I guess it was around the time I was fourteen when this image, a picture of a character and their device, flashed into my mind. That character wore modified glasses that allowed them to see the real world with one eye and the digital world with the other.

I saw the character walking somewhere, perhaps fulfilling a quest in a game, perhaps looking for something or someone. As they walked their path sometimes, they encountered an obstacle on either side. This image popped into my mind the other day leaving me with unanswered questions: “Who is this character? Where are they going? What are they looking for?”

I had to ask them for a single image doesn’t make a whole story and I wished to weave a captivating story about someone, who is partly living in two worlds. However, the answers never came as there was no story to unfold. Many years down the road and I am learning about blockchains and smart contracts and witnessing the metaverse grow, I concluded:

The story was not for me to tell, it was for me to live it.