Quiet Contemplation

“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.” Aristotle

As a kid, I did quite a bit of contemplating. Then as I got older, I did more doing and not a lot of thinking. It was always a laundry list of things to do–go to class, laundry, work, dishes, cleaning, shopping, and….well you get my drift. It’s easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of life. Second life can sort of be like that too, if you keep yourself busy. It gives you time to fill up spaces that need covering up in the mind–like bad memories. This week seems to be particularly rough. I suspect the holiday season sort of influencing moods around the grid. The hustle and bustle doesn’t really allow for those quiet moments of solitude.

In the corners of my mind, I think about significant things that have had an impact on my life. Second life has some dusty corners in there too. But if I’m completely honest, it is not the pixels that plague a mind in the wee hours of the night. It is not the ghosts of second life pasts that plague and haunt me. It is the hustle and bustle of real life.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that behind the story boards of a pixel world, there is a life beyond the hardware of a computer. Our real lives can touch every bit of ourselves. Not every faceless person exposes the inner depths of their soul to complete strangers. As a direct result, residents are sometimes impacted by the lives untold stories. It’s easy to forget the narratives that we don’t share with residents. A blog post, a title, a quote, or emotion planted on the second life pictures and blogs may not tell a whole story, but yet only a part. In my last post, I talked about perception. It’s easy to perceive the actions of others as only being the direct result of the virtual web we cast upon the thing called second life. Although sometimes our virtual world inspires a picture, blog post, or social media update, it’s the silent real life story untold, which becomes our muse–silently in those virtual paintings.

In the last six months, I’ve had deep thoughts about what the meaning of life is. Or to be precise, I’ve thought about the meaning behind my life. I’ve had many misconceptions and premeditated ideas of who I am as a person from others. We forget about the waking moments, which don’t include a glow of a computer or the use of wiring for communication. It is our real lives that have direct solid impacts on the non virtual body–a doctor’s visit, a real life hug, or even the view of human emotion in front of us rather than told behind text or captured in a headphone. Life has been omnipresent in my virtual life. My real life untold events away from the keyboard have impacted me and other residents. My attention isn’t always here on the grid. It can be misconceived as ignoring others, when I’m really just stuck in my own thoughts.

I’m sorry that I am not always present inworld. My mind wanders and my body fatigues. I’m not always infront of my computer. I lay down and fall asleep–or forget to log out. I seek out wild and scandalous stories and adventures. Or I seek out a new friend to talk about the new clothes coming out at the next event. I share a moment to help another. It is kindness that allows me to be strong. It is kindness that I seek, because in the end… life is not easy. It’s hard and complicated. Sometimes pixels and stories make us strong to get through life’s wrenching and difficult times. We forget those untold stories influence our virtual paintings.

To help me paint my virtual self in my own imagined image, I went to Kustom9 and played the Zenith Gacha. The oversized comfy sweater is called oversized hoodie and the boots are called winter mid leather boots with socks. I also won bear bow earmuffs from Zenith. The only part of this outfit that was a little difficult is the earmuffs don’t quite cover my ears and the they stick out a little. But other than this small issue, I love this outfit. I also headed over to rewind and bought this beautiful makeup by Veechi–a company that I adore and seem to always buy. Finally, one of my favorite hair companies–stealthic created this hair for Kustom9 called Lithe, which has some amazing textures. For more details, please check out my credits below.

Be Kind To One Another,

Much love Violet XOXO

Credits.

Earmuffs–Zenith–Bear Bow Earmuffs by 喵仙人 (miffyhoi.rosca)–Kustom9 Nov. 2017
Hoodie–Zenith–Oversized Hoodie in Rose by 喵仙人 (miffyhoi.rosca)–Kustom9 Nov 2017
Boots–zenith–Winter Mid Leather Boot with Socks by 喵仙人 (miffyhoi.rosca)–Kustom9 Nov 2017
Tights–Izzie’s–Heart Tights by Izzy Button
Eyeliner–Veechi—Pin Up Eyeliner–by Aiubrey Snoodle–Rewind, November 2017
Lipgloss–Veechi–Monroe Lipgloss by Aiubrey Snoodle–Rewind November 2017
Pose–DB Poses –You Should be here by Denny Ballyhoo–available on the marketplace