The Next Step for DEEP FIX
The Next Step for DEEP FIX
A new manifesto and ways you can support
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a writer. Perhaps I always was one; perhaps we all are. If drug-fueled scribbles late at night on the back of a parking ticket count, I’ve been at this game for a while now. It’s now been exactly four years since I launched this newsletter. I feel I’m just getting started.
Today, I am thrilled to announce that because of your loyal readership, I am taking the leap by turning on the option for paid subscriptions. If you feel so inclined as to support me, my work, and my dream of becoming a full-time writer, it’d be super dope of you to upgrade to paid. For $6/month or $60/year, this will include expanded supporting my work, community access, resources, and exclusive literary content.
Reading my Friday essays and stories will mostly remain free as a way to celebrate the writing and healing process. I believe our best ideas should remain ungated and accessible.
As some of you may know already, Deep Fix is as much an attempt to capture my own battle with addiction and perspective as it is a vehicle for bringing people together and helping each other make sense of a culture that feels increasingly entropic. Below you will find a manifesto, of sorts. It outlines the foundation of my work and what you will be supporting, alongside my writing, by becoming a paid subscriber.
THE DEEP FIX MANIFESTO
Raise awareness about addiction, ‘high-functioning’ or otherwise, because addiction is everywhere. It includes drugs, alcohol, vape, and the ‘process addictions’ that govern modern life: screens, shopping, work, productivity, porn, plastics, gambling, disordered eating, and always wanting more.
Harness the healing potential of psychedelics, especially when used as responsible interventions to assist people in breaking ‘unbreakable’ patterns of behavior and thought.
Dig deep below the surface to address the root cause of our personal and collective malaise, because bandaid solutions will not quell wounds of the soul.
Help people to reclaim meaning amidst the perils of late-stage capitalism and cultural void.
Embrace the art of dialogue (dialogos) to restore human connections and find common cause in diversity of opinion.
Practice metamodern both/and thinking, celebrate the gifts of cognitive dissonance and paradox, and remind ourselves that pessimism is a fundamentally self-perpetuating worldview.
Revivify the intelligence of our somatic bodies, take breaks from our devices to get lost in forests real and imagined, and rejoice in the spirit of the unseen.
Live with the understanding that presence requires attention, the most precious and imposed-upon resource of our times.
Free ourselves from the poisoned myth of “self-mastery.”
Be silly, self-mock, critique, and laugh at the tragedies, travesties, and treats of life.
What are the perks?
There are three options for paid subscriptions: $6/month, $60/year, or $250/year for “Founding Members.” Here’s what’s included:
1. Supporting my writing, exclusive literary content, and accessing the full archive of posts
I view this newsletter as the cornerstone of my work. I spend hours and hours writing these essays. If you find value in Deep Fix, believe in paying people for their work, and have the means, I hope you might considering supporting me with a $6/month subscription. Paid subscribers support my work and make this project possible. You will receive exclusive literary content as well as my full-archive of posts (I gate everything older than one year).
2. ‘Live’ access to the Deep Fix Community
For more than two years since the start of the pandemic, we have hosted bi-weekly dialogues about a variety of topics that matter—including existential risk, racism, localism, fear of death, addiction, and much more.
After conferring with many members of the community and hearing from them that a move toward paid subscriptions is integral to our group evolution, going forward access to our community events will be exclusively accessible to paid subscribers ($6/month or $60 annually). Community access also includes book clubs, IRL meetups, and access to our Discord server with ~150 members. Our hope is that this move will only grow our community, adding more intimacy and legitimacy.
That said, accessibility is extremely important to me. If anyone cannot afford the subscription for any reason, email deepfix@substack.com with a brief note and I’ll grant you a membership, no questions asked.
3. Members-only access to the Deep Fix Directory
I’m stoked to unveil the DFx Directory—a vetted, members-only directory of therapists, coaches, counselors, guides, retreat centers, and more. This expert list of resources was designed to streamline the number of inbound requests for referrals I receive. And because there’s nothing more important than trust and transparency when it comes to helping people build their lives around a strong therapeutic foundation.
4. Founding Member Benefits
For those who choose to support the highest tier of offerings, Founding Members will receive a personalized email from me as well as priority email correspondence. Having the support of Founding patrons is a huge blessing, so thank you.
Donations to the Non-profit Deep Fix Super Fund
Today I sit on the board, advise, and work with several non-profit organizations doing what I see as vital work in the addiction, mental health, and psychedelic spaces. Every month, I will donate 5% of my subscriber revenue to my Deep Fix Super Fund, which currently includes four 501(c)(3) registered non-profits. Think of this like a mutual fund for non-profits. You are also welcome to donate at any time to the Deep Fix Super Fund, or set up your own campaign if you’re inspired to attach our mission to another cause you are a part of!
Where else will the subscriber revenue go?
I view this newsletter as the cornerstone of my work, the trunk from which all my other endeavors branch. Today I run my own somatic coaching business and work for Natura Care Programs, a non-profit entity. Subscriber funds will grant me the ability to earn a living and devote even more time here. But they’ll also go towards my continuing education and development, which includes:
Year Two of my comprehensive training in the Hakomi Method of Somatic Psychotherapy. (My first year was paid for by a generous friend and reader, endless gratitude, B).
Paid professional editors to help hone my writing craft and work towards publishing my first book.
Paid counsel (“supervision”) from licensed therapists to assist in supporting the clients I serve.
I’m launching a podcast (finally!) which I will be hosting partially here on Substack and it will involve a fair amount of hard costs to get up and running.
So, in theory, the money you contribute here will go toward empowering Deep Fix to deliver you more of the good stuff that brought you here in the first place.
Thank you all, the Medici’s of our times, for supporting my ongoing journey to create a collective space for healing, sensemaking, and self-revelation.
Great work Alex. Really appreciate your continued evolution.