I used to judge people who used things like the metaverse to escape. Dressing up as something or someone else instead of just being themselves.

People must be so unhappy with their life and self-image if they’re constantly looking for any chance to escape into a different world and become someone else.

While this may be true for some, I think it's a gross over-simplification for most.

Imagine a stereotypical businessman.

Catching the bus home from work, dressed in a suit and tie, steel framed glasses and maybe a receding hairline. Looks gentle, unassuming and non-threatening.

He gets home, gets changed into some shorts and a singlet, grabs his duffle bag and heads straight out the front door again.

Arriving at the local boxing gym, he walks inside and greets people by name. He knows everyone, and they know him.

He loves the smell here. The energy feels wild yet contained.

Seated on a nearby bench, he proceeds to wrap his hands tightly, securing them with a pair of boxing gloves.

The punching bag stares back at him like a familiar friend. The world outside of the gym disappears and he begins to deliver a flurry of punches. Each hit is more precise than the last. It's clear he knows what he's doing.

Is this escapism or is it self-expression?

It’s probably both. Two sides of the same coin.

You escape the normal state of things by expressing a different, yet equally relevant part of yourself.

Society has its norms and the majority of us have to abide by these norms to survive.

Things like professional dress standards, social dress standards, and social etiquette are ok. They have their place in society but they define WHO we are. At least not entirely.

The businessman is just one persona. He's also a father, an uncle, a husband, a gamer, a football fanatic and a boxer.

My wife wants to connect with me when I clock off work, not the entrepreneur in me. Not the manager, or creative direction in me. My kids don't care about my 12 o'clock meeting that went terribly. They just want to spend time with their dad.

We already carry different personas around with us, expressing each one at the right moment. Some moments are few and far between, leaving us longing for a place to unleash that part of us.

Looking at the Metaverse through this lens I now see things differently.

It presents an exciting opportunity for people to be their truest SELVES (plural).

We are not one-dimensional robots with only one duty. We are deep, complicated people with our own sense of individuality which I think can be fully realised and expressed in the metaverse to come.

What are your thoughts?