Blaugust 2022 Prompt – The Origin Story

Today’s Blaugust post is in response to one of the questions featured in the Blaugust 2022 Prompt List – “How did you get started in content creation?”.

I really, really dislike using particular “C-words” like “content” or “creator”…hell, I don’t even like referring to myself as a blogger or streamer. Both of which sound much more…serious than anything I ever do? Maybe I’m just averse to labeling oneself, though “Online Dumbass” has a nice ring to it? ANYWAYS…here’s me engaging in some Blaugust achievement hunting! The Gaming Omnivore origin story isn’t some riveting tale filled with twists and turns, it’s actually…pretty boring.

It all started with an office job. I had grown increasingly bored and frustrated with my current means of securing a paycheck – I certainly wouldn’t call it a career choice. I’ve always been the type person that tends to just check out of things when not mentally stimulated. Go ahead and ask my parents, who were always told I was a “bright student, but seems to have a hard time staying focused” by nearly every teacher I ever had. Of course, this was almost ALWAYS due to the fact I wasn’t particularly engaged with anything other than history or music throughout my school/college years.

Not me, but close enough…

So there I was, sitting at my desk and feeling my mind wasting away in real time. I had recently come in from one of my breaktime walks around the area downtown – most definitely playing Pokémon GO, and felt like I’d worked up the smallest possible bit of ambition. I remember I started writing down some ideas of things that I’d *like* to do, as well as things I felt I actually *could* do. I had already decided that whatever it was I would do, it would be video game-related. Gaming has been been one of my favorite things since I was just a kid and seemed reasonable enough that dedicating this newest endeavor to the only thing in this life I’ve ever felt confident about would assist in making up for my ineptitude across all other areas. There was a number of different things that I wrote down, but the one that seemingly had the lowest entry threshold was starting a simple blog site. Anyone who knows me or has seen literally ANYTHING I’ve posted online is well aware my clear choice in anything is the path of minimal resistance…

It was a few months later before I actually began writing anything – “proactive” being very much NOT in my vocabulary; it was February 2019 and my workplace had transitioned entirely to remote positions. Working out of my living room with no daily commute other than the few steps required to get to my computer made for extra time to do some research on starting a blog site. I remember being intimidated by the very idea of doing anything outside my normal comfort zone, but I’m glad I ultimately ended up saying “Fine. I’ll just do it already!” I ended up choosing the name Gaming Omnivore primarily due to the fact I don’t have a particular genre of game that I outright dislike and remain pretty open-minded about trying new ones. It was also a small bit of self-deprecating humor as the name essentially references my gluttonous indulgence in regards to my interests. That’s…pretty much it.

It was pretty difficult starting out and it’s certainly been a learning experience at times, but I’m still impressed I was somehow able to push myself *just* far enough outside my comfort zone to try something new. It’s been one of the most rewarding life experiences to this point.

Thanks for reading!

Blaugust 2022 – The Eleventh Hour

It’s already the 2nd of August, but like the student scrambling to turn in their homework assignment at the VERY LAST SECOND, I’m putting the finishing touches on my very first Blaugust post. Yes, I’m joining a community event for the first time in what seems like years. Blaugust is a community-wide event held every year and headed by Belghast from Tales of the Aggronaut. The concept is simple: bringing together bloggers, old and new, from around the community in hopes to rejuvenate what it was that inspired so many to begin putting down thoughts and paragraphs to share with others.

I’ve read a number of Blaugust posts written by others over the past few summers, but have never signed up myself…this ends tonight. I was encouraged by Meghan from Meghan Plays Games to actually, you know…participate in something. I signed up for a 30-day blog challenge within my first few months of blogging and I just remember being overwhelmed at the prospect of getting something written every. single. day for an entire month. This time around I’m setting my sights a bit lower, but still intend to push myself just enough to stay motivated and focused…it could happen? The plan is to get two posts written per week through the rest of the month, anything more than that is a bonus. Since beginning my blogging adventure in February 2019, I’ve generally attempted to post something on a weekly basis. My creative output(just go with it, alright?) has slowed down considerably in the past 14 months or so, but I’m hoping to get back into the rhythm of writing regularly. Here goes nothing I guess?

I have a few ideas that I’m working on(i.e. title and header image) and plan to share over the next few weeks – spoilers: MORE of my FromSoft game bullshit, but I’m also leaving some room for improvisation as some of the blog posts that I’ve actually felt somewhat pleased with have been almost ENTIRELY made up on the spot. I know a lot of the bloggers that have already thrown down the Blaugust gauntlet and have managed to read a few of them already. Looking forward to checking out all the other posts in the coming weeks!
So, uh…see you around?