43 Comments

Dig it. Honest question, someone is printing their substack and mailing it out to people, right? There's gotta be someone that already got there, right?

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Pen pals are good. Inspiring children to create a better future? Sure.

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What a subject line! 👏😺

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hahah thank you!!!!

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Seth, your take on human creativity is really interesting. Imagine a future where human creativity takes on a whole new form, seamlessly blending with technology to create something totally new. This new era will combine the best of digital platforms and grassroots efforts to create unique connections that highlight the value of the artist’s message. By combining technology with human talent and passion, we can create a harmonious balance that elevates the art and the artist without compromising authenticity.

I know this might sound naive given our past experiences, but isn’t it worth considering that the past is behind us and there’s no turning back?

Can we afford not to explore this new frontier?

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That’s why I said “We’re not going back to how it was, we’re building it better.”

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We're not reverting. We're improving.

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I have a pen pal (a friend of mine who moved away) and I’m looking to host in person breathwork events. Having people over for dinner parties. I’m trying to start a fermentation club (called the “funky fermenters”) where we meet at each others houses and sample everyone’s latest ferments.

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Oh my goodness, this is amazing!!

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That sounds wonderful! Best of luck with your breathwork events and “funky fermenters” club!

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Thank you! My dream is to live in a place where I have friends near enough by that I can call them on the phone and say “I’ve got a banana bread fresh out of the oven” and they come over and we have tea and talk while eating it :)

I’ve had quite a few successful in person breathwork events, there’s really nothing like it! Although I enjoy facilitating online and building a little community there.

What’s something you enjoy doing in person or the “old school” way?

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Liz, I enjoy visiting exhibitions, and meeting artists in person. The energy and inspiration are unmatched!

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Jun 11Liked by Seth Werkheiser

Seth, this was SO GOOD!!!! It took me straight back to a time before social media when I wanted to form a "Women's dream group." So I put out an online classified ad and guess what? The women came! And they all physically brought their crafts to show what they do, and we talked in real life in a circle lol. What a concept nowadays, huh?

I think I'm actually going to write about this next week. Thanks for the inspo.

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author

HECK YES! Imagine that - people showing up, in person, being together, no algorithims, no AI bots, no techbro interference!

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Jun 11Liked by Seth Werkheiser

IMO, that takes way more bravery than showing up online. Walking into a real room full of strangers and sharing.

PS: Forgot to mention your headline is GOLD 😁

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Love this. Very inspiring. Grassroots. Going back to the 90s. Eric and I just did a podcast about decentralization. He's big into Web 3 and the transparency and autonomy it could offer individuals as long as it doesn't fall into the same old paradigm. But basically it's like "think globally, act locally."

https://open.substack.com/pub/johannadebiase/p/decentralization-applying-the-off?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=dax8a

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"Every casino has to pay out, or else no one would visit and play. The possibility that we might win keeps us coming back" - love this line, it's so true and I hadn't ever though of it that way. Being a mum has freed me from a lot of social media/internet culture in general. Being forced to leave the house multiple times a day to attend baby classes and playgroups etc has helped me to build a really solid, IRL community, and now I have that I don't know if I could go back to chatting to my friends primarily via my phone/an app

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Love this piece! We relocated to a glorious rural zen spot where email is yet to catch on with locals. I kid you not.

It’s simultaneously freeing + frisking to my soul.

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Oh my goodness, thank you!! And hey, go without email for as long as you can haha

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Oh Seth there’s no way I can be email free. And I don’t want to be tbh. But it makes communication with locals on business issues i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g! Carrier pigeons might be the way forward 🤣

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Oh, yeah.. just meant with the locals, I guess. Maybe those cans with the string between houses?

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Yes, let's do it! Thanks! 🙌

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...Seth...curious your thoughts on the A.I. creatorsphere...https://intelligentjello.substack.com/p/inside-the-ai-filmmaking-circle ... also for me the 2024 version of hanging out at the 24 hour diner in town has recently been the good old fashioned phone call...social media means we think everyone sees us...reality means we don't...it is incredible what a solid hello can do to our world...

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Not a fan of using AI to replace humans doing things. I mean, workshop some scripts or shots, or something, but as for replacing animators, or actors, or voice actors.. no thanks. I mean, I'm not a huge fan of CGI, but it's gotten so good that most times you don't see it, and it's still made and programmed and designed by humans.

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...i have the same feelings but i also feel like i am missing something as so many people are so gung ho on this ai communication moment...i read a dude last week who was working on building an a.i. tool to auto comment on his friends social media posts and couldn't help but laugh and think this dude was about to have no real friends...

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FOMO is required for the techno-lust to fully take hold!

Austin Kleon wrote a great post today, about a friend sending him a photo from years ago, with a personal note and all that. AI can't do that!

https://austinkleon.substack.com/p/meeting-yourself-again

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Jun 11Liked by Seth Werkheiser

“House shows. Thumb drive clubs. Snail mail.” Thumb drive clubs? What did I miss? Inquiring minds want to know!

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Yeah, it’s a thing, but I can’t find the article I read about. ARGH! Basically you have a network of trusted friends and you swap USB drives every now and again… music, videos, text notes, etc.

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Jun 12Liked by Seth Werkheiser

Right on! Thanks for the reply and the suggestions

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Jun 12Liked by Seth Werkheiser

I am falling down the rabbit hole(s) now. Thank you for sharing this. I’ll be joking the USB Club soon

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Jun 12Liked by Seth Werkheiser

Haha, I’ve never been a part of a thumb drive club, but it sounds so cool! Let’s start one! 😎

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author

I forget where I read about it, but yeah, it was wild. So what do we do? Just fill up a thumb drive and mail to each other? Do we make a list?

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Love this post! Just the hopeful message I needed to read tonight. :-)

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author

So glad to hear that!

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I agree. Really inspiring, Seth.

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I miss house shows and finding out about a local concert because I received a flyer on my car.

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Polishing up my dancing shoes now!

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Jun 11Liked by Seth Werkheiser

Snail mail would be fun…maybe homemade postcards🙂

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author

Yes! I bought some blank postcards at the art store. I need to actually draw on them and send them out sometime!

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