The Drax Files Episode 10 features Robin Sojourner, even I’ve heard of Robin Sojourner, I mean since my very early days in Second Life back in 2007. There’s a reason for this, Robin Sojourner is Robin Wood, the T-Shirt lady, who? you may think, but for those of us who have been here a while, that T-Shirt tutorial and template have been an absolutely awesome introduction to creating content in Second Life.
So when Drax tipped me off earlier in the week as to who this week’s Drax files was about, I was rather excited and the end result of the episode is one that leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling. The inerview is superb, Robin talks of how much the Second Life world has changed, how mesh has made so many things look different but one of the best points in the video is when Robin talks about how people who have no idea that they are creative come in to Second Life and find out that they can make things, and that is such a wonderful concept and one that I can agree is true. I am, to say the least, artistically challenged and whereas my creations in Second Life are hardly going to win awards, the fact of the matter is that my creations exist in this virtual world and it’s a wonderfully empowering feeling.
I certainly agree with Robin when she mentions that we are taught that creativtiy is reserved for the creative types and that they are special, but it’s just not true. I’m not trying to undermine the creative types in Second Life, there are some wonderfully creative people, but what Second Life allows is for those of us who don’t think we are creative, to create, and although being at the top of the game does take extra skills and extra imagination, the very fact that so many of us in Second Life can create to a degree, is what makes it such a wonderful platform.
What Robin is basically saying is that people should not be put off creating because you think you can’t create, Second Life is a platform where you may well be able to but the message runs to other platforms and other mediums. People need to learn how to create, but within Second Life there are tools that can aid you, one of the best quotes from the interview is “You can never be successful at everything and you will never become good at anything if you don’t fail a whole lot of times first.”
The message here is really, give it a go, then give it another go, don’t be put off from creating content just because you think you can’t, or you think you’re not artistic or you think you will fail. Sometimes it won’t work out (mesh clothing anyone?) other times you’ll find, you can actually do it.
This is a wonderfully inspiring interview and I’m so very glad it had been published, good work all round.
Awesome. I love Robin. She has always been so good to me.
Great story and some very insightful observations on Robin’s part. I sure hope this and the other Drax interviews are being seen! There is such a scewed interpretation of SL out there. Well done!