Don't Knock it Till You Try it

I've been gone for a while, yeah I know. Part of it is just getting caught up in college stuff and the other part of it is... well... See, I have joined a club of sorts known as a LARP. Those four letters stand for Live Action Role Play. Yes folks, I have joined a role playing game. And not just any role playing game; a STAR WARS role playing game. Every Friday night I go out and pretend to be a Jedi and hit people with a plastic toy. Dorky, I know. I can say without a doubt that this is the dorkiest thing I have ever done, but you know what? I DON'T CARE! Right now I am having the time of my life. Plus, the LARP is where I met my new boyfriend.

Explorers, I have to be honest with you. A few of my friends played the LARP before I did and I swore that I would never do anything like that. Yes, I was being an uppity snob. The only reason I went was because of a complicated situation that I'd rather not get into, but the bottom line is, I went with the belief that it would only be once. I feel in love my first night. Now I don't see what took me so long to join. I love Star Wars, I love making up stories, I love being active (we run around a lot in the LARP); why wouldn't I love it? I guess it was because I had the stereotypical gamer/ nerd image in my head. Don't get me wrong, some of the people in the LARP fit that image beautifully, but many don't. The guy that plays the Wookie in our game is seven feet tall and very intimidating. It just goes to show that you can't always judge a book by its cover (hurray for cliches!)

The LARP has led to more nerdiness, readers. I now play Dungeons and Dragons as well as a game known as Cyberpunk. My boyfriend bought me my first set of polyhedral dice and I am currently crocheting myself a bag for them. All of that aside though, I truly am having a wonderful time. If you really look at people like us you will notice something: we are generally very happy. I think it's because we don't worry so much what people will think of us; we already know we're weird. Us weirdos, when we find each other, band together so that we don't need the normal people. We don't need to worry about fitting in because we fit in with each other. We give into odd quirks when other people hold themselves back. Repression of wants because of image leads to unhappiness in my opinion. There are plenty of people I know who don't do things due to being afraid of what others will think. Which I can understand; we all have that fear.

So I charge you, explorers, give in a little! Try out something that seems ridiculous or nerdy or a little weird! Who know, you just might like it.