As is the case with many things in life, I approached Minecraft tentatively. It was new. It was unknown. It was not what I was used to doing. It was a change. As is often the case with human beings, I was not interested in change. What’s more, this particular change was being relentlessly championed by my annoying younger brother. As those of you with siblings probably understand, there is nothing quite so capable of creating an aversion to doing something as being constantly and endlessly nagged about it. I was quite content with my life just as it was, and making the change in question, small as it was, seemed to me to be an utter waste of time at best and, at worst, a distraction from what was really important in life.

I can’t rightly remember what exactly it was that I considered to be important back then, but I am quite certain that I had no desire to give it up. Now, this thing I speak of is not what is classically thought of as “really important”. I am not referring to family or friends or any of the truly “important” things. I am speaking, rather, of a certain passion I harbored for a subject or activity. Though not as important as the people in my life, such passions carried great weight with me and still do. I have learned through experience that I am not the type to entertain more than one such passion at any one time. It has always been my way to focus intensely on one single thing and to direct all my energy and attention to it. To take on a new passion would be to give up on an old one, possibly allowing it to forever fade into oblivion. Perhaps this is the change I feared most.

Despite this, my brother’s constant effort eventually payed off. I began to play Minecraft Pocket Edition. As my brother and I played, the game began to grow on me more and more. In a way, my worst fear had come true – a new passion was growing inside me, the old one rapidly fading. I was not sad, though. I had found my next love.

As is often the case when one is passionate about something, I was unwilling to experience Minecraft halfway. For the first time, I went beyond the simple gameplay. I began reading the Minecraft wiki. I began with things that I had already seen, but quickly found that the game of Minecraft was far more expansive than the meager offerings of Pocket Edition Alpha. When I had run out of specific questions that needed answering, I began clicking links at random just for the sake of gaining more knowledge. This is when I truly knew I was obsessed.

As time passed, pocket edition began to grow less interesting. We eventually decided to switch from the tiny worlds of Pocket Edition to the infinite worlds of the computer version of Minecraft. As usual, this was my brother’s idea. Once again, I was faced with a change; and as before, I was hesitant to make that change. At first, I simply watched my brother play. However, I soon grew tired of relying on someone else to experience the game I loved, so it became necessary for me to play the game myself. The controls were different from Pocket Edition, and I felt clumsy and awkward at first; but I soon got past this stuttering start and was able to explore my infinite Minecraft world with exhilarating freedom. After that, I never looked back.

From that point on, I delved deeper and deeper into the world of Minecraft. I continued to scour the wiki for articles I had not yet read, and began listening to Minecraft music. Most importantly, I adopted the world of Minecraft into my own vivid imagination. This is when Minecraft truly became more than a game to me. It served as a setting to a story all my own. Characters formed in my mind and images of their adventures filled my daydreams.

My interest in Minecraft became a heading that encompassed a great many activities that I loved to do. I began creating Minecraft art, and playing on large servers. I started downloading custom maps and experimenting with mods. As one aspect of the vast Minecraft world grew tiresome, I simply turned to another, only to return to the first activity months later. That is what I love so much about Minecraft. It is as vast and infinite as my own imagination and the collective imagination of all its players. It has been the basis for quality entertainment and stunning creations. It never grows old because there is always something new.

No matter what I am doing in Minecraft, my first priority is always to simply have fun. I am not a redstone genius or building master. I am not a parkour prodigy or a pvp champion, but I love the game. I don’t know if I have had any significant effect on the game of Minecraft. I may just be grain of sand on the vast beach of the Minecraft universe, but however small my effect on Minecraft, the effect of Minecraft on me is massive. It has given me great joy and inspiration for the years I have played it, and its limitless potential promises to do just that in the future. In the broader sense, this humble game of blocks even taught me the life lesson that some changes can be for the better. This great passion I have developed for Minecraft is what makes me a Minecrafter.