It’s the end of the month, which means another round of Pokémon Top 5! This week, we go to the Johto region to visit the second generation of Pokémon games. Gen 2 wasn’t a generation I ever got to play as a kid, and my first real exposure to it was the remakes in Gen 4. HeartGold/SoulSilver are not my favorite Pokémon games, I found them a little too difficult for my usual method of play (only catching Pokémon you intend to use all the way to the Elite Four…somehow, the Pokémon distribution and the gym difficulty don’t really let you do that unless you trade over stronger Pokémon you can’t get until later), but there are still five Pokémon in the Gen 2 dex worth celebrating.
Continue readingMonth: August 2019
HappY
I had a conversation with a friend recently that’s led me to some thoughts about happiness.
I struggle with depression, and it is a struggle. Various life choices and circumstances can make that depression better or worse, to say nothing of my anxiety; it’s a chemical ouroboros up in here, one feeding off the other and vice versa. Being happy isn’t a choice I can make. That was taken out of my hands whenever my genes decided “yup, this one’s gonna be a little effed up.” Of course, that’s gross simplification. Happiness isn’t just a choice, or just a feeling, it’s a state of mind, a journey. You don’t wake up one day and find yourself at Happy.
I could go into “what is Happy, anyway?” but I think I would rather dwell on the idea that while it’s perfectly okay to not be happy, it’s a crushing existence when you feel like it’s forever out of reach, always somewhere else.
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