Thursday’s visit to the Zen Retreat is still in my thoughts and I’m also thinking of all the other places for peaceful contemplation I’ve seen in this artificial world. It seems that there are many people who come to their computer screens and seek a place to meditate and seek peace of mind. To go a step further, many people come here to dance in the evenings for relaxation. I’ve heard avies who have a lot of chat room experience describe Second Life as a glorified chat room, but that is like calling the television a glorified radio.

Chat and having a vast selection of beings to communicate with is important, but you don’t need chat to meditate or dance. I had only a brief period of chat room experience, back in the days of BBS’ing and after the novelty wore off in a couple months, I never returned to it. Also, in my early days here, I would rarely pay attention to the chat dialog while I danced. It was the dancing itself that made SL a meaningful experience for me. Dancing was a visual and musical experience that relaxed my mind. I’d just go to a club and hop on a dance ball, and I danced every night before going to bed. I told RL friends, I went dancing at a night club last night.

The evidence is that people do come here to meditate in peaceful settings or relax in dance clubs or just explore to find peace of mind. It is like television in that sense, but the experience is so personal. Again, I come back to my thesis that SL is like a movie or novel in which you are the hero. However, I can watch a movie on television (lets say with Kevin Costner, mmmmmm) and I can imagine how nice it would be to be in his arms, but in Second Life I can be with a handsome man and in his arms. It’s all in the mind still, but still!

Anyway, yesterday was a good day. I did back to back gigs at the club in the evening, first with DJ Ziffy and then DJ Tristina. We had a late surge of guests and Tristi took her show into overtime, but I had to bail after a half hour. Tristi is a rising star at The Line, I call her the hard charging rocker woman.

I’m still amazed at how Second Life actually changed my life, and I’m still concerned that it has changed my life.