Day 54: Ice Skating and the Meaning of Second Life

Since winter is fast approaching, I wanted to try something a bit wintery today! So I checked Events and decided to go ice skating! McDunnough's has an ice skating rink and hosts frequent ice skating events on their sim (SLURL: Samoa (171,150,57)). They even have snow! (Search for "skating" under Events)



You can pick up a pair of skates at Sarah Nerd's (Search for "Sarah" under Places, its a box on the ground labeled "Free Black Ice Skates") and go join in the fun. Or you can buy a really cool pair of skates onsite for $75L that can do amazing tricks.



Skating is a lot easier in Second Life than in Real Life. The skates have built-in skating animation, so its just like walking. Here I am, swooshing around the rink only moments after I put my skates on :) I would have been flying across the ice on my butt in RL! Anyway, its a fun and social thing to do, so check it out!



Like my wintery outfit? I bought the sweater at a store, but added the rabbit fur collar and cuffs to keep out the chill :) (OK I know its a cutoff sweater :P)

And for the cold, I would need a longer skirt. But when I searched my inventory, I discovered that all my skirts start as mini-skirts and go UP from there. *Yikes* Im really starting to dress naughty (hope Im still good with Santa!). And guys, in case you get trigger happy with your remote cameras, I wear lots of stuff underneath, OK? :P

I didnt want to spend a lot of time making cloths today, but needed a long skirt. *Sigh* So I broke out the Necklace Generator again. Fortunately, I used the panels from yesterday's Salsa Dress, increased the taper, and got a nice skirt shape on my second try! I also borrowed the black skirt texture from my Ballgown, and removed the gold trim. So that went pretty well and quick!

So onto something metaphysical now (instead of virtual :P). As I mentioned before, I hang out at the Ahern Welcome Area once in a while to watch the craziness and help out newbies when I can. One of the most common question I get from newbies (aside from the opening "Where are you from?"), is a variation of "What is the goal of Second Life?"

My typical answer is:

"Second Life is just like Real Life. You are here to live a life."
"You can do whatever you like as long as you follow a few basic rules and dont hurt other people."
"Theres a lot here to do: socializing, dancing, shopping, gaming, sports, exploring, etc"
"Can I help you look for something in particular?"

At Ahern, theres a lot of chat traffic going on, so I break it up a bit. But in short, there is no goal in Second Life. Unlike other games, Second Life is completely open-ended. You can choose to party all day, or sit in your house making cloths. Its up to you. (Remind me to do more partying :P)

There is no score-keeping, unless you consider $L a form of score-keeping. But in general, there is no winning Second Life. After the first couple days in-world, I even stopped thinking of SL as a "game". Now I flinch whenever someone asks, "How long have you been playing Second Life?" Im not playing. Im living...sorta...

So this raises an interesting question: What is the Meaning of Second Life?

I came to Second Life to get away from some bad things that happened to me in Real Life. Im still getting over the RL stuff, but I think SL has helped a lot in providing an outlet. I am a lot more alive in SL than I ever have been in RL. I feel safe in SL, and this gives me an incredible sense of freedom. I also feel empowered in SL, cause I can raise my arm and rez a 10 foot wall (or a gold bracelet) instantly. I have fun, because I get to do things I have never tried in RL, like skating, sailing, entering a beauty pageant, not to mention shameless flirting!

But the newbies ask a good question: Why do I wake up in RL and run for my computer? Why do I dream of outfits I could make? Why do I see models in magazines and wonder if their hair is flexi or static? What is the meaning of all this?

Well, Im afraid my answer is as non-interesting as Nietzsche's nihilism. (I met this guy last week who said "Chicks dig philosophy." Guess he's right.) I dont think there is any special meaning to Second Life, nor is there any special meaning in Real Life. When you really think about it, there is no winning in Real Life either. You can amass a fortune, have a respectable job, live in an oceanfront home, have the perfect family, and still be unhappy (just look at the many celebrities). Yet the humble monk can find contentment in poverty and isolation. I think the meaning of life (both SL and RL) is what you choose to make of it. There is no inherent meaning or purpose. The meaning or purpose comes from you.

After a couple weeks in SL, I began searching for some meaning. I have shopped til I dropped. I tweaked every slider under Appearance... until I had most settings memorized. I went to every class under Search/Events/Education. I partied. I worked. I played. But I was admittedly getting a bit tired of the repetition.

Then I started reading the Second Life blogs, which led to the SL resident blogs. And I thought it would be a good idea to blog. I will try to put together a new outfit and discover a new place every day. Starting this blog has really given my Second Life meaning and purpose. Between the blog, Miss Second Life, and role-playing, I barely have any spare time!

I also think Second Life serves an important purpose for many people: some of us need a different existance from Real Life. There may be issues with health, or relationships, or family, or depression, or anxiety, or fears, or any number of issues that limit full participation in Real Life (or willingness to do so). Some of us just feel more comfortable in the relative safety of the Second Life environment.

I remember the pilot episode of Star Trek (Im not a Trekkie, so dont know the name), where the original captain of the Enterprise is badly hurt, but can seemingly live a normal life in an alien world thanks to the psychic aliens. Second Life represents such a place for many of us.



Whatever Second Life means to you, just enjoy your time here. And come skate with me sometime! :)

P.S. I created a photo album in Flickr with a photo from each blog. Its all the past outfits in one place!