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. 

Anniversaries

Do not cease to drink beer, to eat, to intoxicate thyself, to make love, and to celebrate the good days.

Egyptian Proverb

        

          During my travels across Second Life (SL), as I’ve written a few times, I’ve been struck by the communities which have grown up inworld and have developed lives of their own.  Many times these complement the Real Life (RL) lives of their members. Other times they exist apart.  Either way they are vibrant and diverse groups of people celebrating some facets of their lives together.

          Today, I will write about celebrations inworld.  In particular the anniversary celebrations of two communities that I’ve become close to over the past year and to whose members I find myself returning to from time to time. (You’ll have to ask them yourself how they feel about me dropping in.) 

          The two sims are 1920’s Berlin and Book Island, places I’ve visited several times and written about previously.  Their members were gracious in making themselves available for interviews with me and guiding me to other locations inworld for other stories.  (Or, maybe they just wanted to get me out of town?)

          1920’s Berlin recently celebrated their third anniversary and Book Island their fifth anniversary.  Each had a full program of events celebrating their successes and partying to enjoy their company.  I was invited to both.  I attended both (although in one case, due to the vicissitudes of RL, I arrived in the middle of the night and had to celebrate all by my lonesome). 

          The community behind 1920’s Berlin is led by Frau Jo Yardley and is dedicated to role playing the city of Berlin as it was during the Weimar Republic. The spirit and physical look and feel of the sim is exceptional as I’ve written before and I encourage people to visit. 

          But 1920’s Berlin is not just a static sim which gathers virtual dust and bots mechanically greet visitors.  Anyone who got caught up in the recent recreation of the May Day riots would probably agree.  Likewise anyone dropping by the monthly naturists’ social in the public baths would probably have a similar opinion.   And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Eldorado Club on Saturday nights. 

          The third anniversary celebrations did not disappoint.  Parties, bands, parades, a treasure hunt, a car rally through the streets of Berlin, and museum exhibits were but a few of the events scheduled.  Even the strict period dress rules were relaxed for a period of time.  Don’t let me forget to mention the new zeppelin which flew overhead?  (Now, some may ask how, with all this going on, did I manage to miss all of it and wind up as a one man parade? Well, let’s just say it’s complicated.) In a word, these folks know how to throw a party.

          Book Island had similar celebrations for their fifth anniversary (without the road rally and zeppelin though).  Actually, probably a bit more sedate given the nature of this sim.  Selina Greene established Book Island as sanctuary for writers in SL.  I visited with her and her friends and came away thinking that SL could be the new salon for the twenty-first century. 

          Group events, dances, music, speeches, and poetry readings were the stables of this anniversary.  As with 1920’s Berlin, the community came out to participate and enjoy themselves.

          One dance I attended had Brendan Shoreland providing the live musical entertainment and there was also a period costume party for the guests.  (I didn’t win.)  The festivities were not disappointing.  Here, I can say from personal experience that everyone had a great time. 

          I came away from both these celebrations impressed by the organizational skills to produce these events which went over several days in each case and their content.  These were not just cookie cutter images of each other.  Each was different and had its own theme.  Each responded to its community in its own way.  What they had in common was that everyone had a wonderful time. 

          As I started this post by talking about the communities inworld and how they are developing, I’d like to end by taking about each one’s traditions and shared memories and how they are remembered and handed down.  Are we really any different from our ancestors who sat around fires in the night thousands of years ago and shared stories from our common past with those who continue on after us?  Think about it.

I would like to thank Frau Jo Yardley and Selina Greene for their kind invitations to join them and their friends in their celebrations.  I also wish them and their communities continued success and many more anniversaries! 

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 Frau Jo Yardley  

Photo No. 2 1920’s Berlin Third Anniversary Poster

Photo No. 3 Selina Greene

Photo No. 4 Brendan Shoreland Playing

Photo No. 5 Book Island Refreshments

Photo No. 6 Book Island Fireworks  

Photo No. 7 Book Island Fifth Anniversary Poster