real-life vs. Secondlife IDENTITY

<--- See that guy over there with the goggles? That looks like my RL self.

I made a "me" avatar because I tend to "project" myself into SL. I don't think of it as a character I'm playing. This is ME playing SL. Sometimes I use one of my robot or powered armor avatars, but I think of them as a costume.

If only I could support my RL life with creating objects as I do in SL.

for me, i tried to make my character similar to myself, (well minus the pink hair lol)...(but if i could i really would have it hahaha)....but dreamm is really who i am in rl....i love to help, (especially sick animals), i love clubs and dancing, i love pink lol, so basically everything you see with Dreamm is the real me....

Hmmmm Interesting thread, Well Shadow is Shadow is Shadow is Me.

Why? because witha realm that anyone can project to be anyone I decided to be ME when I was 27 again. 10years hence from that time nature has taken her toll on me. I still in essence look like my avatar and my actions and motives are generally my own.

Real life I am generally quiet and don't speak much following the philosophy about Speaking and Fools.

But as Shadow I still suppress thoughts at times because equiviacbly some could not handle the harsh sarcasm that lurks in the shadowy boundrys of my mind.

Habit wise whether its in the game or RL I tend to help people as much as I possibly can.

Oddly enough I can teach most anyone what I know except my own son, because teaching him is like trying to teach myself. Why? Because, he, like me is a very independent and strong willed individual. So SL has helped me learn to cooperate instead of demand things from him.

Some Psychologists use the Jahri window as a method of teaching people about themselves. Each pane being a different model of representation. With Second Life and as Stamp said previously being able to read what you say to others can help you determine how some things you say are percieved. Thus teaching in itself a more controlled persona that is aware of the feelings of others. For me this has been a very useful tool to enhance both my online relationship and my RL one.

In RL I tend to not say much or never get out what I want to say because situations prevent it. With SL and typing I typicaly say more in written words than I would ever speak.

In SL I tend to relenquish control to inhibitions. Things I would normaly cower from RL due to social perception or just generally not wanting my "Family and Friends" to know because they are not as open or freely accepting of things as members of SL are.

SL to me offeres a great many freedoms of expression and personal growth in each I am able to explore and see as my motto in RL applies here...Y-not. Ironically this motto is also my RL name Tony spelled backwards.

So in closing this as a snapshot perception of who I am the reason for the name Shadow Weaver clearly becomes definitive...RL My mind lurks in the Shadows suppressed by the cohesive metality that is reality but in SL tends to Weave those thoughts into a formidible Icon of who I am by being able to express those thoughts or opinions unhindered.

Thank you for your time and patience in reading this and may it bring a better understanding of why I am here and who I am.

Sincerely, Shadow Weaver

My SL avatar is everything I would be in a perfect world, because IRL I'm a cybernetic healer constantly fighting crime day in and day out. The hoards of evil are overwhelming and Xavier allows me time to sit back and enjoy some peace and quite.

Thea is just like me in every way minus the face and the hair. I have light brown curly hair in RL, that is currently in dreadlocks, whereas Thea has straight black hair. I used to dress like her as well, but these days I can usually be found in the same pair of brown corduroys day after day paired with a hippy top of some kind. In high school I used to push the dress code limits to the edge, showing up in ballroom gowns and outfits reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper. I guess I've calmed down since getting married at 19. I'm so old already. I guess you could also say I'm a devotee of Shiva, in that I don't care much about my appearance. I've let my hair become a complete mess, I wear the same clothes all the time, and I never wear any makeup. Bring on the flies!

Just like Thea, I'm silly and sarcastic in real life, and always always laughing all the time. I have a loud laugh that the neighbors can probably hear, and my husband and I live like five year olds given the freedom to do whatever we want, so we're always laughing and jumping and playing around the house.

In RL I'm very antisocial, although my husband calls me a "social genius". He says I'm an expert at figuring out social roles people play and deciphering language and actions to uncover motives, and that's the reason I don't go out much, because I get tired of playing the same social games over and over. I'm a Sociology major, so go figure. I'm a hermit and I'm very very quiet until I get to know a person, and then, like my SL profile says "I'll unleash my weirdness on you."

I have a difficult time with idle chat and small talk, so I'm often quiet during social gatherings. I've been labelled aloof and arrogant by people who don't understand that I lack the skills they have for shmoozing and mingling. I've always been a wallflower, and people tend to either love me or hate me, but I try to be as honest and self-aware as possible, both in RL and in SL, and I'm fascinated by other people despite my inability to be very sociable. Please feel free to say hello if you see me in-world, because, despite everything I've said here, I do crave real human interaction and, if you're anything like me, or completely different from me in every way, I would love to get to know you.

PS- Run-on sentences make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

In short, Damien Fate is everything Damien Abbott wants to be

Wow...there is so much there in this post that is me in RL...and in my games.

Unfortunately, I have a rather bad preoccupation with my looks in real life. I am not ugly by far, but growing up I was the too-tall, thin, gawky girl, and I have always thought of myself as ugly even though I know I am not that young girl any more.

But, other than my self-conciousness about my apperance, so much of what you said sounds like me.

I am shy in many ways, and yet once I open up after a while...well, I certainly have a tendancy to unleash my weirdness upon those that I do get close to.

I consider myself sort of a renassaince woman in many ways...way too many interests and a desire to know all about everything in life. That shows through usually in my avatars and characters in games as well.

I consider myself to be an enigma in real life. I am shy and yet at times can be so uninhibted and out-going. I am self-affacing and self-concious, and yet also can be confident and even over-confident at times. I am caring and yet jaded and cynical. I am anti-social, and yet desire social interaction above all else.

There are so many aspects to me in real life, it would be impossible for my avatar (which shares my real first name), to not be me...or at least parts of me. In truth, I don't believe that we can ever be, in games and roleplay, anything BUT ourselves, though it may be only certain parts, and often well hidden.

I am new to SL (first few days), so I can't say that SL specifically has shown me much yet about myself. But, I expect SL will be like most games I have played (I am a long time gamergirl and MMORPG addict). I always learn about myself in my online games because I am interacting with others in them. It is the relationships with others that is where I learn about myself, and I don't expect SL to differ.

So...a hello from someone new to this second life, and an invitation to stop and chat with me if you see me. I am shy in real life, and sometimes even more so in games (odd because so many are more open in games), so I may be rather quiet at first and hang around the edges.

Even after only a few days, I have already become rather attached to my avatar, and don't expect to use any other looks except for rare occassions, parties, contests, or silliness. She doesn't look like me at all really, but she reflects the inner me, as some others have said.

Tava in SL is a bit younger than my 37 years, Japanese, while I am American Indian, and more free of responsibilities than my motherhood and career allow...but she is me in my true self...artistic, caring, creative, intellegent and understanding, and maybe a little sad.

--Tava

P.S. -- Just a side thought and sub-question: How many of you create avatars with ethnic identities differing from your own? I can not say why but I rarely make characters in games that resemble me ethnically (even if Indian features are an option in the game). In fantasy games I always identify with the Dark Elves, while in Star Wars Galaxies I was a Twi'lek, and in real world games, like SL I tend to create Asian avatars to represent the real me. Just a side pondering...

P.P.S. -- Please excuse the rambling nature of this post. I am at work and can't concentrate well at the moment.

tava, you and thea both reflect the same things i see i have. i wasn't going to post here because it would only be redundant. lol

but as far as ethnicities go ... i fix my avatar in a way that reflects how i look. in RL, one can't distinguish exactly what asian ethnicity i am. so that reflects in SL too.

i also design avatars with different looks. i wouldn't say i specifically make a whole new ethnicity, i can't make something that exact. lol but if donning blonde hair and blue eyes count as a ethnic change then i'm guilty there.