on my aquarium too.
- Covid and Magic during Covid
- Mental Health is a big deal, even if you don’t suffer from depression or anxiety, you need to make time for your own mental health.
- There’s no shame in seeking help.
- The Wrap Up