I am not a monk. I have not withdrawn to natural remoteness. No swamps or rocky islands surround me, just refineries and politics I despise. I work in a digital world. Silicon and glass and user interfaces are the obstacles I help people navigate at work. I tend to use those tools well so I serve by putting those skills to work for the public.
But.
More and more I hate am disenchanted with this world. I understand that the world is objectively better because of the ways that information and communication technology have modified it. Even the cesspool of social media hate is useful because it makes obvious how terrible people are, even when they aren’t being terrible to you. Sharing information is good, though not unreservedly so. And in the last few years as I’ve grown less and less enamoured with the internet I’ve been falling in love with bikes.
It’s not a clean replacement, of course. I use the internet to think about bikes and get ideas for future bikes and shop for bike parts. The manufacture of these bikes is part of the whole overseas manufacturing supply chain that relies on standardized shipping containers and that same communication and fossil fuel burning network that I am trying to escape.
But I can escape with a bike. I can ride and it feels like flying even if I’m actually not very fast.