What's in a gamertag?

What does your gamertag mean to you? Did you pick it or was it chosen for you? Do you see it as you or is it a descriptor of you?

I've worn many tags. sh0ck, Sedkuh, Tomoto, Reekow, germany-boy, Y2S Big Bird, and countless others.

Sedkuh is the merging of my gaming and professional self.

Tomoto is my healing-focused self.

Reekow is my action-focused self.

germany-boy is my premature mature self.

Y2S Big Bird is my social-focused self.

But sh0ck is the name I most associate with.

I picked it in early college. It was originally aftersh0ck, but I eventually shortened it to just sh0ck - or "ix sh0ck xi" if you're talking Xbox Live gamertags (the x's, i's, and 0 are/were important to me).

In my IRL life I tend to be quiet and reserved. I'm thoughtful, but not action-forward. I observe, watch, and only act when/as needed.

But sh0ck - sh0ck is a go-getter. He's the guy out in front. He's daring, stoic, and experimental. He's the "speak softly but carry a big stick" guy. His actions speak for themselves.

Destiny, Fortnite, Rocket League, Call of Duty, Halo. Not that my gameplay doesn't have aspects of my reservedness, but my mindset is different.

 "If you ain't dyin', you ain't tryin'." The inverse of YOLO. Push yourself to the max. And the only way to find your max is to overstep it every now and then. Easy to do in video games, but scarier (and much more risky) to do IRL.

sh0ck is that guy.

Pros:  ("objectively" positive impacts on me and the world around me)

- Daring: Eager to try new things; fearless in the face of challenge; proactively approaching danger

- Experimental: Try new things, assess results, adjust accordingly; willing to fail in pursuit of success

- Stoic: The calm amidst the chaos; level-headed analyst; emotionally controlled

Cons: ("objectively" negative impacts on me and the world around me)

- Collateral damage: Pursue personal "advancement" and experimentation despite the impact on the stars in the galaxy around me

- Numb to change: Change and chaos so ingrained that true calm is a foreign concept and tactics are sought to maintain the perpetual "mind high"

- Reactive time window: Perpetual moment-to-moment decisions - the flexibility of which leads to professional success - but forgoes any mid-to-long term design and planning

So,

sh0ck is me

and

I am sh0ck


It's nice to meet you

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