Gaming | My hobby isn't pointless.

Why is it ok for other people to have their hobbies accepted but when I tell some people that gaming is a huge hobby of mine they tell me it's pointless? I find it really shitty that I'm not able to say I like gaming just because another person doesn't like it, I don't like a lot of hobbies, my friends, like but I'm not going to put them down for it and tell them there is no point doing it, I get a lot out of gaming, for instance, it helps me become inspired and creative especially when it comes to my writing. Now I'm usually the first person to say you can't hate on someone for experiencing negative feelings but in this instance, it's a lot different, a hobby could help someone come out of their shell and can most definitely open doors for people and who wouldn't want a job doing one of their favourite hobbies?

People expect me to want to be more serious with my life because I'm 29 now and should start thinking about being more serious with James but why not just leave us to do what we enjoy instead of trying to force what you expect of us onto us? Yeah, we have a gaming room, we don't have kids and it's only me and him and a cat so why shouldn't we? I would love to be able to do hobbies are more physical but unfortunately for me, that isn't possible and seeing as gaming is a favourite past time of mine I'm not going to be stopping anytime soon nor in the future. My mum always told me to do what makes me happy and not do what I think will make others happy, it's a good bit of advice considering I use to be so set on pleasing others and desperate to be liked but now, I couldn't care less.

As I mentioned before gaming helps me find my creative side, I have done a number of different illustrations because of gaming, it opens my eyes to all the wonderful things that people can achieve within a game and how something can be brought to life. I used to always wonder how it was done but now I know I respect graphic/games designers and artists more than ever. It pushes me to want to try and improve on my drawings and in-game photography, something I never thought would appeal to me, but I have fallen in love with it. Here are just a few of the beautiful pictures I have taken in games lately:

I remember being told that video games make people violent and that I shouldn't play them because of this, now don't get me wrong I know they play a huge part in some peoples behaviour but that doesn't mean they make everyone who plays them violent, if that was the case you could say that movies do the same thing as they are also portray violence just as much as a video game does and if I hear one more argument about how people know movies aren't real but they think games are more life like because the player is performing the actual task of shooting someone I may actually implode, it's a weak argument. If someone enjoys playing a violent game that doesn't mean they are or will become violent towards others, I for one love some shooting games but it's not changed my personality or behaviour. Being able to write about gaming on my blog and have a nice following behind it has helped me see how much of a big hobby gaming has started to become for me, I was never that great at games and my big sister and two younger ones use to encourage me to just give them a go, they give me game recommendations and thanks to them I find found something that I want to keep at both off the internet and on the internet.

Since getting more into gaming I have learnt a lot, mostly about accessibility within the gaming industry, a lot of people don't think of those with disabilities when it comes to gaming but believe it or not a lot of disabled love gaming as a hobby so why should they be shunned from doing something they like, I actually wrote a piece on accessibility in the gaming before which I don't think I have ever shared on here. It took me a while to accept that I had my limits and that I can't do everything others can, I became very depressed and felt like I had nothing going for me in my life but gaming helped bring me out of that loneliness and depression to a certain extent that is. I personally would like people to feel comfortable enough to admit that they like gaming rather than being told it's pointless or childish, maybe before you spout that crap you could try and take an interest or maybe not say anything at all. Imagine if everyone on earth loved the same thing? It would be awful and I would most likely hate my life and want to break away from the mould.

What kind of hobbies do you have that people have told you are pointless or you're scared to tell others about?