Hi Subscriber First Name,

I’ve been sitting with the feeling for a while that we’re living our lives the wrong way round when it comes to technology.

This isn’t an anti-technology rant. We all use technology every day and some of it has undoubtedly made our lives easier. If I had family in Australia, for example, I’d quite happily use a video call to see their faces. That technology helps me feel connected to people I love.

The question is what happens when the technology stops serving us and we start serving it?

AI has been in the news a lot this week, for some very valid reasons. Its demands on energy, water and other natural resources are growing, while the power and economics surrounding it raise some pretty uncomfortable questions.

But I also worry that we’re being encouraged to become increasingly binary about it all. The AI evangelists on one side, the supposed ‘luddites’ on the other, who are perceived to just not get it. Another battle line drawn.

If I’m honest, I’ve felt uneasy about it from the start. Not because I don’t get it, but because throughout history, we’ve watched amazing technological advances being adopted, distorted and owned by some of the most wicked people out there. That’s not a problem with technology, that’s a systemic problem of greed and morality.

So when we hear people feeling uneasy about where we’re heading, they need to be listened to and respected.

A couple of weeks ago, the inspirational Wendell Berry sadly died. A writer, farmer and environmental thinker, Berry spent much of his life asking the biggest questions of humanity.

Writing about technology throughout his long life, he offered beautiful and relevant reflections:

I love that last line.

Not because I think we should all throw away our laptops, sell our cars and start always chopping our own firewood but because it reminds me that we have choices.

We don’t have to use every technology simply because it exists and choosing not to use something doesn’t have to become a badge of purity either. Wendell used technology but he chose when and how it benefitted him and whether it was causing harm. And the man hand cutting his wood was a mirror for us to use when we consider our own choices.

It’s a reminder that sometimes technology is genuinely useful and it can make something better. So sometimes I’ll use the chainsaw but at least I’m making the decision consciously and sometimes slowing down can be the wiser choice.

There’s an animist thread here too.

I believe that we aren’t separate from the living world. The minerals in our phones, the energy powering our servers, the water used to cool them and the land from which everything comes. It isn’t really ‘somewhere else’, we are in relationship with all of it.

And perhaps that changes the question again.

Not simply: what can this technology do?

But: what kind of relationship does it create? What are we bringing into being?

Technology itself is part of human creativity and emergence. The problem isn’t necessarily the tool, it’s what happens when we forget why we created or chose the tool in the first place.

Which is why I’m so excited about some of the things I’m creating with other people right now. They’re not designed as a permanent escape from the modern world but as spaces to pause long enough to decide what kind of world we actually want to live in.

Upcoming Events

Natural Healing from the Source

18th September: 6pm - 7.30pm. Tickets here

I’ve been invited to speak at this event in Westbourne, Bournemouth. Come and join us as we explore health as a whole and not just fixing a part as we learn to heal root causes.

The Natural Network at Patch

24th September: 10am - 12pm. Tickets here

Our monthly gathering at Patch, exploring how we work, lead and do business in more sustainable, human and natural ways. We’d love you to come and join us.

And then there’s something new.

Kate and I have just launched Gather…

Gather at Four Acre Farm

29th September: 6.30pm - 8pm. Tickets here

Once a month, we’re opening the gates at the Farm and inviting people to come and gather yourself, gather together and gather on the land.

Momentum is building, our longer table events have already started to bring together folk who are seeking new ways, new connections and deeper converstations. We want to extend these opportunities and begin a rhythm - one that you can drop in or out of or join us each month as a way of keeping the thread going within your life.

Wrapping up

Gathering together and starting new things can feel like a small thing. But perhaps small things are exactly where we start?

I don’t think the answer is to reject technology or to blindly embrace it. We need to free ourselves from false dualities and to do that we need to access our wise mind.

So I think the first thing we can do is to pause and to reconnect with ourselves, each other and the more than human world.

And then ask:

Where do we want to go?

Only then should we decide what tools we need to get there.

With compassion and curiosity,

Nick