Tributes in Second Life – What would you bring?

This post is kind of like a weird way of asking the question… “If you knew you were going to be stuck on a desert island, what would you bring with you?”

Much of what I have made in second life answers just that question for me… now… I pose the question for you. What would you bring?

-DV

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Back in the corner of my garden, in a place that many overlook, there is a small sitting place for contemplation and for remembering a good friend.

Virtual Impact

Years ago, I found myself for the first time in a virtual cemetery. It was the cemetery on the space station of Micro Muse. Back then Micro was open to everyone, and it was a creative place just as second life is now (except in text form.) It was probably on the day that I wandered into the cemetery that it made the most impact on me.

It was there, after my then short wanderings on the Internet, that I had seen people had made a virtual home. Home enough that they would bring things in world that they loved so much in RL (real life). Home enough that they would create memorials that they could not afford to create in real life, or that the realities such as time, gravity, space, politics, etc… would inhibit them from creating for their loved one.

In Micro I spent a little time wandering the cemetery. Unlike the splash and glitter of much of the text creations at the time, which did show love in creation, these memorials were much more beautiful in their own right. My favorite at the time was viewable, so when you looked at it closely, by typing the right commands, it would scroll a text rose to the reader; a big, beautiful, ASCII rose, displayed to honor the creator’s loved one.

Something about that touched my heart.

A Place of Peace

These days, I don’t sit much in this part of the garden. It has been about a year now since I made the little sitting area.

The impact on Merlin’s impending death was kind of obvious to me and probably to those around me in my real life, but probably not so obvious on those in my second life. There are many ways you can communicate what is going on with you to your friends in Second Life, as you can imagine. I could have created an animation and showed my grief in interpretive dance here… although this little memorial sitting area is a bit more my style.

Those in my second life, my friends, tend to be sensitive to the changes of my house and gardens quickly knew what was going on and picked right up on my feelings and the symbolism. Although they had not seen Merlin in person, I had typed enough about her over the time that some of my friend felt a real sadness for me in her passing.

What great friends.

Second Life Cemeteries

A few months ago, and about fifteen years after my Micro Muse discovery, I looked for some Second Life memorials. This mission may seem strange, but in a place where people complain so much about superficiality, this seemed like the ultimate test. Unlike bringing in RL things one loves into a virtual world, bringing in things you will miss, honor, or love, and showing grief in some positive way, like a memorial or tribute, is a special kind of content to bring in. I wondered if creations in a more visual setting would have the same impact on me that they did so many years ago.

So, my good friend Renny and I went a cemetery searching. Skipping past the cheesy vampire fun spots and death-love locals and trying to see if like those Micro Muse people of my past Sl’ers brought their hearts and minds into second life. What we found was sad, and beautiful…

Here are some links and images of a little of what we saw:

Remembering our friends Memorial, Cassandra (151, 211, 83)

Some memorials sad…

Some inspiring…

British Services Memorial Park, Tribute Island (194, 194, 33)

The Wall, The Wall (39, 32, 25)

Amazing Personal Tributes

Of course there are many personal memorials, like mine, hidden throughout second life. I even found one pet cemetery. Another amazing personal memorial in SL that I have seen was done in Egyptian style. The artwork just blows one away. Without the background story you would never know it or parts of it was a memorial. Such a great work would certainly fit such a purpose. The love and respect, there is no doubt in my mind, ran deeply for the maker of the memorial and the person who they will miss.

There is love in second life… smiles…

Error on a Tombstone

The tombstone says June 2007, but Merlin stayed around a few more days into July. She was a good girl that way. We finally let her go on July 3rd 2007.

Why? Why? Why?

The date on the stone I made was more about when I made the stone. Merl’s health was fleeting quickly and I felt powerless. She would go at any time, she didn’t want so much to be touched, all I could do was grieve. When I wrote the poem for the stone I tried to describe how I felt at the moment. I left the stone as I originally made it.

Why would people bring their memorials to Second Life? For me it seemed as natural an expression as anything else I have created there, just another thing I could share. What more honest an expression?

RL

There is a real life memorial for The Merl, not far from where I currently sit. The real life memorial is a small blank stone amidst tall growing grass which marks the space where we buried her. She rests in a standard shoe box in the daffodil garden. A place where hundreds of daffodils sprout up every year to celebrate the Spring. The place where I will go every year to cut daffodils for our table and remember our good little girl.

Merlin – May 1990 to July 3rd 2007 – RIP

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