last updated:10.3.25
Artists. Website designers, developers. Copywriters. Movement facilitators. Photographers. Community Builders. Marketers.
Whatever your skill is. We need you.
Along with the crazy, the wild and the messy side that comes along with it.
we need humans to be humans first and then build businesses that help other humans. for humans, by humans. Away from the capitalistic, colonized version, away from the metrics of success that we have externally associated ourselves with, away from standups, daily check-ins, company town hall calls that feel almost robotic at this point.
I have had enough of that and I see a way ahead on how we can get there. It has always been infront of us, just covered up with the bells and whistles of fancy corporate, biz-talk. By doing exactly what we are on this planet for – to be a human.
Any business that exist in the world should be in the service of others humans. Period. One way or the other. Yes we can argue on the semantics and no, I’m not talking about ‘service’ as a means to pad the pockets of a select few.
Thats what those mission and vision statements of the corporate are meant for, I guess. But somewhere along the way, the line gets blurry.
Between making more profit and how do we get more people to pay for our “service/product” or less people to pay more for our “service/product”, vs what you probably joined that company for, hoping to make an impact.
_I have been there.
_If you are feeling that unease, that feeling of being lost. That this is not meant for you. That there has to be something more . That you want to know your purpose or your calling.
Lean into that feeling. Sit with it.
Sooner or later, trust me – it’s going to make sense.
I should add – don’t quit your job, just yet at least. You are probably not equipped to deal with the financial anxiety that comes with it, JUST YET.
I also want to offer a different perspective to the general opinion I am hearing for or against tech lately. Something I have believed in for as long as I can remember, that was ruined for a while when I was working in the industry.
I built my first website at 15/16, a vampire diaries site to learn about all the characters, episodes and story lines. It was detailed. To the dot.
I wish I had it saved somewhere because how in the world did I put it all together. My girlfriends at the time, did the same – S created a website for twilight series and R created one for Linkin Park.
yes, we were the cool girls…
We were just chicas having fun with our creativity. And excited at the possibility of learning new things and what we could do with this technology. We presented our sites to the class, giggled, had fun with it and went on to work on college applications
adhd sidenote: it was an all girls school in Srinagar – and after spending most of my school years in co-ed, it was a very interesting experience to study 2 years in all girls school.
My next website project would be in 2nd year of my university- it was required to complete the credits. So I spent the days during my summer holidays, mostly locked up in my room in Kashmir. Dad would bring me sliced fruits to nibble on. I learned php from YouTube and created a site for students to share class notes. It was a whole ass project, let me tell you. I even got my friends to play with it and test it out and we had a chat function and ability to send messages and all, lol.
Semester ended, I moved on.
AI started trickling in. I went to Canada, one because I wanted to escape ( thats not the point right now ) but two, I was genuinely fascinated at the possibility of what AI could do. I got my Masters at McGill and was all ready to start contributing to the society with all the skills I had learned in the last 24 years of my life.
We know what happens after. Far from falling in love with this dreamy, creative playground of bits and bytes, I became acquainted with KPIs, a success metrics to meet these artificial targets, that felt important but really, why am I doing this again. Would I be doing this daily if they didn’t pay me money, hmmm?
we optimize routes so we can deliver packages faster, but what we really optimize is how to make more money so we keep the investors happy.
Now there’s a nuance here and I am not saying every company is a capitalistic piece of sh*t. There are companies that are driven by their values and the founders are connected to themselves, to people, to land, to nature, to the essence of life, but sadly it’s not the norm.
What I am trying to say is that
IT IS NORMAL TO FEEL WHAT YOU ARE FEELING. thats what the unease is telling you.
You entered this world with a desire or maybe it’s time for you to question if it’s actually your desire or you following the desires of people around you
And somewhere along the way, you are lost, you feel like you are selling your soul to the devil, lol.
But my loves, tech is not the devil and no, you don’t need to run away to a farm and disappear off the face of earth to live a content life.
although not a bad idea, but land is expensive af these days and we do live in a world where resources are shared with this thing called money. And you gotta have money to spend money, right?
Now more than anything, we need each other. To support each other, to lift each other up. We need these micro-communities building a tiny world in itself, a community for humans, by humans. We need a way to help each other, to share our stories, to share our gifts.
YES – we all have gifts.
And tech is just a way to get there. I could be sharing this as a letter, sent by my dear kabootar, that I may own in some years from now. I don’t know how to train a kabootar ( pigeon ) yet…
but I have been friends with whatever “tech” encompasses since my vampire diaries days. And I am here to reclaim it, to redefine how I use this tool, to not let it dictate my capacity to show up as a human but let it be the kabootar that conveys my words to you.
Since morning I have chatted with 3 humans, conversations that have deeply fulfilled me
2 on zoom, 1 on WhatsApp.
How else would I connect with them if not for these tools. As much I am very quick to run away and book those flights, I can’t possibly travel to all these locations if not for the tech.
also I dont have that kind of money lying around. Listen, I am unemployed since may 2023.
So yes, we need you, not just alongside your wildness but because of your wildness, because of your big feelings, because of your empathetic side. Because thats how you stay in touch with your humanity. Thats how you remind yourself that yes, you are a human and it’s valid to feel everything you are feeling. Let this journey mold you, radicalize you, push you out of your comfort zone and it may not make sense right now but the change is happening and slowly, you are getting more resilient to handle the challenges that come with that voice.
It’s not meant to be easy but thats also why, that voice only reaches those who are a bit delulu at heart. Those who can’t just get rid of that voice, no matter how much they try.
trust your inner voice. trust your curiosity, trust your timing. trust your pace. trust your story.
I fucking love you. your chica 💋