New You. Save?

I don't play video games anymore (my game is writing), but I still love them.

One of my favorite parts of video games is in its character creation.

Whether sports or RPG, it better have create mode down and deep.

I'd spend hours getting the details right.

Starting from their name, their look, their attributes.

Nerds understand.

I had to get it juuuuuuuust right.

Goldilocks right.

And this was usually before you even started playing the game!

And it makes me wonder, why we don't do that for the video game called Life.

I mean, who spends hours (let alone years) on our own character creation?

At least with that lens?

I've joked before that we all need real life character sheets (not CVs or resumes), but I think I'm onto something.

We need to spend more time on character creation, on who we want to be, than we do.

So that's what I'll leave you with today.

Go into "new game" or "continue game" (as appropriate) and see if you can create or edit your character.

And while you can spend hours finding the right eyebrows, I'd encourage you to spend some time on your mental attributes and skills. 

Want to boost wisdom? Perhaps you look into stoicism.

Want to save money? The world is your oyster (make more than you spend).

Want to boost charisma? Well, look no further, champ.

[Smiling. Eyes wide open. Not blinking. Direct eye contact. Blink first, dammit.]

I'm just saying, most of us grown-ups stop with the character creation part of our own stories. We leave it all for the digital world.

And that's just silly.

I'm beginning to understand now that the old grandmasters didn't start out as young grandmasters. 

They grew into it.

And that's sort of what I would like to do.

Grow into an old grandmaster character.

Although there is not much use for old grandmasters, as I knew it, so I think I'll edit it to being a more kinder, gentler, more useful old grandmentor.

A mentor of mentors.

Now, I just need to find the right shade of shimmery silver hair to compliment my glowing golden skin. 

Be back in a few hours.

Create your character.

Create your life.

Create a new game.

Save.

[Returns a few hours later, full of shimmer and glow. Surprised to see you still sitting there. Doesn't sell it. Pretends to not see you. Gathers a few things. Leaves room. Turns off light. I...I should probably head, you say to yourself, as you sit blissfully in the dark, thinking about the right elbow accessory to equip that screams YOU when you get home.]