Second Life addiction is a very real problem. This is my story.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Nearly eight years ago, Dil started a thread that I think describes what keeps many of us coming back to SL...

 

[Coffee Pancake]

She nails it.

[BelindaN]

12 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

This reminds me of some comedy skit in which a fella cut out pieces of the pressure pads and glued them to the soles of his shoes. Doors, drawers, etc, opened wherever he walked. His mean boss, who lived in a high-rise, eventually peeved him so much that he wrapped the shoes in a gift box and left them at his apartment door. The boss, pleased with the lovely gift, put them on for work the next day and walked down the hall to the elevator, which opened even though the car wasn't there... and he plunged to his death.

I love happy endings.

We had a revolving door at a place I worked. It was 'semi-secure'. Haha!

It was powered and had pressure pads, but invariably when i walked into it. I got a 90 degree turn then stop. So now i'm in a glass cage. The only way to get it to work, me being featherlight, was to do a clown dance on the pressure pad......

Occasionally I had to be rescued.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

9 hours ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Yes, he plumbed the depths of the elevator shaft.

Shafted, an extreme case of Plumber’s Crack.

[BelindaN]

42 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Shafted, an extreme case of Plumber’s Crack.

Nothing that can't be fixed with ptfe tape and some putty.........

[Luna Bliss]

20 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I've had that exchange with friends, who then warn others. One gave a warning approximately like this at a summer party in my yard a few years ago...

"Don't go down to the beach with her! She'll talk your ears off, push you into the lake, spook you out, and make you think. It's horrible, stay here and have another glass of wine!"

Not saying you're a blabbermouth, as I'd have to know exactly what you were saying and doing to ascertain that. But I've got magic to deal with cases when I'm trapped with a blabbermouth. I learned in meditation how to block off any unappealing stimuli and replace it with lovely music imagined in my mind. The blabbermouth looks at me and sees me enraptured as I listen to beautiful music and thinks I'm listening intently.  It works.

[Selene Gregoire]

On 5/7/2019 at 3:51 AM, BelindaN said:

Especially revolving doors.

Don't you just love those with pressure pads to activate........

Revolving doors are an extremely rare occurrence in my life. I think the last one I encountered was over 40 years ago. While they may be more energy efficient, they can be death traps like in the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston that killed 492 people because they couldn't get out the revolving door.

I dislike and distrust escalators and elevators, too. 

[Luna Bliss]

20 hours ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

I believe in magic. I felt it when i first held my baby sister when i was 11. Then again when i met my wife. Again when i held my first born in the hospital.

When the nurse came in my hospital room and laid my newborn daughter in my arms I'd have to say that was the most magical moment EVER! 

[Madelaine McMasters]

3 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Revolving doors are an extremely rare occurrence in my life. I think the last one I encountered was over 40 years ago. While they may be more energy efficient, they can be death traps like in the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston that killed 492 people because they couldn't get out the revolving door.

I dislike and distrust escalators and elevators, too. 

 

[Madelaine McMasters]

18 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Not saying you're a blabbermouth, as I'd have to know exactly what you were saying and doing to ascertain that. But I've got magic to deal with cases when I'm trapped with a blabbermouth. I learned in meditation how to block off any unappealing stimuli and replace it with lovely music imagined in my mind. The blabbermouth looks at me and sees me enraptured as I listen to beautiful music and thinks I'm listening intently.  It works.

Meditation ain't magic. My father had a magnificent ability to vanish while present. If you believe my mother, that rarely happened unless I was with him. There's no need for you to say I'm a blabbermouth, it's common knowledge.

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

 

Want to see the scars I still have from one of those murderous things? They're kind of faint now but they are still there.

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Meditation ain't magic. My father had a magnificent ability to vanish while present. If you believe my mother, that rarely happened unless I was with him. There's no need for you to say I'm a blabbermouth, it's common knowledge.

I developed this neat little switch in my head that turns off my hearing. I probably developed it due to the loooooooong lectures my mother tended towards. Flipping the switch was always immediately preceded by a voice that sounded suspiciously like the adults in Peanuts.

[Madelaine McMasters]

11 hours ago, CoffeeDujour said:

She nails it.

She does indeed.

The term "magic" is, unsurprisingly, used a lot in that thread.

[Madelaine McMasters]

6 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Want to see the scars I still have from one of those murderous things? They're kind of faint now but they are still there.

Oh, I've heard of some horrific escalator accidents, particularly involving hair.

[Madelaine McMasters]

13 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

I developed this neat little switch in my head that turns off my hearing. I probably developed it due to the loooooooong lectures my mother tended towards. Flipping the switch was always immediately preceded by a voice that sounded suspiciously like the adults in Peanuts.

I've lived with damaged cervical vertebrae since being hit by a car when I was a teen. I have flare-ups in which my right shoulder/arm/hand feel like I've been carrying a bucket of sand for hours. There was a time I took medication to take the edge off that discomfort so I could focus on other things, but I eventually learned to feed my brain "treats" to distract it so I could get to work. Once I'm focused, it takes significant discomfort to get my attention. Distraction ~= hydrocodone. I handle my tinnitus the same way.

I am a "flow" style thinker, particularly when coding. I can't count how many times I've found my frustration level rising as I tried to squish some bug, eventually to break concentration and realize I'm about to pee my pants. After quickly addressing that stressor, I'd return to coding and usually fix the problem equally quickly.

Edited May 8, 2019 by Madelaine McMasters

[Luna Bliss]

31 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

There's no need for you to say I'm a blabbermouth, it's common knowledge.

Honestly, I was not saying you were a blabbermouth. Like I said, I'd have to know what you said at the lake in order to determine that, and even then I can't say I'd always be the absolute judge of that because a blabbermouth to one person might be a stimulating conversationalist to another.
My definition of a blabbermouth is someone who feels compelled to say every single trite thing in their mind (even when not particularly interesting or even necessary). It seems most people who don't have pauses between the thoughts they feel compelled to express are not usually expressing anything very meaningful or with much depth.
Your mention of trapping people down by the lake and people warning others to not go with you reminded me of being trapped with blabbermouths when out shopping or in social gatherings, and so I riffed off of that. I'm kind of a quiet person myself, unless embarked in some silly hyperbolic play, and so blabbermouths are irritating mainly because they don't leave me with a thought to myself -- they take up ALL the space. My music method is a great way to deal with them.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Just now, Luna Bliss said:

Honestly, I was not saying you were a blabbermouth.

I didn't say you called me a blabbermouth, I said there's no need to.

Should you ever feel compelled (and I can be quite compelling), I'm just saving you the effort. Just let your magic do its thing and block me out.

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I've lived with damaged cervical vertebrae since being hit by a car when I was a teen. I have flare-ups in which my right shoulder/arm/hand feel like I've been carrying a bucket of sand for hours. There was a time I took medication to take the edge off that discomfort so I could focus on other things, but I eventually learned to feed my brain "treats" to distract it so I could get to work. Once I'm focused, it takes significant discomfort to get my attention. Distraction ~= hydrocodone. I handle my tinnitus the same way.

I am a "flow" style thinker, particularly when coding. I can't count how many times I've found my frustration level rising as I tried to squish some bug, eventually to break concentration and realize I'm about to pee my pants. After quickly addressing that stressor, I'd return to coding and usually fix the problem equally quickly.

While I couldn't code my way out of a wet paper bag now (TBI), I can tune the whole world out to concentrate on what I am doing. It's why I usually tell people to keep a 2x4 handy in case they need to get my attention.

[Luna Bliss]

45 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Meditation ain't magic. My father had a magnificent ability to vanish while present. If you believe my mother, that rarely happened unless I was with him. There's no need for you to say I'm a blabbermouth, it's common knowledge.

Would you have preferred that your father told you to be quiet awhile, or that he simply wanted to think his own thoughts at that time? (vs tuning you out)

[Madelaine McMasters]

39 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Would you have preferred that your father told you to be quiet awhile, or that he simply wanted to think his own thoughts at that time? (vs tuning you out)

I'd have preferred he listened intently to me all day long. Instead he told me to be quiet awhile and when I didn't, he tuned me out.

That's a valuable skill, which I now apply to my semi-adopted son when he drones on about engine displacement, torque, and horsepower.

[Madelaine McMasters]

57 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

I usually tell people to keep a 2x4 handy in case they need to get my attention.

...sets a 2x4 on fire.

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

...sets a 2x4 on fire.

Hey! Thanks for the extra light! It helps!

[Love Zhaoying]

43 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I'd have preferred he listened intently to me all day long. Instead he told me to be quiet awhile and when I didn't, he tuned me out.

That's a valuable skill, which I now apply to my semi-adopted son when he drones on about engine displacement, torque, and horsepower.

I’m sorry, were you talking about something?

[vvvRavenvvv]

okay , no warm feelings and cute supportive replies , the truth matters more then this kind of reactions 

first things first we are all addicted to air technically speaking if its by using time as an indication of how much we do some thing and how badly we cant live without it , air does not stimulate us unless you want to say that air stimulate life , then you would making all forms of mental gymnastics to make that stick , just like this narrative of your story 

people who are dominating sport , work , science , etc are addicted to them?  , some of which have archived great things because of their so called addiction
but people have this idea that because its virtual which automatically makes it fake or not real , and the fallacy of it being not real equals bad or evil or should not have the same value  is stupid  , because its a  computer  its an addiction not dedication or passion ,

lets take second life for an example since its the topic here
LSL is a programming language it takes years to learn to those who are not in the field  , building some thing in second life is as simple as lego play all the way to the complicity   of creating a video game which is a Real job that built cooperation the size of nations in less then a decade and that  also takes years to  learn and master on the technical level alone  , second life is self is years up on years of complied content the majority of which is free that have been collected from all over the world and from various  types of media and art and literature and history and etc  , would you describe  some one spending years passionately enduring the grid to learn or to explore what is out there for them  an addicted or dedicated?  and who are you to decide ? by what right ? by what reason ?

to make matters worse not until some years ago , computers were not even viewed as a real job , in many cultures they are still not ,no matter how much you make of them you are still some one sitting at home watching a screen not doing  a  '' Real man  '' job  ,  a silly idea but just as silly that idea to some of us the same logic is applied when  talking about some one spending time on a virtual world , they are made to be seen as a waste of time which is absurd  , like drugs waste life which is an equivocation fallacy  , virtual spaces waste life was used as a statement not to be questioned and that was where this idea was born , however is it true ? does it hold ? no it does not and here is why it does not , we all have a choice , every time you eat Tuna you risk consuming Mercury , every time you sunbathe you risk getting skin cancer , every time you go to work you risk a can accident , we just ignore the risks  , the virtual space is growing and its becoming deeper and deeper and bigger and its no longer just a small place for entertainment even thou that is still a big part of it , people spend 6 hours in front of the TV quietly watching the news while they preach  about you interacting with millions of people from around the world , talking , exchanging information , forming a culture in a dynamic sense , learning and correcting misinformation by facing realty and ironically in  virtual space , would you call it an addiction if they were sitting for the same hours in a meeting room for all those people reading books and sharing ideas about them for an example ? no you wont , while its objectively the same activity and done anomalously without any fear , openly and bravely from the safety of your home , why is it called an addiction then if its done the same way ? its not 
video games are interactive , they are as addictive as life , you play life too much you get good at it and become some one of value , but value is subjective , what matters is that they had  fulfillment out of it , the feelings are still real and shared , that makes them real enough both ways mind you  , some of us dont even have the choice or time to try and find people in the real world or experiences in the real world , even now when i talk about this i have to say Real and virtual from the lack of better words but playing with words , the virtual world was built inside the real world , that makes Real as a part of the real world , so why discard it ? its not a delusion or a anything like that, who are you to decide what is real and what is not ? every hour they spent in second life for an example was  objectively a real life hour, they  spent it doing some thing dynamic and fulfilling for them , not hurting them self's or others , so why would you call it addictive ?, if drinking too much water could hurt you then the same goes for every thing but that does not make water inherently evil or addictive , that is why we dont give addictive as a label to water , while we give it to food easy , its all about stimulation , this one however is of the mind , if  a book can stimulate your mind then the  book is addictive positively and people will say it with pride , if a video games does the same thing and goes the extra  mile of  teaching you some thing new by giving you an experience , putting you in the position for you learn and see and feel what its like to a degree which i should mention is some thing   a book could NEVER do,  that game will be called  addictive in a bad way  , why  how are not questions to be asked, because people still want to feel important by calling you some one who do '' Fake '' activity , to value what they do more they have to lower the value of what you do down , that is all there is to it  

people hurt them selfs walking on the soft grass 
and people go to war and come back home untouched 

danger and safety are not a topic you should discuss from a subjective view  

Edited May 8, 2019 by vvvRavenvvv
typos

[Luna Bliss]

26 minutes ago, vvvRavenvvv said:

first things first we are all addicted to air technically speaking

people who are dominating sport , work , science , etc are addicted to them?  , some of which have archived great things because of their so called addiction

Addiction means someone is pursuing something pathological -- the pursuit is not good for them as it's diminishing the quality of their life. This can happen via the addiction taking away time that should be spent on other activities in order to have a more healthy, balanced life.

It can be really hard to know when one is doing this!

And yes, many tend to judge others as doing something addictive when they don't understand  the activity or like what the so-called addicted person is doing.