Embrace the future. Don’t fall behind.
Kill AI. Go analog. Be alive.

I get hit with both messages every day.
And like everyone I know, I live in the sloppy middle.

I fantasize about a life free of technology. But it is a fantasy.
I’m not going to live off the land. I don’t know the first thing about cows. And who would look after my 200 Instagram followers? How would we send the letters? The Light Letter Factory needs technology.

Still, I fear the reality of withering away without having actually lived.
I don’t want to be an AI boy, fed AI content, admiring my AI art.
More than anything, I resent the days when my screen time outweighs my sun time. And between work, my phone, and Netflix (not sponsored), that happens more than I’d like to admit.

There’s a tug-of-war in my body. An angst that wants to crawl out and pick a side. It’s the voice that overreacts and says, I’m buying cows.

So what are we supposed to do in the sloppy middle? Choose a side?

I’ve been searching for the secret. And because we don’t lie in the Light Letter Factory, I won’t tell you I’ve found it.

Instead, I’m trying something this week.
I’d like you to try it with me.
Tell me where it fails.

It’s simple: cherish the shit you love.

Sometimes I sneak into the attic, put on a record, smoke a joint, and play.
I stretch. I journal. I lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling. I make up stories in my head. Sometimes I write them down.

Sometimes I get a drink with a friend and talk.

On days that aren’t too crazy, I put my phone in a drawer and take my dog on an off-leash walk through the woods.

I like biking through the city with a good playlist.

This morning, everyone at the Light Letter Factory is writing down a list of the moments they cherish. The quieter parts of us that feed our soul. The ones that make us excited to be alive.

We have a sneaking suspicion that simply knowing what those moments are, and having them written down, will bring them into our lives more often. Not as optimization or self-improvement. Just as attention.

I’d rather focus on the shit I cherish
than the shame of coming up short.

I’ll share my list next week.
What’s yours?

Until next time,

Live your light.