... as you walk through the thicc, heavy fog, a strange shadow materializes in front of you. waving your arms to disperse the haze, you find yourself looking at three wide, stone steps that lead to a small platform with a brown wooden door. the door is not connected to any structure; in fact, there is nothing behind the door but more fog, but you understand that this is all just metaphors and imagination and shit, so the laws of physical reality don't apply here. the door is probably a portal or something, and you can probably open it and go somewhere that isn't so featureless or boring. as you ascend the steps onto the platform, a small text window pops into existence right in front of you and pauses your progress. it reads: > [!quote]+ Welcome! > sup friends and/or strangers and/or future-ex-wives, > > it's ya boi sam. if you're reading this, you probably already know who i am, but what's all this? it's proof that there's a LOT about me that you don't know! i have so much that i want to share with you, and i hope you accept this invitation to slowly and substantively connect in deeper, more interesting ways. > > you probably know that i've deactivated all of my social media accounts, and since doing so, i've been trying to be more mindful and intentional about my social life. our relationships to each other are our most important sources of growth and joy, but it is deeply troubling that our main avenues of communication are social media ecosystems that narrow our connective capabilities by making our expressions smaller, simpler, stupider. > > rather than try to fight against this diminishment/degradation of social bonds on social media platforms themselves, i decided to leave those spaces altogether and create my own; this site is my attempt to reclaim intentionality and agency over the creation/curation of my friendships. instead of trying to reach you in the midst of a roaring, rushing river, i offer you a calm and quiet spring, one you can drink deeply from on your own time and terms. > >this site is intended to be a complete replacement for my entire digital presence, so it'll act as a catch-all for posts big and small. i want to share minutiae (memes, weekly life updates, and miscellaneous musings), but with my deeper dives, i hope i can also challenge your beliefs, expand your perspectives, and nudge you into living a more effortful but more rewarding life. > >thank you so much for stopping by, INSERT-NAME-HERE, you INSERT-PLAYFUL-INSULT-HERE! if you're ready to peer into my depths, a highly exclusive privilege once reserved for a select few (namely my ENT and my proctologist), i invite you to come on in and get exploring! > >your friend and/or ex-stranger and/or future-ex-husband, >smws you rapid-fire-press the A-button to skip through that pesky, long-winded exposition; you just wanna see what's behind the goddam door already. as you place your hand on the knob and turn, something smacks against your back and thuds softly on the floor behind you. what's this? it's a rolled-up newspaper, the latest issue of some rag called "[[🗞️ smws weekly]]". it's not worth the imaginary paper it's imaginarily printed on, but maybe you can use it to swat a bug or fold it into a cool hat. you reluctantly tuck it into your inventory and enter [[🖼️ The Hall of Horizons|the now open doorway]].