Tufts Blogs

For some reason, anytime I am in a group setting where people need to get to know each other, the ice-breaker question is often "what is your spirit animal." I suppose people love the idea of having a really cool animal representing them; nothing says "fierce and powerful" like declaring that your spirit animal is a lion or wolf. I've pondered over this question for a long time, flipping back and forth between hummingbird or mouse or cat for my spirit animal. I could never land on one because nothing seemed quite right for me. Then I realized: what if my spirit animal is not an animal at all?

While some people feel represented by a lion or a hawk or a seal or whatever animal it may be, I feel most represented by MiM: the rosy-cheeked, black-haired Facebook messenger sticker.

MiM is the best. She is fearless, optimistic, and carefree. She loves cats, loves ramen, and spends far too much time on her phone. Just take a look at this screengrab from her Facebook page (yes, she does have a Facebook page):

I love MiM. She is straight to the point and true to herself. She loves technology but also has a wide array of other passions (walking the dog is a truly amazing feat!). No other Facebook sticker (and certainly no animal) has such a wide array of emotions as MiM does. I aspire to be like MiM-- she is confident, determined, and not afraid to be herself for the whole world to see. 

It may seem ridiculous that I am aspiring to be a made up character, but MiM fills me with irrational joy-- and in my opinion, the key to happiness is to appreciate the little things in life, even silly Facebook stickers.