Thursday Murmuration
Pinkydoll, big dogs and pushing boundaries
You can’t have been anywhere near the internet this past week and not come across Pinkydoll. I do not claim to understand the world of TikTok whatsoever, but by all accounts this girl is slaying the game right now. She has tapped in to some sub-genre called NPC (Non-Playable Character), in which people take on the guise of background figures in video games who have pre-scripted lines. Pinkydoll does lives on TikTok and people send her ‘gifts’ which show up as emojis. Each emoji represents an amount in TikTok coin (which is real money) ranging from 1 cent to $525. She reacts to each emoji with a specific sound or action.
When she went viral on Twitter last week, I, like many others, was like ‘WTF is this?’ but the more it flashes across my timeline, the more oddly mesmerising it becomes. I don’t understand the purpose of it and am certainly not the target audience, but Pinkydoll is having sometimes 50,000 people on her TikTok livestreams, staying on there for hours at a time and being inundated with these emoji gifts - she’s making a killing. It’s safe to say, she’s having a moment.
So, frankly, I don’t understand it at all, but hell, these are the times we’re living in and the girlies are getting their money. Do your thing, Pinkydoll!
Things that caught my eye this week
Apparently, for people pleasers trying to reclaim their time and energy - this is now being referred to as a ‘villain era’. That took me aback at first, but I’ve gotta say, after reading this, I get it. We’ve all gotta be a lil more protective of our own villain eras, methinks.
Food for thought
Celebrate your small wins. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t reached the mountaintop yet. You’re allowed to enjoy the view on the way up.
You should subscribe to the paid edition of The Murmuration because…
On Monday’s paid edition of the letter, I’m talking about protecting your energy and defining your boundaries and how sometimes, that’s gonna require you to butt up against some uncomfortable things. It’s gonna demand that you use your voice and give a little push back. But how do we do that when for so much of our lives, we’ve been taught to basically just shut up and be agreeable? Upgrade to the paid version of the letter and come join the debate.
Your weekly Biggie Smalls (P)update
Biggie has no concept of his own size. At the dog park last week, in classic Biggie fashion, he sought out the biggest dogs and got straight into the scrum, playing with the big boys. After a tussle over a ball went from playful to violent, Biggie got ragged around by one of said big boys and wound up with a chunk of his neck missing. Recovery mode required some quiet time and a Band-Aid fashioned out of paper towel and a bandana. I wanted to protect my boy from the world (and to physically fight the owner of the other dog), yet when it came time to get back out into the world, Biggie couldn’t wait to play with the big dogs again.
The lesson: don’t let your life’s ‘big dogs’ scare you. The might try to take you out, but you can show up again the next day, eager to play and let them know you are un-phased by their shenanigans.
Until next week; smile at strangers, spread good vibes, be nice to people.