Phoenix

SL was not the answer today. It wasn’t the question either, actually. But so often, when I am stressed from RL, or bothered, or just need refuge, SL has been the answer. Today was one of those dumb days in RL. Nothing was seriously wrong. But a series of inconveniences, aggravations and setbacks occurred. And I was not able to deal with them. Some days you know you should have stayed in bed with the covers over your head. But I wasn’t smart enough to do that. So when the final stupid inconvenience happened, I lost it. Thank goodness I have wonderful friends who came over and dealt with the immediate issues. Even so, I continued to feel stressed and pressured. I had been in SL for a good part of the day on business. I dealt with the business issues, everything was fine, but no siren song called to me. Nothing in SL or RL appealed. I thought I was going to explode.

What to do???? Run. Well, it’s been years since I’ve been able to run. Blew out my knees. The best I’ve been able to do has been power-walk. But I couldn’t think of anything else that might work. There is no SL-equivalent for running yourself to exhaustion. Or if there is – I don’t know it. So I dug out my running clothes and headed for my long-neglected treadmill. It felt so darn good. I started walking. Walked faster. Faster still. Pushed it up higher and began running. Oh my yes. Obviously could not run the whole time. Even I have enough sense to not run full out after 5 years off. 🙂 But I did two miles and felt that glorious wonderful sweat and exhaustion. I feel like a human being again. Of course, let’s see how I feel tomorrow! But to run again, after all this time. What joy.

So how does this relate to a blog about SL? Well, in so many ways what I do in SL has a corresponding effect in RL. I blogged once about sitting in a classroom at NCI beach. (Remember those stupid trees? Speaking of which – they tore out all my gardens. Sigh. Ingrates.) Anyway, sitting there in the class for an hour, hearing the surf and the wind was nearly as therapeutic as being down the real shore. I’ve gotten in a sailboat and headed out to the open sea to soothe my soul. I’ve gone to Shengri La and ridden the horses over the hills and through the fields, finding peace. Maybe I should buy a treadmill in SL. Whenever I’m scripting, or merely IM’ing, I could use the treadmill. Perhaps it will have the same subconscious effect? Perhaps my body will be fooled into thinking it is really exercising? Yeah, I know. Crazy idea. But I think I’m going to give it a try. 🙂 What have I got to lose? (L$600) Wish me luck.