does SL stress you out?

I get stressed if I make a mistake while building stuff. Sometimes it gets stressful when SL isn't working properly and I wish my RL agent would just say "OK, go back to your Egotherapy Centre and lie down for an hour or two". I think I take the stress while RL just sits at comp and gives me things to do.

But seriously, hobbies always start as an escape from stress but when you start to get into them seriously they create their own stresses. Even more so if your hobby becomes a job!

Define Stress?

Things in SL that stress you should only be the platform itself, when its flaky, its probably flaky for the vast majority, so don't get stressed you are not alone.

If it's people that cause you stress, one thing you can do in SL you cannot unfortunately do in RL, is bloody MUTE them and kick their butts off your land.

Some personalities take more to heart than others. You cannot 'get thick skinned' you are what you are. If it is frustration, or boredom that stresses you, then it's time to reach for the Off Button and go do something else, even if just for a while.

Drinking copulous amounts of caffene while you are playing, can raise your heart rate/blood pressure, even though your body is in 'restful' sitting down mode. Try drinking water.

Righto, you're on! .... /me looks cautiously at the ejector seat

Personally, I've found myself VERY stressed out over SL stuff in the past.

Here's one example

I worked SUPER hard for days on a costume. Taking the care to match up seams and make sure all the fabric pieces I used, the fabrics looked the same and such. I went above and beyond for this one avatar, wanting it to do good. It did do good. It was overnight, one of the biggest mistakes I made in SL to date.
Why?
The costume I made was made by another (more popular than me) resident about 2 weeks earlier. The guy had contacted me in less than 3 hours of posting my new release to let me know that he was assuming I'd copied him. Then another IM, that s/he knows alot of people in SL and that regardless of if s/he said anything or not, all of Second Life is going to think I'm a copy and a cheat. By the time I was online for the day, I had a small pile of IMs from him making me feel like if I didn't take down my hard work immediately, there would be horrible consequences. We discussed how if I was copying anyone, it was the makers of the TV show that I made the character from, but no matter what I said and what s/he said, I still felt that strange..animosity. This was a person that I respected and LOVED their things. This occasion, I stood up for myself and kept the release anyway. It has sold alot and I'm glad about that, but there isn't many days that go by that I don't think of that situation. Everytime I see anything by this guy, I get a little clench in my gut.
Anyways, since then, this past week specifically, I have made many things only to go somewhere else and see something similar or the same. This is heart breaking to me because I make things to share with the community, and ever since the above incident took place, I refuse to release anything that I've seen elsewhere..even if I was finished before I found the place with something similar. It stressed me out so bad, I literally cried in RL, and I do not want this again. But NOW in the past week, BOTH of the things I've made, I literally found something similar or just like them at other more popular stores within the same day of completing them and it has made my week horrible.

Rhaorth, one more thing about the high blood pressure. "Stress" is only one factor...and as we've discussed, there are many sources and types of stress. Other factors include your nutrition, lifestyle, and genetics.

Be sure you don't fall into this trap: "I have high blood pressure. Stress causes high blood pressure. Second Life stresses me out. Therefore, SL caused my high blood pressure."

Just treat the condition, with lifestyle changes, stress reduction techniques, and medication. If SL remains more fun than stress for you, don't give it up under the impression that you gotta, for your health.

Sae...gosh, what can I say? People create things that are very similar to each other all the time. Newton and Leibniz both invented the calculus, and had a lifelong feud over it. But look, if you've created your work independently, you shouldn't stick it away in the drawer just because you later see something that looks a lot like yours. Put it out for everyone to see. Show your work with pride!

Serious creators, especially big-name ones, have ways of marking their creations, to tell whether they've been copied. If somebody charges you with copying their work, you can honestly say, "No, this is all original. Check it pixel by pixel if you want to."

And...you should look into similar techniques, ways of insuring you can prove something is a copy of YOUR original work.

People are quick to accuse others of digital content theft, because it's so easy and so widespread. But you mustn't let that stop you from presenting your own original work, when you know that you're in the right.

There are different levels of stress as well. You can't totally eliminate stress from your life, it's impossible. How you deal with the stress of a given situation is the key. Most of life's bumps that cause stress should not be carried over for long periods, or compounded with others. It's Ok to bang on the table or scream a bit, it should be done with after that. It is hard to do, though sometimes.

Very well said.

/me reminds myself to get out an umbrella if I am ever near someone talking to Jig

Just to top up my 5% of glib, inappropriate derailing .. there's damsel in distress .. and there's damsel in datdress .. sorry, old joke from Starship Titanic Forum.

I saw a tv ad a day or two back saying you should do something that's demanding on your heart for at least two minutes every day. I guess bashing your head on your desk cos of some obnoxious customer/griefer/stalker/halfling/whatever comes under that guidline.
I think the trick is to *let* it vent physically.. rather than bottle it up and let it prey on you.
Sorry if I've just repeated someone else there.

SL doesn't stress me out, LSL does.

Ah yes .. sorry Bren .. should have read all your post

Those bastards. They made 4 semesters of my life a living hell.

Seriously, though, Lindal, this and your previous posts were simply lovely to read and contained some awesome ideas. Thanks! *hug*

Second Life calms me...

If SL stressed me out, I'm doing something wrong--SL is meant to allow me to escape the stress and rat race of real life...when it does the opposite, it's time to get out.

ps. My parcel streams peaceful ambient music...and I do all my building there, so I'm quite at peace when I'm 'working.'

And if I'm at a parcel/sim that is streaming heavy metal or what not, I will open iTunes and run the same stream I use it my studio (Drone Zone or Radio Ambient on SOMA FM).

This is also very good advice. We should all actually be doing at least 20 minutes of exercise every day, more preferably 40 to an hour. I honestly think this would lessen a lot of stress for a lot of people. Even if it's walking briskly through your neighborhood, it still gets endorphins released into your bloodstream and makes you feel gooood. Mother Nature's high.

Only 4 semesters? Wait a minute it took me more than 4....never mind. Now I know why i didn't become an engineer.

I bought an exercise bike last year and use it while I watch televised sports.

*grin* I guess I can't say that televised sports are bad for you, then?

I just started riding my bike to work. It's only 7 miles; takes me like 30 minutes. When I get to work I'm all pumped up and awake. When I get home, I've forgotten how much I hate work.

Oh, it was 3 semesters of calc, and 1 of Differential Equations. Still, ugh. Hated it!

Only took me one. I got an F-. Seriously. I had 14%. I went to the professor (who had been tutoring me almost daily, the TA having given me up as a lost cause) and negotiated a D+, which fulfilled my math requirement in exchange for my guarantee never to enter the Math and Science building at the University again as long as I lived. I changed my major to English the day after report cards came out and remained true to my word - I never even cut through the building to get across campus faster.

No, in fact I have a very high stress job in RL and SL is my stress reliever.

I love Calc and Differential Equations! Its like Star Trek in numbers to me.

I see math equations when I drive my car..force vectors, centrifugal forces..though as I get older it is more a general form than the actual equations.

Gee, I though everybody did this!

Trout, if Rodney Dangerfield were alive he'd be coming to you for material................

Those are more Physics though, and Physics was FUN! I loved it. Well, I loved my teacher, really. He was a hottie. But at least I had a reason to go to class. Seriously though, I really did like physics. I got really excited when I finally learned how electricity is generated in a motor.

Not with a gun to my head.....about all I worry about Physics wise is how long I can spend in a pair of heels before my ankles hurt.

I bought a rowing machine last year and sat on the couch watching televised sports.

Ummm .. no.

Luckily I managed to satisfy my "mathematics" distribution requirement with a couple of statistics classes. I learned enough about calculus as a senior in high school to understand that tangling with that shark again would only result in a bloody mess.