Animal Crossing and Mental Health: Pascal’s Top 5 Best Quotes

January is one of the most depressing months of the year.

Unless your birthday happens to fall in January, there’s not much to look forward to in this depressing first month. The holidays are over, the weather outside is cold, and most people abandon their New Year’s Resolutions by Blue Monday — touted as the most depressing day of the year.

January 2021 has been particularly taxing, given that it comes off the heels of one of the worst years in recent memory, thanks in no small part to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

After self-isolating and participating in lockdown for so long, many of us have found our own ways to cope with this new normal. For my fiancé, especially, he has taken solace in playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a recent addition to our Nintendo Switch library, and a Christmas present for my stepdaughter.

My fiance struggles with anxiety; when the virus first hit North America in March 2020 and Canada underwent its initial lockdown, my fiancé was one of the “lucky” ones still required to report to work, as he was employed in an essential service.

At the time, face coverings were not encouraged by the Ontario government. But the Fiancé wore one, and encouraged the rest of the family to do so as well. He felt that community transmission would be a threat; witnessing the public’s slow response increased his anxiety to the point where he ended up taking some time off for stress leave.

He’s better now, and continues to head to work even as Toronto undergoes its second major lockdown. But I think what helped this time — aside from the mandatory face coverings — was the introduction to Animal Crossing’s original style of gameplay.

Personally, I’ve never been an Animal Crossing stan like some of the diehards for the franchise. A super brief anecdote: my first experience with the game came from the original Animal Crossing on the Nintendo Gamecube.

My brothers and I rented Animal Crossing for a weekend. Back then, the game required an ungodly amount of storage space, which we did not have. Since we could not save our progress, we proceeded to play the game for six hours straight, exhausting every possible task and event we could accomplish in a single day. It would be nearly two decades before I would ever touch the game again.

I’m thankful to report the experience for my fiancé and stepdaughter has been considerably less nebulous. Though intended as a Christmas gift for my stepdaughter, it is my fiancé who has wholly embraced Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and logs in some gametime every day to tend to his private getaway island.

There is something very calming and therapeutic to tending to one’s virtual garden, fishing for bells, playing the turnip stalk market, and interacting with the fauna furry friends on our peaceful little island of Uppahi. In his words, the game is akin to a “retirement simulation”.

One of DF’s favourite events involves leaping into the bordering waters and snorkelling around, collecting rare and interesting creatures, from sea stars, sea butterflies, and sea pigs (yes, sea pigs…).

Hey, maaan…so how do you find Pascal the Sea Otter?

It’s by doing this diving activity that a special event is occasionally triggered whenever DF happens to find a scallop; a red sea otter suddenly appears and practically begs to take it off his hands.

This little guy’s name is Pascal the Sea Otter (not to be confused with similarly named Raptors forward Pascal Siakam) and he has quickly become one our favourite features of the game.

That’s because whenever you oblige Pascal and gift him your bounty, not only does he leave behind a little treasure for you to uncover, but he also offers up some valuable pearls of wisdom at no extra cost.

For the rest of this post, and in honour of Bell Let’s Talk Day on January 28th, I’d like to go over some of Pascal’s more prolific quotes and why they contain actual actionable tips to help with mental health awareness:

1. Wherever you are, whether you’re in a house or in your own head, make it comfy. You be good to you, maaan.

In this quote, Pascal preaches the good gospel about the importance of self-care. To expand upon his analogy, think of how you feel when you’re trying to study or focus on a task. Imagine how much more difficult that becomes when your living space is messy, surrounded by clutter, and all-around unhygienic.

A clear, open space encourages a clear, open mind. Take the Marie Kondo approach with yourself: keep your mind free and clear of distractions. Remove items, thoughts, and even people that clutter your mind and which don’t spark joy. Then treat yourself kindly with little rewards, such as a nice bubble bath, a long walk around the neighbourhood, or a shiny new journal to record your thoughts. Make your headspace a safe and hospitable place to be.

2. You can’t worry about people thinkin’ you’re a fake. Everything you do is real! Unless you’re, like, a hologram.

Imposter syndrome is a real thing, and it affects hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis.

It rears its ugly little head and casts doubts on our accomplishments, making us question our own self-worth. Did I really deserve that raise? Did I really create the best manuscript that I could write? Do I really deserve this award?

In my post How to Deal with Imposter Syndrome in Writing, I give my thoughts on the negative effects of imposter syndrome and some strategies on how to overcome it.

3. Laughter is your brain getting so excited, it forgets how lungs work. “Hur hur!” It’s the best malfunction.

Look, I get it — right now, there isn’t a lot to laugh about in the world. Many of us are still forced to stay cooped up inside, and now with some reports speculating that most places won’t resume normalcy until October, 2021 is looking less like the light at the end of the tunnel and more like 2020 part 2.

But it’s like the old saying goes: if you’re not laughing, you’re crying. And there is still so much joy and good to be found in the world! You just may have to dig a little deeper to find it.

It helps to keep a gratitude journal to record all the little things that make you smile or to make you feel fortunate in your station of life. If that doesn’t help to turn your frown, upside down, then inject some humour into your life! Watch funny videos on Youtube, or go on Netflix and laugh at your favourite comedy or stand-up special.

4. Oh maaan…I forgot what I was gonna say. Or, like, maybe my words just had somewhere else to be.

This ones for all the aspiring writers out there.

Sometimes you have an idea in your head and you’re super excited to get out of your mind and onto the paper…only for it to look absolutely different from what you had intended.

Take a step back, breathe…and accept that it may never look exactly as you intended. But that’s the beauty of ideas! Ever changing, ever evolving, and often transforming into something far greater than we could have ever imagined.

5. You don’t always get to do what you love, but you can always learn to love what you do.

This last quote from Pascal really speaks to my soul. For a lot of us, we never get to make a living from our passion. In fact, most people are unhappy or downright miserable in their day jobs.

To that I say: maybe it’s time for a revamped mindset on how you spend your day. An “attitudinal adjustment” as it were, to borrow a line from one of my favourite comedic movies, Major Payne.

This is advice that I had to incorporate for myself. For example: I’m thankful to be working again after losing my last job due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, I recognize that I don’t want to be doing my current position for the rest of my life.

What drives me and gets me up in the morning is my writing, and I would love nothing more than to be able to sustain myself as a professional author. I’m not there yet…but that’s okay! I see my new job as a stepping stone to getting to where I want to be down the road.

Maybe I’m not doing what I love TODAY, but I’m going to work and I’m making money that I could put TOWARDS funding my dreams, and THAT’S what makes me excited. If I can go to my job every day, be the best employee that I can be, and make that money that gets me one step closer to my goals, then THAT is how I find the drive and motivation to love what I’m currently doing

Your job should not define you. Find that one thing in your life that lights up your world — find your spark — and it will make living the more mundane aspects of your life much more enjoyable.

Do you agree? Do you play Animal Crossing: New Horizons? What thought-provoking pearls of wisdom have Pascal bestowed upon you in gameplay? And what coping mechanisms do you use to take stock of your mental health?

If you or someone you know is grappling with suicidal thoughts please contact the following resources:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (U.S.) — 1–800–273–8255

Crisis Services Canada — 1–833–456–4566