I’ve been thinking rather a lot lately. That’s not always a good sign. There is a lot going on around SL right now, not that there isn’t generally anyway; it’s just that these things are the things I want to blog about – but the words really aren’t coming together in anything like the right order.
It generally takes me a while to order thoughts at the best of times – hence why thinking isn’t always a good sign. Thoughts must percolate, and ideas form. And it has to be said, that the prospect of me thinking deeply has in the past had members of the family hiding behind sofas and the like, fearing the potential for my head to implode …
Recently, however, it has been different; almost akin to a bout of writer’s block. Blogger’s block, perhaps? More articles have been started and then tossed aside than I care to mention.
I’m not sure why this is; perhaps it’s just the fact that the year has had something of a bumpy start for me. Perhaps it’s just the weather. God knows the rest of the country goes to pieces so fast at the first fall of snow it’s a wonder the rest of Europe doesn’t get hit by the shrapnel; so perhaps this slight blogging malaise is simply me joining with the rest of the country’s panic over the recent snow in my own peculiar way – which would be a trifle odd, as I’m generally a snow-lover.
I decided that if it is simply the over-reaction to recent weather that is affecting me (“unseasonal weather”? Really, BBC? Have you forgotten we’re in the northern hemisphere and it’s mid-winter?) – then a change of scenery and season might do me some good. So I set out to seek out something warm in SL.
Just Visiting, on the Homestead Region of Annwn Willows, proved to be just the ticket. Here is a region seemingly gripped in a perpetual spring – or perhaps the first blushing of autumn – with flowers turning their faces to a westering sun in a rich, blue sky.
My love of water-themed regions is a matter of record, and Just Visiting easily sits in the category, comprising a series of ground-level scenes visitors are free to wander between and through. Each might be considered a little vignette in its own right, given the care with they have each been put together; however, such is the scrambled state of my little brain that I decided to forego any thoughts of stories – or anything else, really, and simply enjoy.
For those not into walking, there is a cunning teleport system for getting around the various vignettes – as a little birdie may well tell you when you visit. However, I much preferred wading through the water and letting each scene unfold before me. Although that said, if you want to see all the region has to offer, then you’ll have to make use of the teleporters at some point, as not everything is on the ground. Indeed, not to take a trip aloft would be to miss out.
Escapism is something we all need for time-to-time. Indeed, it sometimes strikes me as interesting as to how something like Second Life, which for many is a form of positive escapism in that it allows us to break out of the confines of real life, and more really touch and mix with others of similar mindsets or who enjoy similar pursuits, and engage with them, or which allow us to experience a myriad of activities which might otherwise pass us by, itself sometimes needs escaping from. We pour so much of ourselves into it, it becomes as intense or burdensome as other aspects of our lives, and we simply need to take a break.
Perhaps this is why I like regions which have a number of common themes running through them – they are my “escape from SL within SL” …
… Or maybe part of my brain is trying that “thinking” mullarky again …
Whatever the reasons for my mental meanderings, the best way for you to enjoy Just Visiting is to … just visit. It’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed.
Related Links
- Just Visiting SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
- SL Destinations in this blog
(view slideshow full-screen)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 