New old ways to decompress

I've been playing Neopets again. For those who don't know, Neopets is a website where you create, customize, and care for digital pets where you can also play games. Neopets has been around since the late 1990's, and I was known for my intense love of neopets since the early 2000's. I collected plushies from McDonalds (where I hated the food but begged for Happy Meals in order to get more), Borders Bookstore (what a blast from the past), and Limited Too (or what the youngsters nowadays know as Justice). I collected the cards from Target and played the card game with my dad. I dressed up as the faerie Illusen for multiple Halloweens as a tween. I had journals, puzzles, clothes, talking toys, figurines, and a portable game. I played the videogames. My collection consisted of over 200 plushies. I did it all. When all my friends grew out of it in high school, many gave their old accounts to me, where I fed their neopets and continued their digital legacies.

I religiously played Neopets until my junior year of college when I started running low on time due to my multiple jobs, college credit overload, and various social activities. Every once in a while, I'd go back online and check on the account. Despite growing older, they have always had a special place in my heart.

During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, I was in one of the worst stages of my life. I was undiagnosed but constantly sick with GI problems. My college friends had moved away for jobs elsewhere. I was still scared of my toxic ex finding me and hurting those around me. I was being harassed by a pastor who should have lost his job a long time ago. And Covid-19 almost seemed to pause real life. I felt stuck in misery, unable to move forward. I went to bed at 7 a.m., often afraid if I slept at night that I would not survive to see the sun rise the next day. When I'd wake up around 4 in the afternoon, I'd eat food I unknowingly was triggering IBS with, and play Animal Crossing or Pokemon with my friends back home. Somehow, nothing was enough of a distraction from my misery. That's when I started going on Neopets again.

Being on Neopets in 2020 was a wild time. The game used to be solely marketed toward children, but on the Newbie Neoboards many nostalgic adults who had played when I had as a child got together and formed a (sometimes toxic, but nevertheless friendly) community. I even made a good friend who was living just 2 hours away from me in the same state. As mentally ill English majors, we bonded outside of just Neopets. It was wonderful. However, as the responsibilities before Covid-19 returned, I stepped further away from the website again. I was trying to finish my master's degree.

Within the last month, the website launched a new plot, where players could get rewards from playing games, battling, and solving puzzles. As someone seeking comfort after a jobless June and a July that was overshadowed by depression due to my friend's passing, I was once again drawn to the comfort of Neopia, the world of neopets. I've been playing daily again. I do the free dailies. I play flash games or solitaire. I collect items for my gallery. I make sure my pets are no longer dying of hunger and from lack of attention. I'm not on the boards much anymore, but I'm still there.

For most people, this probably seems strange. I'm a 30-year-old college instructor. Neopets was marketed for children. Until recently, you couldn't even mention your sexuality on Neopets as being LGBT+ was not a child-appropriate topic. I honestly didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I currently do. I thought I was done with it. However, just like my love for Pokemon erupts when a new game is released, my love for Neopets has arisen as I play along in the newest plot. There's something especially relaxing about playing simple card or board games online that I used to play as a kid. Sakhmet Solitaire brings me peace more than any popular games like Fruit Ninja, Bejeweled, or other stuff on my phone.

This has happened at another weird benchmark in my graduate career as I prepare to take my comprehensive exams and become ABD. Perhaps nostalgic games of the past serve a deeper role than we mature adults are proud to admit. I'm not sure if I'll continue playing daily forever now, or when my investment in the website will end, but for now, it brings me peace. I'm very thankful for it. Maybe it (or another hobby you did as a kid) can do the same for you. I'd add my referral page, but I don't see the need to do such. May you find your Neopets as I did mine.

#IDisappointMyDad #IDMD #post24 #08252024 #NewOldWaysToDecompress #Neopets #Solitaire #Pyramids #stressrelief