My Journey in Second Life

Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost.

Erol Ozan

          I’m taking some time to stop and think about my journey so far in Second (SL).  (No, it’s not because I don’t have anything else to write about as Significant Other suggests.)  Lately, I’ve been giving some thought to what I’ve done inworld so far and how I’ve changed,

even in Real Life (RL).  (Significant Other says something about been trying to tell me that.)  So, I figured I’d share a few thoughts about my journey in SL with this story.  

          My original intended purpose when I came inworld almost five years ago was to travel across the entire Metaverse beginning with SL and to write about my journey in my blog.  I was going to focus on the technical side, learn how to script, and “get behind the pixels.”  I would be in the background, watching, observing, taking notes, and reporting about what I saw. 

          Well, yes, you guessed it, a funny thing happened on my way to the Metaverse!  

          For starters, I never really left SL.  Instead of becoming a techie, I moved into the social scene.  I began pushing the edges of the envelope.  I visited nude resorts inworld.  (Full disclosure, Significant Other put me up to that.) Oh, and then came my irregular series, Sex and the Single Avatar in Second Life.    I think you’re getting the picture now.  

          I became less of a loner.  I made friends.  (Don’t listen to Significant Other saying I pay them to hang out with me.  I only did that once.  When I was six years old in RL.  And, I never did it again because they took my money and still wouldn’t hang out with me!)  I

became involved in communities.  (Many requiring clothing.)  I went to friends’ weddings and even got adopted!    

          One day I turned around and realized that I had a social life!

          Why did this happen?

          Maybe I was more open to change that I was willing to admit in the beginning.  Then there’s the fact that people are just so nice and friendly inworld!  Many communities are highly developed around common interests and draw wanderers in very easily.  

          What does this mean?

          I look forward to going inworld and meeting my friends.  I miss them when they’re not there and worry when they’re away for too long.  I grow concerned over them in RL.  I experience regret when friends leave and communities close down.  (Which seems to be happening with all too much frequency these days.)  I worry if SL might go away.

          And, this is the big one, I believe that I’ve changed in RL too. (Significant Other agrees and says for the better.  Significant Other also takes credit for pushing me into SL.)  

          How?  I think I look at RL very differently now than before I began my journey.  My biggest change is probably understanding that strangers, no matter how different from me they may be, are really only friends I haven’t met yet.  (Significant Other smiles in agreement.)  

          Continuing along in my journey inworld, I plan to explore more my involvement with friends and communities, to look at our feelings and relationships and are they really any

different from those in RL, and to do things differently myself and see where it may lead!  

          Watch this space for future updates!       

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!  

          My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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. 

          Open roads and kind fires!                

Where Does Your Road Lead in Second Life?

 

I am much inclined to live from my rucksack, and let my trousers fray as they like. 

Herman Hesse

  

          Winter draws nigh where I live. 

          The long nights with their deepening shadows tend to make me somewhat more introspective than usual.  (Significant Other’s eyebrow arches on the words “than usual.”)

This time I take to wondering where do all the other wanderers in Second Life (SL) head off to in their journeys. 

          I know my reasons for wandering inworld.

          Wandering in Real Life (RL) is no longer practical or desirable.  (Significant Other nods approvingly.  Sometimes I get it right!)  But, I do love the journey for the sake of the j

ourney and I enjoy scribbling about my travels.  (I even have three loyal readers who enjoy reading them too!) The lure of new places, new friends, and new experiences is always there for me.

          Ergo, I wander inworld!

          Of late, I’ve begun to wonder about the others who travel the highways and byways of the Grid never calling one place home, never leaving anything behind but memories of themselves.  Are their reasons for journeying similar to mine, are they different, why?     

          Wandering in SL is a very solitary occupation.  Yes, you meet others as you travel about but generally they tend to stay where you find them.  As in RL, they have commitments that keep them tethered in one place.

          The people of whom I write are not those who come to build, or role play, or join a community but those who yearn for the open road like I do.

          So, I’m going to ask those who travel across the Grid like I do to write me with their stories about why they wander, or meet up with me inworld. Better yet, why not come with me for part of my journey.  (I still need a crew for a voyage across the seas of SL after my

last crew jumped ship on me!)   

          As I wander across the Grid, the old saying, “Not all who wander are lost.” Always comes back to me.  While different from RL, SL still gives me that experience of wandering without a map.  (I ignore Significant Other’s comments about knowing that experience as well.)  Many of the people whom we would meet in our RL travels are already here inworld.

          Why not come out and join us?  

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

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

          Open roads and kind fires!

 

Becoming a Scribe-in-Residence in Second Life

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

Ray Bradbury

 

          As many of my regular readers know (My thanks to both of you!) I’ve always been looking for a position in Second Life (SL).

          However, I gave up looking for a paid position inworld a long time ago.  They’re even harder to find than one in Real Life (RL) these days.  

          And, like many a RL blogger, I once had visions of quitting my day job and becoming a fulltime blogger.  (Significant Other turns suddenly and looks sharply at me.)

          But, I’ve always been a pragmatist and risk adverse to a certain extent, so I won’t be giving up my day job until I know I make a go of this.  (Significant Other looks relieved and stands down from an attack stance.)

          Yet, I still have the aspiration to become a fulltime blogger.

          To that end, I’ve been looking for work, even non-paying, in SL.

          I feel that as a writer I will benefit from the experiences, obtain new material, and develop new perspectives. (One would be amazed at how running around nude can change how you look at life.  Not to mention how life looks back at you!)

          You’d be surprised how difficult it is to obtain even non-paying work inworld.  (We’ll ignore Significant Other’s comment about talent being a qualification regardless of the pay rate.)

          Until recently when I was offered the role of scribe-in-residence at a sim I’d recently blogged about.

          I’ll be able to integrate this role into my regular blogging activities and hopefully be able to expand my readership. (How difficult can it be to get past two?)

          Oh, you’d like to know where?

          Fair point.

          I’m now the scribe-in-residence at Devilhand, the recently established BDSM community in SL. 

          Devilhand seeks to be a safe refuge for practitioners of the BDSM lifestyle inworld.  They also plan to offer training and to match dominants with submissives.

          The grounds consist of a large castle in the classic B-movie style (I happen to love B-movies!) surrounded by a small village with woods and a small mountain with caves.  My office (Yes, I have an office.  How else am I going to reside?) is located in a garret (De riguer for a starving artiste.)  It’s bare save for two desks.  (I plan to be very busy.)

          Facilities at Devilhand include a dungeon, conservatory, ball room, and assorted private rooms with varying themes.  All these are intended for visitors to enjoy themselves as they see fit.

          All of this resides on a full sim. 

          The Devilhand team consists of Steve, the owner, Ama, his submissive, who co-manage the facility; kennaKat, the social manager; and Dariana, the marketing manager. 

          They’re all engaged now in preparing Devilhand to become the premier BDSM community inworld straddling (No pun intended.) both SL and RL.

          My responsibilities will be to blog about the Devilhand community and its activities along with however else my scribbling can help.  I even have a scribe outfit which is left over from my visits to Gor.

          I’ll incorporate these duties into my regular blogging.  So have no fear of that stopping anytime soon.

          Pushing the edges of the envelope has always been a hallmark of how I write so expect that to continue. 

          I also plan an ongoing series about RL BDSM players in SL and Devilhand will serve as my base of operations for that.  Stay tuned for more details!

          I’d like to thank Steve and his team for this great opportunity and I look forward to working with them!

          I also hope that my current and future readers will enjoy my stories!         

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

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I can be found on Google+ as webspelunker Ghostraven.

My flickr Photostream is located here.

On Skype I’m webspelunker Ghostraven.

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.

          Open roads and kind fires!