Friday, June 22, 2012

I always wondered...

Have you ever wondered what kind of life other people in SL must lead? It seems impossible to exist in SL without wondering this exact point at times. Where are they in the world, what do they do, are they young or old, is their life like mine or so very different? The questions go on and on. Really, all we can go by is what they share and when they are online. I have a great friend who is from Norway and I get glimpses of her life and she's really been amazing - usually online at times which are not exactly daylight for her but she's on and we chat often. The bits of her life she has shared help paint a picture of the person I know through her avatar and it's been a wonderful experience that makes SL magical. Privacy is one thing I've always respected with people. I rarely ask people personal questions, my one that I will ask is 'what time zone are you in?' because of the global nature of SL, it can be very hard to connect with people who live far away and interaction is limited. Not impossible, just hard. The underlying thoughts I have are around the life people live. How similar or different is it from mine. That always is a crazy mystery to me. So many people have different views on things and I love that story in their life and if they share it, it's very eye opening both in good and bad ways. It makes me wonder - do others think about other people they know in SL and what that RL person is going through, what they are doing and how much will I ever know? I've never pushed someone to tell me details about themselves, usually it's volunteered as a friendship builds. Yet, there are some folks that I would like to know more about but my quiet respect never wants to push them. I wonder if others do the same thing?