A couple of months ago I entered this nifty little virtual world called Second Life. For once in my life I found a place where I belonged. It felt as if everything I'd done prior was in preparation for my virtual life here. Build my own stuff? Great, I can do that. Script it to give it some advanced features? Not a problem. In fact, I ended up opening up and actually becoming, dare we say, outgoing.

I have this fear that one day it will all come crashing down, but I'm determined to enjoy it while it lasts. At risk of sounding full of myself (something I would feel endlessly guilty about saying in the "real" world), I excel in Second Life. And it's a good feeling.

I've already made quite a slew of wonderful friends. I think that's what has appealed to me the most so far. I've managed to find myself in a place where the people are not only friendly, but completely non-competitive and self-sacrificing. We all simply join together to make the place a little better for everyone. Where can you find that in real life anymore?