Belief is nothing until it is strained. A person may hold a belief and become emotionally attached to it long before it’s ever put to the test. The same is true of promises and aspirations. Promises are made when they seem easy to accomplish. Aspirations, too. Few wed themselves to anything that seems impossible. And yet so many beliefs or goals are proven to be impossible. We are, I know not how, double within ourselves, and as a result we do not believe what we believe, and we cannot rid ourselves of what we condemn.
— X, in Catherine Lacey's "Biography of X: A Novel" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, March 21, 2023)
(No spoilers please!)
When I was ten, I told myself I’d become the greatest mangaka in the world.
Seven years later, while watching the Berserk ’97 anime with my brother, he asked: “Which character do you relate the most to?” Not a doubt in my mind.
This was a bit of an emotional piece to make. Lately I’ve been reflecting upon my aspirations, which have matured a little, and how far I still have to travel to get there. As so many privileges have been granted to me because of my ambition and raw talent, I took my dream for granted as if it were an inevitability. I believed it was my destiny. But as the years have added up, it’s become increasingly clear to me that nothing in life is guaranteed and that I must learn to fight for my dream or else watch it escape me. What sacrifices am I willing to make? Do you feel similarly?
In Episode 310, Rachel shares a poem guilty of being simply too good!
Rachel: The poet James Tate wrote: “Ron Padgett's poems sing with absolutely true pitch, and they are human-friendly. Their search for truths both small and large can be cause for laughter or at least a thoughtful sigh.” Which is exactly the kind of poet that I'm looking typically to bring to Wonderful. You know. Uh, a poet from a human.
Griffin: You did bring that dog poet one time—
Rachel: [laughs]
Griffin: —which I thought was... interesting?
Rachel: Bark... bark, bark, bark. Bark.
Griffin: I carry it in my bark.
I was gonna add a personal comment as usual, until I found this quote by Ron Padgett, that seems to have been made almost specifically for Rachel and Griffin: “Survivor Guilt is not about feeling bad about watching Survivor (the T.V. show). It’s about fickleness (a word we don’t hear much anymore). Plus ça change…”
If you'd like to hear about Ron directly soliciting poems from well-known authors to publish in his literary magazine and succeeding to do so all while still being in highschool, you can do so here: Body Burn, from 5:23 - 12:43
"Five great enemies of peace inhabit with us - avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride;
if these were to be banished,
we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace."
Francesco Petrarca.
There’s an aspiration in the game for adults to be friends with twelve different animals. Here’s one for kids who just want to have, you know, a pet :)
Reward Trait
Pet Caretaker. These sims gain responsibility and pet training faster and have a bit more happiness and less stress than other sims.
Bonus
I added an additional file that overrides the interaction to adventure with Adventurous pets, since it was only enabled for adults originally for some reason. The aspiration and mod don’t depend on each other and can be used separately.
Integrations
This aspiration integrates with any mod that lets kids walk dogs (though it is not a necessary component); I recommend LittleMsSam’s.
Success starts with consistency. Health starts with consistency. Fitness starts with consistency. Wealth starts with consistency. Friendships starts with consistency. Relationships starts with consistency. All aspirations are all about consistency.
If only people understood how important it is to be consistent. Everything that has value in life is a product of consistency. Tap..✌️
“It doth make a man better,” quoth Robin Hood, “to hear of those noble men that lived so long ago. When one doth list to such tales, his soul doth say, ‘Put by thy poor little likings and seek to do likewise.’ Truly, one may not do as nobly one’s self, but in the striving one is better.
Howard Pyle, The merry adventures of Robin Hood of great renown in Nottinghamshire (1883), Part 4, Chapter 1 (after hearing an Arthurian tale of Sir Caradoc)
"Strive to become the true human being:
one who knows love, one who knows pain.
Be full, be humble, be utterly silent,
be the bowl of wine passed from hand to hand."