Traveling Through Second Life

Under the umbrella of Mix'n Match SL blogosphere crazyness, I have pleasure to give you Brandy Rasmunson, (topic suggested by Ganymedes Costagravas). Enjoy.

Oh sometimes the road is rugged, and it's hard to travel on,

But holding to each other, we don't have to walk alone.

When everything is broken, we can mend it if we try.

We can make a world of difference; if we want to, we can fly.

– Lyrics from "Travelin' Thru" by Dolly Parton

To make sure we're all on the same page, I'll start this look at "paying it forward" in Second Life with a brief definition of the term itself. Pay it forward is a philosophy that simply relies on doing good for others and then each person passing on that kindness to others. It's another way of thinking about giving the gift of giving, and it can spread like wildfire between people.

Thinking about paying it forward in relation to Second Life, most of us probably have memories of at least a person or two who helped us out when we were first finding our way across the grid. Didn't it feel great when we were later in a position to use that information to help someone even newer than us? Paying it forward is one way for each of us to leave a positive impact in our wake as we travel through SL.

I guess that's one reason why I try to share whatever I'm learning in SL with those around me as I'm learning it. Even if it's just something relatively small like figuring out some of the best shops or finding new places to explore, I figure it can be useful to others if it's useful to me. My blog and my Flickr stream serve as that kind of documentation of my SL experiences, and through them, I also connect to other people I might not otherwise meet. We trade our knowledge and the things we make, and what we share gets thrown out a little farther with each connection.

Now some people might be concerned that it takes too much time to share what they know with people and maybe even worry that if they share all the little tips and tricks they've figured out, then they could hurt any business they might have. My experience, however, has often been that it's the very people who are the most creative and remarkable who realize how important it is for us to learn and grow together. They teach classes, reach out to newbies, take fledgling designers under their wings, and in general make the grid a better place for all of us. Rather than shining a light only on their own talents, they help others find their own lights.

Second Life can be a lonely place as we each sign in from our separate corners of the world. The world is so vast that we can wander by ourselves and not interact with anyone, but as Dolly sings in "Travelin' Thru", by "holding to each other, we don't have to walk alone". When we share what we know and allow others to add to our knowledge, we help each other see the world of possibilities around us. Knowledge isn't something to be hoarded away to make us feel important but something to be shared so that we can all be nudged forward in our pursuits. What can you pass on to someone else to make their life easier, more stimulating, or more enjoyable? It's time to pay it forward.

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