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The Joy of Minis


huron725 Supporting Member of TMP writes:

Great conversation. Totally agree



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Revision Log
25 October 2019page first published

7,340 hits since 25 Oct 2019
©1994-2024 Bill Armintrout
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Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian writes:

When does a package delivery result in deep introspection?

Two boxes

Two packages arrived in the mail recently. They made me very happy!

The big box

Here is the bigger box, opened up. Even though I have an idea of what I've been sent, I am so delighted.

Inside the box

Now that the packing materials have been removed, I can see the actual contents!

A big stack

I couldn't resist stacking everything into one big column!

Another view of the big stack

And the long thin box contained a gaming mat:

Gaming mat

Now, I know that I am a lucky man. I have lots of minis, and people keep sending me more. Sometimes I pay for them, sometimes I get free samples, sometimes I make a swap of some kind. grin However, truth be told, I think my happiness is the same whether I'm receiving a large box or a small box!

Joy & Happiness

Which led me to thinking: why do minis give me such happiness, and where does the difference lie between happiness and joy?

In my faith – and I think this is common among many belief systems and philosophies – there's a distinction between happiness, which is a temporary emotion of lower importance, and joy, which is the feeling achieved at the pinnacle of the good life, in the midst of family and at one with deity.

Now, I know that minis are minor in the grand scheme of things, yet I cannot deny that they make me very happy. Way at the top level of happiness.

So I've been pondering about why.

I wonder if minis don't somehow trigger childhood memories of receiving toys, and so carry with them feeling of happy times with family in yesteryears? Or memories of times when I was little and life was simple?

Or is it something deep and psychological? grin My parents were middle class, and I certainly didn't lack in the basics. However, my parents were children of the Great Depression, and spending money on 'toys' was not seen as very important. Every Christmas and birthday I would compile My List of Toys I Wanted, but what I would actually get would be a few toys, somewhat similar to what I requested, but at a more practical price point!

One thing my family loved was playing games together. When I was a young teenager, I suddenly took notice of certain 'adult level' games in the stores – they were called 'bookshelf' games, some from a company called Avalon Hill. I pointed them out to my parents, but they didn't seem to understand why I would need anything like that…

So could my happiness at receiving minis have something to do with frustrated desires as a child or in my youth? I'm really not sure.

Or could it just be that I'm still a child at heart?

On some deep intellectual or spiritual level, I realize that I would be fine if all my minis disappeared tomorrow, that minis have little to do with the purpose of my life or my self-worth or my achieving nirvana. In fact, sometimes they get in the way of my higher goals. It's important to maintain balance.

But minis sure make me happy! grin