I already know what you’re thinking: what sort of important life theme does a game like Minecraft have? You could say that the monsters in Minecraft are like stress: comes in all shapes and have different ways to ruin your day. You could say that Minecraft would be a horrible survival simulator; sure, punch a tree with your fists. You’ll get some wood out of that. Over-complicated thoughts aside, Minecraft and real life share one common reality: there’s so much we can do with what we have, little or not.
In Minecraft, which is available for PC, Mac, current and next generation consoles (except the poor Wii and Wii U), and a pocket edition for iOS and Android, you are dropped in a pixelated world where you literally have the entire world as your sandbox. From the wood from the trees, the sand from the beaches, the dirt from the ground, all the way to the coal, gold, and diamonds hidden underneath the earth, it’s all yours to play with. “Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters, but as the game grew players worked together to create wonderful, imaginative things” — description of the game from the official website, https://minecraft.net/.
Love it or hate it, there’s no saying otherwise that you can create something beautiful with just a few blocks in Minecraft. You can make anything! Drop yourself in the monster-ridden surface of Survival Mode and it’s getting dark. The monsters are coming, you need a house to keep yourself safe for the night but you don’t have enough wood for a house with a fireplace. No problem. You can create a house like this to keep yourself safe:
Poor Steve. An Enderman got him. There goes the diamonds and pork chops.
If you’re feeling a little creative, drop yourself into Creative Mode where you have everything this game can offer you. Wood blocks, sand blocks, iron blocks, it’s all yours. Creativity is boundless and in Minecraft, people have made some AMAZING pieces. For example…
In real life, you and I have a lot as kids and/or teens. I mean, we have those moments when we’re spoiled and sure, there’s clothes that we can mix and match, toys and games for us to keep us busy, and food and water to keep us going every single day. What if there were others out there who barely had any of that? In Canada, I believe that while we don’t always get what we want because admit it: we have our spoiled moments, we still have a lot going for us in every corner of Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Nova Scotia, and all of the cities in this glorious country. Now take a look at places like China, South America, Africa; places where clothes aren’t in huge variety, toys are limited and food and water is actually becoming scarce. Rare. You think your life is sad because you can’t get those new shoes at the mall or you can’t eat at that restaurant with your friends because you don’t have money? Imagine hiking for your water, waiting for your food, shivering at night with clothes that are barely on. Imagine a life where it isn’t about indulging like how you and I know it now.
I’ll share a story with you, if I may: I was walking home last week from a meeting with my fellow YAA bloggers and there was this homeless man sitting alone in the tunnel, a hat out with nothing more than a lighter in it. Out of wanting to help him, I pulled out my wallet as I was halfway done walking out of the tunnel, pulled out 50 cents, the most change that I had in my wallet, walked back and dropped the two quarters in the man’s hat. He thanked me and we even exchanged a laugh. I felt bad because I only had 50 cents to give and that was all the money I had in my wallet, but ultimately, he still thanked me and asked for nothing more than to enjoy the rest of my day.
My challenge this week for my YAA friends and for you is an easy one: give something away. Dip into your closet and take out some clothes that you don’t wear anymore and give them away to a donation centre near you or somewhere on this map: http://www.donationboxes.ca/alberta/calgary. Participate in your school food drives and charity events because regardless of where it might be going, locally or internationally, you’re going to help somebody. Youth Central is having an Open House on September 23 from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. about their various youth programs at their headquarters! Additional details about this Open House can be found here: http://youthcentral.com/youth-central-open-house-2014/. You’re going to not only give up some time to know how to give back, but you’re going to ultimately get one step closer to feeling so good about helping others, it’ll feel like that’s the only thing you’ve ever wanted in your life.
Image Sources
-http://tryminecraftsforfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/play-minecraft-for-free.jpg (featured image)
-http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f8Sp5ef1gIU/U56auO2gx7I/AAAAAAAAAso/9Nb6CutURiY/s1600/minecraft.png
-http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/155/7/b/house_in_the_woods__dangers_of_rural_minecraft__by_jessicamythen-d67rv6s.png
-http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img840/6121/alliinone.jpg
-http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/329/b/b/shiganshina_district___shingeki_no_kyojin_by_rubeneixen-d6vkgin.png
-http://pixld.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BlockWorks-Creative-server1.jpg
-http://static.planetminecraft.com/files/resource_media/screenshot/1236/2012-09-08_163456_3533599.jpg