Why Do People Enjoy Otium?

This poem suggests one good reason:

Sea Fever

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tideIs a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-roverAnd quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over” 

― John Masefield, Sea F Selected Poems

View of the Sea from Otium Cliffs

Two Worlds ... or Not

For those of us who have been active in this world of Second Life for more than a few weeks know this place as SL; and we refer to our “real” world as RL. For many of us, the distinctions between Real Life and Second Life, or Real Life and Unreal Life become blurry.

My favorite sociology professor says, “The end of it all is this: Nothing is as it appears to be.”  And he was referring to the world we normally consider real life. Seriously. Now shift the focus to Second Life. Second Life is clearly “unreal” … or is it?

Side Note: It is within the scope of the mission of Otium Leisure & Laziness to encourage spirited discussion, so please excuse a bit of tavern-style  discussion for this blog post.

A long time ago in SL, I learned to avoid judging citizens to quickly.  Case in point: citizens who appear in monstrous, outlandish, threatening, and simply silly avatars. In RL, we are accustomed to judging people by outward appearances, so it is little wonder we carry that habit to SL. It is we, and not the unusual avatars we sometimes encounter, who are carrying monstrous, outlandish, threatening and simply silly ideas from the real world into SL.  Second Life is a place where everyone is free to experiment with personal inner feelings and desires. That is not wrong. What is wrong is to judge those whose experiments do not perfectly align with our own.

Spending many hours on Otium Beach over the past few weeks, I’ve come face-to-face with some rather imposing, scary, and downright silly looking avatars.  “Who their right mind would choose to look like that?” It’s a natural question.  But it is a terribly unhealthy one, because we really don’t know the spirit of the person behind the keyboard.

In some instances, avatars poofing onto Otium Beach and rez as gigantic black dragons, vampire bats, or warrior queens with sizzling hair, fiery eyes, and snaky tongues. But rather get getting grossed out or fearful, I stand my ground. Often, they begin to morph to more human-looking shapes, eventually becoming rather ordinary looking SL avatars. “Hi J” I offer. “Hello, how are you,” they respond. They have apparently sensed the benign atmosphere of the place and adjusted their avi accordingly.

Other times, the threatening-looking avatars don’t morph, but  turn out to be quite friendly and civilized in their off-the-wall shapes. One in particular confided that he was surprised and pleased that I wasn’t put off by his appearance (and he was one menacing looking dude). He went off on this thing about how prejudice has messed up his life. (Which life? That really doesn’t make any difference). There are all kinds of very real people in SL. Some need someone to cut them a few meters of slack.

Yes, of course, there are exceptions. Creeps with names like Oodles2334456 who are less than an hour old show up to grief anyone they can find.   But in this case, it is helpful to keep in mind that immature brains are impatient. If they can’t get you upset and freaking out within a few minutes, they will move on.

Okay, so “Saint” Vonnie is kind to unusual and generally unpleasant-looking avatars. But there is often a very thin like between events in Second Life and Real Life. So I’m at the supermarket in RL this afternoon. I’m just picking up just a few items of produce, some dairy things,  and — yes, of course—my weekend supply of Chardonnay. I could have been out of then in less than 5-7 minutes if I’d gone to one of the self-checkout lines. But, no-o-o,  I had to get into a regular checkout line where the two ladies in front of me were buying enough stuff for a household of ten or more. I mean their bill was over $300, and they were taking forever with cashing pay (welfare?) checks and food stamps.

Let me be honest. Each one of these ladies were moving around the world in bodies  three times as heavy as mine. Their clothes most likely came out of a cardboard box at handout place, and they probably hadn’t done anything with their hair in weeks.  I’m trying to paint a picture for you here.

There was something really wrong with my snooty, stereotypical picture, however – the kids. The kids, even with their worn clothes and unkempt hair, were well-behaved. As the checkout girl began filling their third cart, I spoke to the lady immediately in front of me. “Well, they have bagged this up for you, but now you have to carry it all into the house.”

The smile on the face of  that overweight, poorly dressed lady with the out-of-control hair was bright and vibrant. “Oh, it’s not a problem,” she smiled, “My husband is home, and he will carry all this into the house.”

The flesh is too easily judged, but the spirit speaks volumes of truth.

My lessons in Second Life give my real life more vibrancy and meaning. Please don’t underestimate the power of SL to shake and shape your real world.

Rekindling Innocent Play

by Vonnie Boucher

Second Life is an idea platform for playing. Most of us, when children in Real Life, instinctively knew how to play. But as we entered our adolescent years, we were taught that there are more important issues that require our attention, and the value of innocent play began shrinking away in significance. Of course adults in Real Life can and do play, but it is legitimized by making it highly structured. "Grown-up play" such as video games to professional sports, sort of tease around at the inborn desire to, but the need for rules and structures do not allow the same emotional, intellectual, and physical benefits that unstructured, childlike play offers. Second Life offers the opportunity to recapture and become immersed in innocent, non-directed, simple, childlike play. Think of it as re-learning how to play.

I discovered a tucked-away sort of place on Otium Beach that punched my innocent-play button. It was one one of the several tiny, isolated sandbar islands that has an animated campfire and a tent, complete with a sleeping bag for one or two occupants. Superficially, there isn't much to become excited about. Fiddling with the sleeping bag, you find it has only one pose. There are no choices of sits and sleeps, no snuggle animationss, and certainly (in keeping with the rules for Otium) nothing remotely sexual. A mind trained in "adult" thinking and a spirit that is overwhelmingly burdened with the cares of both worlds, sees little or nothing interesting here.  Certainly there is nothing that would offer a pleasant, memorable experience. But that's the "adult" perspective.

The child in me saw an opportunity to play and explore some possibilities. First, and most dramatic, I adjusted the Sun to Midnight. Turning off the bright sunlight that normally characterizes a great day at the seashore; I found stars in a black sky, phosphorescent waves lapping near my feet, and the warm glow of the campfire creating a small world of peace and wonder. Finally, I turned off the local music, leaving only the sounds of the sea and the birds.

Having done that, I became lost in the surroundings and the engaging little pose the sleeping bag had to offer. I felt so much like a little girl again--a time when simple pleasures were all-consuming and meant so very much.

After some time, I realized there was one thing yet to be done.. It isn't that something was missing, it was more a matter of realizing there was something to add--a way to raise the experience to a whole new level:  Share it with a great friend!

So here we are. Yes we are adults, but feeling more like two kids sharing a magical moment neither of us is likely to forget. Just simple play and companionship, unfettered by grown-up rules, assumptions, opinions, and drama. This is next to impossible in Real Life, but so readily available in Second Life for those of us who take the trouble to poke around in the forgotten corners of our spirits and rediscover the child we once were.