Celeste Might've Changed my Life.

It looks like such a simple game, but I think Celeste just helped me find the power to say to myself, "You can do this, Leadhead", and actually believe it.

The music in this video is from the Celeste OST by Lena Raine

[shalaskaja]

That Game woke me up to the cruel fact that I suck at 2D platformers

[diamondpython]

Something I never noticed in the ending cutscene - Badeline’s still carrying her pack. As a sort of allegory, Madeline puts down her pack just before Chapter 7, to represent that, while she hasn’t gotten rid of all her issues, she’s putting them down for now to finish climbing this mountain. However, when Badeline separates, she’s still carrying her issues, kind of like she’s carrying them for Madeline. Neat little detail!

[verycool]

"High school main character syndrome" should be an actual term

[owlgoddess]

when people say "celeste mightve changed my life" its either about mental health or gender and before starting this video i genuinely couldnt tell which one it was gonna be

[rowanatkinson]

90% of me: "What a wonderful story, it's fantastic to hear someone who got so much out of this game that I love; even if we are clearly very different people it's cool that this game both got us out of our worst instincts and was a force for good in both our lives."
10% of me: "How dare you ignore those strawberries I'll fight you"

[highestsettings]

Celeste made me realise that depression and anxiety were like scared personalities in my head. They're a part of me, but they're not me, and for how shitty they make me feel sometimes they come from a place of caring. Anxiety is like a carer that wants for you to not get hurt ever, and depression is almost like your inner critic that wants things to be better and so points out what is wrong. But here's the thing, a lot of the time _they're wrong._ So you need to treat them as other entities separate from yourself, and listen to those thoughts that appear, but reason with them logically. Is the thought valid? If it is can you and (more importantly) _do you want to_ do anything about it? If the thought is wrong or is coming from the wrong perspective (since depression and anxiety are incredibly dramatic they can be lead down rabbit holes of negativity), then you can stop worrying about it. The hard part is learning when the thoughts should be listened to, and when they shouldn't.

It was all from that section where you drop in the chasm into the mountain and you meet your shadow. They had a conversation like "why are you like this?" "it's only because I don't want you to get hurt" "but I want to live my life" "let's work together then" or something like that. It was profound in my eyes, the connection between depression and anxiety with the Jungian shadow is one that I'd never thought of before. Like I thought of the shadow as simply the emotions that lead to the capacity to be evil towards others, but it's not just towards others, you can be evil to yourself too. The emotions that lead to that aren't inherently bad, anger should be directed towards injustice, sadness towards what could be better, jealousy to make us work harder for what we want, shame for lessons to be learned, and so on. Negative thoughts and emotions ideally should lead to positive action. That's what it means to integrate the shadow. But I didn't extend it to myself, I thought of it purely in terms of emotions towards others, but you can do it to yourself too, and that very line of thinking helped me immeasurably when dealing with my depression and anxiety. They're not meant to go away, they're meant to be harnessed. The mountain as a symbol for mental health was amazing too. A challenge to be overcome, and once you do, you're powerful because by the end you've built up a set of tools to overcome obstacles.

Also those controls are fucking TIGHT dude, I love that the game is at times immensely difficult, but it controls so good and you don't lose much progress when you die. I'd do the same jumps hundreds of times at some sections and I never got frustrated or bored. This is one of my all time favourite games.

[sushiinyourface]

From someone who is going through a tough struggle in HS right now, thank you. You described some of my problems in a greater detail than I really even could before this. It seems weird, but thank you for helping me better understand what’s going on in my life

[angel__king]

There was a really good quote from RWBY that basically said “if you look back on the past and feel that you messed up or are embarrassed that just shows how much you’ve grown”

[skeefskits]

Really thought provoking video lead. Definently made me think about my life comparing it to what you said. Another masterpiece as always

[SLKibara]

Celeste was an egg-breaker for me.

I'm glad to see you make a video of this.

[thesnazzmaster]

Watching this while procrastinating on a presentation is the peak of irony

[wileecoyotegenius]

This hits home. "Comfortable but miserable" kind of describes the entirety of my teenage years. Things are better now, but it's always a struggle. Games like Celeste make it better though. Excellent video.

[blanketpineapple]

honestly, Celeste is such an incredible game. I adore it.

[sheepish]

“I was miserable before, but at least I was comfortable” damn, that’s some good writing.

[Scooty_]

I understand that this is a very serious video but “badeline” made me laugh a ton

[JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI]

Celeste is *NOT* about "changing your whole Life for the better" but rather "coming to Terms with yourself" and take on your *greatest Fears* straight on!
When I got this "Climb the Mountain Allegory" I nearly freaked out... I was an eye opening moment!

[fawnkitten]

"Celeste Might've Changed my Life" Might've Changed my Life.

[JetBazooka]

I love how thought provoking Celeste is

[Vexiad]

I totally know where you're coming from, it's like i can relate to almost everything you just said really. Celeste really changed my whole way of thinking about my relationship with my mental health. Most importantly i think for me to understand was that this other part of yourself, those habits, coping mechanisms, negative self talk, all of that, its trying to keep itself, you, safe. It, that is to say you, learned at some point through whatever experiences that you need to do these things for whatever reason to keep yourself safe from something, failure, pain whatever. It's that moment with madeline hugging badeline that really gets me tearing up when i see it, because i can so strongly relate to that in the way of reassuring that side of me that its ok, we dont need to use those habits that might have protected us in the past, we are stronger, we can grow, we can succeed as cheesy as it sounds. And of course you slip up, it's ok, just like they said in the end, if you're working with yourself and moving forwards thats amazing and you'll be on the path to being your own best friend, it just takes time, care and awareness of yourself and what got you here and why you do the things you do. It really is a special game, i'm sure we can both there someday, It sounds like you're already doing great and you should be proud too.

[ghurcbghurcb]

You know what I find interesting? Chapter 7 isn't the last one. The last chapter is Farewell. While seventh chapter ends on a high note, the ninth chapter starts rather grimly.
The old lady is dead and Madeline blames herself for not saying goodbye properly. She is in denial and Badeline doesn't want to help her.
Madeline relapsed.
The ending of Farewell is comforting, but realistic. Ascending the mountain wasn't the end, because there is no happy end in life. There will always be struggle and there will always be something else to accomplish.
Stories like this one tend to end at the highest point, when the main character is finally truly happy. But there is always a day after this. And the next one. And one more. A week. A month. A year. A point of time, when this great achievement is far behind and impermanence of that once found happiness is obvious.
Celeste shows it very clearly.