Today's post, my friends, is about the next frontier of therapy, the next frontier of personal transformation, of community and social support where you can discuss your psychedelic experiences, meditate together, or even ... run a marathon?
That's right, we're talking about the Metaverse. Long seen as a fringe sci-fi concept as popularized by Snowcrash and Ready Player One, it is now readying to move to the big leagues. Just like traditional therapy sessions and group encounters have morphed into digital, virtual experiences via the likes of Skype, Zoom and Meet, these 2-dimensional interactions will one day be more like 3-D experiences, and if all goes well, you won't need a lot of centralized companies to intermediate. There is a LOT of room for artistic expression in the metaverse, and no one knows that better than content creator Robin Schmidt. Known in the crypto community by his handle "Supermassive", he has just run the first marathon in the metaverse.
(https://youtu.be/nMTTY4OdQHA)
And if he can run 65 kilometers in a virtual world (or worlds) for 9 hours, then coming up with a forum for therapeutic interactions shouldn't be that much of a stretch, right? What impressed me the most about his YouTube video chronicling his journey of training, building and completing the "metathon" wasn't just his passion to experiment - though that was evident too.
It is his desire to humanize the Metaverse, and to bridge the world between us as "meat bodies" and the virtual, mostly perceptual experiences. This is exactly the kind of question that traditional psychotherapy works with: what is the relationship between the mind and the body, the spirit that can soar and basic human needs and emotions? In running a metathon, Robin explores this question in a variety of ways, most touchingly by seeking out the community of Copper Canyon, Mexico -- a group of indigenous people whose very cultural identity is defined by running. They teach him about the relationship between himself and the earth, and Robin continues to explore how that concept fits into this nascent thing called The Metaverse on his YouTube channel, BasedAF.
We could get into their upcoming video about Metaverse dating platforms, but for now, let's come full circle back to the next phase of virtual therapy. If you could sit down in your own room and put on a headset and be transported into a room with a supportive therapist, would you do it? Why or why not? Would you want to build out an environment where you could explore various aspects of your past, or your dreams, or the things about the future that keep you up at night, in such a virtual world? Share your comments below, don't be afraid to experiment and break some things to find out what's right for you, and thanks for tuning in!
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