It’s My Birthday so Let’s Talk about Death
Don’t ask me why I always have these morbid thoughts around my birthday, but apparently it happens often. Before I get into the deathly discussion, let me just announce a quick giveaway that I am also doing for my birthday.
Berry’s Birthday Giveaway 2018
This time the giveaway will run on my YouTube channel. Logo has recently revamped their mesh head system and is updating all of their old heads to this system along with new and recent releases of both a male and female bento head. Their new system will have their heads sold separately from the main HUD which only needs to be purchased once. I will do a detailed blog post on both their newish heads (Blake and Tillie) once they are all released and updated around next week. (Currently the new updates are not available yet for any head)
With their new system, their heads will only be L$2500 each. The main HUD will cost L$1500 and you only need to purchase that once to use with all their heads. So if you’ve never owned a Logo head before, a new one will cost around L$4000. My giveaway will be for a L$4000 gift card for Logo, which you can use to purchase a male or female head once they are all released and updated to this new system next week.
To enter this giveaway you mustĀ click over to my YouTube Giveaway videoĀ and answer the following questions in the comments of that video:
- What is your full Second Life username (not display name)?
- Have you ever owned a Logo head before? If so, which one is your favorite?
The giveaway will end on Monday, October 1st at 5am SLTĀ and I will announce the winner shortly after that, so you have about a week to enter. At 5am SLT,Ā I will useĀ RandomCommentPicker.comĀ andĀ let the website choose the winner. I will then announce the winnersā names in the comments of the video and then drop the gift card on them inworld.
Please DO NOT enter this giveaway in the comments of this blog post or your name will not be picked up by the RandomCommentPicker.com website. You need to leave your comment in the video, thank you.
Link to Giveaway Video:Ā https://youtu.be/SA4SATRYeN0
Death and Second Life
Now onto the deathly discussion. I was recently reading a post on RyanSchultz.com about a New Book on Second Life: Living and Dying in a Virtual World byĀ Dr Margaret Gibson and Clarissa Carden. The bookĀ takes readers into stories of love, loss, grief and mourning and reveals the emotional attachments and digital kinships of the virtual 3D social world of Second Life. If you are interested in reading it, it’s available on AmazonĀ (this is an Amazon affiliate link).
Reading about this book got me thinking about how often I’ve heard it happen that people create friendships and relationships in Second Life (and other virtual worlds) and then one day one of the friends just disappears. They never login again and their friends are left wondering what happened to them. People usually start to assume the worst and think that they’ve passed on, and sometimes that is the case, but regardless, it’s always heartbreaking.
Recently I’ve been very busy in the real world so my blog posts have been a bit sparse. If I don’t blog for a week or so, a number of you reach out and check up on me, to make sure I’m okay. It’s very sweet and actually pushes me harder to find time to login and blog again. Juggling both lives can be hard for a lot of people but I never want to give the impression that I’ve suddenly left SL without a word or something worse has happened to me in the real world.
I thought I would take this opportunity to make you guys a promise, a birthday promise. I promise that if I ever plan to take extended time away from Second Life, for whatever reason, I will always do a blog post and let you guys know. I’ve already been doing this, when I go on vacation or if I have a family emergency come up. If you notice that I have disappeared for a while, maybe a week or two or maybe even three or more and you haven’t heard a word from me, it’s most probably because real life has me so incredibly busy that I just haven’t had a chance to login. I will definitely be back, as soon as I get the chance, I will be back! Now the promise: if something were to happen to me in the real world where I will never be able to return, I have asked my husband to let you guys know, either through my two best friends in Second Life (Zaara Kohime and Winter Jefferson) and/or this blog. My husband has all of my passwords and Winter also has access to this blog and can write posts here.
I hope after reading this today all of you take some time to set something up like this for yourselves as well. We’ve all been in this virtual world for a number of years and have created lasting friendships, bonds, and relationships. It’s important we take time to set up a way to let our loved ones know if something happens to us in the real world. Please take the time to create a Will or a simple document that has instructions for at least a few people you trust in the real world so they can reach out to your loved ones online.
Birthday Thoughts
This birthday, I actually feel younger than I have felt the last few years. I had something very tragic happen to me in late 2017, which I feel changed me forever. It definitely made me want to do even more with my life and want to try to be a better person. So I’ve been doing that, more with my life. Things I haven’t done before and also pushing myself more to focus on things I never thought about before. It rejuvenated me. I don’t know how to explain it but somehow this birthday feels different and I’m happy. I guess in the end, that’s all that matters.
UPDATE: I couldn’t resist uploading a closeup to my Instagram:
A big thank you to you guys for all the love and support, and good luck on the giveaway! <3
My Style Credits:
Shape:Ā StrawberrySingh.com Logo-TillieĀ ShapeĀ by Strawberry Singh (coming soon)
*Mesh Body:Ā Maitreya Mesh BodyĀ ā Lara V4.1 by Onyx LeShelle
*Mesh Head:Ā LOGO Tillie BETA v0.1.12.1 Head byĀ Maximillion Grant
*Skin Applier+Makeup: (comes with head)
*Hair:Ā Stealthic – Avela byĀ Stealthic
*Romper:Ā Addams // Paloma Romper
*Necklace:Ā Addams // Paloma Necklace
*Rings on Right Hand:Ā CHAINĀ ā Flash Ring Set byĀ MazyChain
*Ring on Left Hand:Ā Zaara : Kasita finger-harnessĀ by Zaara Kohime
*Background – Closet:Ā Silence. – Clara Anywhere Closet byĀ MadelineLumin (Blush)
*Background – Office:Ā Silence. – Clara Office byĀ MadelineLumin (Imaginarium)
*House:Ā Trompe Loeil – Haider Elevated Cottage byĀ Cory Edo
*AO in video:Ā VISTA ANIMATIONS *HUD 5.33*ZOE FULL BENTO-V1 NOFACE by Vista Barnes
LOVELY…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
This is just a note to say: I believe it to be incredibly thoughtful and forward thinking to have a something planned out in the case of the worst. Iām sorry you had undergone something tragic, those times can really be hard. Here are the biggest wishes that this birthday is spent with those you love and having an amazing time, even for a minute. Thank you for being an incredible blogger and an even more incredible friend. Happy birthday!
-Emilia
Happy Birthday Strawberry š
Happy Birthday to you!! It may seem morbid to some, but I think it can be reassuring to have plans in place for emergency situations so people know why if we disappear. My partner has my SL password and I gave him the ability to post on my blog, so if my health takes a turn or I lose power/internet for an extended amount of time, he can spread the word. I feel like it represents realism and a respect for those who would worry, and you have seen that your friends and fans miss you when you are busy š
Happy birthday!!!! And I hope you feel better ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø
Happy birthday Strawberry!! <3 Thank you for always thinking of your readers even in the worst times.
Birthdays really get us thinking, dont they. While you are bringing up about ‘people leaving suddenly’ (and I think its a good thing to appoint somebody to find your SL family and friends if you cant sign in for any reason) did you know we can leave our Avatar/Inventory to somebody in a RL will. Linden Lab will need DOD and some official notification.
What a coincidence – just two days ago I woke from a vivid dream where I realized how important my very small group of close friends in Second Life is and that if something were to happen to me, none of them would have a way to find out. That morning I had a conversation with my real life roommate who is my closest friend and always knows where I am, and I gave him an actual Second Life emergency contact. It’s a great idea because sometimes the friendships we form in Second Life are just as important as the ones in real life.
Happy bday Strawberry
Happy Birthday Strawberry
It’s so funny cause I have been thinking about this for years too. I have an amazing friend that I met in sl. He has left sl but we speak almost everyday in google hangouts. I’ve often said to him that if something has to happen to him how will I ever know. He thinks that I am mad, but in my rl a lot of my friends and family have past away. Thank you for the grounding topic; and heres to many more beautiful years to you. ā„
Happy Birthday, Berry. I hope you birthday was wonderful.
Thank you for your wonderful blog and all the information and love you spread through it.
Love, Myra
Happy Birthday Berry! I hope this year is full of happiness and joy and that good things will come your way.
VERY WISE to have someone get in touch with your SL friends.
I’ve been confronted with the need to plan for when I can’t be on Second Life, too. I’ve got a rare cancer for which I’m now in radiation therapy, so like you, Strawberry, I’ve arranged for a close friend and relative to pass word if something final happens to me. It’s the only considerate thing to do, and thank you for devoting a blog post to it.
Thanks for all the well wishes you guys and for sharing your thoughts and stories. I hope this encouraged more residents to also setup a plan in case they are not able to return to our wonderful virtual world one day.
Also, just wanted to let you know that I’ve announced the winner of the giveaway in the comments of the youtube video. Thank you to everyone that entered.
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I just read this post today (2019-July-27). It’s been a good while since I’ve done a blog post. and I get into SL about once every week and a half. The platform I’m most active on, not by choice, oddly, is Facebook. Almost everyone I know is on that, so when the time comes, my wife has my info. I’ll assume the grapevine will pick up the news from there.
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