For anyone who's interested, I decided to make my member page about why I like to roleplay.
A Few of my Favourite Temuairian Things.
When I was younger, I played a lot with legos. I really got into the midieval sets like the Forest Dwellers, Pirates, Magicians, etc. The historic time period of Magik use has always fascinated me. The imagination and creative energy in this setting gives me a good feeling that there is a lot of mind power in the universe.
When someone says to me that roleplaying is silly and a waste of time, it really irritates me. Whether they want to believe it or not, everyone roleplays. People are constantly putting on an air that they are someone they really aren't, whether you pretend you're rich and famous, or you have a cute boyfriend, anything to make you out to seem better than you actually are.
In Temuair, or in any fantasy roleplaying game, you can be anyone you want. It's a temporary escape from reality.
AND TEMPORARY ESCAPES FROM REALITY MAKE ME GIDDY.
The key word here is temporary. Roleplaying becomes an addiction and a problem when the person playing the character doesn't want to get out of character when the game stops. I know a lot of people who are like this. Roleplaying is so much fun for them that they sink into it, it becomes the only fun thing in their lives and they turn into really annoying and frustrating people to be around.
I was like this, you know. A year ago, all I did was play Dark Ages. My life was so empty, it was the only thing I did during the day that made me feel good about myself. And then I did a little travelling.
I went to Hawaii for three months. It was the most amazing, life-affirming experience I've ever had. The people I stayed with in Hawaii didn't get a newspaper, let alone have a computer. There was no radio, no TV, and the electric lights were solar powered, only lasting about an hour at night when the sun went down. It was magical to live dependant on nature, rather than to have nature dependant on me. We grew our own food, including 200 varieties of tropical fruits, herbs, and flowers, but no meat, no grains, and hardly any dairy. It was rough at first.
I began to really miss meat. One night, as the full moon rose over the palm trees, I became so ravenous for meat that I concidered setting out to hunt down an animal myself (mongoose?). I stayed with a relatively well-off family (as in, they had food on the table every day.), but later I stayed with a girl who didn't have any food (she didn't seem to mind, which was the really frustrating part) and it was often the grace of god that we had dinner on the table at night. I was often hungry.
One of the really tough parts of this adventure was being nice to people. This is not to say that I don't enjoy being nice, what I mean is that the people I stayed with were not often nice. But I had no where to go. When you have no place to live, and no food, you have to be nice to whoever you're staying with, for sheer survival. The hardest thing I ever did was have a girl I was staying with on the Island touch me in a way that I didn't like, and then not be able to tell her I didn't like it, for fear she wouldn't let me stay with her anymore. It sounds ridiculous, even to me, now when I think about how I had to reserve my feelings and judgements.
This experience really woke me up to what I value in life. I know what's important to me now. Loving and being loved, sharing life with people i like, being generous to those who are needy.
Ciuin Oraibh I hope will reflect the things that I value in myself, because I put a lot of myself into the characters that I create. Treating people the way you like being treated, understanding each others' shortcomings, making a real effort to live in peace amongst each other rather than quarreling over misunderstandings, swallowing pride, living in the moment.
Be Here Now!
I love to roleplay, so I thought I could really put the values that I love in life into my character Tzeira. I figured, she can be the embodiment in aisling form of the person I hope to become. A little "out there," but maybe if i can roleplay Tzeira in this way, some of her qualities will stay with me after the computer is off.
In Hawaii, I stayed with Krisna devotees on Mauna Kea. I learned from them about the inner serenity of Buddha, of my inner buddha. I hope to make Tzeira a model of the buddha within me, and the more time I spend with her, watch her, interact with her and with the aisling characters that I care about, the more I hope to become like her.
Though I doubt I could ever follow the precepts of perfect love to the letter in my own life, I hope that Tzeira can come pretty close to it, and maybe the concepts of perfect love will touch someone else in their hearts. What everyone needs is love. 100% Pure Love, no self-interest added.
This is the goal that I hope for with Ciuin Oraibh. I am trying to make a community of aislings who want to roleplay peace, love, wisdom, and understanding. If you are interested, I would love to hear from you. Please write to me at the address on the bottom of the page.
