SL has taught me...

[Tayt3rChip]

My own realization that I have no knowledge in multiple areas, is usually met with a very poor attempt at rectifying the matter. There is always a list of things I want to learn, but that then turns to a list of things that I don't learn. I find that my method of trying to learn a million things at the same time often fails. This is generally a problem I face in rl but I think it's also a problem I face on sl. The vast amount of talented and skilled people I come across on here, has me wanting to learn everything. 

So far being on sl has made me more interested in flying , horses , photography ,videography, advertising  and business. Seeing the things people are able to create has also made me want to learn blender, photo editing ,texturing ... I feel like I need to pick a skill that will be useful in my rl life and stick to that. I'm hoping that focusing on one thing for an extended period of time will result in the success of learning said skill.

- I'm curious to know what skills people have explored because of sl. 

- I would also love to know if any of the skills you have learnt on here have translated well to your rl. 

[Ceka Cianci]

Not knowing what you want to do is a big part of life, that and being torn between so many options.. The best way to approach it is pick something that really grabs at you that you want to eat your time with.. It's kind of like dating.. You can try and juggle a bunch of relationships or pour yourself into that special one..

You can dabble and see what clicks, which a lot of times it takes a lot of that before you find your love of what you want to do, unless you go after something you've always wanted to do.. Doing something you love will spill over from one world to the other..

If you try and do a bunch of things at once, you're gonna end up frustrated tired and only know a little bit of each.. Climb one hill and then the next..you'll never be able to climb them all at the same time.. hehehe

[Tayt3rChip]

9 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Not knowing what you want to do is a big part of life, that and being torn between so many options.. The best way to approach it is pick something that really grabs at you that you want to eat your time with.. It's kind of like dating.. You can try and juggle a bunch of relationships or pour yourself into that special one..

You can dabble and see what clicks, which a lot of times it takes a lot of that before you find your love of what you want to do, unless you go after something you've always wanted to do.. Doing something you love will spill over from one world to the other..

If you try and do a bunch of things at once, you're gonna end up frustrated tired and only know a little bit of each.. Climb one hill and then the next..you'll never be able to climb them all at the same time.. hehehe

I fully agree with what you have said. I still haven't found that one thing I want to dedicate more time but hopefully I will. What about you ? Have you developed any skills in your time  on sl ? Did any of them also become useful in your rl ? 

[Ceka Cianci]

24 minutes ago, Tayt3rChip said:

I fully agree with what you have said. I still haven't found that one thing I want to dedicate more time but hopefully I will. What about you ? Have you developed any skills in your time  on sl ? Did any of them also become useful in your rl ? 

Most of the things I learned in SL were pretty much for SL.. I did pick up a lot of help with photoshop over time, plus learned blender back when Sculpties were  popular. But kind of strayed since more RL took over.. A lot of my loves are outside of the world really..

But when I did have time it was easy to escape into something like building or making things for my avatar.. The nice thing about being able to create your own clothes or hair and things like that is, if you can't find something, you can make it, or if an idea comes to you, just make it..

If I were to really get back into it today, i would probably be learning as much about creating mesh as i could..

[EliseAnne85]

9 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Not knowing what you want to do is a big part of life, that and being torn between so many options.. The best way to approach it is pick something that really grabs at you that you want to eat your time with.. It's kind of like dating.. You can try and juggle a bunch of relationships or pour yourself into that special one..

You can dabble and see what clicks, which a lot of times it takes a lot of that before you find your love of what you want to do, unless you go after something you've always wanted to do.. Doing something you love will spill over from one world to the other..

If you try and do a bunch of things at once, you're gonna end up frustrated tired and only know a little bit of each.. Climb one hill and then the next..you'll never be able to climb them all at the same time.. hehehe

This is really, really good advice.  

I guess I'd just add take it slowly don't push.  

I love Photoshop.  I just took to PS like a duck to water well over 15 years ago.  What I love about PS being a Dinkie (a cat that wears clothing lol) is that I can make original things that only I have for my Dinkie.  Or if I want to have something new, it only costs a little bit of money in upload to make a new color or design for instance.  

I'd have to say Photoshop is one amazing program in how you can just layer and layer and layer and transform one work of art into a totally other one.

I also have had dreams where I've designed something for SL in PS and then was able to take what I saw in my dream and actually make it in PS for SL.  

And, make your search engine your friend.  You can always Google how to's on just about every program there is.  For instance, you could Google "how to import a photo into PS", etc, etc.  Plus, there are tons of YouTube videos for lots of helpful how to's about SL building whether PS, GIMP, whatever.  

 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Bree Giffen]

SL taught me the entire process of how to run a business. In high school I was in Junior Achievement and worked every summer but never learned the basics of entrepreneurship I learned in SL. Actually, SL didn't teach me how to do specific things because I was simply learning by doing. I created, built a brand, placed things into the marketplace, made a store, advertised, paid expenses, did customer service and had a little profit to circulate back into SL. It was a wonderful learning experience and I think students would learn a lot from it if given the opportunity.

[Polenth Yue]

I learnt how to use Blender because of Second Life. I'm better at using GIMP than I otherwise would be. That comes in handy for art and graphic design work. However, I wouldn't worry so much about things being useful life skills. Pick the thing you think will be the most fun.

You'll also find that a lot of Second Life projects need a bit of several skills, rather than one skill only. You might find it better to pick a project and then learn the skills needed for that. For example, I decided I wanted to make mushrooms. I had an idea what I wanted the first one to look like. I learnt all the things I'd need to make that happen.

[SorachaNicEoghain]

SL has taught me to enjoy the moment. If I am exploring with a friend or hanging out, I assume I may never see them again so I enjoy the time I have with them then and there because I have met quite a lot of people at this stage whose words don't line up with their actions. I have also met amazing people who I love. So I just let it go. SL taught me to hold strong to my boundaries, be authentic, always tell the truth about myself even though it may not fit my friend's SL fantasy and cherish my RL ♡

Edited February 16, 2023 by SorachaNicEoghain

[Tayt3rChip]

9 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

This is really, really good advice.  

I guess I'd just add take it slowly don't push.  

I love Photoshop.  I just took to PS like a duck to water well over 15 years ago.  What I love about PS being a Dinkie (a cat that wears clothing lol) is that I can make original things that only I have for my Dinkie.  Or if I want to have something new, it only costs a little bit of money in upload to make a new color or design for instance.  

I'd have to say Photoshop is one amazing program in how you can just layer and layer and layer and transform one work of art into a totally other one.

I also have had dreams where I've designed something for SL in PS and then was able to take what I saw in my dream and actually make it in PS for SL.  

And, make your search engine your friend.  You can always Google how to's on just about every program there is.  For instance, you could Google "how to import a photo into PS", etc, etc.  Plus, there are tons of YouTube videos for lots of helpful how to's about SL building whether PS, GIMP, whatever.  

 

 

I I have used small aspects of  photoshop here and there in my life. But I have never used it consistently enough to engrain it into my brain. I'm so glad you explained what a Dinkie is because I have heard that word a few times and never had a clue as to what it was. Being able to create something unique to you must be super rewarding

6 hours ago, Polenth Yue said:

I learnt how to use Blender because of Second Life. I'm better at using GIMP than I otherwise would be. That comes in handy for art and graphic design work. However, I wouldn't worry so much about things being useful life skills. Pick the thing you think will be the most fun.

You'll also find that a lot of Second Life projects need a bit of several skills, rather than one skill only. You might find it better to pick a project and then learn the skills needed for that. For example, I decided I wanted to make mushrooms. I had an idea what I wanted the first one to look like. I learnt all the things I'd need to make that happen.

Learning to use blender and import blender items to sl is something I'm very interested in, after all who wouldn't like to be able to make  personalised content that they are searching for ? Personally my  attempt at blender started with the doughnut tutorial, I got as far as adding glaze to it... can't remember what happened though..I also haven't used blender nearly enough for it to become instinctive and for me to know the tools very well. Mushrooms are really cute. Are they the  kind of mushrooms you put in the garden ?

1 hour ago, SorachaNicEoghain said:

SL has taught me to enjoy the moment. If I am exploring with a friend or hanging out, I assume I may never see them again so I enjoy the time I have with them then and there because I have met quite a lot of people at this stage whose words don't line up with their actions. I have also met amazing people who I love. So I just let it go. SL taught me to hold strong to my boundaries, be authentic, always tell the truth about myself even though it may not fit my friend's SL fantasy and cherish my RL ♡

          I think having boundaries is very important. I had to personally let go of certain friendships when I realised they were becoming slightly problematic or the person was acting in a way , I didn't want to be treated. I don't feel the need to share every aspect of my  rl on sl, but I also don't feel the need to lie. When there is something in specific I don't want to delve into like religion or politics, I simply say I don't like talking about that on here and move on. 

 

8 hours ago, Bree Giffen said:

SL taught me the entire process of how to run a business. In high school I was in Junior Achievement and worked every summer but never learned the basics of entrepreneurship I learned in SL. Actually, SL didn't teach me how to do specific things because I was simply learning by doing. I created, built a brand, placed things into the marketplace, made a store, advertised, paid expenses, did customer service and had a little profit to circulate back into SL. It was a wonderful learning experience and I think students would learn a lot from it if given the opportunity.

Learning by doing is a really  good way to learn. Another positive from that is  that the start up cost  of a business on sl may actually be relatively low. thus decreasing the overall risk. I think you're very right in saying that students would learn a lot from an opportunity like that

[StarlanderGoods]

I learned a bunch of stuff thanks to/through SL.  when I found some animesh stuff, my head nearly exploded and decided there and then that I would master animesh.

And then I realiced that animesh is like the last step in a long process of skills, so I started from the bottom, making very basic, static mesh objects, learned about weights, topology, physics maps, UV maps and texturing.  Learned about good practices, workflow, how to build stuff with other people, and eventually got to rigging, thats a whole topic on its own.

I still havent made animesh stuff outside of a couple of test examples, along the way I found out that I enjoy making clothes more than animesh stuff, so my goal changed as I learned and tried new stuff.

Trying to learn everything at once is really hard. just like trying to start from the top.  To anyone learning.... pretty much anything, I would always give them the same advice, build a strong foundation, do not skip the fundamentals, practice what you learn before you move up in difficulty.

[Luna Bliss]

What a great topic, Tay. I could go on an on describing everything I've learned in SL, beginning over 18 years ago, starting with artistic skills and the subsequent business skills needed to monetize what I created, but currently I'm excited about additional learning related to personal growth/self-actualization for myself as well as how to facilitate groups focusing on it.

I majored in the helping professions in college but veered off into to the arts in both SL & RL, and so in a way feel like I'm returning to my roots. The group I'm facilitating currently is named Heart Menders and we are exploring ways ways to deal with loss in our lives (mend our hearts).
Society, in general, does not provide a safe place to deal with grieving over loss, and so safe places are needed where people can express without criticism, and maybe learn new methods for coping.

I'm attending several groups in SL that focus on understanding various life issues (like grief, relationships, self-actualization), speaking with retired and currently employed therapists in SL, and doing a lot of research via the internet and books on the topic.

I knew I wanted poetry as a part of the process (exploring grief through poetry, created personally and/or favorite poems by other authors), and next week we will be bringing relevant dreams speaking to our grief. I researched and formulated a method to get in touch with dreams, based on what others have done as well as what has worked for me in the past.
Visual art will also be explored as a way to bring awareness, although at this point I have no idea what the best way will be to facilitate this in a group.
Someone else has developed a guided dance to facilitate dealing with the grief process.
Music as a way to understand ourselves will also be a part of this group.
So there is very much an 'arts focus' in my group.

And if all this wasn't enough, I'm learning how to play music with a friend I met in SL, jamming on a website and possibly bringing it into SL.
A Rav Vast drum ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTJUIYbaGL8 ) is on its way to me, and I already have a 12-string guitar and sing.
And, my SL friend is going to teach me how to use a mixer to record different tracks and combine them all together (already did a bit of that years ago but didn't know how to use a mixer).

So yeah, yay SL and learning!
 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Luna Bliss

[Ina Fairport]

I learned how to sail in SL. My SL neighbour was a RL seasailor and he teached me a lot about sailing.
I bought my first SL boat in 2007 and two years later I was sailing in RL and I still do.

The same with golf. SL learned me how to play golf and since a couple of years I play golf in RL.

Flying and surfing are still restricted to SL 

[EliseAnne85]

I wanted to just mention to Tay, that there are schools one can learn how to build in Blender inworld.  Our Tiny/Dinkie group Small Talk offers classes in Blender.  You can be in an human avatar and hang out with the Tinies/Dinkies for most of their events and I'm sure for the Blender classes.  They might prefer you to wear a low impact avatar but you can find small avatars by searching COMPLETE AVATARS {tiny avatar} for free on MP or for as little as 1 LI.  The reason for the small avatars is it allows more people in with less lag  I'm not sure how one goes about finding all the Blender classes there are in SL.  Maybe they have a main group for Blender or something? There is Builder's Brewery and Happy Hippo Building School to join and ask as well.

Edited February 16, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Luna Bliss]

2 minutes ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I'm not sure how one goes about finding all the Blender classes.  Maybe they have a main group for Blender or something?

If you're meaning Blender classes in SL outside of the Dinkie group too, BlenderBenders starts up in March again.  I've learned a lot there.

[Luna Bliss]

Regarding the drum arriving today -- the first thing to do upon receiving a Rav drum is run to a rooftop and bang on it and "entertain" the entire city before you know what you're doing, like this woman:

 

[Love Zhaoying]

12 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said:

Regarding the drum arriving today -- the first thing to do upon receiving a Rav drum is run to a rooftop and bang on it and "entertain" the entire city before you know what you're doing, like this woman:

 

Well then, maybe before I saw this I would have wanted one! lol!

[Love Zhaoying]

2 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

Our Tiny/Dinkie group Small Talk offers classes in Blender.

Sounds like a class at Hogwart's. "This year, our Blender classes will be taught by Professor Hinkie Dinkie."

[EliseAnne85]

6 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Music as a way to understand ourselves will also be a part of this group.

Your group sounds amazing, Luna.

I listen to music that is for relaxtion, positive mood, healing, etc.  

Here is an example of one I am listening to now.  I think relaxation is large part in the healing process and also may be helpful in dealing with grief and loss because it's so important to take the time to relax and just feel calm.  

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Tayt3rChip]

On 2/16/2023 at 1:44 PM, Luna Bliss said:

What a great topic, Tay. I could go on an on describing everything I've learned in SL, beginning over 18 years ago, starting with artistic skills and the subsequent business skills needed to monetize what I created, but currently I'm excited about additional learning related to personal growth/self-actualization for myself as well as how to facilitate groups focusing on it.

I majored in the helping professions in college but veered off into to the arts in both SL & RL, and so in a way feel like I'm returning to my roots. The group I'm facilitating currently is named Heart Menders and we are exploring ways ways to deal with loss in our lives (mend our hearts).
Society, in general, does not provide a safe place to deal with grieving over loss, and so safe places are needed where people can express without criticism, and maybe learn new methods for coping.

I'm attending several groups in SL that focus on understanding various life issues (like grief, relationships, self-actualization), speaking with retired and currently employed therapists in SL, and doing a lot of research via the internet and books on the topic.

I knew I wanted poetry as a part of the process (exploring grief through poetry, created personally and/or favorite poems by other authors), and next week we will be bringing relevant dreams speaking to our grief. I researched and formulated a method to get in touch with dreams, based on what others have done as well as what has worked for me in the past.
Visual art will also be explored as a way to bring awareness, although at this point I have no idea what the best way will be to facilitate this in a group.
Someone else has developed a guided dance to facilitate dealing with the grief process.
Music as a way to understand ourselves will also be a part of this group.
So there is very much an 'arts focus' in my group.

And if all this wasn't enough, I'm learning how to play music with a friend I met in SL, jamming on a website and possibly bringing it into SL.
A Rav Vast drum ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTJUIYbaGL8 ) is on its way to me, and I already have a 12-string guitar and sing.
And, my SL friend is going to teach me how to use a mixer to record different tracks and combine them all together (already did a bit of that years ago but didn't know how to use a mixer).

So yeah, yay SL and learning!
 

18 years is a very long time. I think it's really cool that  people can take things they learn in sl to real life.it is always a treasure  to meet people who are willing to give you their time and share/ or even teach you something new. 

On 2/16/2023 at 2:36 PM, Ian Mercury said:

I learned how to sail in SL. My SL neighbour was a RL seasailor and he teached me a lot about sailing.
I bought my first SL boat in 2007 and two years later I was sailing in RL and I still do.

The same with golf. SL learned me how to play golf and since a couple of years I play golf in RL.

Flying and surfing are still restricted to SL 

That's honestly really cool that you got into sailing anf golf due  to sl. At the moment I'm really  enjoying learning more about planes and horses. I hope to eventually learn something  I can bring to my real life.

On 2/16/2023 at 3:05 PM, EliseAnne85 said:

I wanted to just mention to Tay, that there are schools one can learn how to build in Blender inworld.  Our Tiny/Dinkie group Small Talk offers classes in Blender.  You can be in an human avatar and hang out with the Tinies/Dinkies for most of their events and I'm sure for the Blender classes.  They might prefer you to wear a low impact avatar but you can find small avatars by searching COMPLETE AVATARS {tiny avatar} for free on MP or for as little as 1 LI.  The reason for the small avatars is it allows more people in with less lag  I'm not sure how one goes about finding all the Blender classes there are in SL.  Maybe they have a main group for Blender or something? There is Builder's Brewery and Happy Hippo Building School to join and ask as well.

Thank you so much for your recommendations, I will try to have a  look into them in world. I do have a ton of small avatars in my inventory that I acquired for the fun of it so it really should be no problem. tnx so much 

[pizza7]

i learned to type more fluent in english here hehe, i am dutch btw.   very handy tho.

Edited February 18, 2023 by pizza7

[Tayt3rChip]

1 hour ago, pizza7 said:

i learned to type more fluent in english here hehe, i am dutch btw.   very handy tho.

that's a really good accomplishment. I'm currently learning Arabic and the grammar has me drowning.

[Luna Bliss]

On 2/16/2023 at 11:26 AM, Love Zhaoying said:

On 2/16/2023 at 11:14 AM, Luna Bliss said:

Regarding the drum arriving today -- the first thing to do upon receiving a Rav drum is run to a rooftop and bang on it and "entertain" the entire city before you know what you're doing, like this woman:

 

Expand  

Well then, maybe before I saw this I would have wanted one! lol!

lol I imagined a sniper on an adjacent rooftop shooting that thing out of hands after listening for 1 minute.  That's the danger with these things....u can get some harmony going pretty quick and feel the vibration that sails you away to a high place...and imagine you have more skills than you really do.

Enjoying this one...and how it's used as mainly the percussion track in this song.... Mr. Mixer here is quite talented.

 

[Luna Bliss]

 

[Leonardis Ducatillon]

Some very good advice here already. I will only add, make sure that you focus in on a small number of things to improve on at a time, or you will find it overwhelming. Find something that you genuinely love doing - because it will take time and effort of course - and that you have a knack for, otherwise you'll be bashing your head against a brick wall. So part of the process is being honest with yourself about what your strengths and weaknesses are.

A long long time ago (probably 14 years ago), I decided I wanted to learn scripting as it seemed like "magic" here in SL. Although I could do a bit here or there, I found I didn't have a knack for it, it was all very forced and I realised I would never be a great scripter, so I gave up on it. Now, I could have just continued anyway to become eventually an "OK scripter" (at best), but I had other things I wanted to spend my time on. Secondly, while I hugely admire and respect people who can build, texture and mesh from scratch - my own skills in this area, since the era of mesh certainly, were too far behind to catch up because I don't just don't have the knack for graphics or 3D creation programs (or art creation IRL, even since childhood). I was a pretty good builder in the era of basic prims/textures years and years ago, but that was using in-world tools only, essentially.

I have other skills though: I am really good at organisation - so I ran very successful groups and sims; I can write well so I partook in text-form roleplay for many years until fatigue and time constraints took their toll. Despite not being a content creator, I do seem to have a knack for arranging items other people have produced, so I can "create" (or arrange) aesthetically pleasing builds in SL.

Nowadays, I like to sail in organised groups - that I don't organise myself (because I've done enough of that over the years, lol). I do it because it's relaxing, it's far more social than just building parcels by myself and there is some skill and coordination involved. Even though I'm not an RL sailor, I'd like to think it's put me at least partway in the knowledge for perhaps that day in the future where I decide to try it IRL.

I fully recognise I'm probably in the "retirement" phase in SL having been here since 2005; I'm simplifying my lifestyle to the things that I enjoy and not "working" anymore, either for myself or others. I'm fairly sure though if I didn't have a demanding RL job as well, that I'd still be doing something with more activity and drive, because that's in my nature and I'm not really anywhere near as old as I sound here, lol.

Good luck!