Dear Reader, take a deep breath and settle down, for this is going to be a long winding story.
I remember the beginning of 2024, I had to deal with multiple equally-demanding problems and responsibilities at the same time. If I had any pride in being a very patient person, the Universe challenged me in every possible way as I juggled between them. Now that I look back, that was life's way of teaching me how to be organized, how to set boundaries with myself and with others, how to juggle between multiple responsibilities without burning out, and how to prioritize my health and my well-being. It is probably a normal expectation for a woman in her 30s, but nevertheless I found it incredibly challenging. As my days started becoming increasingly more and more regimented, I found myself dissociating more often than I would have liked. And it was not fun. I had to find a way out. Somehow, I thought if I play some kind of video game, may be it will help? Mind you, I was not a video gamer. The last I played any video games in any capacity was Road Rash back when I was in +2. My new colleagues at work introduced me to Nintendo games like Mario Cart, but I realized racing games are not my thing and I would like something exploratory. So I looked for answers in Reddit like any normal human would. And the name GENSHIN IMPACT came up in popular answers for my MBTI type. I thought, "Cool, let's try it!" and I downloaded the game and got started.
A little bit about the game: it is a solo free-to-play Gacha game (with high risks of spending money to get your favorite characters and weapons). The game has the premise of a planet called Teyvat with seven primary nations and many immersive worlds to explore. The visual narrative is anime style, and audio involves really high quality music. The story begins when Traveler and their twin are traveling through the space. You get to chose which twin you play as: Lumine (the girl) or Aether (the boy). I chose to play as Lumine. Suddenly an unknown God appears, and the twin gets kidnapped. Fast forward to 500 years the traveler wakes up from a long coma/sleep by a very chatty flying creature named Paimon. Now Traveler and Paimon set out to explore the world of Teyvat to find the twin.
I had to figure everything from scratch and the learning curve was a nice distraction from real world's demands. I would get exhausted soon, so I did not run the risk of playing the game endlessly. I had to start from figuring the W-S-A-D key combinations, and get familiar with jargons like artifacts, weapons, and quests. And it was a fun ride. I would play Genshin Impact related YouTube videos and to learn techniques and terms like "hyper-carry", "AOE damage", "support character", "healer", "battery", "On field character", "co-op", "grind", "farm", "steal" and all the fun stuff.
And with time I realized my initial intuition was right. It helped me incredibly in grounding myself after a rushed or a stressful day. And it continues to do so. I love simply running around the gorgeous landscapes of Teyvat. With each release, more n more regions were being introduced to the players. When I started, Fontaine region (5th region and Hydro nation) was introduced. Now, Snezhnaya (7th region and Cryo Nation) has released and I am trying to my best to move through quests to be able to finally explore the newer regions!
Well, I can go on and on about my fascination with the game. Don't blame me now, I warned you. And, if you are still here, thank you for your patience! Let me tell you a bit more about the Traveler. As Lumine and Paimon try to find Aether, they enter one nation after another. Each nation has its own element and is ruled by a God who has mastered that element. The elements are: Anemo-Geo-Electro-Dendro-Hydro-Pyro-Cryo. Traveler worships the Statue of Seven of each region as she explores Teyvat. That leads to light up the map of that nation/area. And Traveler gets to wield the elemental power corresponding to that region. While all the heroes and heroines of different regions possess only one elemental power, including Gods, Traveler notices that she can wield all the elemental powers as she explores different regions. Each of the statues of sevens are these enlightened places surrounding which a lot of life is thriving. Crystalflies are one of those. The gently flying crystalflies with their delicate patterns and shimmers, it creates a ethereal sense for the player. And there are seven kinds of crystalflies corresponding to each of the seven elements.
So, one random day, an idea popped in my mind. And the internal dialogues between two versions of me looked kind of like this:
Me-It will be nice to make a spread of the seven crystalflies, wouldn't it?
The other me -Ya, that will be super cool! They are very beautiful!
Me-You know what, now that we are thinking about it, shall we start a Genshin themed creative journal, where we draw and paint and also write about our experiences?The other me- Oooo, that will be fun! But, I already have so many themed journals going on, wouldn't it be an overkill?
Me- May be, what's the harm in getting started? We will stop if it starts becoming too demanding. What do you think?
The other me - Yup, you are right. I am onboard.
And I pulled out a sketchbook from my ever-growing collection of sketchbooks and notebooks, and opened up the first spread. I started with the Anemo crystalfly, corresponding to Anemo, the first element Traveler learned to wield. And slowly I kept adding the other crystalflies one after another. Here are some stats: I completed Anemo crystalfly on 22 March 2026 and Cryo crystalfly on 23 Oct 2026. It took me 9 whole sessions to complete all of them.
Each crystalfly had delicate shape and markings, and painting them also required lot of concentration. It was a significant but a welcome shift from my typical urban sketching style. I would get tired after painting each crystalfly and take some deliberate break before picking up the next one to avoid boredom or fatigue. By the time I was done with Pyro crystalfly, I was super excited to finish painting the Cryo crystalfly, the last one! And it was nothing short of celebratory for me to finish the last one! Celebration for bringing my idea into fruition, celebration for the nice drawings and paintings, and celebration for not giving up and completing the project!
Of course, my notes are way ahead of my paintings and I have many pages and spreads to catch up to. But, I am excited to for the day when I will reach the end of the journal and will be able to flip through the pages with satisfaction and glee. And, that, is a good goal to have.
Well, stay tuned. I am hoping to share more soon!.... or perhaps not so soon!
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