Defining community
Good morning! I’m feeling better today. Emotionally anyway. I figured out that the steroids that they give me are what’s making me all messed up – it’s easier for me to accept it when I know the cause. It’s not my marriage breaking up or my children hating me or my world falling apart – it’s just a chemical in my body that needs to get flushed sooner than later!!!
My thoughts today are about community. I have a lot of friends on Facebook. I have a huge support network. Or so it seems from the outside. Many people comment on my huge cheering section and I LOVE my cheering section. I feel so loved all the time. What a lot of people don’t know though, is if I post something like “anyone want to go for a walk?” I will get 25 responses from people as far away as Scotland, California, Mexico, Edmonton, but very few from anyone in Victoria that would actually be able to go for a walk with me. To the outside, it may look like I’m surrounded by people, but I spend the majority of my time alone.
I’ve recently started playing a game called Ingress. It’s like geocaching meets Capture the Flag meets Risk. It’s all done through Google Maps and is played on your phone, but you actually have to leave your house and get out in the real world to find things. Millions of people around the world play, and it’s very interactive. When I started playing I thought it would be a great way to get me out of the house when I didn’t want to interact with actual people. What I’ve found, however, is a whole community of people that play – and real people, that I enjoy meeting and getting to know, that don’t know me as Teri the hockey mom, or Teri the fundraiser, or Teri the cancer patient. I’m a player in the game, and although I’m not the most technical player, I’m pretty good at it. It’s pushing me out of my comfort zone and making me new friends that I never would have met in real life.
The best part of it though, is that Ingress has given me something else to focus on other than my cancer diagnosis. I can just be me. I can spend an entire day playing Ingress and feel completely accomplished at the end of the day. I can interact with people that are as misfit as me, the bald chick whose eyes glaze over whenever the conversation turns to power packs or gps boosters. I often feel like Penny from Big Bang Theory, and my husband and kids think I’ve gone a wee bit insane, but I’m having a blast.
These people I’m meeting? They’re great. They bring me strawberry pies when I’m feeling bad, and drop off virtual power cubes when I’m running short. We meet in parks and take on the other team all while sitting at a picnic table. We have mutual hatred for people with weird acronyms for names, who it turns out we actually kind of like in real life. Ingress has given me a totally new community, one that I have come to depend on to distract me from my real life.
I still have my real life friends. The ones that bring me flowers and help with my kids and drink wine with me. I only have a few friends that I have shared my Ingress addiction with – which is usually met with the same reaction I have from Jeff, but ends up with a “ok then, whatever keeps you happy!”
I also have a lot of people that, as I’ve mentioned before, have dropped off completely. Jeff says I have to let it go, but it’s really hard. I’m looking forward to seeing some of them actually, just so I can look them in the eye and tell them how I really feel.
Or perhaps I’ll be more mature in that moment than I want to be. I sure hope so.
Maybe they’re just all busy getting a mammogram. Like you should be.
OH – and if you’re interested in learning more about Ingress, let me know. If you download the app, make sure to join the Resistance (blue team). Ask me first – I can maybe get my Recruiter badge after all!!!
2 Comments
MollyTov
Nice recruiting Teri lol!! You are an amazing addition to our team! Have you told your doctors you r secretly a smurf?! BTW I have degenerative spine disease and chronic pain with Ingress i have been able to explore my world and accomplished more than I ever thought possible ..I've walked over 1100 km and have made amazing friends. I'm so glad u found us. We r so lucky u chose blue! Xoxo “MollyTov”
MollyTov
Nice recruiting Teri lol!! You are an amazing addition to our team! Have you told your doctors you r secretly a smurf?! BTW I have degenerative spine disease and chronic pain with Ingress i have been able to explore my world and accomplished more than I ever thought possible ..I've walked over 1100 km and have made amazing friends. I'm so glad u found us. We r so lucky u chose blue! Xoxo “MollyTov”