Hey guys and gals!
I go by Asteel, I am the Community Manager of a VR Community called VRDominate.
I am brand new to this type of thing and I had no idea how to post correctly until after I ran out of RC yesterday. Haha. I then read a guide on how all of this works. So this is a pretty heavily altered post of what I put in my personal blog, but, I think it belongs here.Today I was really able to add and extrapolate on my ideas alot more information as today is what I would call a "good day." I read alot on naturalmedicine.io yesterday, and I think my personal story falls directly in @naturalmedicine. What I found was the first method I was ever able to attain a state of meditation, and feel honest to god peace in many, many years.
I Truely Hope that this helps someone, and that I can find more new friends in #naturalmedicine! Though my method of finding this level of this personal mental health relief uses technology, I think that it has more to do with the drive, focus, friends, and general since of peace than the technology itself.
Please read to the end and give the story a chance as it starts of depressing.
As I said in the subject though, I was able to find my way back from my dependence on all of the benzo's, tranquilizers, and other medicines that my doctors insisted was the only way to deal with my level of anxiety. I legitamely slept more hours a day than my cat did. I even worried that I wasn't capible of taking care of her... Not anymore!!! Below is a picture of the ludicruous amount of medicine they had me on. I had 3 piles, one for each part of the day/afternoon/night......
(an older picture of what I use to take daily, I scratched out all of the personally Identifying information)
I am 33, Disabled, due to an Aneurysm I had when I was 24. Because of that I have many issues. Agrophobia, Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Nonpsychotic Major Depressive Disorder, ... I only every leave the house when I need to be taken to the doctor. Because I had to learn to speak properly again and ended up in a wheelchair for a few years. Because of this I also aggrivated an injury from years before when someone crashed into me while I was driving. I now have spinal degineration issues and can stand for about 20 minutes maximum at the moment.... Not that I am complaining mind you, I am the lucky one!! I survived what most people don't and now I feel like I am finally coming out the other end much, much stronger! I really attribute this to my new friends, and Virtual Reality!
I have decided to spend my time, which I have nothing but time, to helping foster the VR Community and those that provide quality content, products, or developments to VR.
I have chosen to make VRDominate, or VRD, a not for profit. We don't charge anything to our "Verified Members" or to our community.
The entire point of VRDominate is to help VR in any way possible. We plan to do that by providing a safe place for VR Influncers, Developers, and Product Designers to meet, collaborate, and generally further the reach of VR.
The reason I have chosen to dedicate my life to this is pretty simple. As a disabled person that is unable to leave their home very often, and with no family, EXCEPT my cat Chrissy. 😻 I found very little in life to motivate myself. I saved what I was able to from my disablity checks for about 6 months and was able to put enough to the side to buy myself an Oculus Quest 2. The first game I downloaded, being a born and bred southerner, was a fishing game. I became so overwhelmed with joy just sitting there feeling like I was outside, doing something I use to enjoy that I actually started to cry. Grown man brought to tears by the wonders of Virtual Reality. This moment I can look back to exacly and say this... is when my life started to change.
From there I started to make friends from all over the world, I started participating in Discord Communities and became a Modorator for a well known VR Influencer.
I started up a great friendship with the owners of a company that makes perscription lenses for VR headsets, and they are the ones that truely got me out of my shell. They are the ones that helped me to create VRDominate. Just in case you guys happen to come across this, Jason, Will, you guys are legit my heros. Just having you treat me like one of the guys was very different in my life, and it allowed me to become the person I am now, and run the Community that we co-founded together!
My plans for the future, which I have not had in years, are to grow the VRDominate Brand, to become a symbol of trust for the VR community as a whole. Since we have applications, interviews, and a council made up of those same Verified Members, then when someone is accepted into VRDominate, they have been accepted by their peers.
Just because I am disabled doesn't mean I can not make something of my life!!! #YOLO :"P
Thanks for reading! This honestly was very cathartic for me. ❤️
Feel free to come and join our growing community! We would love to have you, especially if you are suffering from Agrophobia, Anxiety, Depression, Social issues!! VR changed my world!! I honestly believe it can help anyone willing to give it a try. It of course will not be for everyone, but the levels of peace and relief that VR and my general sense of purpose..... It has helped me come so far, and my phobias have gotten so much less extreme!!! I still am not over them by any means but I speak with people daily over my computer, I run a community with many well known VR companies/brands and hundreds of regular members. Most of which I am lucky enough to call my firends! :"D
I have made my way to a happy middleground but I plan to continue to get better and better throughout this journey!!!
-Asteel
P.S.
Also as a caviate, the link to your Communities Discord on your webpage does not work anymore. 😅I would love to join, learn, and meet some friends.
VRDominate Discord
VRDominate Website
