I have this game, Sims 2 Castaway for the Wii, which I used to play often. It was one of the first Sims games that I got into, and while I am not a ‘gamer’ (I guess they are called) I could spend hours playing that game.
I loved how the Sims each had bars telling how they were doing, and what they needed – are they hungry? Tired? Feeling lonely? Need a bathroom? Need a shower?
At the time, I had my ‘foster’ children, and it was frequently very difficult to tell what they needed. I mean, sure – the food and bathroom stuff was okay, but… they weren’t easy children, and the rest of it was a challenge to figure out. Especially the rages that could come from nowhere. Often I thought about how much easier it would be to help them through if only I had these bars, or meters, which would tell me what they were lacking.
In fact, since I am Autistic, and generally struggle a lot socially, I feel such a thing would help me in a lot of ways. Alas, such is not the case with people, so I turn to the game and fulfill a lot of my ‘social’ needs through the family I have built on my Sims.
For Sims 2 Castaway (and I guess I should say I am not affiliated with any of the games, products… anything that I review here – it is just natural for me to share such things) it was a group of adults who were shipwrecked, and trying to survive on an island. They had to gather food, build shelters, gather materials, build equipment, fish, etc.
My absolute favourite thing to do in that game was to harvest food. Some I grew, some grew naturally there. So for hours I would wander around in whatever character I was playing, harvesting food and materials. I found it entirely satisfying.
I was reminded of that yesterday as I went out to my yard with a basket and a knife. Originally I had intended to just spend a minute gathering up some kale to make more kale chips – but as I passed the cherry tree, I decided to harvest the rest of my cherries before the birds and insects got them.
So I was outside for maybe an hour, maybe a little less, harvesting the cherries from my cherry tree. I filled half a bucket with good ones (from my dwarf tree in my front yard) before moving over to the kale which filled the other half of the bucket while still leaving a lot in my garden for another time (but not too much longer, as the heat isn’t good for it.)
And while I was out there harvesting my food, and thinking of Sims 2 Castaway, I was feeling completely at peace, and satisfied with the life I was given. Though I haven’t the energy or health to do this often, when I can this thought washes over me: “This is what I was born to do.”
