I Am Two

Yesterday was my second rezday, and I am having a hard time accepting that it's only been two years since I first walked around the Waterman welcome area, wondering why other peoples' avatars looked so much nicer than mine, and what the hell I was supposed to do next in this weird place. I stand by my suggestion that SL-time operates at roughly 4x real time, for in the past two years in Second Life, I've done the following:

• Served under two masters and two mistresses (if I include my alts), before accepting and assuming my role as full-time domme.
• Been made the primary or secondary owner of around 400 Amethyst collars, as evidenced by the 'owner help' notecards that clutter my inventory. *Eek!*
  
• Engaged in two SL partnerships- the first short-lived, the second still going strong- despite going into SL with a personal promise that I'd never fall in love here.
• Owned land on five mainland sims and five islands, and set up "home" at least three times.
• Turned my Second Life hobby from a significant money sink to a financially self-sustaining enterprise that allows me to fund several free, public areas that I enjoy and believe in.
• Met more people whom I truly consider friends than I ever have in my real life.
  
• Discovered and nurtured my latent dominant nature, and allowed those revelations to open up new possibilities and relationships in my real life.
• Built a family of devoted pets whom I'm proud to call my own.
• Lived through the rise, reign, and fall of the best forum ever. (R.I.P. Second Citizen)
  
• Been inspired by the skill and creativity of many pets, friends, and acquaintances who are constantly working to enrich the Second Life experience.
  
• Watched Second Life grow and evolve from a time when you were lucky to see 1,000 people online after 10:00pm my time, to now where there's at least 30,000 folks in-world 24 hours a day.
• Loved and lost, and experienced all the anxiety, jealousy, and uncertainty that entails.
• Lost friends and pets to real-life schedule changes, personal situations, and illness.
• Mourned the loss of favorite haunts as places move, change, or simply vanish.
• Encountered more clearly mentally unstable individuals than I ever hope to in real life.
  

I don't know who I'd be today if I hadn't discovered the places and people that comprise Second Life. I've always felt blessed to have the real-life friends and family that I do today, and I feel just the same about my SL counterparts. It hasn't always been easy, but it's always been worth it.

I'd like to note here that my real-life work is commanding a lot more time and attention than usual, and will continue this way for at least a couple of weeks. I may not be here, on the message boards, or in-world as much as normal during this period, but I'll be back. And as always I'm working on "something big" for this blog in the relatively near future (well, several somethings, at this point). So keep checking back. =)