The
purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be
compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived
well.
Ralph
Waldo Emerson
With this
story I want to get your attention.
I’m doing
something that I don’t often do in this blog.
I’m going
to get serious for a few moments and I ask that you please stay with me.
The reason
I’m doing this is because I’m going to ask you to do something we do in Real
Life (RL) often and without thinking about it.
What’s
that you may ask?
That’s
helping others.
In RL we
just do it. Whether we contribute money,
take the time to visit a shut in, or help out in some other way. We do it and the world’s a better place for
it and I’d like to think we’re better people for it.
Well, now
we have an opportunity to do it in Second Life (SL) as well.
This is
the annual fund raising effort in support of the American Cancer Society. Through this event, thousands of dollars are
raised to support cancer research in RL.
Now, some
may say, ‘I gave at the office.’ And indeed they may have. They may ask why should I give inworld?
I’m here
to tell you why.
Some in RL
think that SL is at worse a bunch of oversexed clowns with too much time on
their hands, or at best, a good way to keep people with inadequate social
skills off the streets in RL.
After
almost three years of exploring inworld and blogging about my travels, I can
confidently say this is neither a fair nor an accurate description of the
people and communities I’ve encountered.
(Yes, there’re a few examples of each type described above, but then I
can say the same about some RL organizations I’ve been associated with whose
names many of you would recognize.)
Inworld,
people care about one another. They help
each other. And, as in RL, they do it
without thinking about it.
Today, I
want you (Notice how I not so subtly switched to the second person?) to stop
and think about it. You help people
every day. A noob who can’t figure out
how to walk. A lonely person on the edge
of group too shy to approach. You help
all of these and so many more. I’ve seen you do it. Sometimes I was the person you helped.
So, at the
risk of being considered an ingrate, I’m going to reach out to you in your
comfortable place and make you uncomfortable.
Cancer
reaches in and touches everyone. A good
friend in SL is going in for a double mastectomy in RL in a few days. Someone I worked with in RL passed away from
lung cancer a few days ago. A RL
friend’s father has only months to live.
I’ve lost relatives to the disease.
Is there
anyone here inworld who doesn’t have similar stories?
Now, I
don’t say these things to evoke pity from you for either these people or myself.
These people are brave, some of the bravest I’ve ever known in my life. They don’t need pity but they and people like
them can use your help. I say these
things to call you to action. Here’s how
you can help.
If you can
afford to donate money then please do so.
Research is expensive. Care,
sadly, doesn’t come cheap. If you can’t
afford to donate then can you come out and help the fundraisers in their
activities? Or, if all else fails then
can you please come out and hang out with the fundraisers as they run their
functions. Having a big crowd helps them
feel that people are paying attention.
In case
you’re wondering why I’m pushing RFL this year there’s a couple of
reasons. First, as I mentioned above,
there’s bit of it around me this year.
Second, my
good friend in SL, Jessii
Warrhol approached me
recently and asked me to participate with the Tribute City RFL team. The time was right for me. After several years of passing through RFL
fund raising events I decided to join.
I’ll blog
for the cause, I’ll donate money, and I’ll try to help out in some other
ways. (Significant Other suggests that
just staying out of Jessii’s and the team’s way might be enough.)
That’s
me. Everyone is different. There are other RFL teams inworld if you’d
rather go with them. (Sorry, Jessii.) The point is do something, anything!
Here are
some logistical details to help you get started!
The Tribute
City Relayers Relay for Life Team is co-captained by Johannes1977 Resident and Rob Fenwitch. Three other sites are relaying with Tribute
City this year. These are Zorro’s
Tavern, Zenland, and Requiem.
There is a
blog
where all of Tribute City’s and its partners’ activities will be listed for the duration of RFL which will run until
late in the year. The team even has its
own clubhouse
inworld. Check it out!
The blog
contains information on contributing and participating.
As a
matter of fact, Zorro’s is having a party
and fundraiser on March 9th from 1:00 to 3:00PM
SLT. But, if you can’t make it, don’t
worry, there’ll be plenty more!
The
Tribute City Relayers were established by Jessii two years ago and won several
awards last year including the Cancer Education Award. Their dedication and commitment are
evident. I look forward to working with
them and enjoying myself.
With that,
I’ll take my leave for now. I’ll be
blogging on this topic for a while and reporting back on progress. Please think about what I’ve said and maybe
I’ll meet you inworld! SL is a community
of caring, compassionate people and here’s our chance to show that once again!
I’d like
to thank Jessii for inviting me to join the Tribute City Relayers and I thank
her and all her friends for their work on this very worthy cause.
As always, I’m grateful to
all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who
was passing through their lives.
I’ve included below links to
a few pictures of sites associated with RFL inworld. Hopefully, you get the sense that there’s a
lot going on here.
I welcome feedback from
readers, please either comment on my blog or
e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com
.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
