Metaverse as Medium

No one is going to argue that Second Life and Real Life are not different, although I've come to the conclusion that SL is different from RL in ways I didn't anticipate, and also similar in ways I didn't anticipate. There is a subtlety to the experience that is hard to describe to anyone who hasn't spent a lot of time in-world; it tends to be "learn as you go."

One thing I've learned recently in SL is that I HATE throwing my own parties.

I have to remind myself of this in RL every couple of years; now I've just had my first reminder in SL. This is odd because I LOVE organizing events for other people. But for myself ... ugh. Not so much.

A second thing that has become painfully obvious is the fact that there just aren't enough hours in the day in either place to maintain a serious work life, an active social life, and a productive art life.

It's my own fault, really. I didn't HAVE to get three jobs in SL (to go with the three jobs I have in RL, I suppose), or hook up with the gorgeous-lovely-adorable-sweet-kind-generous-man-who-says-he's-not-my-boyfriend, whom I simply want to be with as much as possible. And it's not absolutely necessary that I learn to surf or jump warmbloods in SL ... but these are all things I want to do, things that make me happy. Meanwhile, my artistic practice is still undefined here, it seems, and my real place as an SL artist remains unknown, and this makes me a bit uneasy, but really only a bit. I have considered that I may not be here to be an artist after all; I may actually be here to experiment and have fun.

But I am one of those people who likes definition. I put some of my photographic work up for Sunday's get-together, and oddly enough sold one of the pieces to a friend who wants it in RL. I had a related conversation with an RL friend last night that in combination fired off an SL small business idea that could draw upon my interest in prim torture, my photographic art and knowledge, and my still- and video-image editing abilities. So I'm thinking I'll have to build up some experimental inventory, develop a business plan, and try it all out soon with a "test-shop," probably in the marketplace at Lighthouse Landing. And then I'll have four jobs in SL, and I'll still adore and want to be with the wonderful-gorgeous-fabulous-man-who-is-not-my-boyfriend nearly every waking hour I have in the metaverse and I'll maybe have moved outright into surfing and jumping warmbloods for fun or in competition (are there jumping competitions in SL? Veronica?), and my artistic practice may still be undefined.

But maybe, just maybe, my whole Second Life experience IS my artistic practice at this point. Metaverse as medium? The canvas of Self? Well, you get the picture. At least, I think you do. This could really be going somewhere, but as is so often the case in SL, it could be going somewhere I never even imagined.