When virtual life gives you lemons???….

I had something interesting happen to me this weekend. Not life changing…not globally important…not even conceptually amazing, but it WAS very interesting and the principle that runs through the core of it DID change MY life.

I had joined a group a while back. It was just a second life clothing group….like tons of others, but none the less, I liked it enough to assign it one of my COVETED 42 group slots! (Who would have known that 42 would never be enough????) I liked the clothing. It seemed to be above average quality for SL…and the pricing was fair…and it seemed as though the creator gave out a fair number of group gifts. I walked around the store…it was quite “modest” by most SL standards. And I got the impression that it was a new store….but the quality of the clothing was anything but “new”. So I was somewhat confused as to how the two matched up.

I had followed the group chat off and on and from what I could gather, the creator had just returned and that being so, already had a “following”. It was interesting to sit back and watch those that had known the creator before and those that were new to the group. I found it odd that several times a “new” group member would ask what seemed to be an innocent enough question about the store or pricing or perhaps suggest a simple way that the creator could make things easier and I could almost PHYSICALLY see the “troups rally”! It was quite interesting. It was as though the “older” group members were going to make sure that NOTHING would hurt or offend their “Leader” and I even found myself at the end of their “arrows” a couple of times; most of the time just leaving stunned and dazed and wondering what I had done wrong. But over the weekend, this same type of thing ensued…and I decided that I was not going to quietly leave the group…I was going to get answers.

I don’t like to be “nasty” or “bitchy” but I can be when I have to be (Don’t you just HATE it when people put that in their profile, cuz the first thing you think is “They must be nasty and bitchy A LOT!”…but I REALLY try not to be…:/)and I decided that all I wanted was some simple answers to simple questions and I was not leaving without them, dammit! And so…I began asking questions, knowing what would happen…and it did…just like clockwork, except this time, another group member was nice enough to pull me over to the side and answer my questions personally. She told me of how she had followed this creator since day one and how amazingly talented the creator was and what kind of amazing clothing the creator offered. She went on to tell me how that the creator had clothing that was quite reasonably priced and how that she herself even thought that the creator needed to charge more.

I tried to tell her that I didn’t NEED any convincing! I TOO thought the creator exceptionally talented and that the creator had an excellent product at an excellent price. I did not need to be “sold”. All I needed was some general answers to questions regarding sales prices, group gifts and group discounts….nothing more.

I FINALLY got the answers to most of my questions, BUT in the process I found out that the creator had been in some kind of “accident” (and I use the word loosely, because they did not tell me exactly what and I did not ask…it really was not and is not relevant to the story) and that many had thought that the creator might not ever return to SL. When they told me this….EVERYTHING made sense. I COMPLETELY understood and ADMIRED the way that everyone had rallied around the creator making sure that the creator felt safe, loved and needed. It made me glad to be an avie in SL. It reminded me…..

Not TOO long ago, I was in a similar situation. The circumstances were different, but I had had to leave SL…and was not sure I would ever come back. During that time, my SL sister, put up a park in my name…and sent pictures and kept in touch with me the entire time, which turned out to be a year! She was my sister. She was not going anywhere. She loved me and supported me no matter what. When I did finally come back to SL, it was to her house that I first went. I felt safe and loved there. She supported me and was SO happy to see me back. She loved me through all my RL ills and woes and while she occasionally offered advice, what she mostly gave me was love…and support. She was with me…no matter WHAT road I chose. It was she that introduced me to the man that I now share my life with. And when RL got REALLY hard and I felt trapped and alone, it was HER that offered me a way out. SHE put her mouth where her money was….SHE DID what no other friend I had at the time would do…she put her own self in harms way to offer me a life. She put up with me for 6 months and listened to me cry and scream. She saw me when I was sick and tired and depressed and loved me anyway…she took me to all the places I had never been before  and watched my face light up as a saw things that I had only dreamed of up until that time. It was an SL “NON real” person that helped me change my REAL life. It was an avie…a picture on a screen that gave me the love that I needed when no other “real” person did. I am grateful. I am SOOOO grateful. Thank you sis….YOU made a difference…YOU changed a life….never forget that.

And so…I am PROUD to be part of a group that loves and supports its’ creator in that way. I am glad I am a small part of that. When virtual life gives you lemons….we all get together and share recipes, before making lemonade and sharing it…even serving it to each other. I am proud to be a part of this virtual world that calls itself second life and can only hope as I awake each day to the man/avie that completes me, that I can make a difference in someone elses life too. Life CAN be good…..NOW…on to fashion….

When I read the announcement that this weeks color challenge would be “lemon” I had the good fortune to be looking through the 60L weekend sales ads, when I came across this CUTE little dress with matching hat and separate matching shoes from Fior Di Perle! I knew as soon as I had seen it that I had found my “lemon”. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE 60L weekends! There is seldom a week that I don’t spend some of my lindens on these sales items….and most of the time I buy SEVERAL items.

My skin this week came from Glamorize. Glamorize has a whole store just jam packed full of jewelry , makeups, skins…even shoes.  And the whole store is REALLY reasonably priced.  If you have not checked out Glamorize then you should!

Hair was a sweet little pony tail pulled to the side by (Posh), which seemed to be the perfect hair for this outfit, simple and sweet. The jewelry was an orange agate set (except for rings) from Duh!. Duh! has some REALLY cute shoes and jewelry for next to nothing….so if you have never gone…you should!!!

Nail were the “sunkiss” set from Finesmith Designs which come with the rings shown. Finesmith specializes in edgy jewelry or “Body Sculpture” pieces as they call them.  They are really exceptional!  Lashes were from Redgrave and eyes…once again, were from Fashism.

This week I chose to go to a little sim called “Solandria“. It was simple and sweet and had some really NICE places for pics. The poses I used were from POSEbility.

And there you have lemon! Stay tuned for next week when the color will be…..Patriarch! (Otherwise known as purple…LOL) Until then….be challenged.

 

STYLING NOTES:

Dress: !FDP Spring Mini Dress- yellow

Shoes: !FDP Spring Sandals- yellow

Hair: (Posh) ; Gardenia-Carrot

Jewelry: ::Duh!:: Orange Agate (Silver)

Eyelashes: -37- Extended *REDGRAVE*

Nails: Finesmith Nails-Sunkiss spring

Poses: POSEbility

Skin: .:Glamorize:. Cybil Skin-Blush

Eyes: FASHISM ‘Sunrise’ Eyes – Turquoise (L)

Location: Solandria

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[slickr-flickr tag=”Lemon”]