Growing older has taught me a lot of things over my 36 years on Earth, but one realization I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is just how much damn stuff one can accumulate over their life.
I recently re-organized my office and bedroom space with a variety of changes and a lot of subtractions/cleaning, but another focal point of the overhaul was the backdrop of my webcam that I’ve meticulously crafted to display my passions and hobbies. While some people blur their backgrounds or keep their cams off, I like having a background, a personality that shows up occasionally within the professionalism of a work setting.
It started out as something cool and a bit of a project to work on, but I also soon realized it’s more than that. It tells a little bit about my life story.
When joining Destructoid meetings with my co-workers, they’re unfortunately greeted with the image of my face, so I’ve tried my best to snazz up the background with my shelves. And in doing so I’ve noticed that a lot of my little odds and ends and trinkets that I’ve collected over multiple decades say a lot about me and my interests, but every knick-knack has a story to tell, too. And let me repeat: this stuff has been compiled overdecadesof my life, as this sort of decorative shelving does not happen overnight.
Taking a closer look at my shelves tells a story of a gaming journalist and writer who’s covered a lot of different specific games while also having a deeper love for others. At one point, I was dead-set on collecting everyOverwatchFunko POP! figure. That was until the Symmetra figure took a nose-dive off of a shelf and destroyed the arm of a premiumOverwatchReaper statue that was a gift from a friend that I met through gaming. Reaper is buried somewhere and Symmetra has been kicked to the curb in a closet or a box elsewhere, but some otherOverwatchheroes still remain throughout.
I’ve spaced out my figures and statues with books on that bottom shelf, but those also have several ties to gaming, like the officialMass Effectbooks, the novelization ofMetal Gear Solid, S.D. Perry’s classicResident Evilnovels, and Hideo Kojima’s autobiography. The influence that games have had on me can be seen in everything.
The second shelf has a number ofDestinystatues because I’m not sure where I would be without that franchise. If not for the thousands of hours I’ve put into those games, the professional coverage of it I’ve done, or the friends I’ve made through it and because of it, I likely wouldn’t be here, so it deserves its own spotlight.
You might’ve spotted some Ninja Turtles, too. That’s because “turtle” was my first word, and TMNT were my first nerd love. I was born in 1989 (ow) so they were and still are a big part of pop culture, as is Spider-Man who can also be seen all over, my No. 1 favorite character of all time, and one which I have looked to as a source of inspiration throughout life’s struggles.
The little Michelangelo plushie stands atop the trophy of my biggest struggle, a kidney-shaped pillow I was given in the hospital after my successful kidney transplant in July 2023. I was born with kidney disease, suffered through dialysis for many years, but came out the other side happier and healthier.
But just like me, my shelves are a constant work-in-progress, too. I’m always shifting something into a different area, moving something out and replacing it for another item, and so on. And just like life, it’s not all happiness and positivity because some of these memories are tied to sad or negative feelings. Because that’s life.
This other shelf off to the side featuresMass Effect’sGarrus and Mordin (“Would’ve loved to run tests on the seashells”) and Songbird fromBioShock Infinite, two franchises that have had a profound impact on me. But the space above it on the wall is empty, filled with opportunity for something new. Or maybe something old.
With each statue and figure, each plushie or book or commemorative item, I have a memory tied to it. That memory could be a person, a struggle, an event, or just something I enjoy. These things gather and accumulate over time like life experience, and the years on our bodies.
Getting old sucks, and it seems to make you a bit of a pariah in the gaming community where players and active members are seemingly getting younger by the day. But aging is also awesome and the absolute best we can expect in life, because it allows you to look back on your journey and appreciate what you have, so I think we might as well all display our passions proudly.
Do you have a webcam meeting backdrop? What does yours look like? If you’re a gamer like me, do you have your own shelves? Let me know in the comments because I genuinely would love to see what everyone else’s nerdy walls look like.
