EJ's Closet

If you have never read  the blog of Caoimhe Lionheart you should take a look. She always has something mind catching  for you  (anchailinalainn.com) . The other day I was reading her blog which prompted me to write the following. I hope it’s not too much of a dive into the topic, but here goes…

I have never muted someone. I try not to do things in SL that I would not do in RL…although there have been times in RL when a mute button would have been nice to have, just like those sliders in appearance wold be a real treat.

I have been muted once that I am aware of and I have a vivid memory of the feeling that it brought. I said something that was totally misunderstood, taken the wrong way it was intended. The person replied in haste and before I had a chance to tell them their interpretation was not at all what I was trying to say, I was muted. It left me no way to respond and try to clarify. I can see why the feature is offered as there are many types of people in this little virtual world in which we play that may cause strife to someone else. Being this is supposed to be a creative and interactive place for fun it would be hard to achieve some sense of harmony here if you could be mercilessly harassed. When it happened to me it brought home something which such clarity I am almost glad it happened.
The thing that it made crystal clear for me is how important our words are in this environment. Our words are our singular source of communication for the majority of our interactions (leaving out the chat feature for this topic).

When this incident happened to me I mentally reviewed the past weeks and tried to think of any time when I may have mis-communicated. I probably over-thought it as I have a tendency to be overly analytical when given the option. I quickly jotted down a note to someone which in the end was a bad choice as it created more issues than it resolved.

So the end result of all this is that now I am more careful in my choice of words when typing conversations or messages. Tone of voice and vocal inflection do not exist in text. What may seem an innocent comment may be misread on the other end, even with careful crafting.

What am I suggesting with all this? Just to be mindful that if you have a doubt about what is said in text to you, whether in a virtual world, the real world via a letter or a text message, give the person the benefit of the doubt and allow for the person to clarify the meaning of what you think they said. Sometimes it may carry the exact same meaning that you understood. But sometimes, it may be that you have read a different meaning into someone else’s words. If they are someone you have any regard for they deserve an opportunity to explain themselves to you, as much as you would deserve the opportunity to explain yourself if misunderstood. I think we all owe it to ourselves to be less quick to judge one another.

P.S. I love these new shoes from Trinite. They come in so many colors and you can wear them with almost anything. 🙂

Goodies:

Dress – Lela Flute Lace, Lilac .:ryvolter:. @ Uber

Jewelry – Tear Drops, Amethyst, Chloe

Shoes – *NEW* Sophia, Nude, Trinite (9 colors available)