The Side Quest Arcade

I love open world video games, but I know that some people find them overwhelming. I get that, I guess. The real world is sort of like an open world game, but bigger and more intense and with greater and more varied and less predictable consequences for every action and reaction. I can understand wanting a break from all those decisions and stakes.

But for me, the gaming metaphor helps me make sense of the world and my place in it, at least somewhat. I can think of my career as the “Main Questline” (which, just as the main mission of Skyrim often winds up on the backburner in favor of finding all the Stones of Berenziah or befriending the cranky court wizard in Solitude, isn’t typically my number one priority) but it’s not the end-all or even the majority of my story and my life. I just love fucking around.

I think often about a tweet I once read (which I absolutely cannot find now, of course) that said something along the lines of “what if I don’t have any idea what I want to do with my life? why can’t I just go around doing interesting things until I die and that’s the whole point?” I love that notion. I think some people probably do better with a singular, central purpose in their life, but not me. My purpose is to try different things and see what happens.

And don’t get me wrong. I care a lot about my job as a college instructor and fighting for increased access to better education and learning resources. If that’s the main quest, then I am ultimately committed to it. But it’s not the only important thing, and anyway, attention to the little, seemingly unimportant things is paramount to developing into a well-rounded person capable of tackling big problems with nuance. You have to do side quests to level up.