It’s time to reflect on the past year and put it in perspective. It’s also time to think about the future, if any, and 2009.

The Real Life Debacle
It will be hard to say what I need to say without acknowledging that in 2008 the real world was shaken a by credit crisis then financial crisis and now an economic crisis. The situation threatens to be as bad as anything since The Great Depression. This event has or will have a negative impact on everyone in the real world. It will also have a negative impact on our second lives, but in more subtle ways. It has impacted me, filling me with fear and stress, even making me physically sick. I’m past most of that now, but I’ve had my confidence shaken.

The People Impacting My Life
Second Life is a wonderful three dimensional picture where you can wander almost endlessly across 25 thousand sims (learned this from Kimala’s blog). However, if that is all SL is then most of us would be gone in a few weeks. The fact is, SL is about the people, those humans behind the avatars pushing buttons and clicking their mouses. I want to take a few paragraphs to pay tribute to some people who’ve had the biggest impact on my second life this year.

First and unquestionably, Magi McBride had the greatest impact on my SL in 2008. You see, it was Magi offered me a job as hostess at Hot Wet Blues and that opened a whole new world to me. That job allowed me to meet and greet hundreds of people and make many friends. My experience at HWB, despite the ups and downs we faced, was very positive and I want to publicly thank Magi. Love you, Magi.

I won’t say, “next”, but I must mention my boyfriends… next. Yes, I dated several guys in 2008, but I’ve only had two “boyfriends”, WT Beck and Froggie Levasseur. And I want to thank both of them for the great times we had. WT and I were together for almost six months (not bad for SL) and even though we broke up, we are still good friends. He must have been a tough act to follow, because it was months before I met Froggie. Froggie and I started talking to each other one night and kept talking till the end. We never made any commitments and I have no regrets. Love you, guys.

It will be hard to talk about my girlfriends without pissing someone off (I know you aren’t pissed off, calm down… hehe). However, I think my friends know that since I met Leanna Chaffe, we’ve been NBFs. I call her “LeLe” and it is because of Magi that I met LeLe in the first place. LeLe has been my confidant and I hope to hang-on to our friendship forever or at least to the end of the day. hehehe. Love you, LeLe.

While I’m talking about friends, if you are on my friends list you know who you are. I’m nothing without you and I love you.

The Things I Did
Unless you are constantly putting your life into perspective, you are likely to gain some insight into who you are if you look at what you did during the past year. I sure did.

* I started this blog
* I was won in an auction by Ivanerection Oh (it’s true.. hehe)
* I learned to be a hostess
* I trained other hostesses
* I hosted for a half-dozen top bluesy DJs
* I participated in Blues for Autism fundraiser
* I opened a photography studio and gallery
* I was partnered (only once this year)
* I went on ten expeditions into the mainland
* I ran wild with LeLe all over the grid (hehe)
* I created an authentic Japanese Garden
* I participated in over ten geisha shows
* I performed the Japanese Tea Ceremony
* I became a maiko in the Yoshiwara Okiya
* I learned a lot about Japanese culture
* I made an enemy and added her to my “Psychos-R-Us” List
* I made many new friends and tried to be a good friend
* I was honored to be inducted into the “REAL JYB Dreamgirls”

The Things I’ve Learned
There are some lessons I’ve learned this year, the biggest but probably most obvious is, Second Life is not the same as real life. It is different in important ways, but it is easy to believe that the same dynamics for real life apply here.

More and more, I admire the people who build successful businesses or just know what they want here. In my persuits I seem to disengage from activities when they become too demanding, or when there are too many problems take away the joy. My rationale is that SL is an entertainment and must be fun or it’s just not worth the time. However, when I see the accomplishments of others I wish I had of their determination.

Once again, I’ve learned that Second Life is a haven for deceitful and unethical people. There are many people who bring their character defects, mental illnesses and lousy attitudes toward people here, and they slime you when you least expect it. Many times, simple kindness can guide you through your dealings with these people, but I’ve also learned to cut my losses and move on quickly when that fails.

I’ve learned that Second Life love is fleeting. I’m always rooting for the lovers, and some people have long runs, but only a handful of relationships really last “forever”. This is the saddest lesson of all because, like many of us here, I am a hopeless romantic. Perhaps “hopeless” describes this best of all.

Today is a bad day. Maybe today is just one last bad day, but I’m sorry to say that when I look at 2009 I’m not enthusiastic about what’s ahead. Nonetheless, hugzzz to all of you out there, especially those who need a good hug! And Happy New Year !!