Ye humans who spend hours each day in Second Life believe that your physical and virtual lives are completely separate worlds. You joke: "What goes on in the metaverse stays in the metaverse". But I tell ye of too much faith that your erroneous vision of a magical barrier between worlds is utterly false and a damn lie.
Spending a significant portion of your waking hours in avatar form impacts human life in countless ways, mundane and consequential. If you don't believe me, ask your RL significant others. They'll tell you. Unless they've already left for greener pastures.
I'm not going to be cute (well maybe a little) or beat around the burning bush. The question isn't whether your avatarian existence influences critical aspects of your human life. The question is whether it lifts it up or sucks it dry.
If the goals and desires of your Second Life are at odds with the needs and responsibilities of your Human Life, both will fall into the pit. If a house divided can't stand, a psyche divided is surely bound for hell. It's like playing tug of rope against yourself. Even if you win, you lose.
Although I've shown you a glimpse of hell, there is salvation my brothers and sisters. Because the truth can set you free. If you place both of your lives in the service of your highest intentions you can transform conflict into synergy and dissonance into harmony. Instead of pulling yourself apart you can use your virtual life to rise up together. Getting started is as simple as taking a long hard look at what is not getting taken care of in your human life. Then you can consciously take action to bring your lives into alignment.
Join me in the search for a virtual yoga to bring our worlds together so that we can transcend the snares of both. Can I get an amen?
amen
ReplyDeleteOrthodox or Reformed?
ReplyDeleteAmen. Sing it out, sister! Have you founded your SL church yet?
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, you are onto something here. Food for thought. Thank you. How do we make it happen?
Princess Ivory
Or I should have said, "So say we all."
ReplyDeletedandellion: Bless you.
ReplyDeletezoe: lapsed mahayanist at the moment, but you sensed the alternative universe DNA.
princess: i really do see great transformative potential here. I threw out an idea a while back about the idea of an Archetype of the Month Club".
Well, I've always thought that people who said their lives in SL and RL were completely separate were fooling themselves. I am Gahum, and Gahum is me. Like you said in a post a while back, there's an opportunity to learn from his interactions, take the best of it, and use it to improve my own life.
ReplyDelete