My friend Chloe celebrated her second rezday last week with a great rooftop gathering. I was really glad I could be part of the celebration, and it was fun to share our various SL beginnings with each other and to see the mix of people who care about Chloe. You can see in the photo below that Chloe, like most of us, has come a long way in refining her look over the last two years.

The party also reminded me that Chloe is just a week older than me in terms of SL, so my own second rezday is coming up this week. I’ll do a state of the Brandy post later about some of the highlights of my second year in SL. Since Chloe’s party, I’ve found myself trying to figure out where all the time has gone. It seems like the last year has passed in the blink of an eye, and sometimes, it feels I’ve done a lot, and other times, it feels like I’ve done nothing at all.

One of the things that I love about SL, however, is that I get to learn about people and events in a way that makes the world seem a bit more like that global village people discuss. I’m not sure I’d know much about the ongoing Victoria Bushfires in Australia for example if not for my friends in SL. Thankfully, all the Australians I know and care about are safe, but through them, an international news story feels like it’s happening in my backyard, and we can all do something to participate in the relief efforts.

Thanks to people like Autumn Hykova and Dakota Buck, we can easily donate money within SL to help with the relief for those people who have been affected. If you’re interested in contributing to their fundraiser with an item you’d like to donate sales from or through setting up a donation kiosk on your land, then IM Autumn Hykova for more information. Check out Achariya’s post We’re saving our own lives for some photos and slurls of fundraiser items already up for purchase, and I’m sure there will be many more such items soon.

Below you can see the set of eyes that I created for the fundraiser. Buy them at Shine located in Exile in Ivy Falls, and all money goes to the Victoria Bushfire Relief Fund.

We’re all in this together, and SL is one way that I’m reminded of that everyday.