By Klaus Bereznyak
When words left unsaid weigh heavily and the person we need to say them to is no longer with us, what solace can there be? In 2010, a Japanese garden designer Itaru Sasaki set up an old telephone booth in his garden in Ōtsuchi to continue “talking” to his cousin who had passed away. Knowing the line was not connected, he imagined his words carried instead on the wind. Since then, the idea of a kaze no denwa (a wind phone) has caught on and spread all over the world ... and even into the virtual spaces beyond our everyday 'first life'.
Thanks to a group of residents in Second Life, the wind phone phenomenon has taken root in the virtual world too. The Wind Phone Collective was formed to extend these spaces to others, offering places of solace where an avatar can let their voice travel in the wind to a lost loved one.
I spoke with Zoe Foodiboo, one of the founders of the collective, about how the idea came to her:
“I learned of wind phones in 2022, through a novel that a fellow book lover, Veyot, shared at a book club event. The novel is called The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina. One of my special interests in Second Life is curating meaningful experiences inspired by literature. So naturally, after reading about wind phones, I was inspired to host one at The Reading Room, my book-themed gathering space. Two years later, I added a second wind phone in Seogyeoshire.”
The presence of these installations has had a quiet ripple effect. “Having a wind phone has brought new friendships and kind words. People often share their experiences in my guest book or directly with me. Having lost SL friends myself, I also appreciate having a place of solace so close to home, where I can reconnect and remember them.”
In time, Zoe connected with another resident, Emm Evergarden, who had also created a phone booth sanctuary. This sparked the idea of networking such places together. “Thus the Wind Collective was born,” Zoe explains, “with the aim to help others create their own version of the wind phone and to share these spaces of solace with a broader community.”
So far, a handful of wind phones have been created across the grid, each with its particular atmosphere and setting. The most recent notecard of landmarks, available from any one of the windphone locations, lists five currently in service. So far, a handful of wind phones have been created across the grid, each with its own atmosphere and setting.
I started with Zoe’s original installation, the Reading Room Wind Phone. It lies along a winding path in Seogyeoshire (http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gundeulbawe/42/166/45). The path is bordered by wildflowers and shrubs, leading past cottages and gardens to a secluded spot where the booth waits. It feels nicely integrated with Zoe’s Reading Room, which is right next door, and, on lingering for a while, the poetry begins to seep in from the surroundings.
Then, staying in Seogyeoshire, which takes up an expanse of leafy acres
on the Northwestern side of the mainland continent of Jeogeot, it's not
far to the Seogyeoshire Wind Phone
(http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Seogyeo/210/246/39). Also placed
by Zoe, this one is a classic, red phone booth typical of British
yesteryears. If you use this phone, your whisperings will be accompanied
by bleating sheep. It's also close to the railway station, and it seems
appropriate that this is located in a spot that invokes the memories of
comings and goings: as if those missed have simply caught an earlier
train. It is also appropriately just next door to the local war
memorial, which offers a quiet place to sit in remembrance.
Seogyeoshire is a collective mainland community of homes, villages and landscaped spaces inspired by RL rural Wales.
In the nearby region of Somdari on Jeogeot, Petronella Piers hosts the
Somdari Wind Phone in a secluded garden
(http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Somdari/124/250/43). This wind
phone feels like a well-kept secret. It sits on the edge of broad lawns,
with well-maintained floral borders and trees. The sound of a waterfall
mingles with birdsong in the background and it feels truly timeless.
So, there are three wind phones, relatively close to each other, but
each with a slightly different atmosphere. The remaining two are further
afield.
The Cerulean Sea Wind Phone, created by Emm Evergarden, the other
instigator and founding member of the Wind Phone Collective, is situated
in the Cerulean Township
(http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cerulean%20Sea/28/133/24). This
overgrown booth, with its door hanging off, is located alongside the
remnants of an abandoned railway in a setting of delightful decay. The
area provides a gateway to the wider township, which is an easy place to
get lost in nostalgia and forget about the passing of time. As with all
the phones, there is a way provided to write a message to a departed
one or read those others have left, so the memories exercised (or even
exorcised!) have a communal as well as a personal aspect.
Finally, I visited The Respite for Reflection Wind Phone, which can be
found on the Gaeta V mainland in Huscovan
(http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Huscovan/78/80/33). It stands at
the edge of a cool green forest, attended by butterflies and fairy
lights. The location is close to the ocean, which infuses it with cool
mist and a shifting, mysterious light. The setting has a liminal quality
and feels more like a threshold between two worlds.
Choosing a favourite is completely impossible, but it's nice to think that one could choose from a few different settings the one most appropriate to the person you want to talk to on the wind. They are clearly valued and in use, judging by hearsay and the guest books. And there's room for more. Zoe has simple advice for anyone wishing to make their own: “There’s no ‘right’ way to set up a wind phone. Choose a phone that appeals to you. Set it up in a peaceful setting—perhaps with a place to sit. Let people know about it. Looking at images of wind phones around the world is a fruitful way to get ideas.”
The Wind Phone Collective compiles and distributes an updated list of wind phones in SL and welcomes new contributions. Nobody seems to have done an urban, grungy one yet. It would be wonderful to see some more Wind Phones in Second Life.
Join the Wind Phone Collective: secondlife:///app/group/7f110e95-6345-1567-65be-772c2833178e/about
Submit your own Wind Phone: Application link - https://tinyurl.com/sl-windphones
Klaus Bereznyak
