The Draw of Creation

Hey everyone!

Here’s to Tuesday. How’s your day going? Fantastic, I hope! I took a step outside this morning and holy moly it’s cold outside. I don’t know how people deal with it being colder. Just a quick note for all of you, I pretty much wear shorts all year round and today is no different. And no, my legs don’t get cold, at least they haven’t until recently. I’ve found that an icy gust of wind will cut right down to the bone. Will it make wear jeans? Surprisingly yes. But even then, I’ll still probably wear shorts. Anyway, that’s enough about the cold let’s jump into today’s topic!

I’ve found myself playing a lot of Minecraft recently. I’m surprised because I haven’t touched the game in years. This urge to play was spurred on by watching a few of my friends play in a stream on Discord. For those of you who don’t know what Discord is, it’s pretty much Skype but better in every way. If you need a voice chat, I recommend you use Discord. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I wouldn’t say there is anything special about Minecraft you just run around and smash blocks to collect resources all the while getting harassed by zombies, skeletons, and those annoying bastards that blow themselves up right next to you. They’re called “creepers” by the way, and they’ve killed me more than a few times since I started playing again. All in all, it’s a simple game but there was something genius about it. But what was it about the game that made me want to play again?

I wouldn’t say it was seeing the aesthetic of Minecraft as I wouldn’t claim that the game is a masterpiece in the graphics department, far from it in fact. Though it does have a certain charm to it with its simplicity. The game is quite large with its randomly generated worlds, so it probably helps that the graphics are pixelated and simple. Even with graphics mods, I haven’t seen anything that pushes it to any grand level, but it is still impressive to see what people have been able to do. If any of you have played the game and used graphics mods are there any that you consider must haves or that stand out above the rest? Let me know in a comment.

The gameplay is also simple. Like I said previously you smash blocks for resources. You then use those resources to create better tools for resource collection. You also create items like bows, arrows, swords and shields to fight the various monsters that pop up in the dark. On top of weapons, you can craft various armors from leather, to iron, then gold and even diamond. Don’t ask me what use gold and diamond is for armor and weapons it’s a video game, there’s no need to think about the real-life qualities of the materials. It does look cool though when you’re decked out in bling. You also have to get food, not just to replenish your health as I remember it being originally but also to keep away your hunger. Suffice to say the gameplay is engaging, however, that’s not what drew me back to playing it either.

So, what was it? Truthfully, I still didn’t know the first few times I played. Then it hit me one night, playing on a friend’s server as I was laying down railways for minecarts. I wanted to build something, I wanted to create. Just a friendly heads up, I may get a little deep, even philosophical here. The act of creation, even in something as simple as a game, and simpler so in Minecraft is something that I think is truly engaging to us. I believe we have an innate desire to build and create. I mean, take a walk around the neighborhood or a city. We even have a list of our favorite creations. Do the Seven Wonders of the World ring any bells? Maybe the draw comes from the fact that to have gotten this far and to have survived this long was because of our ability to create. Now we just have that drive to keep going, keep creating. It fuels the endless push to overcome the boundaries and limitations that we are faced with. Think about it; almost every time we are faced with a challenge, we end up making something to overcome it. Need shelter from the elements? Make a house. Math too hard? Abacus! Need something better to handle math? Calculator! Need to cross that huge body of water? Boat! Bigger body of water? Bigger boat! I could probably continue ad nauseum, but I think you get my point.

It doesn’t just stop at practicality and problem solving. When we let our artistic side take over, we make art. Consider the painters and sculptors of the world. Then there are the musicians who do what? Make music of course! Or writers who create with words – wordsmiths, now isn’t that a cool term? I think these creators are all amazing. Then when these different creators come together, they can create something truly wonderful. The Sistine Chapel, The Hagia Sophia, heck I would say that even YouTube fits into this.

Creation, I believe, is ultimately our means of expressing what is inside of us. Art is the expression of our emotions or our thoughts on a subject. I would like to make the case that creating to solve whatever problems we may face is also expression, but a different form of expression. Both are equally fulfilling and deserve to be respected. In truth, being enveloped in the artistic side, I have very little insight into the more practical side of creating. If anyone reading this falls into this side please share your experience in the comments, I would love to hear about it.

I think it’s about time to wrap this post up. Maybe I’ve only made some pseudointellectual points. Or maybe there’s something to think about here? What do you guys feel drawn to creating? What do you all create? Whatever it is, I hope you get the chance to make something marvelous! Thanks for reading, have a great one!

Best,

Aaron Kirby