This spring, I will sell my laptop, move to a foreign city (Paris), and attempt to build a new life there without the use of the internet. Once a week, I will go to the library to check email and share my writing. Otherwise, I will rely solely on the postal service and a 2002 dumb phone. The question: is it possible to find a home, community, and love without the internet? Let’s find out.
You made it, you own it
You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in.
You don’t expect a grocery list to break your heart. Until it does.
I was filling shelves in the baking aisle, when I noticed her—an elderly woman clutching a handwritten grocery list that looked like it had been folded and unfolded a hundred times.
She kept glancing at it, then at the shelves, then back at it—like the list itself might change if she stared at it long enough.
I asked if she needed help, and she gave a small, tired smile.