why you chose the life you did

Table of Contents

• what drives people toward alternative lifestyles?

• how can we use this information?

• how’s my work going?

Hi dearest humans,

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, if you celebrate!

Having just returned from visiting my grandparents in Florida for the holidays, reeling in the culture shock of jumping between San Francisco and a small Floridian town, I thought back to one of the key questions of my research - what makes people choose alternative lifestyles?

but first, a quick poll! these are super helpful so i can make content that’s actually useful and enjoyable to you

what drives people towards ‘alternative’ lifestyles?

Across my 50 interviews of people living alternative lives (in one way or another), I always asked people, “What inspired you to live this way? To make such a big change?”

The answers were surprisingly consistent:

• dissatisfaction with their lives

  • a picture-perfect life in the suburbs becomes tinged with disappointment

• ‘doomers’ and ‘dreamers’

  • most people were either afraid our society is falling apart and wanted to prepare, or dreamed of building a better society themselves, or both

• financial & logistical stress

  • practical concerns like bills piling up, frustrations with long commutes, etc.

• trauma

  • most people living far from the mainstream mentioned childhood trauma that made them reconsider social norms, distrust conventional society, and feel comfortable deviating from others’ expectations

  • there’s also a large proportions of communitarians who have ptsd, seeking a sense of safety by living far from strangers, surrounded by people they know and trust

how can we use this?

looking at these factors lets us predict how popular alternative communities will be over time. it also allows us to leverage these principles to promote alternative lifestyles, if that’s aligned with your goals.

• don’t underestimate the power of practicals. if housing prices continue to stay high, parenting burdens seeming insurmountable, and the climate crisis looms large, interest in intentional communities will continue to grow

  • some financial stress can influence people to ‘buckle down’ in the mainstream; it’s when the obstacles seem insurmountable that people consider radical change

• it often takes some event making someone feel different that empowers them to live differently from the norm

  • often, this is trauma - or that’s how people self-described it. but maybe there’s other ways we can evoke this!

• ‘doomers’ and ‘dreamers’

  • evoking our existential fears for the future — and, evoking the optimistic aspirations that live on in us dreamers — can be a powerful force for promoting intentional communities

how’s my work going?

people keep asking: “how’s the book coming?” the answer: “pretty alright!”

it’s hard to explain sometimes that i’m not actually writing a book right now, i’m gathering support for a proposal of what this book could be. the literary world is weird! i’ll be sending out another round of queries soon, wish me luck :)

i’ve been working on publishing articles in newspapers, but it’s complicated to do so among all the turbulence of american journalism. even as a total outsider, i feel pressure from editors to ‘sensationalize’ my writing, leaning into click-bating grab-bites. after all, that’s how online publications stay alive these days. i’m trying to move forward carefully, appeasing them while honoring my ethics & these stories.

hope you’re doing well as well !

as always, sending much love,

jasper