Getting a Life

So.....I am wrapping up week 3 of my "social experiment" with an inconsequential life. Playing this little game has provided me some realizations I had not expected.

This little Second Life is more like real life than I had anticipated. Perhaps in a less extreme sense, but still very much the same. You can float through life without too much effort, and have a reasonably good time; however, the more you put into the game the more you get out of it. You can get a job, earn money (not real life currency), and even rent or build a home. The more time and energy you put into the game - the better "things" you have to enrich your life and the more people you meet to spend this "life" with.

The people that I have met have surprised me as well. I have not met a large number of people, but they have all been extremely helpful. Everyone that I have met realizes that the more people that have a good experience in the game, the more will stay, and the community is made better overall. The more people in the game.....the more money is exchanged.....the more perspectives on life......the more opportunities that can be shared. No one has given me a hard time for the silly questions I have asked or the faux pas that I have thrown out. And I have been encouraged to try so many things and take great risks.....all with support of virtual friends.

Speaking of the people.....I think the relationships aspect has fascinated me most of all. Most people (if they have heard of Second Life at all) have heard of the instances where Second Life players have had "cyber affairs" and had real life marriages ruined.....and to be sure this occurs and there are plenty of ways to find cyber sex. However, what I have found is that within the game....people form the same kinds of relationships that are found in real life - but often more deliberately. For example, people form romantic relationships and have marriages in the game, people form families with different individuals taking the roles of parents etc, and there is even ways to simulate pregnancy or pursue an adoption of a child. People are reaching out in this new technological way to form the bonds we crave as human beings. Additionally, many of the people that I have encountered play the game with their real life partners in the mix. It has been fascinating to see that this game has become an extension of these peoples real lives.....another way of communicating across the miles.

For myself, I have taken steps to become a more contributory member of society. I have gained employment, and am even renting the cutest apartment (furnished and complete with a hot tub). I am finding that the time and effort to keep a job is much like in my real life - just on a slightly smaller scale. My next move is to schedule time to take classes and further my education via Second Life. Maybe I will last a little longer in a virtual university than I did in a real one.