I think I have a problem...

Location Credit: Mopire City  - in Second Life

Look Credits:
Top: Vinyl - Marley Tee Cami - Grey
Jeans - Vinyl - Halsey Jeans Pak Dirty Blue
Footwear- [VERSOV] Jumpov (Group Gift 0L$)

Hair: booN - booN Lab.061 hair in Brown
Skin: - 7 Deadly s[K]ins - BALI gift  Fudge  (TCF Birthday Gift 0$L)
Septum Piercing: [Z O O M] Farasha Septum (Fameshed Anniv Gift 0L$)
Phone: REIGN.- Mouthe Phone Case- Cherry ( Gacha)

This is serious. This is becoming a real issue for me. I can't get enough and its too easy for me to just keep doing it. Some days I think I should just stop and ignore the urge to do it. Then the feeling hits me and I find myself wild eyed and chomping at the bit for the rush. I see one, then another, then another and I get so excited over all the options! Its all too much! Yet I lean in and choose whilst giving great consideration to which option will give me the biggest thrill in that moment. Will it be an Event or a Hunt?

Okay, so perhaps I'm being dramatic. However the above is exactly how I feel when I look thru my group notices and favorite blogs and see all of the Hunt and Shopping Event information.  And for whatever reason, the close of April and beginning of May seem to be like Christmas in SL when it comes to both. Two of my favorite monthly Shopping Events have B-days/Anniversaries, which means tons of amazing gifts! Then there's the matter of all of the Spring themed and pre-Summer themed Hunts with their tricky riddle hints and oddly placed tokens/objects that make you root around for them like a wild boar tasked to find the finest truffles out in the woods. If you do hunts you know that analogy is pretty accurate. Needless to say, there is so a virtual cornucopia of everything from Designer fashion to premium Decor and everything and anything in between that one can literally lose all sense of time and get lost in the pursuit of pretty things.

At this moment I am contemplating how much time I have to dedicate to attacking  the Peace on Earth-Peace by Peace Hunt.  I know I can't stay up too late tonight and go at it like I did last night with the Summer Loving Hunt ( which was AWESOME!).  Meanwhile Fameshed had their Anniversary Event, which too me way took many tries and way too many hours trying to get into. But when I did get in, it was worth it!  And the cherry on top was The Chapter Four Birthday Event. This one makes me giddy because  I regularly shop at this event as I am astonished by the prices of some of the amazing content I find. So for me, I would've definitely  been at that one anyone spending my Lindens gleefully.

Add to that the Groups...all the lovely Groups and their individual store Hunts and Promos. OMG then there's the current  Sunny Side Up Cart Sale @ The Wash, where I have been visiting alnost daily to buy more pretty stuff. Its just too much!  Yet I can't stay away! I can't stop! And I don't think I really want to! <Insert maniacal laugh>

In all seriousness, I love when all of the SL energies align and create a period of shopping, hunting and gift giving event perfection.  It makes it so easy for me to 1.Get a lot of nice stuff!  2. Obtain my goodies sans guilt as I get so much of what I already had my eye on for free or almost free.  3. I find new places to shop and or explore.  Fact: I talk about deals but I also patronize many of the Creators that make the gifts I fall in love with. So I am definitely one of those people that appreciate the events and hunts for more than just collecting free stuff, but truly finding new shops to shop in when I'm in a shopping mood. Much like in my RL, I mix High and Low. In SL that means I mix free and paid for, some times paid a lot for. I am not one of those people that believes it has to be ridiculously expensive to be considered the best.  So the deals I find IMHO are major deals and I love finding them by way of a Gift or Hunt Prize is a major plus .

The funny thing is, now that I play with this whole Flickr thing,I find that I really go hard with my hunting. I mean I was already a pretty fierce hunter, but now its with a mission and purpose! lol  I'll be completely honest; as much as I am not a a real player in the blog or photography game, I am LOVING challenging myself to meet the standards I see out there. No delusions of grandeur here, I know that I  am the epitome of just another anonymous Resident who simply wants my SL to be about something I find fun and interesting. No one may ever read this, no one may ever see my Flickr...but I still enjoy the hell out of both!  I'm still finding my way, looking for Groups where I feel I belong and where my perspective and I are welcome to participate. I'm not a clique or crew person, but it is nice to be in the company, even if just in a photo group, with people who are doing what I enjoy doing.  But even without that, I log in and amp up to hit the hunts, shopping events and sales. And I get so excited about my fresh finds. After I get my looks together I can't wait to shoot them asap.  I do it mostly for my own enjoyment, like several time consuming hobbies that I rotate in my free time.  However, I also like the idea of being a part of something that says something positive about Second Life.  I am truly  having a ball developing my own swag and workflow with the whole thing. I get a real sense of satisfaction when I see a finished look and photo that fits right in with the work of people whose work I find so much fun to look at. And although I am an unknown, I am over the moon that anyone has felt it to Fave anything I have uploaded.  I must say, its nice to get that nudge of approval.  Which ironically is something I tend to get numb to or rail against in my RL business, which is a creative one. How funny is that? 

When all is said and done, I know why I can't stop hunting and deal chasing; its because its fun! I can do it at anytime day or night that works for me. Hell I'm getting over a nasty cold ( I refuse to call it the flu but it felt like hell)  and being able to log in, doll up my Avatar and take pretty pictures while convalesced in pajamas looking and feeling every bit of a hot mess, was such a joy. I got to play Fashion Editor, Stylist and Model in my own head while feeling horrible. Where I couldn't go anywhere in my physical world I could go anywhere and have my pixel self look and feel great, and share the moments with others.  In turn, it actually helped me feel better. If nothing else it took my mind off of how not ok I was. And when I think about it, SL in general has been that in the past during other sick days, down days, and downright bad days. (Perhaps I have just established a premise for another blog for another time...)

Anyway, the way I see it  is all of us random anonymous SL shutterbugs and bloggers...we're all in the same boat...rather cruise ship due to the number of us out here. lol   Everyone is either finding or creating their own niche, SL experience or at least a part of it, and doing so while sharing a part of themselves in a far more real way than any awkward introductory IM ever could.  We all have something in common, whether you be a  popular well known SL personality, or are just a wildly creative Resident who wants to share and show others how you see our shared 3D world.  I find that so cool!  So when I'm out Hunting and profile peeping and see a Flickr or Blog URL proudly noted in the "About" window, I smile and am reminded that, people just want to share and connect.  Fact of that matter is , that is what we all are doing.  Some may have followings most, of us never will, but we are all sharing and connecting. All equally human creating pixel visions and stories, pleased with ourselves that we are brave enough to say " I am here too..."

Location Credit: Mopire City  - in Second Life

Look Credits:
Top: Vinyl - Marley Tee Cami - Grey
Jeans - Vinyl - Halsey Jeans Pak Dirty Blue
Footwear- [VERSOV] Jumpov (Group Gift 0L$)

Hair: booN - booN Lab.061 hair in Brown
Skin: - 7 Deadly s[K]ins - BALI gift  Fudge  (TCF Birthday Gift 0$L)
Septum Piercing: [Z O O M] Farasha Septum (Fameshed Anniv Gift 0L$)

Butterflies: Wasabi // Butterflies swarm (for photos) - (FaMESHed Gift 0L$)
Guitar :M*Mibson Flying-V Play Guitar (Gift no longer available )


Kudos to all of us for sharing!

And yes... I just took the long way around and  have just justified my addiction to Hunting and Shopping.   And I feel no shame as I sincerely do feel that sappy about humans reaching out to other humans thru creativity.  In today's world I applaud anything that demonstrates how much more alike we all are than different.


Luvya ya...mean it!
Winter-Mia