Most of us spend more time staring at screensphones, laptops, flatscreensrather than each other these days.
An almost imperceptible shift is happening.
While intelligence from tech gets more artificial, people are balancing it by seeking more authenticity and connection.
Panuwat - stock.adobe.com
We are morphing from the online creatoreconomyto the relationship economy.
This is the next wave.
Often a majority of people have never heard of them.
So how does one step out of this cacophony of online noise?
Music artist Amanda Palmer is one early example of this transformation.
Her Kickstartercampaign in 2012was heralded as the first to raise over one million dollars for a musician.
Her subsequent book and TED talk, The Power of Asking, demonstrates her relationship economy savvy.
She would rather stay with fans (at the time) than rent hotel rooms during tours.
Another example of the relationship economy is physical, not digital.
Blockbuster franchises, while appealing to many, leave just as many great script ideas unmade.
To fill in the gap, start-ups like Legion M are utilizing a new model of crowdfunding.
Movie fans can invest in the company and become stakeholders.
The Rolling Stone Culture Councilis an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives.Do I qualify?
Its too much for our brains to compute.
We form communities based on commonality religion, sports, music, festivals, bands, etc.
Now with the freedom of a click, we can swim into the online multi-verse.
The cost of flights, hotels, food and concert tickets and effortisthe relationship.
What steps can you the reader take to embrace this cultural shift?
The answer is if you cant join a tribe, how about starting your own?
A photographer friend recently started a community for other photographers.
They host meet-ups in Brooklyn where they share their work, and connections happen organically.
For hours each day, he was shaking hands with what some might call the common folk.
Most waited all day just to shake his hand and snap a selfie.
This person-to-person connection forms bonds that no click funnel, no online course, no book can create.
Clicks and likes are not what will be inscribed on our gravestone when our time is done.
Its the people, the relationships weve made, experiences we have shared.
That is the gold at the end of the rainbow.
