Sometimes when other folks look at my avi, I wonder if they see me.
My avi does not look like me, but she definitely feels like me. I choose to ‘play’ my SL experience as myself, and while I understand that’s a different experience than others, it suits me. When my avi is upset about something, typically I am too. When she’s filled with joy, it’s felt on the other side of the computer.
As the creator of a life, whether virtual or physical, I feel that I have a responsibility to live it with joy, and laughter, and love. Because it’s not what we can often have in RL, or as much as our souls would like. So my SL ‘me’ embodies all of that- a being who fully embraces all the fun and joy that SL offers. Sometimes my avi comes in different forms, but so does my energy in the real world.
As people look to study those who chose very early on in their experiences to assume a virtual identity, I hope that they look to study the psychology of a being free of societal rule, one not constrained in their free will. Because no matter how I look through the eyes of another, my personal expression of my SL life is mine, and I value that.