I had a little bit of a realization driving home today, and I think it’s interesting, or at least silly enough, to bother writing down.
Playing Minecraft is like being a newlywed (granted we’re just moved into our new place, or rather, I am--but we will be in a month!).
I know, I know--you could say that’s simple because with both you start something new with less, but hear me out. I’ll lay it out in easily comparable steps:
1.) In Minecraft, one of the first things that you want to do is to find shelter. This isn’t a random act--you definitely don’t want to be somewhere huge and open, or overly crowded where monsters could spawn. Also, you don’t want to necessarily just run far away from Spawn only to die and lose where you were living.
The parallel? When looking for married housing, you want to make sure you aren’t in a bad location. For us, we really, really wanted to not be on one of the two busiest roads (as we had been before). Too many people, too much waiting or running to get to your destination. Then there’s the other part--specific location. It was nigh unimaginably difficult to find a place that was close to campus (we did get lucky in the end, though, thankfully)--and, really, it would not have been a very pleasant situation to have to ‘run’ so far away from school, our campus jobs, and all our friends.
2.) One of the first things you want to get in Minecraft is light--torches. This keeps away monsters...and allows you to work during the night so that you can actually get settled.
Similarly, before we moved in, Todd had to make sure we had power (though apparently the girl on the phone didn’t inspire confidence that things were taken care of)...otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do much of anything. Okay, so that one was a no-brainer.
3.) To prevent death in Minecraft, one needs to find a source of food, whether that be plant or animal, and within the first couple of days.
Like any Minecraft player, we had to get food within the first day as well. Not only had we eaten though a lot of food before leaving for the break, but then our fridge items got left at Todd’s parents house. Mostly the butter. It’s been alright, but it did mean we had to scout out food before Sunday.
4.) Next, in game, you need to make some real (not your fist or wooden tools) tools for yourself so you can actually make stuff to use. This can range from weapons to armour, and stairs, fences to pen in animals--you get the idea.
On our drive back here, we picked up a couch. We don’t have chairs or a table or...really anything besides a TV, bed set, and desk. So, basically, without a couch, there’s no where to sit to eat, do homework, or relax, or chat--nothing.
5.) Congratulations! In Minecraft, you’ve now become settled enough to not fear death at every turn, and can now start building up your home.
Slightly less congratulations in real life though. We have been very blessed to have what we have ended up with, but we do still have no place to put half our clothes, no table, a mess of boxes still packed, and we are far from homey feeling retreat--the list of to-dos here is larger than I like to think about. HOWEVER, like in game, we are finally settled enough to tart building up our place and doing more than just set things up (almost).
Moral?: The Minecraft newlywed situation would be shorter and easier. :)
