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People need other people in their lives, it's as simple as that. Barbra Streisand sang about it in "People people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world . . ." and the Beatles sang of Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie . . . as I read the lyrics I see a sad song, a way of life that doesn't have to be unless a person is isolated by environment, such as being on a deserted island alone. That reminds me of a movie with Tom Hanks, "Castaway," in which he designed a companion out of a big white ball.

In my personal life, I've been isolating from many opportunities to be with people. Why? I don't remember how it started, but all of a sudden playing Internet games became more important to me than most other activities. I quit going to church, turned down opportunities to spend time with friends, let my house go to pot. I still go to a couple support groups and on occasion, get together with a friend, but for the most part, here I sit looking at a computer monitor, playing games. I get tokens for playing! You might think "Big whoop" and in my attempts to break away from this addiction, I might think the same. The bottom line is that it has a hold over me, earning tokens and badges. Writing about this is taking me away from the games. Seems that's a good first step.
Now I'm in the process of helping myself break away. I'm rewarding myself with points for doing things around the house, for socializing, drinking water, finishing a creative project, reading. The chart is called "Playing for Points." Here's the catch. I'm a smoker, and my chart contains a Deduct 10 Points section for each cigarette I smoke. Right now I'm running in the red on points because of the smokes.
Am I lonely? Most of the time I don't feel it because I'm distracted with the games. I do miss laughing and talking with friends. Writing about this has been therapeutic for me and I hope this addresses a relevant issue with someone else. I have a feeling I'm not alone.

Learn more about this author, Joyce Bocek.
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