A Unilateral Action

Today I have been in SecondLife 2,667 days or, expressed in another way, 7 years 2 months and 18 days.

I would like to think that I have friendly relations with most of the people I have encountered during those many years, some are still close, others I meet sporadically but for various reasons our paths have mostly parted, some have more or less or altogether left SecondLife and some I don't have contact with even if they are still around. But those that we are friends with or have amicable relations with are never the problem, are they?

The relationships that drain my energy, and that I have been thinking much about the last two weeks, are the failed ones. Those relationships that have to some degree turned into open or concealed enmity. I find that it weighs down on me and makes me weary to keep track of the perceived wrongdoings and insults. It has also to some degree turned into an unwanted bitterness on my part that I do not at all care for.

So today I am going to clean the slate by unilaterally forgiving those I feel have wronged me - or someone I love - intentionally or through carelessness, so that I thereby in time can forget the perceived insults and abuses. I am also asking those whom I know feel that I have wronged them for forgiveness. I am going to unblock all those that have previously been blocked from Instant Messaging me in-world or from entering my home sim or on social media sites.

I know that this action will most likely be labeled as "drama" by some, but I don't care one iota because I am doing it for my own sake not anyone else's. My forgiveness is in no manner dependent on the their willingness to forgive me.

As I do not believe a sweeping apology is enough I am going to name each and every one of those I believe deserve my forgiveness and whose forgiveness I need for my words and actions in the past. I will not go into my reasons for feeling hurt by those named, except in one particular case.

I forgive you, Ars Northmead, for dying and leaving me alone and heartbroken for such a long time. I also ask your forgiveness for resenting you for something you could not help. You know I love you, babe, and I know you loved me. Forgiving you was and is always easy.

I forgive you, Andrey Messmer (a. k. a. D R E Y Messmer), and ask for your forgiveness.

I forgive you, Martial Eisenhart, and ask for your forgiveness.

I forgive you, Butch Horton, and ask for your forgiveness.

I forgive you, Vanadis Falconer, and ask for your forgiveness.

I forgive you, Sjöfn Stoneshield, and ask for your forgiveness.

I forgive you, Kynlif Leikfang, and ask for your forgiveness.

I forgive you, Loo Berensohn, and ask for your forgiveness.

I forgive you, PetGirl Bergman (a.k.a. Tina Dahl), and ask for your forgiveness.

I forgive you, Alessia Kranfel (a.k.a. Vesper Kling and Mera Kranfel) and ask for your forgiveness.

Lastly I forgive myself.
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The deed is done and now the rest of my life can start afresh. It is a big relief! 

Weekend Distraction

DJ Arcy, Arcangelo Hellman, gives us another therapy session, #18 (Tech Trance Special). You can find more of DJ Arcy´s music here Soundcloud - DJ Arcy

This session could not have come at a better time for me because I need some distraction after having read my bosom buddy Apmel´s latest post.

I am breathing, breathing and breathing. In and out, in and out, in deep and long breaths to keep my composure after reading his revealing post My Avatar´s Name Is Apmel: "Cowardly Attack On Bock" (in Swedish).

Named Avatars 5

I am very pleases to introduce you today to Sjöfn Stoneshield in my series on how we decided on the names for our avatars-

"My cousin, Vanadis Falconer, lured me into Second Life because she thought I needed a little break now and then from the work on my dissertation in psychology.

When I joined I needed a good first name. "Vanadis" was already taken by Vanadis. Since we are almost the same age and cousins, we have grown up with the folklore about the Norse gods Thor, Odin, Frigg and Freya. Now I had to think a little extra. 

We have an old tradition in Scandinavia; If you pick seven kinds of wild flowers from seven different fields in absolute silence on a midsummer night and then put the flowers under your pillow you will dream about your future husband or wife. In the pre-Christian era there was also a goddess named Sjöfn, sister of the goddess Freya, who was worshiped if you had love troubles. The goddess was revered by both men and women.

There was only one small problem with that first name. It was not possible to use the Swedish letters Å, Ä and Ö in Second Life at that time (A´s and O´s with circles or two dots above). The Swedish Ö (O with two dots) is pronounced as "I" in "bird". Should I spell my name "Sjifn"? Nah, it made no sense to other Scandinavians. Should I use the German "OE"? Nah, only Germans would understand that. So I just gave up and called myself Sjofn. 

Then it was time to choose the surname. One name sounded more ridiculous than the other, eventually I came to the "S" and Stoneshield. Sjofn Stoneshield that´s good, I thought. A shield of stone for a strong and independent woman - perfect!

One of the first things I did after joining Second Life was to write to Philip Linden and tell the boy that he should ensure that Swedish Å, Ä and Ö could be used in Second Life names. And because Philip is obviously a well-mannered and obedient boy, Second Life introduced Å, Ä and Ö in the next update. So now I have my dots over the o and Sjofn is now and for eternal time called "Sjöfn Stoneshield".

Ars go Fridars ("prosperity and good harvest" in Old Norse)
Sjöfn"

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If you would also like to participate in the series by sharing your reasons for choosing the name you have given your avatar, please send me an e-mail lundamats@gmail.com. Please include a picture of your avatar.

I may take some editorial liberties with your text and picture, such as correcting obvious misspellings in the US English and perhaps shortening. However I promise that I will not distort any facts and that I will contact you if the changes are of a major nature (or if I have reason to believe that you would think so).

Nakna avatarer i SL 53

Sjöfn Stoneshield har varit i Paris och gjort en "Extreme Makeover". Eftersom jag inte vill att mina läsare skall leta efter hennes gamla rödhåriga avatar förgäves lovade jag att lägga upp en bild med hennes nya jag.

"Ligger på ett massagebord på en underbar tropisk strand och väntar på att en sexig människa ska ge mig en härlig helkroppsmassage."

Jag vill avslutningsvis tillägga att denna publicering inte kommer att göra att känna mig förpliktigad att lägga in en ny bild för varje makeover. Detta eftersom vissa avatarer i SL byter skepnad och utseende lika ofta som andra byter underkläder i RL.

Nakna avatarer i SL 43

Den vackra Sjöfn Stoneshield blev lite sur när hon hade sett inlägg nummer 35 i denna serie. Detta eftersom kusinen Vanadis bara hade skickat med en bild på henne medan det fanns hela tre på Vanadis själv.

Jag vill ju inte orsaka någon familjekris med detta fredsprojekt så jag meddelade Sjöfn att jag jättegärna skulle publicera fler bilder på henne. Och det ångrar jag inte för en sekund! (Bildtexterna är Sjöfns egna.)

"Tränar i Humlebaekk inför World Nude Bike Ride day 10 juni"

"Underbart att få njuta av sol, bad och mjuk strand"

"Vad kan vara bättre än att ligga på en tropisk sandstrand en ljum kväll och bara njuta av livet."

Nakna avatarer i Sl 35

Vissa måste man nästan vrida om armen på för att få bilder. Jag nämner inga namn men sätter ut nationalitet och initialer på "skurkarna": Fyra kända svenska bloggare PGB, VK/AK, SG och bA, en svensk bloggare och journalist KU, en svensknorsk bloggare LB och hennes make med samma initialer. en svensk singer-songwriter BJ och hans amerikanska hustru NB samt ett svenskt par som är mest kända för att driva ett stort vitt hotell med en underbar blå sal där de har massor av trevliga evenemang EA och JP finns bland dem jag tänker på...

Några sådana metoder behövde jag inte ta till med den vackra Vanadis Falconer. Hon skickade mig minsann en liten underbar bildserie på sig själv och en bild på sin kusin Sjöfn Stoneshield. Bildtexterna är Vanadis egna.

"Som reporter måste man läsa in sig på en massa urtråkiga papper tack och lov måste man inte göra det på kontoret om man är freelance"

"Eftersom jag är äkta blondin så har inte vätesuperoxiden frätt sönder hjärnan så insidan är lika vacker som utsidan."

"Livet ska levas fullt ut. Alla sinnen ska vara med. Att dyka naken i 27° tropiskt vatten är en riktigt sensuell upplevelse."

"Den "nakna docenten", Sjofn är docent i sexologi vid Köpenhamns universitet, tar sig ett kvällsdopp tillsammans med Vanadis."