Yanma Check

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A friend of mine and I went on a hike yesterday since we’ve had a stroke of good and warm weather this weekend. We were talking about weird dreams and I had mentioned that I once had a dream of a Cosmic River Snake God that incorporated stars, a celestial web, and a vortex at the mouth of said Snake God.

There’s a pause in the conversation when a tiny part of my brain decides to verbalize the question of “Isn’t there some kind of deity named Yanma or something? Was that a snake?”

My friend turns to me, dead face, because they know the hobby I’m involved in and says, “Yanma? Dude. That’s a Pokemon.”

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We turn to each other and both burst out laughing as we proceed to talk about the absurdity of life and how hilarious it would be to find out that, when you’re entering the pearly white gates of Heaven, the embodiment of creation is just this weird Dragonfly that makes the classic video game cry - a voice beyond human understanding.

We now have decided to replace all instances of “reality checking” with a “Yanma Check.”

But why do I bring this story up?

A lot of us are potentially feeling a lot of isolation or burn out. Whether it’s from an overabundance of conversations that might not sit well with us, or from focusing too much on Pokemon during covid, or a number of different reasons. This hike, for me, breathed new life and perspective because I realize that while the US has been under lock down, instead of finding better routines to distract me throughout the day, I’ve been tunneling my vision around Pokemon since it’s easily accessible.

I think we all need to do a Yanma Check and admit the absurdity of how much we focus so much on this hobby - for those who might be struggling, go outside a few times. Take a walk for a couple of minutes. Dance in your bedroom with the music cranked up. Watch a movie. Catch up with an old friend. Start a new hobby.

At the end of the day, we’re still human. We still need enrichment in our life. Go out and get it when you need it.

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But yeah, this post isn’t meant to be too serious - I just thought it might be nice to have a reminder for those who might need it that there’s a whole other life out there.

Be well my friends!

  • Devin
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I support this

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@azulryu, I love this lol. Silly, but in the end practical that comes with greta moral value.

Every day for me requires that Yanma check of sorts. With the growing market, fast paced sales and more and more things im becoming aware of through the tcg, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up the pace when the rest of the world around me really hasnt changed much. Finances have still been the same, corona times still are making things rough, and theres that constant caged feeling that comes up with staying inside that can truly bring my mind into rough realms at times leading me to crave an escape once more through pokemon.

But thats why my yanma checks typically have me go through a process of reflection. Everyday when I wake up i have to remind myself where i once was and where i am now to break out of the comparison game and really just ground myself in the reality that lay before me. We spoke of this a few nights ago on voice together too in how not many moons ago I didnt have a dollar to my name and was on the streets dying of addiction. Now times are far better than that, but when youre surrounded with countless individuals far more established in life, its hard not to try and compare yourself with the likes of the herd. So these checks serve as a reminder that placing my life on a scale with others doesnt work, will never work, and will never serve as an accurate measure of anything. Instead, I just take those moments to honor where im at to slow the flow of time down and really get a grip on things to properly gear my course moving forward.

That being said, in these checks ive actually established id like to get back into another old hobby of mine which was skateboarding lol. While pokemon was something ive been widely exploring my passion in during these times, I also found myself watching a lot of skate videos in my spare time saying to myself “man, i wish i could do crazy tricks like that” or “i miss going outside and tearing it up around the parks and schoolyards”. So as my next line of things to buy and get into i think its going to be that because it will not just take me outside more, but will also give me something else more self fulfilling that doesnt really require me to sit inside and be less active. Ill be sure to use this in my yanma checks for sure haha.

all and all, i love the moral of this. Stay grounded, reach out if your struggling to do so, and just remember that theres always good and bad days and both are forever temporary. With that acknowledgment, it makes the overwhelming nature of life struggles seem a bit less heavy. :blush:

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@dizzle24, agreed. It can be tough especially since Pokemon is everywhere. I spend less time on watching videos on youtube now because some of the people I watched for other content started to get into Pokemon. At times the amount of media intake on the hobby can be exhausting, so it’s good to bring those “Yanma Checks” to mind to re-center ourselves.

For many of us in the US, Covid is still a real thing. I have friends talking about sensory starvation - not being able to touch, be in the presence of, or heck, even smell, has done a lot to impact people’s mental well being.

I hope you take up skateboarding more and/or find a new hobby to bring outside! I imagine that will be tough in the colder weather but I’m already thinking of starting a rough routine of practicing Capoeira in the snow myself - half as a challenge to myself to see if I can. I also plan on continuing a book series that I had forgotten about pre-covid - Mistborn. Make my nights more relaxing.

Maybe we should start an Azumarill Book Club? XD

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Man, y’all found some great mushrooms in the forest ehh?

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Oh you know im down for Azumarill anything! :blush:

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