In a time of seemingly instantaneous online community powered by well-oiled algorithms, it’s easy to have a sense that everyone we need is a click away. And in some ways maybe it is partially true.
But I’m old enough to remember an internet that still had an element of chance and sheer luck in how you made connections. The digital hallways and expressways were still clunky enough that you could get lost, ending up on an obscure bulletin board that might change your life yet remain completely immune to commodification by corporate interest. Back then, you were regularly reminded that sheer luck still played a role in how you found things online.
As I work to build community in my new homeopathic practice, in addition to my work as a cultural strategist, I’m a little wary of today’s internet and its tendency to squeeze us like lemons, every ounce of our attention going to the highest bidder. I’m Gen-X enough to distrust systems whose singular goal is profit. Today’s internet is ridiculously convenient, in some ways, but I think it comes with a price.
As I grapple with the tension of working online to build a sustainable practice, I return to a kind of invocation for the year ahead, a *petition of the independent practitioner:
For those I needed, and found, this year, thank you. If there is someone in your life who might benefit from homeopathic care, or would like to learn more, you know where to find me. And may we all do well together in the new year.
* - Thanks to Aidan Wachter, animist writer, for this.
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