Just as it is easy to make real life dreams happen in Second Life, it's also easy to be lost in it and forget who you are in your first life. In this alternate reality, we can be models, pilots, knights, elves, socialites and more. We can be anything and we can be everything. We can look exactly like we want without the restrictions of climate, environment and genes. And if you aren't careful, Second Life makes you forget.
It makes you forget the time, forget dinner, forget doing the laundry, forget paying bills, forget many things in real life. And in worst cases, it makes you forget you. Because sometimes, it is easier to like who you are in Second Life. Because in SL, flabs and stretch marks easily disappear, "couture" only costs a dollar or two with real life money, and the only limit to owning a mansion is the number of prims allowed in your piece of virtual land.
But if you find the courage and honesty to really see Second Life as it is, then you will probably realize that SL is exactly that: VIRTUAL. The high-ranking titles, the crowns and awards you collected, the "artificial popularity" and the fake friends that go with all these will never ever cross over to real life. And the only thing you can earnestly and honestly say is real would be the true friends you've met and have come to love beyond SL. So, when the time comes when you need to choose between a tempting tag/label in Second Life and a long time friend... always, always, always choose your friend.
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| The BEST VERSION of myself is the REAL LIFE ME! :) |
And never forget -- that no matter how successful you are in Second Life, no matter how perfect your avatar looks, no matter how popular you become across the grid, the REAL LIFE YOU is always your better your BEST version. Don't forget how beautiful you are in your first life (cellulite, wrinkles, receding hair and all), and how important and loved you are by your real life family and friends. Because no matter how wonderful the Second Life you becomes, your Real Life self will not lag, crash or be copybotted. Your Second Life avatar is just an attractive but empty shell, if not for your Real Life heart and soul.
I have been quietly following/reading your blog for a little while now. What you wrote today rings so clear and true. Thank you for such a lovely post and for your efforts toward the The Earth Day Project. I was a bit to slow to participate in your contribution but I shall participate in the power down. <3<3
ReplyDeleteWow thank you very much, Xiu. <3 And thanks in advance for participating in Earth Hour on March. I hope we will get the chance to meet each other in-world someday. :)
Deleteif people start to forget about rl they need to log the hell off and get help...any adult should be responsible enough to remember rl...
ReplyDeleteLOL :p That's true, but each person's maturity/EQ level is different from others. So I wrote this to remind those people how much more they mean in RL than in SL. :)
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