Without question the icon is cheesy, even the name. Second Life. It conjures the aesthetic of late 90s sci-fi satirical spoofs a la “Brazil” where manipulation is overt. A new age religion. A video game. A virtual life. Buying virtual clothes with virtual money with a real life currency exchange. Why would I even go there? Why is it so popular? Is it the beginning of the end or the beginning of the beginning? Is this the matrix?
So I made that jump, rather dissension, into the continents and islands of Second Life. Transcendental music was playing, we were instantly naked, then instantly clothed and with forward and side-to-side arrow keys we could move. By typing we could talk. I could see other people, or simulations of people, and with a forward slash and the word “bow” I could bow. I learned to fly. I was a god. A few buttons and I could teleport. Star Trek. Virtual memory is sweet. I record notes of people and places I see and record it in “inventory”, the virtual brain.
My brain and heart on planet earth latitudes and longitudes were stimulated from the digital grid. I lie awake at night. Insomnia. I threw on the old staples of Detroit Techno in car rides. I refocused on breathing to counteract the insomnia. I thought of the virtual money to be made to transfer in the currency exchange.
I experience a hyper world akin to the internet of the early 90s. Geeks abound in what seems to be the ultimate chat room. But something else is there. I sense its coming. I did meet an alchemist.
Nothing replaces reality and breath.
If you happen to take the plunge, my name is “a10 Ra”. I may or may not be there. Some links of interest in my analysis-
Milarepa Land Trust
Mandala Web
