First Life and Second Life
Posted on May 8th, 2008
by 
asecondlifediary
asecondlifediary
AS I SIT HERE WRITING THIS, I am listening to the sound of Cal's breathing on my headset. Because we live on different sides of this Planet Earth, we keep in touch via Skype calls and emails, as well as interacting on Second Life.
One of my favourite things to do is for us to go to sleep together, listening to the gentle sounds of our sleep. Since it is now mid-afternoon for me, I am still working at my computer; but it's been a long and arduous day for Cal, so he's abed, sleeping the sleep of the exhausted.
I just love to hear the sound of him breathing.
Since coming back from our big Meet In Person trip, we both feel very calm and relaxed about our relationship, despite the fact that we're not entirely sure where it goes to from here. This is a very comforting feeling - trusting in the inevitability of our connection with one another. In whatever form it might take.
Cal is selling his house and is faced with lots of important decisions about where he will go and what he will do. His main priority is deciding where his future lies. We both know that we want our future to be together, but what form that will take is less clear. Where will we live? If we move, both of us are faced with finding new jobs. How much uncertainty can we absorb before someone starts to get anxious?
I have a dog, so if I go to Canada, 'Marlo' will be faced with quarantine and besides, Cal feels the 19 hour plane trip across will be too traumatising for her. Who knows what the future will bring? But I feel quite happy, knowing that my life is about to take a turn of some sort.
With progress apparently stalled on the purchase of our new island for the Intentional Community, we are more or less mooching around, exploring all the landmarks we've been meaning to visit and for me anyway, doing a lot more socialising.
Since Cal hasn't been coming into SL as frequently (the recent upgrade has led to a huge deterioratiion in the quality of his experience as the graphics card on his computer is not up to the job of processing SL's visuals), I've been spending more time in there on my own.
Porena and I have been talking about the kinds of things we want to have as part of our IC. I will be responsible for terraforming the island (that is playing Creator and making mountains, streams, valleys etc) and I'm really looking forward to the actual design I eventually come up with. Initially, our land mass will be shaped as Canada and Australia - our two countries combined. It may not necessarily stay this shape, but I think it will be fun to start out that way.
The plan is to have a sandy beaches, flowing back to mossy grass and then a mossy-rock mountain which will be snow-capped. Central focus on the island will be a natural ampitheatre where we will meet for discussions, classes, social events, wise council sessions.
It's funny how one thought leads to another. I was looking at a fan and was wondering how I could amend it to be a natural feature (our island will be completely natural no-technology island) and it occurred to me that in the biblical times, they would have slaves waving fans over people to keep them cool. One thought led to another and I was soon speculating how we could get an economy working on the island. Providing accommodation to people who offered their manual labour for instance; teachers; goat herders; growing vegetables; weaving yarns from natural fibres etc.
This is a wonderful experiment - this creating a new world. One of my big challenges will be to address a certain 'territorial' streak I have in me. I do love to have my own little patch that I am 'queen' of, so I am really looking forward to seeing how I go, incorporating others into my own little vision of 'idylllic'.
A long-lost SL friend has come back into my orbit and I have been talking to him about joining our community. He is a philosopher and I hope that he and Cal and Porena will have many lively discussions about the world and what it all means.
But for the moment, I content myself with thinking about just what it is that I want for MY life. How often do any of us go through this process? I know I need to address issues relating to my vitality and vigour; my personal financial situation; where I live; what I want.
What about you? What issues are you dealing with right now?
(Photo above: My little cabin - photo taken Friday, 9th May 2008 - with 'Marlo' my brown Kelpie out the front).
Access: Public
decisions
May 2008