What Makes You Happy in Second Life?

Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.

Robert A. Heinlein

Recently, I’ve received a series of good news in Real Life (RL.)

Accordingly, I’m happy!

Not to worry, I’m normally pretty happy in RL but lately my smile’s been a bit broader.  (Significant Other is bouncing around merrily too, I’m happy to report, and is nodding enthusiastically as I write this.)

Then, this got me thinking.

(At which point, Significant Other exits the room claiming I’ll only spoil the mood.)

What about Second Life (SL)?

(Are you surprised, after all, this blog is pretty much only about SL!)

What’s being happy about inworld?

(I’m being an optimist here and assuming that we can be happy in SL.  Further, I’ll stick my neck out and say that being happy inworld can also make us happy in RL!)

What are the things that can make us happy inworld?

Friends are just as valuable inworld to our happiness as they are in RL.

Some go further and fall in love inworld.  Enough said about that!

Communities can make us happy in SL.  Friends and neighbors sharing a common purpose are a wonderful thing wherever they are.  And, let’s not forget the socializing!

Solitude is what does it for some and SL is a great place for that. 

For some, building and exploring are what makes them happy inworld. 

Have I missed anything?

I’m sure I have because the ways to be happy in SL are countless.

(Trust me on this, I’ve tried counting!)

What about me?

What makes me happy in SL?

Actually, it’s changed over the years.

Originally, just rezzing in, exploring new places, meeting new friends, and having new

experiences was enough for me inworld.

But, now, I think I’ve grown.  (I ignore Significant Other’s comment that it’s about time.)

The friends I’ve made over the years, I look forward to meeting and sharing with.

There are communities that I enjoy returning to and participating in their daily life.  (I won’t get into whether they enjoy me returning.)

However, the lure of the open road inworld still makes me happy.

Discovering and exploring an exciting new build makes my day!  Even if, sadly, these are fewer and farther between. 

But, what about you?

What makes you happy in SL?

Anything that I’ve listed here or do you have your own source of happiness?

Please share it and let us know!

There are many ways to be happy inworld and we all benefit when we learn about them.

SL can be an extension of our RL and we can be happy in both?

For after all, have you ever met anyone who comes inworld to be unhappy?

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!

How Different from Real Life Is Second Life?

 

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. 

Albert Einstein

 

 

          After some recent wanderings in Second Life (SL) and meeting with friends, I stopped to think for a bit.  (Yes, this is always the part where Significant Other begins to worry.)

          Yes, I know!

          Thinking can be dangerous especially for those inclined to get so caught up in their thoughts that they sometimes forget about Real Life (RL).  (OK, maybe Significant Other

does have a point.)

          Spoiler alert!

          In this story, as I do every once in a while, I’m going to meander with my thoughts and maybe even get a little philosophical.  (OK, maybe it’s more than every once in a while.)

          I’m going to kick around the idea that maybe, just maybe, SL is not all that different from RL for many of us.  (Significant Other rapidly leaves the room.)

          I’d like to start with my friends inworld.

          I have several.  Whether or not I have many is subjective so I won’t go there.  (But, there are more than my three loyal readers!)

          Among these several friends of mine there are some whom I’d say are very good and close friends. (Have no worries, I’m not going to out anyone!  You’re secret is safe with me.)

          The remainder of my friends are those whom I met for a story, or people whom I once was a fellow traveler with briefly across the Grid, or sadly, those whom have just disappeared and have never been seen again.  I wish them well wherever they are!

          Are these friends any different from the ones I have in RL?

          We talk about many of the same things in both worlds.  OK, a few like nudity and

BDSM are probably reserved for inworld alone.  But, my point is we have common interests which we discover while conversing.

          We worry about one another.

          We share our RL ups and downs, sharing just enough to give a sense of our issues but keeping the RL details private. 

          Most importantly, we help one another out.

          Like those who are helping a SL friend obtain a service animal in RL and raising funds for diabetes research which are just two examples.      

          Then there are the communities that we form and join inworld many times around our RL interests. 

          Some are faith based like First UCC who have a mission to the LGBT community in RL, others like Relay for Life are formed to help the fight against cancer in RL, and some,

like Beau Belle’s, are there just to bring us together socially for music and dance. 

          Why do we do this?

          For a variety of reasons, maybe we care, or we’re lonely, or we’re interested in things that we’d never do in RL. 

          Maybe whom we are in SL is not all that different from whom we are in RL. 

          Yes, there may be some experimentation inworld, but we’re still the same person that came in with is from RL.

          I go back to what one wise old avatar once told me shortly after I first rezzed into SL.  He said to remember that behind every avatar is a real person with real feelings.

          I think that just about sums it up, don’t you? 

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!

 

 

How We Live in Second Life

 It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live.

Victor Hugo

          Recently, I’ve been running around a lot in Real Life (RL).

          Nothing out of the ordinary, the usual stuff that we all have to deal with in one form or another.  Relationships, family, career, health, and all the hum drum things that comprise the human experience.  (Sounds awfully boring when I say it that way doesn’t it?)   

          Don’t get me wrong.  There are many things going on in my life that make me feel great every day.  Significant Other, friends, having a job in this crazy economy that we live in. 

          In the midst of all this running around, I somehow manage a few moments to stop and think about my other life, the one that I have in Second Life (SL).  (Significant Other pats me on the head, smiles indulgently, says “Whatever!” and exits the room.)  I ask myself (Don’t worry, I may talk to myself but I never argue with myself.) how do our real lives differ from our second lives inworld or do they even differ?  (Notice how I subtly switched from the singular to the plural and included all of you in my cerebral meanderings?)

          Are our lives really that different inworld from whom those we lead out here in reality?  (Now, you know why Significant Other left the room.) 

          What are our real lives about after all?  How do they affect our second lives?  If they even do. 

          I believe that are three aspects to our lives, the social, educational, and economic.

          Social involves the interaction of the individual with the community including the immediate family and extended social groups (real as well as virtual).  Sexual relations would also be lumped in here as well. 

          Educational involves how an individual learns to exist in the world around him or her and to survive once they leave their families.  This includes both formal and informal education.  Common sense and what Americans like to call “street smarts” would be here as well.

          Economic is how an individual supports himself or herself from either a subsistence level or all the way up to the level of the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”.   

          We do all of these in RL.  For those of us who are in SL, we do many of them as well. 

          How many interact with others inworld either at parties, dancing, or other group functions?  How many have found either friends or partners in SL?  Some have gone so far as to transfer their relationships from virtual to real and have married in RL and now have children.  I think I’ve blogged enough about sex in SL that I can safely say it’s there and thriving. 

          Educational pursuits are followed inworld as well.  At the most basic level, residents learn the scripting language that creates all the objects and prims that comprise SL.  There are literary forums in sims like Book Island and 1920’s Berlin.  The latter also is an educational forum about the RL historical period of the city of Berlin.  Recently, I’ve met residents who have told me how they have used SL to learn English as a second language and they are fluent in their interactions with me. 

          As for the economic, earning a living is not really necessary inworld.  Most folks when they need money in SL simply buy more Lindens with RL money.  I’ve met a small number of people inworld who claim to earn a living there, usually just covering their costs, but many others simply go through the motions.  More often than not, they’re mimicking RL.

          Now, there are some things where SL and RL don’t really equate.  I haven’t met too many people who sleep inworld.  (We won’t talk about residents who have fallen asleep in RL while listening to one of my SL monologues.) 

          Despite some very impressive displays of food and drink inworld, we don’t eat.  At least not for sustenance.  (An interesting idea if there is ever a next generation of SL.) 

          Or, how about this one, travel. While planes, trains, ships, cars, and virtually every other form of transportation known to man in RL exists inworld, most simply teleport to get around. 

          So, to bring some order and a conclusion to these meanderings of mine, while our real and virtual lives overlap in SL, many seem to be extending their real lives inworld.  Of course, many are also trying things out that they can’t in RL for one reason or another. (BDSM comes to mind.)   

          My question is are we simply avatars existing in a virtual world or are we extensions of our RL selves into a virtual world?

          I’m still puzzling this one.  What do you think?    

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 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. 

Real Life vs. Second Life

Once harm has been done, even a fool understands it.

Homer          

          Sometimes, Real Life (RL) gets in the way of being in Second Life (SL).

          Like early last year when my laptop crashed and I went “into the wilderness” for a while until its replacement arrived.    

           Or, when Superstorm Sandy came roaring through and took out power for a while here in the Northeast.   (Come to think of it now, last year was pretty wild and I still managed to post to this blog every week.  Pulitzer prizes have been given for less!) 

          My current dilemma is that my broadband provider has failed to provide the reliable, fast service to my home that their advertising claims will always be there for me.  (I won’t mention their name now but if this situation isn’t fixed soon, I may not be so forbearing.) 

          So, now, I’m sitting in one of those ubiquitous coffee shops with Wifi as I post this. (Hey, I’ve run consulting engagements out of these places; blogging is a cinch by comparison.)  Significant Other is with me, wondering how their involvement went from emotional support and tolerance to assisting in marking and holding turf in a crowded coffee shop on a Saturday night.  (I’m reminded that once upon a time I used to know how to have a better time on Saturday nights.) 

          I’m feeling pretty good about this work around.  I’ve made my deadline.  My regular readers hopefully will not be disappointed.  (Both of you know who you are and I’m grateful.)  I’ve done my weekly promotions.  (Trust me, folks just don’t show up at this blog because of divine inspiration.)  And, as a real treat, I had a very nice cup of tea with a pastry.

          This recent example of life’s vicissitudes has gotten me thinking about how can I integrate myself into SL to better insulate myself from these service interruptions.  (Significant Other’s eyes are rolling about now.) 

          The problem is SL is not easy to get into.  First, there’s that pesky problem of the viewer.  Next, another favorite gripe of many of us is the lack of a mobile SL solution.  (Although, there may be some relief coming here soon.  See Wagner Au’s recent very interesting story on his blog about a potential tablet solution for SL aficionados.)  Then there’s the juggling of RL events when a problem arises in order to meet SL commitments.  (It really is like having a “second” life.  Whoever named this virtual world really knew what they were doing.)  One theme that runs across all of these is the difficulty of reaching anyone inworld outside the viewer unless you happen to have their RL email address. 

          I don’t have any ready solutions right now other than running out to my friendly, local coffee shop.  Like most good things in life (RL that is), SL is difficult to get to but worth the effort once you’re there. 

          I do wish to apologize to Lisah Lorefield whom I stood up today.  She was going to take me on a tour of an art gallery that she’d discovered.  I will reconnect with her and get that story done. (Along with the one that I missed last week.  I seem to building a bit of a backlog here.) 

          In closing, to all my loyal readers, I regret this recent interruption and I hope to get back inworld and to more orderly blogging shortly! 

          In the meantime, please feel free to read some of my other stories that you may not have gotten around to yet!

          Be well, be safe, and I’ll be back with you as soon as I can!  

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 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. 

 

Travel in Second Life

 The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

Saint Augustine               

                This past week, in Real Life (RL), I took an unexpected trip to Europe for business purposes.  (And, no, for those jokers out there, I was neither deported nor running from Significant Other.  Although, maybe my boss was getting me out of the way.)  Preparing for this trip and taking it got me thinking about travel in Second Life (SL) and what it means to me. 

          Why did I start thinking about travel in SL?

          Well, maybe it had something to with the multiple time zones I had to go through to get to Central Europe.  Or, maybe the packing, hassling through traffic to get to the airport, get checked in, and then wait for my flight.  Oh, did I mention the fun of going through security with the TSA? (Please note that I support security for air travel that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.  It’s like a relative who once told me that World War II had to be fought, he just wanted to know why he was the guy stuck in a plane and sent somewhere he never even knew existed to be shot at.) 

          For reasons which seemed beyond my control, like most things in my life, (Significant Other posits that I was a really horrible person somewhere in past life.) I ended up last week hurtling across the Atlantic to arrive in Central Europe (Place names are being withheld to protect the reputation of those countries kind enough to receive me.)  Since I don’t sleep well on aircraft, there is something unnatural about the whole experience, and I had to make a connection to arrive at my destination, I arrived at my hotel just in time for a 93°F heat wave.  (In case you didn’t know, air conditioning is not yet pervasive in some former Warsaw Pact Countries.  Not because of fifty years of Communism as my local friends told me, and yes I can make friends in RL, but after a couple of millennia of more or less accurate weather reports courtesy of some local monks, nobody thought it was a worthwhile investment.  Yeah, they said the same thing about lifeboats on the Titanic.) 

          By now, you may be starting to see why I’m thinking about travel inworld versus RL.  But, it’s more than the vicissitudes of actually moving around.  RL travel makes me realize how much like a kaleidoscope SL is when it comes to travel.  Language and customs come together.  I can stand in a sim and be talking with people from all ends of the world at the same time.  We talk about our respective lives and communities.  We sometimes misunderstand one another. (OK, I’ll admit it, I misunderstand them.)

          How different is this from my standing in a coffee shop, not Starbucks, too far to walk in the heat, in a foreign city talking with people kind enough to speak to me in English because I couldn’t speak theirs?  (I’m American, remember?  We don’t recognize any languages other than American.  L'Académie française has my face on posters in its offices due to my efforts to use their language.) 

          But, we do bring our real lives into SL.  We take our world views, biases, prejudices, and preferences.  These are not always negative but serve as baseline for where many of us begin when we first come inworld.  We experiment in SL where we wouldn’t in RL.  (Don’t worry, I was neither nude while wandering around Central Europe this week nor did I visit any BDSM clubs.) 

          SL is certainly more convenient to visit than many RL locations.  Some may argue that more can be seen or done inworld than in RL.  It’s certainly cheaper.  And, it’s safer.  (Excluding griefing, phishing, and other privacy concerns.) 

          So, as I wrap up, it’s great to be home in RL with Significant Other.  RL is very important but sometimes it can take us away from loved ones and familiar places in a way that SL can’t. 

          As in most things, balance is everything.  RL and SL can both get out of whack.  I’ve seen RL ruin their lives because they spent too much time away from home.  Likewise, people have had their real lives fall apart because of their involvement with SL. 

          Travel gives me time to be alone and think.  (Think long flights in the middle of the night where there is only one overhead light is on in an otherwise dark cabin.)  I pulled these thoughts together while on my journey.  At times like this, I tend to let my mind wander.  (Significant Other cringes at the thought.)  Hopefully, I’ve given you something to think about yourself. 

 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 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. 

Loss in Second Life

Eventually, everything goes away.

Elizabeth Gilbert

 

          Recently, I read a story in James Wagner Au’s blog about the large number of sims that have closed in Second Life (SL) over the last several years.  (If you don’t read this his blog, you should.  It’s a great source of information on both SL and virtual worlds in general.) 

          This got me thinking about my own experiences inworld since I began blogging almost two years ago.  I went back and revisited several of the sims that I had first blogged about when I began.  I was shocked to find that many were gone. 

          Not only were they gone but the communities around them are gone too.  Not just the prims and the scripts but the people who congregated there and the sense of belonging that formed around them.  To return to a place where there were once buildings, crowds, noise, and who knew what going on and to find just an empty field is a bit disconcerting.  I realize this may sound a little silly but there is a sense of loss when something one is accustomed to is gone. 

          For example, some of my first stories about different lifestyles in SL were about the vampire community, a family called Nulli Secundus in particular.  They had a wonderful castle (What else would vampires have?) with great recreational facilities.  I went to my first SL wedding there.  It’s gone now and the family seems to have broken up and gone its separate ways. 

          Another sad story, when I first began blogging, I wanted to use freebies. (OK, I’m cheap.  Get over it!  I also wanted to demonstrate that residents need not spend a lot of money to have a good time inworld.)  I wandered into a sim called the Hyles Info Center which had many freebies which my original avatar.  (Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about my makeover!)  I dropped by recently to find only a small remnant of what used to be there and few, if any, freebies.  This is a great loss for noobies. 

          One sim which has recently closed was the Island of Bare Naked Angels, a nude beach resort which was non-membership.  I had hoped to do a story about it for my Sex and the Single Avatar in SL series.  It was a well laid out facility with friendly guests.  I made several good friends there.  I TP’d in a short while ago to find it undergoing a change into a members only site. Recently, someone told me that even that has closed. 

          I’d blogged about breedable meeros in SL and visited several sims for research and background.  Mystic Bay Breedables, Blue Fusion Estate, Red Barn Meeros, and Lil Egypt Meeros Market are now gone.  (Although, Lil Egypt itself is still open.)  Maybe there was an oversupply of meeros.  Another old haunt of mine in the early days, Lollygaggas, Creative Junk is closed too.  

          Phideaux Mayo’s sim Esoterica where I interviewed her last year is now gone.  Flying Tigers, site of stories about air shows and V-E Day celebrations is now gone too.  Virtual Haarlem where I met Artemesia Sandgrain and Tom Bukowski for an interview has recently closed too.  (Maybe I should stop writing stories about places in SL?) 

          Why have all these sims closed?  (Besides my writing about them.)  Finances could be part of it.  Many of these sims depended on voluntary donations from visitors to help cover costs and, well, we all know how that works.  There may still be lingering effects from the Great Recession. 

          The overall community of SL loses when these sims close.  SL is a mosaic of people, their meeting places, lifestyles, and all the other things that happen when people come together.  While some loss is always expected, this steady deterioration is concerning.  Yes, new sims and communities may replace them but there always a loss when this institutional memory disappears suddenly. 

          Individual friends may disappear without warning and as hard as this may be, this is just one person.  When many people either go away or can’t come together again there is a greater sense of loss.

          As I tend to move around a lot inworld, I sometimes don’t get back to folks once I leave.  (Even in Real Life (RL), I’m very bad at staying in touch with friends.  Significant Other is amazed that I haven’t wandered off yet.)  So, going back and finding nothing comes as a bit of a shock.  I took too much for granted. 

          I’ll continue to check back on earlier stories and see where others have gone.  If I’ve predicted anyplace’s demise prematurely, please let me know and I’ll get the correct information out.       

          Below are links to a few pictures I’d taken of these lost sims.  Unfortunately, I can’t tell anyone to go see them anymore. 

          I’d be very interested in others’ thoughts and experiences about loss in SL.  Please use my contact info below to reach me.            

          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.



Photo No. 1 Downtown Esoterica

Photo No. 2 Nulli Secundus Wedding Party

Photo No. 3 Hyles Info Center

Photo No. 4 Lil Egypt Meeros Market

Photo No. 5 Blue Fusion Estates

Photo No. 6 Red Barn Meeros

Photo No. 7 Nulli Secundus Home

Photo No. 8 Flying Tigers Sim

Photo No. 9 Island of Bare Naked Angels