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Dear Friend,
I was up late last night, even though my eyes were bleary, my mind raced. I remember having a question I very much wanted to ask you, but now in the light of morning it has vanished.
I woke up late today, as the dawn was rising instead of the usual darkness. The snow is no longer falling, everything is bright and blankets of powder swirl into kinetic sculpture as far as the eye can see. Yesterday, there was a calm spot behind one of the trailers, and as we worked, I watched a drift pile up like an hourglass. The ground was nearly bare when we arrived, and by the time we left the snow had formed a mound with a cornice higher than my waist.
It is extreme here, and I love it. What I am missing is kinship. I have this night-overwhelming hunger to be doing more – to be finding people like when I was living in New York in 2016. I’m missing the cities and at the same time struck by the realization that everyone is online. As much as I prefer in-person experiences, I can do more to find and grow the tribe here on the internet.
I did a little navel-gazing last night. I found page upon page of bright people desperate for the same sort of kinship I’m hungry for, on Reddit, on Quora. There is an epidemic of loneliness. A huge opportunity to engage people with meaning. I think I can find people.
Originally, with Inchoate, I planned to find people with clever advertising on instagram and youtube. To draw them to Maine. I think that is still part of the plan, but I’m seeing more clearly now that I need to engage folks, people like you, and bring them together more often than what we can manage in person. We don’t have the critical mass yet.
Life orienteering was something I started with Cody, a structure to help people explore themselves and their values in small groups of fellow seekers. It will not be as wonderful without her, but I can make something people value. I can improve. I can chip away at it.
I’m going to seek out adventurers and wanderers on LessWrong and 80,000 Hours. I’m going to design Life Orienteering programming that people can do anywhere, with anyone. I’m going to rediscover humanism and the humanities, and start hosting Deep Dives again.
I’m hungry, but with a little work it’s not too hard to nourish myself. Will you join me?
Time to prepare for the field.
Love,
Brad