Friday, May 16, 2008

Wishful thinking?

What is happening to us after being on the grid for such a long time? We are only 16 months old, but it seems an eternity. We have seen new friends coming in, and old ones quitting from the grid.
In the meanwhile avatars were having affairs, quarrels, discussions etc.. What we endured and experienced in those 16 months, we probably would never have seen in real life. If that is negative or positive is completely up to your own thought, but I think you will always learn something out of it. Also be aware of the fact that we are living in a virtual world. You don’t see people’s expressions on their faces, their body language, which is so important in real life, to understand each other.
That being said, I have realized that I am more and more being as much realistic as can be, and trying to perceive and analyze everything in their own perspective.
Recently I tried to explain to a friend of mine, that written words alone are not the best communicative tool. Written words can have a totally different meaning, when the reader interpreted them wrongly, and can be the start of an issue that can be blown out of its proportion.
Why are people sometimes disappointed in the virtual world? Why are they tired of explaining every time the same thing, and think not to be understood?
It is not always, but can be, the language. When you are communicating with someone who has a different mother language, that communication can cause a misinterpretation to one or another.
People are not always what they pretend to be. Sometimes they have a different gender, sometimes they are pretending to be totally different from what they appear to be.
And when finally the truth sees the daylight, one gets really upset and tries to mobilize the whole world and trying to make the other person look bad in the eyes of the rest of the world. In fact, that won’t help that person at all, but that is how we are, …..we, humans. All of us. You can blame someone in public, on blogs etc… but at the end… no one will feel better, on the contrary. But who is to blame? Just try to be reasonable and deal with the matter in a mature way.
There is still a future ahead of us, a bright future. A future we all can enjoy, together on the grid, with the different nationalities, different skills, different interests ……..
It is not if I am trying to preach some wisdom here, because, who am I to do that?
But I was thinking about the past period with all its negative and positive experiences, and to the future. What all this could mean for me in the near future in Sl®.
I am happy with who I am in SL®, with all the friends I have, with all the things I learn,
trying not to be involved in one or another issue, as my life is to precious and I still want to grow as a “would be artist”.
I have some ideas in which direction I will go, I have some contacts that will give me some perspectives in the near future, and I will blog about that too, when the time comes.
I can only wish and hope, that the people I know now, will be able to share these times with me and enjoy some pretty moments together, so that this totally new environment, because that is what SL is still to me, will be an experience which we won't forget easily.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looker, this is one of the most personal, interesting and touching posts i ever read.
Thanks for sharing your vision (I should we have similar points of view about some things).
Not sure if you are posting this because some "specific issue", becuase i saw some sad things lately in Flickr. I always try to respect everyone as they are or want to be. And even i had some differences that separated me from some people, the respect will always be there.

Anonymous said...

Sorry if i was rambling, maybe wanted to express to much ideas in a short comment. :-)

Looker Lumet said...

No, Raul, you are not rambling. ;))
I am not talking about a "specific issue", but I wrote this article because I was thinking on all things that happened during this past year.
As I tried to explain, some disagreements are better not to see the daylight, and must be solved between four eyes, for the sake of yourself and for the sake of your friends, whatever the argue is about. You always have to respect the other person, but sometimes we react to fast and wrong on certain circumstances.
I agree, Raul, it is not easy to give an answer or comment in a few lines, and that is what this article is all about. Written words are sometimes so lonely, when they are not very well explained or understood.

Zippora Zabelin said...

Unfortunately it's not only in SL where people fight out conflicts in public, that they better had kept private...
But I agree with you that it's even easier to hurt people with written words and that it's more difficult to judge the words on their meaning when they are not written in your native language.
In a "written" environment like SL - but also in the blogosphere - one should always choose his words very carefully and one should not be afraid to check if he has understood right and/or ask for further explanation.

Joonie said...

Looker, I admire and respect what you are doing. I do hope to see where your art takes you in the future.

I have been guilty of using my blog as my own personal diary, forgetting that it's out there for the world to see. It's so easy to do, and so unkind, but at the moment I was so hurt and angry I didn't stop to think about how my words could hurt. Thanks you guys, I needed the reminder today.

All the best to you, Looker. Hope to meet you one of these days. :)

Looker Lumet said...

Thank you Zippora for sharing your thoughts on this matter.

Joonie, we have often said that we have to meet inworld. I suppose that moment is getting real close now.;))
I do understand that someone uses their blog to react on an emotional issue, that just occurred. That is why it is a blog, and not a website.;))