Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-4423426-20160827031304

The break was an absolute success. I truly did feel free. I never actually imagined that I'd be able to cope without being on the Wiki chat so easily, and yet I did. My sleep pattern went back to normal, and to top it all off-- I FINALLY have a Wii U, so I've been playing that for most of my break if people have been wondering what I've gotten up to. I have New Super Mario Bros U, Splatoon and Mario Kart 8 in that order(as well as digital games that I got from Humble Bundle a few months ago, that were in this Nintendo promotion)

I think if I were to ever leave this Wiki one day, I'd actually be prepared because it wasn't that bad. In the 5 and a half years I've been on this Wiki, I have never once  taken a break unless I actually had PC issues or something. I'm sure a lot of people here, have just felt that way, but  have never done anything about it. I was the same, but it'd usually revolve around drama and would be in the heat of the moment. This time however,  I just got so tired of wasting away holidays on the chat, and you know what? In this break,  August went by exactly how I wanted it to...except for the end, which is when I thought "well my sleep pattern's messed up again, but may as well wait until the 24th" So many previous holidays have just been wasted sitting there in that chatroom, and while I did have this thing where I'd  get all my gaming done in the day, it's not as easy to do that once I end up missing half the day. My eating habits are back to normal too, and let me tell you one thing-- if I were still in that chat, I wouldn't be able to play on the Wii U. I'd only get a few hours on it, and I would end up just sitting there in that chat more. Towards the end of the break. my sleep pattern deterioriated somehow, and I began to miss the conversations that would go on in the chatroom. At some point when I was playing Splatoon, about 3 days before the 24th, I started imagining random conversations in my head about the chat, and that was telling me that I was  about ready to return.

Now as for the things I need to address, it's the fact that because I've never taken a break before, and it's not been as bad as I feared, I would like to make this a regular thing("SOMEONE MAKE THIS A THING!") and I want to know if people are on board with this. With me  regularly taking a break during holidays when I feel the need to. I wouldn't make it every single one, and 1 week ones would probably be a waste, but for 2 week ones like Christmas and Easter, that's when I'm more likely to get the most out of it. For once, I didn't feel like all my life was, was going on this chat, then staying up too late, then practically time travelling through the entire month, where days mean nothing. I kept worrying that maybe I was at that age where time goes by really quickly, but August proved to me, that no-- I was just wasting it away. What did I really expect when I've consistently slept in late and missed College? Of course the days would end up going by quicker. So glad that I was able to salvage what I could for the rest of my Summer Break, and I feel like the Wii U made that break.

Another thing I want to address, which may or may not be a shock to people, but I've always imagined having to take a break first during my Wiki life, before I leave. As in,  I'd have to have a break first, to experience what it's like to be off the Wiki, without actually having to leave everything behind, and it's been successful as I've said. I actually went a whole month, without feeling the overwhelming urge to return. So what I'm saying is, if my College lates carry on with this new course I'm going to be on, I think I'd be comfortable leaving the Wiki as a regular, for the sake of my own future, and because I've often just failed at taking breaks before, but have managed to do this one successfully-- you should all know that I actually mean that now. For now, I'll be here as  I've always been, but I don't want it to dominate my life the same way it has before, and when I made that break thread, I had no idea how I'd truly feel. Taking a break from the Wiki was such a foreign concept to me, and so I did feel like waiting until  I got used to College would be a good idea, but I feared it'd either be too long of a break for people to accept, or I'd end up wishing it away, and I've done the complete opposite. I've cherished every moment of it. I do want to make an effort to not let this Wiki control my sleeping habits though, and so I'm back but on the days leading up to when I'm set to return to College, I'm going to be resetting my sleep pattern again, and it'll just be like before when I was on a break, but I won't be on all night. I won't deny that because I am the way I am and can't make promises, I'll likely end up staying up anyway, but that's the plan at the moment.

Final thing I want to address is, I've had this thought in my mind for at least a year now. Another plan of action would be going back to the old days where I'd join only on Weekends. That being said, this was back when I was sharing a laptop with my sister, and so  that was a scheduled thing. My whole gaming and then logging in at night thing has obviously not worked out, so if it continues to not work out, then I might finally have to choose this option. I guess the plus side to it, is it's not like before--  if I had the time I wouldn't be constricted by not having my own laptop. I could easily just log in, but it'd end up once again being the times where everyone would expect me on the chat.

Overall, I'm really glad I took this break and I'll still be around for as long as I can manage it, and I just wanted to get all of this out of the way.

'''TL;DR: I'm back from my break, I  finally have a Wii U,  I want to take a break more regularly during the holidays, but not every single one. I  might end up leaving as a known regular if College lates continue on this new course I'm going to be on, and my backup plan would be to reluctantly go back to the weekend schedule of old, because the night time one is falling apart now.''' 