Something that’s been on my mind a lot in the last few previous weeks has been Cancer, one of the world’s biggest killers. I always thought that it was a strange coincidence that the yearly Relay For Life campaign has its climax in the middle of July, right in the centre of the zodiac sign from which the disease derives its name. Maybe it isn’t a coincidence – maybe it was a deliberate choice. Personally, if I had made that choice, I would look upon it as an act of brazen defiance.
Here in Second Life your first impressions of a person are based upon an avatar – in most cases, the perfect human image. Drawing accurate conclusions from a person’s appearance is thus impossible. In SL, men can become women, the old can become young, the jaded can relive their childhoods, wallflowers can become society’s high fliers. Most importantly, people can hide those parts of their lives which trouble them, forget, and revel in a world in which RL limitations are thrown down like the walls of a prison.
A warning to new residents and old alike: every person you may meet in Second Life may be hiding something painful. They may be lonely, or clinically depressed. They might have money worries. They may be a single parent struggling to bring up their children who uses the virtual world to regain their freedom and self-worth. They might have Cancer.
Some weeks ago one of my closest friends in Second Life told me that they have Cancer. It’s pretty hard to describe the thoughts going through my mind since; fear, helplessness, the need to protect them. Long words and medical terms on a Wikipedia entry which, rather than giving me answers to my questions, confused me even more. The same brazen defiance against an elusive enemy, against whom I can do nothing.
Except relay. To outsiders to Second Life, a virtual relay may seem pointless; what good does sitting behind a computer pushing the ‘UP’ key for 12 hours straight do? The several million linden dollars we raised last year were raised from the sale of the creations of Second Life’s talented merchants, from DJs who donated their pay and tips to the cause, from the thousands who donated with reckless abandon. But the actual relayers? What did we actually give to the campaign?
I believe I’ve found the answer.
Hope.
I made a promise to that friend that this year I would run for her. And run I will. Because there is *always* hope.
Posted in Events, First Life, Opinions, RL, Relay For Life, Second Life
Tags: Relay For Life, RFL, RL, Second Life, SL, SLRFL
I’m also working with the fantastic Safra Nitely on our team build this year, it promises to be something special to fit in with the overall international theme of the relay. 
