As I sat down to review and make some sense of 2009 the image of my friend trying to stuff her cat Poncho into his cardboard cat carrier kept coming to mind. The box, while sturdy, was no match for Poncho’s 16+lbs of feline outrage. He spread his legs in all four directions, unsheathed his claws, and yowled piteously.
Some ten minutes and multiple scratches later, all of Poncho was finally in the carrier and my friend went to find her purse and keys. “Watch him for me will you?” she said as she left the room. “Don’t let him get out.” Right.
The next thing I knew a tiger striped paw thrust itself through one of the large round air holes in the carrier. At the same time Poncho gave a mighty shove, bending the folded cardboard sides of the lid so that he could get most of his head out one side. Trying not to hurt him, I pushed gently on his nose until his head disappeared, only to be snagged by one of his frantically waving, scimitar-sharp claws. “Come back!” I squawked, “He’s escaping.”
Trying to come to terms with this year has been a bit like trying to wrestle Poncho into his carrier. It’s a poor and uncomfortable fit and many of the “boxes” I would typically use to define my experiences simply don’t work. The pieces keep popping out or reappearing in new and challenging ways.
Take the topic of HIV/AIDS for example. As 2009 got underway, I was collecting and preserving the stories of those dealing with the disease for Karuna – the NLM-funded island devoted to HIV/AIDS. By the time May rolled around, I had been asked to take over as Coordinator of the island. By mid-June, I had begun crafting a Story Quest with my TVWSP co-founder Marty Snowpaw designed to de-stigmatize the subject of HIV/AIDS. By August, the Quest was complete and we’d shot a short film for presentation at the 2009 SL Community Convention in San Francisco. Following SLCC, we premiered the film in Second Life, began a series of appearances on SL talk shows, and hosted dozens of tours of the Quest. Meanwhile, we’d begun construction of a huge story tree on Karuna where we planned and held the World AIDS Day ceremonies on December 1.
None of these facts begins to capture the many and varied learning curves involved in the scenarios I just described. Not that we’re complaining. I know I speak for Marty too when I say we felt more alive, excited, challenged, and inspired than ever before, but 2009 did teach us some important lessons:
People Will Surprise You
That might seem obvious, but we were repeatedly caught off guard in both disturbing and wonderful ways. For example, our work was completely ignored by one group with which we had a close connection, but embraced by another. A professional colleague, with whom I’d worked long and hard to bring a dream to fruition, backed out without explanation the day before the project was due to go live. Then there were the folks who appeared as if on cue to offer encouragement, support, and guidance. They listened to our ideas, dropped money on us when we needed it most, and volunteered their time, energy, expertise, and creativity without hesitation. They include (in no particular order): Pathfinder Linden, Nazz Lane, Jeanne White-Ginder, DR Dhalgren, Jordon Keltz, Charles Mountain, Saxet Uralia, Jokay Wollongong, Panacea Luminos, Judi Newall, Madcow Cosmos, Lorin Tone, Karin Pixelmaid, Gwenette Writer, Robin Mochi, LoriVonne Lustre, Maggie Marat, Brent Werber, Mike Burleigh, Christina Ushimawa, AWM Mars, Millay Freschi, Verde Otaared, Bri Gufler, Dulcie Mills, Lorelei Junot, Dusan Writer, Brotherkeeper Snowpaw, Sheila Yoshikawa, Cylindrian Rutabaga, Sawyer Quixote, Pookie Gufler, JeremySlick Kidd, Emmy Emerald, Christian Sandell, ChrisG Techsan, Jennette Forager, Sledge Roffo, Rob Walker, PK Oleander, Divad Gravois, KevinRB Techsan, Sunn Thunders, JenzZa Misfit, Jewel MacMoragh, RickA Techsan, Quadrapop Lane, Qyhat Harbour, Jordy Moorlord, Mankind Tracer, Bill Whiteberry, Suzanne Graves, Shellina Winkler, Solkide Aeur, Ariella Languish, Raevn Rhiadra. Alexxa Laval, Ignatius Onomatopoeia, Jonah Zenovka, Lilian Schacter, and Samia Bechir.
Stories have the power to take us into one another’s worlds, help us empathize, understand, and dispel mistrust and fear. They are at the heart of community and the work we are doing to forge and grow them here in Second Life.
Second Life is Much More Than a Technology Platform
Marty’s 30+ years in television and film, plus the gratifying response we have had to the interactive and immersive elements of our Story Quests makes it clear that Second Life is ideal for both production and distribution of amazing content.
Stories Told as Story Quests Rock!
We’re prejudiced of course, but the response we’ve been getting to the Uncle D Story Quest has been overwhelmingly positive and humbling. It’s clear that once a Quest is launched it begins to take on a life of its own, generating new ideas, story threads, and communities of interest that extend far beyond Second Life.
We’ve Got Work to Do
The more we reached out and talked to folks about stories and community – about the idea of moving from what Dan Pink would call an algorithmic system to a heuristic one – the more we realized that a new way of being and interacting in the world is upon us and we want to be part of it.
Thank You
Last but not least, we would like to say thank you and offer a song of hope and inspiration to those who have helped make 2009 special. It is sung by Second Life singer and songwriter Grace McDunnough and is entitled simply, “Wish for You.”
Thank you all for making 2009 a memorable year. We look forward to sharing 2010 with you!
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