I am lying outside on the grass at the Greek Theater. I feel the itchy grass between by toes, the breeze against my bear arms, and the sun warming my face. I see the lake through the forest of trees. I also notice all the little bugs in the grass, as I am technically an intruder in their world. I also see a couple of my classmates sun bathing on the other side of the theater. I smell the fresh, cut grass. I hear the faint cries of birds and the laughter of my classmates avoiding their copious amounts of homework. Outside I feel refreshed and lively, as opposed to when I am in a consensual hallucination, I feel stressed. I feel the need to constantly reply to emails or text messages or Facebook chat invitations. In a consensual hallucination I am hunched over staring at a computer screen gripping the mouse. Outside I am lying on my stomach with a wooden pencil in my hand and feel extremely peaceful. I sometimes get too wrapped up in what I have to do that I forget to take the time to observe the world I live in. While I am more connected to everyone else online, I feel disconnected. I notice a separation between the natural senses of the world like the sun on my face or the bugs crawling on my legs, all things simple and the desire to stay in touch, to constantly be connected. This course has definitely opened my eyes and I have begun to slowly resist technology and spend more time outside with my cell phone turned off because I fear the consequences of becoming completely consumed in a virtual world.

I wish the course had made us take one day and enter into a virtual world and/or play World of Warcraft. I personally have never gamed before and think the topics we discussed regarding Second Skin were not relatable because I never had personally experienced it. I think allowing ourselves to be consumed by the virtual worlds for say three hours would make seeing the effects of gaming more real.