To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven...

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
~Ecclesiastes 3: verses 1 and 4. Bible [KJV]

"One warning is perhaps in order---this territory we are entering can become a fantastic time-sink. Hours can slip by, people can come and go, and you'll be locked into Cyberspace. Remember to do your work!"

~Brendan P. Kehoe in his introduction to Zen and the Art of the Internet, A Beginner's Guide to the Internet. January 1992.

Mr. Kehoe's words could just as easily describe the experience many of us have in Second Life. Almost everyday I hear new residents saying how addictive the 'game' is and that they really need to cut back their hours online. I know that to be true myself. In my first few months I was on almost night and day. I would crawl off to bed exhausted around four or five a.m. only to get up at 7:00 and try to hide the fact that I was dead tired. After breakfast and coffee, LOTS of coffee, I was logging in again to explore more of the world.

I have seen horror tales of people who have destroyed their real lives as the ignored the families and closed themselves off into a room with their computer to completely immerse themselves in the virtual world. They did not play an avatar, but became the avatar and returned to real life only to eat and sleep.

Luckily for me I was on summer break and I could get away with sleeping late if I felt like it. By the time school started again I had a schedule that was much more reasonable. My first girlfriend was British and there was a five hour time difference between us. If I could login at 5:00 p.m. in the USA, I could spend a couple of hours with her before she logged off at midnight in England. If I pushed myself in the morning and got up at 4:00 I could spend and hour before I had to "wake up" for breakfast and work. We could spend more time together on weekends.

When that relationship ended I met a Dutch girl. The time difference was six hours, but it meant that we only saw each other on weekends. Now my girlfriend lives in the same time zone and so do some of my friends. My hours are more reasonable, four or five per night. Hey, I could just as well waste my time watching TV. I still spend more time online on weekends, but that is what a weekend is for.

One thing though. I have always made time for my family and real life friends. I keep real life real and know the difference between my virtual life and reality.