Video Games and Everyday Life

Television takes a critical part of my daily life. Literary, the TV is one of my number one amusement. Nearly all people watch TV on a regular basis making it possibly the most common leisure pursuit in the present day culture (McCarthy 2001 p.95). TV has brought me heaps of gains. Watching television has expanded my insight of the world, informed me on how to enhance my daily living and offered adequate entertainment. There exists an array of TV programs and TV stations globally (McCarthy 2001, p.95). I find myself watching weather forecasts every morning to prepare for the rest of my day. I also find fun and relaxation in carton networks and sports channels. Some educational channels, school affairs, documentaries and the bulletins teach me about the world occurrences. Frequent advertisements update me on products and innovative ideas.

I find TV content engaging as contents presented are lifelike and contemporary. The combination of moving, glowing images and sounds take after real life, hence I can always identify with whatever I view. Digitization implies that programs are up-to-date. The news bulletins are broadcasted live and everywhere in the sphere. I still hence access information anywhere and every time. TV has aided me improve some crucial aspects of my daily life. In times when I need to be entertained and relaxed, the TV take my emotions high through movies and animations. I enjoy learning courtesy of educative content. I am always on the lookout for education, knowledge and instruction opportunities. Through documentaries and informational programs in the TV, I have quenched my thirst to learn new things. The ingenuity displayed in the TV through creative film calligraphies, compelling sceneries and spectacles, intelligent discussions and grand camera snaps is appealing. TV has accorded me the world, other civilization, societies, dialects and concepts. The technology has introduced me to knowledge.

Source: McCarthy 2001

However, apart from television assisting me to identify emotions, the gadget has impacted on my attitudes and spurred some emotional challenges. Getting updated and connected to societal daily happenings is a significant milestone. Watching vital informational and instructive programs uplifts my intelligence. Watching such programs regularly has helped me recognize my emotions. However, some other programs could lead to adoption of detrimental practices such as violence (Highmore 2004, p.307). Many at times after watching scenes of violence on the television, I find myself trying to imitate the scenes. My emotions are sometimes stimulated swiftly. Somehow I could say the emotions correlate with the views watched.

From experience, aggressive and violent emotions have a way of changing an individual’s personality, attitude and eventually every aspect of a person’s emotions. I recently noticed that I unknowingly emulate things I watched in my life and relationships. Mostly after reacting to some issues violently and emotionally, feelings of regret creeps on later. Regretful feelings are always as torturous owing to trauma, fear, and even depression that ensues. Once attitude has been altered, other aspects of one’s emotions are impacted too. Furthermore, emotional TV contents and programs effects on one’s psychological well-being (Highmore 2004, p.308). The films have often affected my mood and once the feelings have been changed, it, in turn, impacts adversely on my thoughts and actions. The negative spirit I have experienced on different occasions includes nervousness, grief, resentment, and aversion. The feelings themselves have implicated my comprehension of various life events and the kind of thoughts I contemplate in my mind.

According to Highmore (2004, p.310) negative news headlines are yet another thing that affect one’s life significantly. Despite the fact that it is okay to get information on all happenings in the world, negative bulletins tend to magnify one’s worries. Often after watching misinforming and misleading headlines on my TV screen, especially the ones that affect my emotions directly, I spend more time pondering about the concern. In other words, I tend to catastrophize my worry than if I could receive the bad news in other means. The news always appear more catastrophic than it is in reality. In addition to the bad news making one more sad and uneasy, they make one seem to aggravate individual’s fears and apprehensions. Even though under people’s expectations, news broadcasts on wars, poverty, droughts, and famines might stimulate the audiences to reflect upon such themes, the truth is that the impact on such news is higher than the expectations. The sad news always tends to intensify an assortment of private concerns not primarily relating to news content itself which is precisely how the broadcasted bad news has an open and factual psychological effect on my personal life. I think TV programs should be rescheduled to accommodate proper ways of announcing news containing sad news.

Play Stations Video Games and Everyday Life

Source: Bull (2001)

Video games ranks as my second best hobby besides watching television. Being my hobby, I spend most of my leisure time in play station getting entertained and amused. As a gamer, I would say that gaming has sharpened my inborn talents in addition to enhancing my social relationships. Play station games have always been a befitting way to pass my leisure time as far as I can reminisce. Indeed, I can avail testimony on ways that the video games have impacted positively on my day to day life besides improving my living. Despite the many negative thoughts people have about play station games, the technology has always worked well for me.

Bull (2001, p.181) explains that research shows that video games sharpen one’s brain capacity. However, I would attest that for those of us who have been playing the games since long time ago, already are familiar with that. My hand and eye coordination were relatively inferior at first until I began playing the video games frequently. Playing as a first-person shooter is attributed to my better hand and eye coordination currently. The games have furthermore upgraded my response time since I have a feeling that the gaming habit has made me speedier. The compulsion to stay focused on a game and actions in the game for long sessions while making rapid and strategic moves seems to coordinate well with my real life through enacting decisions swiftly during my daily activities such as driving.

All improvements in the play station games can be clearly noticed as it is actually the only thing that I often do besides being the only game I frequently play. Attributing the capability to make quick and strategic decisions in my life to all the time I spend on the play stations preoccupying myself with illusory characters appear valuable than ever before (Bull 2001, p.182). Yet again, it is exceedingly encouraging besides being imperative to see oneself improve over time. It is the best feeling in the world to know that the video games that somehow kept you from finishing classwork and assignments have improved your pragmatic dexterities (Bull 2001, p.183).

Source: Bull (2004)

Playing the video games that compel one to unravel difficult puzzles in addition to keeping one’s mission list filled certainly has assists my brain in fixing complicated situations in everyday life. A gamer who is capable of excellently arranging his side hunts in an RPG game is most likely to do quite well during a compound task in real life (Bull 2004, p.245). I have personally observed such an improvement in my daily life and particularly in my obsession for an organization in addition to addiction to handling complex tasks. At times I have this feeling as if I were a logistic specialist. Playing games that others perceive difficult has become stress-free for me. My trick lies in my ability to arrange the tasks in order of essence while continually carrying them out so that they won’t pile up too much.

I opine that gaming moreover has me during problem-solving occasions. Initially, I was poor in puzzle games and despised them for other game categories since I found them hard. Each time I had to play the puzzle games I ended getting frustrated immensely. I have learned to however spare more of my leisure time playing the games, and since then I have noticed an improvement in my puzzle unraveling aptitude. Games like Portal that initially gave me problems over an extended period are currently activities I enjoy playing. I have been able to translate this into real life since I feel I can work out life challenges and problems while the rest of my colleagues feel overwhelmed by them.

Notably, being vulnerable to myriad anxiety conditions, I can certainly consent that video games help in relieving stress and anxiety. During anxious situations, I can dissolve away uneasy feelings and contemplations by preoccupying myself with a video game. The ability to engage in a video game almost at any condition has actually advantaged and comforted me during certain restless situations. The contemplation of a game to play at a later time alone benefits as it fills my mind with useful thoughts other than such conditions stressing me at that particular moment. Generally, the only easy way out of my anxiety condition is to utterly concentrate on a video game regardless of whether I am playing the game at that moment. It at least helps me think of fun and pleasurable moments in place of thoughts that heighten my panic.

Video games can be appropriate medicine to pressuring and straining scenarios (Gauntlett and Holzwarth 2006, p.83). I often get myself stressed up pretty too much and regularly twist on some things in life. However, video games have also helped maintain my tranquility. Focusing my mind and efforts on a different world or other people’s world instead of my own with the problems in it is remarkably supportive. It resembles plunging into a new actuality that utterly substitutes the current one for quite some time thereby dealing with the stress. Relieving heavy thought stream is made possible by a good game. The converse effect can happen if I am engaging contesting multiplayer games as they appear more straining than relaxing. The liberation from stress and pressures attributed to play station games have brightened my life. Other people might find it difficult to relieve their stress, not with immense ease as I do. Notably, that alone makes me feel unique and fortunate to have the much affection for my play station games.

A Day without My Phone

Source Gauntlett and Holzwarth (2006)

The cellular phone has entirely impacted on our daily lives. Indeed, the phone is no longer an oddity but a compulsion. Apart from contacting people, smartphones are used to access internet, message, play computer games, photograph, GPS and electronic mails (Gauntlett and Holzwarth 2006, p.85). Such have made the phone a critical part of our lives. The 21st-century generation considers lack of instantaneous communication creaky. In my case, I never put my phone down. I own a OnePlus 5T white smartphone with a pink casing. Its screen is crushed as a result of bumbling down several times. Even though I hardly see a thing in its cracked screen, I always need it for my clock radio, for my entertainment, chatting with my friends, contact my guardians, accessing my Facebook and face gram, for my mobile banking and noting down my assignment reminders. Genuinely, the phone is a crucial part of my daily living, and without it, I would feel susceptible.

Source: Highmore (2004)

Being a free man, I would not like to depend on someone or something particularly a smartphone. Alone and idle yesterday afternoon, I wondered how an entire day without my cell phone would be like. I wanted so bad to dare to spend a whole day without my phone. I tried overlooking the idea due to the fear and anxiety that crept on me. I, nonetheless re-examined the idea and consoled myself that I would try to concentrate on other aspects of life. Actually, I decided to push myself immediately to experiment it. I did not use my smartphone for 24 hours since then.

I sat down doing my homework the entire afternoon before my roomies came to the hostel. I used my PC to check my e-mails, face gram and Facebook. I had an e-mail reminding me to top up my cafeteria pre-pay bills as the amount pre-paid last month had almost been entirely depleted. It was crucial to hand in payment immediately less I sleep hungry. As my guardian is always responsible for the bills and I would customarily contact her instantly to settle the bill, it was a trying moment for me not to telephone her. I finally decided to postpone calling her until the next day even if that would mean staying hungry till then.

About 6:00 pm, as I was carrying on with my Calculus assignment, I realized I had a bible study group meeting planned in the chapel around 6:30. I felt an urge to contact my group members to get more info about the conference, but I, however, decided to go to the chairperson’s room in-person early enough before the meeting started. I was hardly sure if I would find him, but I decided to give it at a try all the same. Luckily, I got the chairperson in his room. Everything went on smoothly rest of that evening. I had my best friend and roommate pay my dinner bills that day. I felt amateurish going to bed without at least chatting my friends’ goodnight.

The next morning kicked off somewhat unusual considering I did not have my alarm. Though I did not wake up late, I felt somewhat strange almost as if I was absent-minded. I realized I would not be able to access the timetable on my phone just when I was done preparing for the day. The challenge, however, was how to obtain the day’s schedule including deciding books to carry to the class that day. I had to forgoer my breakfast so I would check the manual timetable in the school’s noticeboard. There was no time to review the schedule and come back for the books, so I decided to go to the tuition block with all my books. Thanks to God, I managed to handle everything. The morning classes went on well and soon my 24 hours without my phone was over.

It was a difficult task to spend a day without my phone. Bull (1999, p.200) explains that the modern day world everyday dealings occasions usage of mobile phone every other minute. Even though my no-cellphone day was bearable, I keep wondering how I possibly managed to not have a phone all day. I would not advise anyone to try the same thing as found experience horrible.

Bibliography

Bull, M., 1999. The dialectics of walking: Walkman use and the reconstruction of the site of experience, pp.199-220

Bull, M., 2001. The world according to sound: Investigating the world of Walkman users. New Media & Society, 3(2), pp.179-197.

Bull, M., 2004. Auto mobility and the power of sound. Theory, Culture & Society, 21(4-5), pp.243-259.

Gauntlett, D. and Holzwarth, P., 2006. Creative and visual methods for exploring identities. Visual Studies, 21(01), pp.82-91.

Highmore, B., 2004. Homework: Routine, social aesthetics and the ambiguity of everyday life. Cultural Studies, 18(2-3), pp.306-327.

McCarthy, A., 2001. From screen to site: Television’s material culture, and its place. October, pp.93-111.