Tomodachi Life is helping me check in on myself

Caring for my Mii self encouraged me to care for my real-life self as well

The author's Mii in Tomodachi Life faces the viewer and says, "Do you ever feel like you don't belong? I hope not. You always belong."
Image: Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (Nintendo) via Latonya "Penn" Pennington

“You can't take care of others without taking care of yourself.”

In the past 13 years I’ve been an unpaid caregiver to my mom, I’ve seen this saying many times. However, it is only recently that I fully understand what this means after playing Tomodachi Life.

A week after it was released, I bought Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream as an impulse buy because I was lonely. I’d recently experienced my first big move from Georgia to Virginia, a year after my mom was diagnosed with dementia. My mom and I moved in with my older sister and her husband so I’d have more help taking care of my mom. It ended up being a huge adjustment and in the process, I ended up neglecting myself.

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