JJV's Offs

Hello everyone!

Welcome to a new opus of "JJV Offs"!

“I love Carnival; it’s a time of celebration and joy that makes me smile.”

Even as a child, I always loved going to my neighborhood carnival because it was so colorful and everyone seemed so happy. The performers were always smiling and enthusiastic when they saw how receptive the audience was.

So, against my family’s advice, who thought it was “completely stupid,” I created my own costumes an

d joined the parade every year.

I was only 8 years old, but I was welcomed with open arms into the carnival parade. I enjoyed it so much that I convinced my school friends to come and dance a little dance with me.

I did this with them for three years in a row until I was locked in my room so I wouldn’t participate in “this nonsense.” I did manage to teach my friends from middle school a dance routine, and they went to dance without me, then in front of my balcony so I could see them.

I danced with them on the balcony, and we had a great time, until I found myself locked in my room again for a while and got slapped for my "disobedience," and then slapped a second time because I was crying and "it made me look even uglier than I already did."

Let's just say that expressing emotions, and especially being happy, wasn't one of the options available to me in my family, but whatever... I grew up like that, and I'm happy for those who had a happy childhood; they deserved it.

I was always made to understand that my happiness wasn't a priority and that I was insignificant. That's why I've always been so keen to see people smile afterward. Never, through their words or their various acts of violence, did they manage to extinguish that small light, that glimmer of hope and joy within me… So when I see people using their past pain to hurt others, I simply wish them healing, just as I continue to heal. I assure you, hurting others doesn't bring happiness.

You can ask my mother, who apparently doesn't remember what she did to me… But I don't hold it against her anymore; she too had a traumatic past, even if that in no way excuses what she did to me for years… So ask my father too, who, after I was featured in the newspaper during the holidays thanks to Marinette's wonderful article, said to my husband, "I don't understand why people like her." I built and rebuilt myself entirely on my own, and seeing people unhappy doesn't please me like it does some others; it pains me… Even when it comes to people I don't like because they've hurt me or are hurting me…

So, even though, like at Carnival, I've seen all sorts of things, I'm committed to motivating you every day, and seeing you smile makes me incredibly happy. So, if through games I can be the catalyst for good times and smiles, laughter, even bursts of laughter, then I will continue to do so with joy. ;)

Good day and good game! ;)