'Ello. My name is Lee Thomas. I've lived in SL since Feb 2013, but just today (7 April 2024) joined this SL Forum. I'm hoping to make new friends, create community, family. I was very active in world the first few years I joined. During that time, I made many friends and created wonderful memories. It seems it was much easier to strike up a conversation and make friends back then? Sadly, I had to leave SL for about a year because of RL. I experienced some health issues (all good now) which led me to leave my career and move to another state for an extended sabbatical, during which I literally had no Internet connection for many months (I lived off grid in a small casita located on a 300 acre nonworking ranch in the mountains of the southwestern USA). I told all of my SL friends this. We had our sweet goodbyes. When I returned, almost all of my friends had vanished. Either they unfriended me, they had left SL, or worse, they didn't respond when I messaged them. Since returning, I spend all of my time at my beach house which I adore, decorating my home (I've lived on the same land parcel for about 8 years now and have decorated 3 different homes there), exploring Sims, taking myself out dancing, and shopping in world from time to time. All of this I do alone. I do my best to put myself out there and say hello to at least one person every time I venture out of my home. It seldom leads anywhere. On the rare occasion it does, I eventually discover the other person is looking for a sex hookup and not really interested in making friends. I'm not opposed to sexoromance. But I haven't been drawn to it in SL since I was a newbie. These days, I'm looking for friends, community, family. I'm seeking connection. Heart connection.
IRL, I work in the Arts, music mostly. My hobbies are reading (I'm currently reading all of the Pulitzer Winners for fiction), gardening, home improvement, film, Netflix (is my only "television"), cooking, diet/nutrition. I maintain a spiritual practice, which the past 20 years has consisted of Zen practice - but, I'm very open and eclectic in my spirituality and can find the groove in just about anything.