We Are Living in a Virtual World
And I am just a virtual girl.
If you’ve spent half a minute on social media these days, you’ve certainly seen the trend of turning yourself into a little action figure in a box. Adorable. That’s what they are!
It’s truly fascinating to see people distill their interests down to a couple of icons to include as accessories for their action figure. That concept intrigued me too. What would it take for someone to say I nailed it? I wondered. I had work to do, so I put the action figure idea on pause and—
Who am I kidding? Of course, responsibilities could wait. There was AI to play with.1
So, what should it be? Who am I? The midlife version of Michelle Rayburn is a writer, an editor, a graphic designer, and a podcaster. But I’m also a wife of 35 years, a boy mom to two grownups, a mother-in-law, a grandmother. A fan of miniatures. Lover of vintage repurposed stuff. Lover of books. Lover of Jesus.
What would you choose if you had to distill yourself down into an action figure? Here’s mine.
Of course, I didn’t stop at one. Somehow it was easier to figure out the key things that make my husband tick. He’s a maintenance man, jack-of-all-trades who loves spending his free time restoring old Jeeps, playing with the grandkids, or spending time in nature in the Minnesota Boundary Waters.
Isn’t he the cutest?
I think I know why we’re all attracted to creating these fun virtual images. The daily news is heavy. Heavy! Social media is a rough place to hang out most of the time (that’s why I love Substack instead). Something cute or creative breaks the tension and gives a moment to pause and laugh.
I got a little carried away. But we needed some outfits for the figures, right? Truth check: I actually needed to avoid letting my heart break over what’s happening in my country right now. This is how I cope.
Stop it! Isn’t it the cutest?
Full disclosure: I had to use my Photoshop software to fix some of the wonky things that came out of AI. Seriously! One hiking boot was just floating around in the box. And my clothes were far taller and slimmer than my midlife body. So I fixed it. I made them bigger.
Made. Them. Bigger.
I think this might be the first time I’ve ever made something for me bigger on purpose. After years of photoshopping my body to be smaller, am I finally embracing reality? We’ll save that analysis for another day.
In case you needed a smile today, I’ll just send these photos off to you and hope it hits the mark.
Also, I want to see your photos. Reply or comment so I can see your action figure!
Enjoy!
