Avatar
In social media and computing your Avatar is a graphical manifestation of your ego or character. It’s appearance and other characters are yours to choose. And your Avatar becomes your identity. It is what you project.
An Avatar is a projection of our inner being. So it already exists, and we are talking about creating a new one.
This might be painful, but I am going to ask you to go deep inside and see how your present identity-avatar was formed. There are going to be times when you didn’t win, when you made the embarrassing bungle, or bad experience . And I hope you had plenty. Because your strength and resiliency can only have come from surviving adversities. None of this book is for “snowflakes.” It is for those with scars, inner or outer, they will be there. Now let’s work with them.
Here is the idea. For you to have read this much of this book, you will have some conception of your life as an adventure. All I wish to do is make sure that you are its hero. Where you are now is not the end of the adventure. We are closer to the beginning. But to make progress you have to realize where you are right now, how you got here, and where you want to go. This is very much like a story. It has a beginning, middle, and goal.
What is your secret inner avatar?
What are your perceived shortcomings? What would you change about yourself? If your parents could, what would they change about you? What did your teachers bitch about? This doesn’t have to be a big deal. Start out simple, a couple of lines.
In your dreams how tall are you? How old? When you curl up in bed at night, who are you?
Do you have nightmares? I hope so. Write them out. Now describe yourself in the nightmare as best you can. Age, size, physical ability, and mental framework [besides stark terror.]
Now, from what you have done so far, what would your avatar be? Not what you would want it to be, that is the work of this chapter of course, but right now what avatar would those about you pick for you? If you were in the 6th grade what would those who knew you, pick for you?
In my case, the girl who picked everyone’s future, selected “Hairnet Mender,” for me. You were such a twat Maryann. But you did me a favor. The inner fire from the hell of grammar school still burns strong and has driven me for the last seventy years.
Now you have a vague idea of your present identity-avatar. The one with the gift of self-doubt who runs in your nightmares. We are going to change that.
We are going to create an avatar that wins the nightmares. And the mnemonic almost does this for you. It is an affirmation, a genetic code for creating your ideal self. Being a Ronin, Martial Artist, who is in the Arena, these words summon images, as they to. But now we have to go a bit further.
We want to actually cast the part we are creating.
This must be emotional powerful and ring true deep inside you. For this reason we have been using movies, and for your Avatar we will use a movie character the same way that a sculptor uses a wire armature. There are many hundreds of millions of dollars invested in these movies and their characters so that they can move you. We are going to harvest some of that investment for ourselves.
Let me ask a few more questions.
1. Of your favorite movies, which of their heroes would survive your worst nightmare?
2. If you could trade places with a movie character, so that he or she would look like you, wear your clothes, drive your car, which one would you want to send to execute your daily activities?
Take some time now and play with that.
My first avatar was Conan the Barbarian, at the same time there was a super intellect from my science fiction readings named Gilbert Gosseyn who was also part of my avatar. I like the voice of Sam Elliot, and so it goes. I am not suggesting you imitate a movie character. I am suggesting that you use the character from the movie to stir what is already inside you and help form it. The Avatar is a catalyst, not a mold.
The avatar and the mnemonic work together. After reciting the mnemonic, visualize your avatar.
On another occasion, after visualizing your avatar, recite the mnemonic.
In this manner you “channel” your avatar. We are growing new pathways and connections in the brain. This takes time. When you first attempt this, the improvement will be small. Write about it in your journal. Play it over again in your mind’s eye, and this time get it perfect. Now watch a segment of a movie with your avatar in it, then turn it off and again visualize him executing flawlessly the situation you flubbed. Keep this up, and you will change.
You will stand perfectly relaxed, balanced, and confident, with a slight smile on your face. And now recite the mnemonic.
