Both require time.
Both require active attention.
Both, especially with video games and with cooking, require active work, participation, and focus.
Part of it could just be gamification. Video games have that by design. And you can attach gamification to dishes or cooking. I've done it:
"I'm going to give myself 5 minutes to clean every dirty dish."
"I'm going to give myself 25 minutes to make an amazing dinner."
You learn to gamify it the way you would a "real" game.
But here's the main point I want to get to: sometimes gamifying is detrimental, because it turns everything into a rush. And rushing isn't necessarily the same as fast. Sometimes there's a time and place to just slow down.
That goes both ways, for the things we positively associate, and the things we negatively associate.
There's a time and place for a movie, to let go, to unwind, to let a story or a lesson wash over you passively. And the same can be said for doing dishes or cooking dinner. You don't have to treat it like a game to find joy in it. You can just find peace in it, in the slow and active process of scrubbing a pot, or making a pasta for the people you love.
So all of this is to say (and I'm saying it to myself too) learn to question why we positively and negative associations with different activities when at the end of the day, both contain the same attributes. Both need time. Both need active attention and active work. Both can be made dreadful, and both can be made good.
Lesson: doing dishes is a good thing
