Why Am I Still in Second Life?

Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you.

Wally “Famous” Amos

 

          After almost two years in Second Life (SL) I’ve been thinking about why I’m still here lately.  Actually, a few people inworld have been asking me why. Not to mention Significant Other, who has been very supportive of my efforts but asks why and where do I go from here.  (Be warned, I talk a lot about myself in this story.) 

          My original reasons for traveling and blogging about SL were because I wanted to share with a larger audience my wanderings about the grid.  Why was I even on the grid in the first place?  Well, traveling about in Real Life (RL) is not an option for me as it once was.  (Significant Other expects me home on a regular basis and quite rightly insists on a forwarding address those few times that I do get about these days.)  Also, I’d read the blog of Bunky Snowbear who had tried to walk across the SL grid before giving up.  I thought to myself, “Why not?”

          That was then and this is now which causes me to rethink why I’m here.  (Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those hand wringing spiels where I announce I’m leaving SL.   I’m here to stay.  I’m only revisiting my reasons.) 

          As I’ve blogged before, I’ve learned a lot since coming inworld and a lot’s been happening.  Like making friends, folks like Perryn Peterson, Spec Belfire, and kimba are just four of many whom I’ve made. I can’t forget Janey Bracken and Hibiscus Hastings from my CNN iReports days.  (Several remain nameless to protect their privacy.  I seem to have gained a certain notoriety.  But, they still like to hang out with me!)  These are people whom I look for when I’m inworld and participate in events as part of communities.  Or, just chat and check in our respective SL’s.

          Communities are another reason that brings me back inworld. These are the groups of individuals who have come together inworld to socialize, create, and have a good time overall.  These communities come and go.  Sometimes, individuals just stop coming inworld and they’re missed.  There is that human urge to know what happened and why.  We can’t leave the story unfinished.  Sometimes, SL friends have RL issues and we talk. We want to reach out and help as best we can.  The barrier between SL and RL begins to blur.

          Then there’s what’s at the end of the road.  But, there never is a final destination in SL.  Curiosity is one of the impulses bringing me back.  (Significant Other likes to remind me that curiosity kills the cat.)  SL is not complete and never will be.  The only thing that SL can do is end and that unfortunately depends on the corporate whims of Linden Lab. 

          Finally, what happens next in SL keeps bringing me back inworld.  Who will be the new people I will meet?  Some who may not even be in SL yet.  What new places will I discover?  Again, maybe they haven’t even been built yet.  What new experiences could I have?  And trust me, I haven’t even scratched the surface here yet. 

          Like I wrote earlier, I’m staying inworld.  How long do I stay I don’t know.  But, in my RL, I tend to go the distance on projects that I start.  I plan to do the same here.  The unanswered question is when do I go into the Greater Metaverse and see what’s going on out there which was my original goal. 

            So, why am I still in SL?  Let’s just say I’m enjoying myself with my friends and looking forward to new friends, new journeys, and new experiences.  I love the uncertainty of not knowing what’s around the turn in the road. 

 As always, I’m grateful to all for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.

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.

Identity in Second Life

Be true to yourself.

 Anonymous  

          Recently, I read Jim Holt’s Why Does the World Exist?  (What?  Don’t you think I get serious sometimes?  Read the book, if you’re at all curious about how we may have gotten here.)  At about the same time, I read a post on CrankyBuddhist by kimba, a Second Life (SL) friend of mine, about being an avatar in SL. 

          All this got me thinking, which is about the time Significant Other leaves the room, about identity in SL and what it really means.  Throw in the excellent movie series, The Matrix and maybe you see where I’m going. 

          I’ve blogged before about what SL is, friendship, social life, sex, and a variety of other topics about the inworld community and what it means for individuals.  Today, I want to talk about identity in SL with this post. 

          Who are we in SL? Are we even anything in SL?  (There will be many unanswered questions in this story.)  Is this even a question worth considering? 

          Does our SL self exist apart from us?  Does she die as kimba asks in her post if we stop paying our Linden Lab fees?  Our Real Life (RL) selves come out of nothing and go off into nothing (I recognize there are a variety of opinions on the possibility of an afterlife, I’m avoiding that discussion for now.)  Is our avatar merely an extension of RL selves?  This gets heavy pretty quickly doesn’t it? 

          Let’s go the other way for a moment.  Does our SL self affect our RL selves?  Do we experiment with behaviors inworld before coming out and trying them in RL? 

          I’m going to push a little further here.  Is SL another, admittedly crude, extension of reality a la Matrix?  (I warned you.)  Or, is the Metaverse  itself that extension?  See where I’m going?  (Don’t worry if you don’t, Significant Other and many of my RL friends, there are some they just don’t like being publically outed as such, feel that I overthink these topics.)  Could our virtual selves be as real or another variation of our RL selves? 

          Another thought, how permeable is the barrier between SL and RL?  Yes, we can be in both at the same moment but can the barrier be brought down?  Could something like Google Glass someday merge the two where we could coexist in both worlds?  Could being in SL be no different than communicating with someone in another RL city via phone or texting?  (I know, you’re saying you’re overwhelmed as it is without your furry and vampire friends dropping into your reality from the Grid.) 

          I’ll leave it there for the moment.  I don’t have the answers.  After reading Jim Holt’s book, I’m not sure anyone does or ever will.  Maybe having the answers would remove all the fun of our existence whether virtual or real. 

          Please check out kimba’s CrankyBuddhist blog as well as artist-at-large her artistic website.  Both are well worth visiting. 

 As always, I’m grateful to all for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.

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.