Animal Crossing and the Importance of the Simple Life

There’s nothing more calming than running around “lasvegas,” my quaint Animal Crossing town. I love zooming past the trees to chill, whimsical background music and heading to the Museum for some coffee at Brewster’s. These are the simple joys I cherish in Animal Crossing. 

The game focuses around a human, the player, who moves into a town with talking animals. Typical game progression involves buying a house from a rich racoon and taking out loans to expand said house. However, upgrading your house doesn’t unlock much more new content, so one can forget about paying loans to Tom Nook the racoon and enjoy small town life.

One lesson I’ve learned from Animal Crossing is how to enjoy random encounters. When I walked, I used to be solely focused on the destination; however, I realized I could encounter pleasant surprises along the way.  In Animal Crossing, I could be walking to the store, and a beautiful butterfly could cross my path or a balloon with a gift box could be floating in the sky. Sometimes a neighbor will have some great news to share. Or, I’ll shake a tree, and it’ll bestow me with a quirky piece of furniture. As a kid, those random encounters excited me. I was really happy to take out my net and catch any butterflies in my path. That excitement for the journey has stuck with me as an adult; during my commute to work, sometimes I will encounter a cute dog, which will add a little more joy in my day. 

Animal Crossing has also taught me that walking is one of the best forms of transportation. If I had decided to drive instead of taking the train to work, I wouldn’t have noticed any of the adorable pets walking on the sidewalks. Walking makes me feel attune to nature because I am more conscious of the weather and the fresh air outside. Walking helps me see people as fellow humans rather than as simply drivers of vehicles blocking the path to my destination – as I often feel while driving.

Flying gift balloons in Animal Crossing

The beauty of Animal Crossing comes from the small, magical encounters with nature. In contrast, modern life is very complicated and prevents one from discovering the simple pleasures of nature. Social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok teach people that happiness mainly comes from being rich, traveling to exotic places, and owning expensive items. Instagram showcases influencer’s lives at their happiest. It makes the average user feel dissatisfied with their current lives and unable to notice the small joys that already exist in their day-to-day lives. Life doesn’t have to be fancy and complicated to be fulfilling. Slow down, take a break, and walk outside. Even if beautiful wildlife from Animal Crossing doesn’t exist in your city, you might discover that a neighbor has planted new flowers, or a new food truck has visited your street.

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