VRChat

VRChat is one of those things I never thought I’d get into. I’m not the most social person (as you might’ve noticed), so I typically wander VRChat worlds in private instances. I’m always gazing off into moonlit oceans on speeding trains, walking the rainy alleyways of virtual city blocks, driving around islands dotted with sakura trees, hanging out and chatting with friends over long distances. Sometimes I Just do what I do in real life if I can get over my social anxieties: Head on over to a random bar and absorb the ambience of random conversations that come and go, sometimes getting the urge to jot down my observations like a virtual John Ashberry.

It’s a place to escape the physical realm; and I can’t overstate what kind of a liberatory experience that is. The ability to swap my body via avatars is a form of self-expression that I struggle to enjoy in real life, even if it’s mostly in private worlds to myself or with good friends. I’ve always been a very miserably self-conscious person, and VRChat has felt like a safe enough space to just have fun and enjoy simple, silly, and cute things.

If a machine of mine has the juice to power a VR headset, you can be sure VRChat has already been downloaded.