From the Brain of Dr. Nicki: Facing Another You

Face fries. Have you heard of them? It’s a mobile app that takes 2D photos and turns them into talking, animated 3D avatars. 3D avatars! Yes. As a female you can you see what your male self would look like, and vice versa. You can explore other versions of yourself altogether. Imagine dimensions of self you usually think of as inaccessible.  The great psychiatrist Carl Jung would have a field day with this. Concretizing his inner anima [feminine] and inner animus [masculine] aspects can put a fine point on the theory.

It’s quite amazing really – this techno world we live in, where we can morph what is into what might be. Great for expanding the imagination. For removing perceived limitations. For pushing our boundaries.

Well, that’s the good news. The other side is our increased dependence on fantasy as a way to get through life. As it is we too often compare and despair. Other people look like they’re having such a good time. Every social media we have says so. Promises and promotions come at us all day long. I follow someone on twitter and they immediately send me a private message, which every time I imagine to be actually private until I realize it’s a promotion with a promise. It’s not really for me or about me. It just wants me, but not in a good way.

I want to embrace these astounding changes. To engage the extraordinary technological opportunities placed constantly before me. But also I get overwhelmed. Not knowing what’s real or nonsense. Not being able to discern quality from come-on.

I suppose I’d do well to create an avatar that can wave and giggle and choose correctly what next road to walk. Would my avatar be more tech savvy than I am? Would she be more zen?

Personally I don’t want to play at pushing my edges and having a bigger life. I want to do it for real. With all the failure, messiness, disappointment and true exhilaration that entails. I’m not a real superhero. But I am glad to be alive…for real.