Somewhere in time we have all come together. There was the blog Civilization I wrote with many responses. Also one on our Society of SecondLife. Now, closer to home, is the small tribute I wrote before this to Patty1 who has been stricken on the battlefield of Iraq. Someone I only know from SL.
As much as I live in this digital world and believe myself to be only this digital person when here (oh and often in firstlife too) I have met a few Secondlifers in FirstLife. But, Patty1 has changed everything. I only know her digitally.
How do the people you know digitally effect you? Oh sure, we have all cried over digital love lost and been saddened by a digital friend leaving SecondLife. But what do you think of the fragility of their firstlife?
I have a few SL friends who suffer from cancer and I have thought about how I'll feel when they are gone. Patty1 though was a completely healthy young vibrant women nearly killed suddenly the other day. (She is recuperating. Her lung has been fixed. Her burns, on her face, may well remain. But even if she shows no signs outwardly of this injury, inside she will have changed.
She will not come home but instead she will go back to Iraq of her own volition. Which surprises me on the one hand because she didn't want to go to Iraq again and she was concerned this circumstance may happen to her. But on the other hand, Patty1 must feel those she has served with in Iraq are her family she must not leave.
All of this brought me to think of my friends. Those I talk to regularly and those I rarely talk to but love as well. Who are we? We are digital flesh and blood with the fragility of being disconnected so easily that my heart shed tears when I first heard the news of Patty1.
How much do we care? More then I could imagine. Each of you are carried with me everyday. Thought of, share the air I breathe, hear my laughter and feel my sorrow.
And so.....You.....Who are We? How much do You Care?
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
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2 comments:
Hi Lauren.
I care, because I do know behind every avi is a person with their own believes, fears, hopes, dreams and destiny. As you know not so long ago I met someone very close to me in SL also in RL and... to be really honest, the feelings remained as deep and as strong if not even stronger.It was like meeting a freiend i havent seen for a long time and not totally new person. We huged and kissed and 'molded perfectly into RL'.
I choose my friends according to honesty they show and being real in second life and although SL can be a game avis are not. For me AVI is just a tool to express yourself . My friends who I met in SL are more important than those in RL. Why? Well what else you do in SL than talk? But of course you along the way meet also manipulators who get kicks by decieving people or putting them down. Well /orbit, mute or just ignore perfectly abolish those fuckers.
And thats why, even I didn't know your friend I still can feel your sadness and probably her fear. I care for all people I love, no matter where I met them.And I care for friends of friends, because I know they are good people too, not avis but people.
Pun.
Lauren,
Yeah of course, we care, because SL, RL, well even google talk, or no matter where, is a Space, a Room, A Reality. And we can either choose to be real & honest or we can play a game. In that light, RL can be a game, and in fact it is for a lot of us. We can be alive, or comfortably numb, or bitter, or even bring out the worst in us. This is not stopped by the "realm" we are in. Avi's are but physical bodies that carry our souls. So are our bodies in RL. Friendship, Love, extends from soul to soul. We might lack certain senses in the virtual worlds, but it only strengthens others, adapting, as it does for the blind, the deaf, the mute. Being real is the key, what you give is what you get back from life. I must admit I'm blessed, I've seen a lot on SL, manipulators, people with fear, I've seen myself, and then I met the girl who just seems to "get me" - few months later we meet in the real world and yes, because of truthfulness & honesty, we went from one world to the other as if there was no border at all... None of us are perfect, but we can all strive to be true no matter what, and win some amazing friends and much much more... T.
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