1. CONFESSION: I WAS a PRISONER of the ALGORITHMS
For years, I have sold my attention like a street vendor hawking counterfeit watches. Instagram? A slot machine I pumped with quarters. Twitter? A barfight I kept rejoining, convinced this time I’d land the knockout punch.
Then I noticed:
- My best writing died in drafts or sits unpublished in google docs or notes, aborted for posts that “performed.”
- My daughter knew the TikTok dance but not the names of our backyard trees.
- My insights, thoughts, or even rage have been commodified—algorithms sell it back to me as “engagement.”
I left. Not to a cabin in the woods, but to an abandoned house in Otaru, Japan where I’ve not only been redefining and refurbishing my house but also redefining and refurbishing my self.
Today, I am not who I was.
I tried to pass myself off as a thoughtful travel writer, a hopeful entrepreneur, and an innovative businessman worthy of investment by big firms or companies. That person was a lie - created to be shared, liked, funded.
I am exactly who I am and always was - but wasn’t sharing with the world. I’m a pissed-off smart-ass storyteller who doesn’t mind digging through a pile of shit to find a nugget of gold. I’m a treasure hunting pirate that has no problem salvaging from the abandoned or wrecked to retrofit my pirate ship and fund my next adventure. I’m a prophet of doom and a visionary who can see how we can escape what looks damn near inevitable if people don’t wake up. I’m the most loving parent, teacher, and friend you will ever meet because I understand that you can’t use an assembly line to bring a human being to their full potential. I’ll be honest - I want to save everyone, but those who won’t be saved or won’t change their outlook or mindsets - maybe they need to be recycled and used as fuel to get the rest of us to the next level. If mutiny is required and we are all set adrift on a lifeboat, the officers who eat the first meal will be the last one.
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2. THE ESCAPE PLAN (NO MARTYRDOM REQUIRED)
STEP 1: BURY THE “PERSONAL BRAND” YOU’VE BEEN TOLD THEY WANT
- Delete the apps that pay you in dopamine coupons.
- Let your social profiles go dark. Or not - but stop caring about them. Change your name to what you hate or love or post intentionally useless content—I upload photos of moss at least twice a year that doesn’t perform for alogorithms by design. Duck em if they don’t like moss.
- But what about my audience? Your real audience will find you through the cracks in the system if they are really your audience, but honestly, they’re probably not. All those followers you care about (really, do you?) - you are nothing to them - unless you actually do matter to them in which case they will likely appreciate seeing the real you suddenly come swinging a billyclub.
STEP 2: STEAL BACK YOUR TIME
- The 3-3-3 Method:
- 3 hours for paid work.
- 3 hours for creating what terrifies you.
- 3 hours to be a human who notices things (e.g., how crows walk and interact with each other, how a spider spins its web).
-15 hours to do whatever the fuck you want or need to do.
Honestly, a 21-hour work week should be reasonable for anyone and if it isn’t, we should all rise up and exile the bosses to somewhere worse than Elba. Maybe South Florida.
STEP 3: WEAPONIZE BOREDOM
The attention economy fears an idle mind. It’s where real rebellion germinates.
- Sit with a notebook and nothing else. Take it to a cafe. Go to a park. Sit on your sofa with the TV off.
- Take long walks without a destination.
- Meditate without rules.
- Rewrite corporate TOS agreements as dystopian poetry.
- (My favorite: “By clicking ‘Accept,’ you forfeit your right to dream.”)
- Don’t endlessly scroll. If you must or love it or want to do it - pick a time and set a timer. Do it with intention or not at all.
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3. WHY THIS ISN’T PRIVILEGE—IT’S SABOTAGE
People say: “Must be nice to opt out.” Bullshit. You won’t die, you don’t have to be rich.
- The “always-on” life is a pyramid scheme—you’re not the player, you’re the product.
- Every minute you reclaim is a strike against their machinery.
- “But how will I eat?” I made more selling $5 guerrilla guide than I ever did from ads. Also - if you are reading this, trust me, you won’t starve. You have options. First world options even if you are living in the third world.
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YOUR FIRST MISSION (IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT)
1. Today: Block one news site or social media site that profits from your panic. Delete your account and find a way to block it forever.
2. This Week: Write a letter by hand. Mail it to someone who won’t “like” it. (fun fact: I did this last week and got a call from the recipient who couldn’t stop telling me how much it meant to them, how it brought tears!)
3. This Month: Create something too strange to monetize. Bury it where only the right person will find it. Dylan Merz recently introduced me to a LinkedIn subculture called Fellowship of the Weird…find your people. (My last burial: A short story sharpied onto a sake bottle, left at a shrine.)
4. Every Day. Talk to strangers. Find a reason. Any reason. Ask a question. Pretend to be lost. Give a compliment. Pretend they are someone you know. You never know when a stranger might be someone who changes your life.
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English (US) ·