Neko Atsume is an app that you may have heard of, played yourself, or simply seen open on a friend's phone - it's the one with the smiling cartoonish cats that hang out in the player's yard, or the little yard on their phone, more specifically. The concept of the game is pretty simple, there are a certain amount of cats that can come visit your yard depending on the food and toys you buy and leave out for the cats. The cats stay for a certain period of time, give a thank-you gift of silver or gold fish, and then leave. Provided with these fish, the user can buy new toys and food for the cats.

I downloaded the app by request of a friend, and started the game pretty unimpressed. It seemed really boring. I'm not a cat person anyhow. It wasn't the kind of app you open to kill time. It doesn't take all that much time to take pictures of the cats, refill the food bowl, and maybe buy a toy. Even if I were to open the app every hour of the day, my time spent playing would still only be a few minutes. Unlike some other games with similar concepts, there's no consequence to neglecting the app for however long. The cats (presumably) have homes of their own. They'll come to the yard if there's food in the food bowl, but there's not any stress about abandoning a virtual "pet".

I actively started using the app when I noticed how much it would calm me down. By nature, I'm an anxious person, and opening the app to watch simple animations of one of the cats batting around a baseball gave me an opportunity to settle my thoughts. After a panic attack, it would help me settle down and stop my tears. I began to notice this in my friends as well, specifically my friends with anxiety disorders like my own.

I've known friends to take comfort in things like washing their hands frequently, taking multiple showers a day, or switching the lights on and off before they leave the house. I take comfort in telling my loved ones that I love them and brushing my hair. Although there's little harm in little habits such as these, it's always nice to find some comfort in something you hadn't had before. Something as simple as diverting my thoughts when I begin to obsess over a worst-case scenario makes a sizable impact on how I'll feel about the same situation later.

Using the app to clear my mind, or even as a conversation starter, have reminded me of the moments of peace I can find in my day if I just look hard enough. Sometimes the action of trying to find something to calm me down seems stressful. If I can find my peace in an iPhone application, I'll accept it. Look out for the little things in life, no matter how silly or shallow they may seem. Neko Atsume is a great way to take care of something and nurture it for stress relief, even if it's only through a silly game.