Live Your Dreams


TLDR: This is my affiliate link for the app I used to create this animation: https://app.leonardo.ai?via=erika

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In 2022, I started exploring "text-to-image" AI... and was astonished.

As a writer, being able to use your words to create something visual is a whole new (and satisfying!) game.

Here, I used LeonardoAI -- and my imagination and narration -- to make my first itty bitty movie. (I hope it uplifts and inspires.)

This is a sample prompt I used to generate one of the images:

"Generate an image of a woman looking down at a big sketchbook on her lap. The woman is in her 30's with rich melanin tones, almond-shaped eyes, full lips, and long tightly curled afro-like hair. Place her on a purple couch in an apartment filled with candles and plants."

The description of the woman was a "seed" I consistently used, but as you'll see, it does not always create the same character. Also, human eyes can sometimes come out weird. These are things for me to learn, tweak and improve over time.

So, I'm walking my talk... by nervously releasing something imperfect, because we all must start *somewhere*, right?

A Guided Meditation For All Artists, Everywhere.


​Dear Artist,

I love, respect and appreciate you!
I hope you enjoy this relaxing journey to the "Stream of Fresh Ideas." 🫐🍓
If you listen through to the end, please let me know how your experience was.
Did you top-up on inspiration, and come away with a new idea?
​

How are you? A dilemma in our dialogue.


TRANSCRIPT:

I have expressed + explained my frustration with the universally-normalized greeting of "How are you?"

It frustrates me NOT because I am a sociopath, but because:

(1) a profoundly deep, existential question has been reduced + diluted to a flimsy synonym for "Hello"; and I know that is the case because

(2) RARELY is a GENUINE response to that question expected, let alone tolerated (given the supreme restraints of time + attention that most people live under.)

Basically, "How are you?" is a $10,000 question, that only has capacity for a $0.10 answer.

(And I'm the sociopath for merely pointing that out?)
______________________________________________________

I've also shared a way to do something PRODUCTIVE with things that bother, annoy or strongly trigger you.

And I have a hybrid solution to this particular "How are you?" dialogue-dilemma that I'd like to share with you. It's useful because we will receive that prompt with nearly every real-life social encounter we have.

Here's my internal solution, which prepares me for external engagement:

*  First, I had to acknowledge the lifetime of conditioning I received to automatically reply "I'm great or I'm fine," whenever asked that question. In fact, it was while I was in a 2-year period of hellish darkness, that I woke to my aggravation with this social ritual that passes for genuine concern. At that time, I was barely held together by a single strand of string... and when asked that question, I knew no asker would want or be prepared to handle hearing my truth. So, while minimally functional, I was burdened to prettify and falsify my reality, in order to keep things moving along. And that was precisely what made me an extreme cave-dweller during a time when I most needed connection. I suspect a lot of people also choose to suffer in private silence, because of this hurried + shallow practice.) Three words can metasticize into social isolation that is now an actual epidemic. Are we willing to take an honest look at causation?

*  Now, as part of my morning orientation... I scan and select a true and socially-acceptable statement I can use that day. My default is "I am grateful for life." That is quick, and ALWAYS true... no matter what I am facing. If I feel especially safe or expansive, my reply may be "I am available to be a Force for Good on this beautiful planet." (That one is aspirational and, of course, not consistently executed... but it IS an abiding motive of mine.)

This is not trivial or hair-splitting.

This is the work of INTEGRATION... of creating alignment + congruence between your inner world and your outer world.

(I have lost closeness with those who have shamed me for having no choice but to acknowledge this pain-point. Sadly, that was a lot of people. Fortunately, that cleansing made space for new people who get it... most of whom are neurodivergent.)

All this is just bringing a tiny bit of consciousness to a social custom that hasn't received much thought or consideration.

Ultimate Point:  Being socially courteous does not have to come at the expense of suppressing what is true + meaningful to you. These forces don't have to be at odds. Instead, we can add LIGHT + LUBRICATION to old, stale, insincere ways of greeting each other. And while you may not agree with this approach, there is certainly no need to pathologize it. Peace to all.
​

A Healing Meditation For Your Inner Child


May this healing meditation be of service to you, and your precious inner child. References mentioned in it are:
​
  • Dr. Gabor Mate
  • The Gnostic, Thomas

​TRANSCRIPT

PART ONE:

Hi, Beautiful! Thank you for clicking on this experience... which is a healing meditation for your INNER CHILD.

Part 1 offers some foundation, and will prepare you for the experience;
Part 2 is the actual meditation I'll talk you through; and
Part 3 will conclude the experience.

The phrase -- "inner child" -- brings different ideas to different minds, so let me share how I am using that term:

When I say "inner child," I am referring to an INTERNAL ASPECT of you that experienced a great, unattended pain or loss in your childhood. Or, a SERIES of great, unattended pains and losses in your childhood.

You may, or may not be, consciously aware of the effects of these childhood hurts or abuses... but they have definitely influenced the now-adult version of you.

The intent of this meditative experience, is to direct tender, caring awareness toward a particular memory that feels unresolved, and ready for closure.

Please note that I am not a licensed mental health professional, and this meditation is not presented as a substitute for industrialized methods. I am sharing with you a free and creative way to consciously use your WILL, your IMAGINATION and your BREATH to bring about relief and refreshment.

I acknowledge the incredible difficulty of motherhood... and if you are a Mom, I honor every sacrifice and delayed desire that motherhood required of you. This meditation places zero blame or shame on the heroic efforts of loving Moms.

I give daily thanks for all that my Mom endured as a single parent... and I send extra loads of respect to all single parents who face the most challenging job on earth... without a partner. DOUBLE STRENGTH to your arms, single parents!

The field of psychology has a lot to say about childhood wounds. (Dr. Gabor Mate is my favorite voice on the subject). Inner child work is shadow work. Whether you envision a "shadow" or a "child" version of yourself... the point of "working" with the shadow and/or inner child, is to stop muzzling, hiding, denying, refusing them. And start accepting and loving them. Whatever sliver or fragment of yourself that has not received your love... is wreaking havoc somewhere, someway.

The Gnostic, Thomas, put it this way. He said: "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” <--- That is the best description of shadowwork and inner child work I've ever heard. BRING FORTH WHAT IS WITHIN YOU... and meet it with love.

Ideal ways to experience this healing meditation:

  • If you're able to, please listen with headphones, and withOUT disturbance.

  • It's ideal to be in the quiet privacy of a room by yourself, or even a parked vehicle, if quiet is hard to come by... and, best of all, would be to lie down on a comfortable bed, or sofa, or undisturbed patch of grass or sand. The point is to create an environment around you that will support the work of revealing and healing.

BEGINNINGS. Beginnings are so important. Whether the beginning of a relationship, or a new job or business. And certainly the beginning of a LIFE. A beginning is the first part of something. It is the BRAND NEW START of something. The most basic instinct within us makes it clear that beginnings in life are to be protected, and kept free from harm and undue disadvantage.

A person's beginning in life SHOULD start without the normalized interferences of neglect, abandonment, abuse, molestation, or other traumatic forms of lovelessness.

But what SHOULD happen, often does not happen, and those unfair situations create wounds and injury.

The quick pace of modern life rarely allows the Time, Space or Know-How to productively deal with these wounds and injuries. Most humans just do their best to keep journeying forward... despite what may be hurting them deep within.

So NOW is a designated time for you to choose a persistent, painful memory... and see how you can shrink and dissolve that pain with something you always have access to, and in unlimited supply... and that is loving attention.

Are you ready to have an uncommonly beautiful encounter with yourself? Before we move on to Part 2, I remind you that you are in complete control of this experience. Follow the suggestions that feel good and right to you... and if, at any point, you sense overwhelm or unpleasantness... exercise your sovereignty, beloved, and simply pause or stop. You can always come back to this at another time.

PART TWO:

  1. Place your body in a comfortable position, sitting or lying down.

  2. Closing your eyes can strengthen your focus, so if you're comfortable doing so, please close your eyes.

  3. Now, INHALE as slowly and deeply as you can, until your lungs are so full, you cannot hold anymore air. Hold for a moment. With your next inhale, realize that you are inhaling unconditionaI love. // Every time you inhale, you are receiving not only fresh oxygen, but also pure love.

  4. Now, EXHALE as slowly and completely as you can, until your lungs are so empty, you have no more air to expel. Hold for a moment. With your next exhalation, realize that you are exhaling pain, fear and resentment. // Every time you exhale, you are releasing not only carbon dioxide, but also disempowering emotions.

  5. Take a few moments to get used to this intentional way of breathing. // Inhaling draws in LOVE, and exhaling releases pain, fear and resentment.

  6. Every inhalation FILLS you, more and more, with a relaxed sense of well-being and love. // And every exhalation creates more and more CLEARED SPACE for peace, joy and newness within you.

  7. Now, use your imagination to "see" your physical body AS a library that holds the stored memories of your life. With your inner eye... slowly scan your body's library, from head to toe.

  8. Notice the first location in your body that seems to STAND OUT. This spot gives a sensation of some sort, that seems to "call" for your attention. // That physical signal is both an invitation, and an indication, that there is something more to EXPLORE.

  9. Bring your tender and caring attention to this spot within your body. HERE is one of your body's books -- or stored memories -- that now presents itself to you to be reviewed in the light of love.

  10. You are SAFE to review the pages, or memories within this book. Anything you see, is here to be set free. You can give your young, precious self a huge, enveloping hug, if you like. Let your arms wrap around this former version of yourself. ASSURE her, him or they that you completely love and accept them. Acknowledge the hard things they endured in this memory, while young and tender. What did they need, but did not get? // Allow any feelings of sadness or grief about that, to rise... and release.

  11. This. Is. The. Work. // Bringing forth what is within you. // For the next few minutes, continue to enjoy the sweet company of your inner child. Now is a perfect time to comfort and console them. You are the only person in the whole world who knows exactly what would be helpful to hear, so say those things to your inner child.

PART THREE:

As we approach the end of this meditation, you can say to your inner child: "Bye for now, Beloved. We are healthily connected, and I will be listening for your messages. You are very important to me, Dear One. I love you, and commit to keep you safe."

CONGRATULATIONS! You have established a positive bond with your inner child. You can revive this connection, as often as you like. You can return to this meditation, and love your way through as many memories or body-books as present themselves to you. And at any time, you can inhale love, and exhale pain, fear and resentment. These internal practices empower and support you!

When you feel ready, open your eyes, and bring your awareness from inside you, to your physical surroundings. The things around you make look the same, but YOU are not the same. You bravely brought something forth from within, and that means you are now more whole and more free than before. I'm thrilled for you, and your inner child. Walk in your newness.​

Three Ways To Benefit From Strong Triggers

These days (daze!), there is no shortage of people or circumstances that may annoyingly trigger you. Triggers are also invitations. Below are three ways I am learning to face them with grace:


​#1.  Level It Up


Leveling up a strong trigger is choosing to behave as a modern-day alchemist, and deciding to transmute lead (something crappy), into gold (something magnificent). More modern words for this ancient practice includes "beautification" and "upcycling."

EXAMPLE:  As long as I can remember, I was triggered by the normalization of social shallowness + insincerity. It drove me bananas! I only found relief to this widespread conditioning by doing my transmutative part to normalize social depth + sincerity.



#2.  Blend It Into Your Being


​Walking the path to Wholeness includes being humble enough to learn from all situations, and update an operative belief that you've come to see is not fully true.

EXAMPLE:  Stoicism was once a strong trigger for me. It is a philosophical school of thought that promotes being unmovable by both pain and pleasure. While I easily celebrate its foundation upon virtuous behavior, and respect for natural law... as an impassioned being with strong emotions, I (wrongly) felt it invalidated my natural way of being. It seemed to restrain or dismiss divine femininity, and I was also unaware of any melanated folks advancing it. So, as a brown woman... stoicism caused me to feel twice excluded.

But beneath the surface of those observations, Wisdom showed me that including certain stoic traits -- like reason, logic, resilience and stabilized consistency -- all empower me to make better use of my emotions. It liberates and energizes me to integrate the strengths of something I once saw as oppositional.


#3.  Rise Above It


Some scenarios are too toxic or degrading to be dealt with at all. Self-love and self-respect -- (which are two active expressions of Wisdom) -- will make it clear to you when it's time to stop engaging, and start elevating. Do just like that gorgeous, fuchsia moon... and rise.

EXAMPLE:  I once suffered from a naive disbelief that a person could pose as a friend, and actually be able to cooperate with harm coming to me. Of course I know that all people -- including myself -- are capable of unknowingly hurting someone. But it was a horrific shock to learn, (and more than once!) that relational betrayal can be planned and intentional. I am imperfect, but I do not possess malice... so it took a long time for me to accept the reality of maliciousness in someone I once loved and trusted. When a venomous rattlesnake is revealed, be thankful for the notice that it's time to leave the snakepit beneath you. 


Next Up... Healing Meditations


​I'll be closing the year preparing + sharing a free series of healing meditations for:

* Your Inner CHILD :: Lovingly revisit + a review a past, root hurt. This is never to wallow, and only to bless + release.

* Your Inner ARTIST :: A fresh take on creativity, form, format, aMUSEment, imagination, inspiration + intuition.

* Your Inner ENTREPRENEUR :: Get clear on the service, influence, impact, legacy + success that your wise-heart most longs for.
​

Three Kinds of People

Generalizations are both sloppy (because they over-simplify), and handy (because they are so simple)!

​Having made that acknowledgment, there are three kinds of people: speedboat-people, sailboat-people and submarine-people. This post is intended for the submarines.


#1.  ​Speedboats


​Speedboat-people love to GO FAST. The thrill of quickly gliding over water is where it's at, for them.​ And a streak of competitiveness might make it even more enjoyable for some. Let's race!
​


#2.  ​Sailboats


​Sailboat-people may also enjoy a bit of speed, and even racing... but they've chosen to TRUST THE WIND, over an engine. They also appreciate (to some degree) the manual and navigational skills required, to even be able to have a sailing experience.
​


#3.  Submarines


​And the only ones to dip beneath the water's surface -- submarine-people -- love to GO DEEP. No flashy colors or racy engines. It's about unhurried exploration and discovery.

The depth and darkness you encounter, rewards you with sights of treasure, and  uncommon marine life that's not accessible at the surface of things.

However, this trade-off comes with feelings of prolonged loneliness and isolation. It often seems people "up top" just don't get you, or appreciate your intensity or focused fascinations.

As a fellow submarine-person (who also loves sunshine, btw), I've lived with this painful sense of social alienation and social bewilderment my entire life. It's what motivates me to now be a supportive resource for other submarine-people.
​
​
​P.S. I also acknowledge yacht-people, cruiseship-people, canoe-people, etc... but wanted to keep the metaphor simple. Plus, alliteration.

The simple Teaching of Trees


​The wind blows.
Dead things fall away.
The tree stands.
​
Have you lost something?
Or... everything?
I have.

Observing the way trees gracefully release what's dead,
generously offer what's nourishing, and
resolutely stand in bad weather
helps me deeply, and daily.

You can just silently watch, admire and add trees
as modern-day mentors,
incapable of deceit or manipulation.

The simple teaching of trees
is pure, profound and healing.

(Don't get me started on their fruit!)

Absolution

On being overtaken by an irrepressible urge
​to vigorously harness wellbeing for All, without exception.
​
I had/am having an Experience that I must document:

(1) so it does not flitter away, like a butterfly-dream;

(2) so I Am reminded of The Moment that I dissolved, and came into complete acceptance of myself and, therefore, everyone else;

(3) so someone else might also toy with the idea of declaring bankruptcy on every grievance they have caused and suffered, without exception.  I know that offends principles and sensibilities of social justice, but what I'm talking about does not take place on the same level that social justice is played out.

I will describe the experience, and hopefully that'll convey what I mean:

After an hour of meditation in the Sun, I came inside and started working on some edits for a client. Then, I felt what I must call a spiritual seduction. Something divine wanted my attention, and approached me in a truly irresistible way.

So, I surrendered to it. Completely.

Let my eyes close, and my body sway. I felt pleasurable waves rippling up and down my spine. The gentle waves made my body move. Even now, as I type. Sometimes, raising my hands from the keys to allow my arms to mimic the branches of my tree sisters and brothers. This can happen, when you fully merge with a Moment. All kinds of spontaneous movements and insights come forth to be expressed. 

As I was allowing this Event to happen within me, I became filled with an almost overwhelming sense of wellbeing (which is saying a lot, considering certain challenges I face). It was almost overwhelming because I felt like it would burst me. But it also felt sooo good!

With that fullness came a tremendous, fuel-like energy that wants to be "harnessed" and dispensed as wellbeing for All, without exception.

Absolution is bi-directional. Meaning, as you receive freedom from guilt and blame, you also dispense freedom from guilt and blame. It is radical, and will transform anyone who allows such an internal expansion.

Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Live (emotionally) light.
________________________________________________________

Again, I wholeheartedly acknowledge that we live in a world of courts and consequences, and I am not suggesting a bypass of any necessary steps or actions at that particular level of life. But civic life is not the only level of life. There are other levels of life that *influence* the civic one.

The universal law of correspondence says: "As above, so below. As within, so without. As the universe, so the soul." This post applies to the "above-within-universal" levels of life. (And my use of the word "absolution" is outside any religious frame.)

​Today I tapped into a non-civic level of life, and received an experience that reconfigured and activated me in very needed ways. Now, I can be more effective on the civic level.

Internally receiving and granting absolution -- for everything -- isn't for the transformation of society. It is for the transformation of self. In time, enough transformed 'selves' becomes a transformed society. It is incremental.

Absolution is a huge ask and, proportionately, a huge gift. Some who have had a hard life, have a lot to forgive. Some who have had a malicious life, have a lot to be forgiven of. But we all stand to benefit from releasing the ropes of shame/guilt (which is what we feel internally when we haven't forgiven ourselves), and blame/accusation (which is what we do externally when we haven't forgiven others). Both drain our inner resources, and yield nothing productive.

Meanwhile, radical forgiveness -- of self, and other -- instantly offers vast amounts of previously unavailable thought-force, love-force, creative-force. This is because you are no longer carrying the considerably heavy bags of rage and/or self-loathing. I'm telling you, this internal act could be a viable step toward collective sanity and wholeness.

Guess I'll file this under "mystical confession of a stubborn idealist."

CITRUS, AMEN.


​I just had communion with an orange. 
Not a single burst of pulp
​went unthanked. 
Eating it was worshipful.
​

To defy evil, is to yield to love.


To defy evil, is to yield to love.
And don't get it twisted...
This is not the weak work
of the doubt-filled doormat.
This is the fierce work
of the peace-filled warrior.

Enforce boundaries, as needed.
Decline and opt-out, as warranted.
But as you do, whatever you do,
let your feet, heart and hands 
hold their strong stance
in Love, Joy and Peace, for they are
the ultimate weapons and defense
in days such as these.
​

The Heart's Fire


Was yesterday dark?
Let hope renew you.
Did you wake today?
There's your chance for breakthrough!

The test won't last forever,
though darkness is clever.
It pales when compared to
the heart-fire inside you.

From mourning to morning,
from night to day,
from depressed to deep rest
the heart's fire burns away...

...the pains of the past
and turns them to ash
that fortifies the rich soil
for blooms that will last.

Every Day Is Mother's Day


​Did you know that MATRIX,
in Latin, means "breeding female"?
It later came to mean "womb."
And both stem from mater, or "mother."

Most of us came from the womb of a mother.
And even the circuit board that makes your
computer functional is named after mothers.
Imitation really is the highest form of flattery.

To every powerhouse portal that incubated, birthed
and nurtured a precious, embodied soul...
I SEE AND CELEBRATE YOU!

Every day is yours, because without you,
your eggs, your milk, your sacrifice --
there would, literally, be nothing.
And because of you, humanity exists.
A single day will never be enough 
to give you your proper praise. 

Four weird similarities between hunting and photography.

​​
  1. Capture :: To seize, to take.... an animal, or a picture.
  2. Point-and-shoot :: Done with a gun, and also a camera.
  3. Head shot :: Messy with a gun, popular with a camera.
  4. Mounted head/mounted picture :: Both hung on a wall.​ ​

​

Sentences + Sunrises


​​Sentence.
​
What comes to mind when you hear the word, "sentence"?
Is a sentence what we use to communicate?
Or, is a sentence a form of punishment?
The answer to both questions is "Yes."
Our means of communication, also punishes.

It restricts, confines, confuses.
Entraps, distorts, penalizes.
Inflicts, offends, separates.
What happened to the COMMON UNITY
that is the namesake of communication?

Poetry allows us to escape
at least some of the word-wardens.
It gives license to liberate your language.
Metaphor, verse and imagination override
stiff and stanky strangulation that mutes.

Poetry gives wings to your ideas,
and allows them to fly in raspberry skies.

Sunrise.

Each rising Sun can be read like a book.
And these risings are also written in poetry.
They break through, as a devouring
flame that even clouds and chemtrails
cannot mask, suppress or censor.

Whatever ails or fails you, Poetry and Sunrises HELP.
Turn to them, in your own way. 
Let them activate and renew you.
And don't stop until you discover
what the birds have known all along.

Start your day attuned to the Literal Light of Life.
This will enable you to shine through the obstacles 
that come against you. It will teach you to be
less bothered by things beyond your control,
and more committed to things that help you roll along.

Sunrises light your path, where you find true tribe,
pleasurable purpose and peace with who you are.

Word Love

I love words so much that I,
habitually,
look up the etymology
of English words I already know.

That is one way to savor
the many, mini meanings
that make up our reality.

So imagine this same obsession
in a second language.

You know how most people
fawn over social media?
That is how I am with
the translator on my phone.
Because I want to know know
what is being said. My desire
for precision is a sign of respect.

But it makes some people think
that I know less than I do.
Like tonight, someone said in Spanish
that I don't understand well.
Yet, I understood that.

If you hold strong word love,
keep doin just that. Hold it.
Nurture and develop it.
'Cause most could agree that
more nourishing sounds are needed.
​

Every trigger is an invitation to heal, in disguise.


Triggers scream so loudly they, literally, hurt.
I think that's why they have such a distorted profile.
And we've forgotten, or never knew, that the trigger's purpose
is to arouse and direct attention to a specific hurt within us,
so that we can kiss it. 
KISS THE BOO BOO.
Smother it in Mother's Love,
so that we can move forward,
in wholeness, peace and beauty.

We can pre-decide -- now, even --
and instruct our subconscious mind
that, going forward, we will receive all triggers
as a truthful and caring friend inviting us --
in that immediate moment -- to let love in
and do its needed thing, which is to attend to us.

Just looking at it with tenderness starts the mending.

​This also helps harmonize the invisible string between you,
and the person or people who have helped bring
needed information that was, before, ignored or not seen.

​That's why their voices raised.
Not, necessarily, to hurt us.
But to get our attention,
​and caring action.

The choice.


​You can rebirth yourself.
Renounce vows to old versions.
I AM handles I WAS.

​So wipe clean, the haunting dust.
Begin the new thing.
And stop looking back, 
half-hoping for an excuse
to re-embrace an old suffering,
simply because you know it so well.
That is the worst kind of intimacy.

Instead, level-up the love within you,
which will level-up the love around you.
And will also, likely, stir up some stuff.

Ground and anchor in love, all while knowing
it has to be re-chosen, again and again and again​.
Because love gets dropped so frequently,
so reconnection must be made.

As far as I can tell, THAT is the game.
The journey.
The lesson.
The opportunity.
The invitation.
The test.
The point.
The choice.

Imagine The Beautiful

Since September 2022, a motto + practice of mine has been:  ​"Use AI. Don't let AI use you."
​With my prompting, this post's image was generated by AI on NightCafe.
In dominant reality, gruesome things are still featured
on big and little screens everywhere, all the time.

According to Big Media, life is one dreary cataclysm after another...
so I've never understood why so many want/accept/tolerate even morrrre
bloodiness and twisted depravity in their leisure and entertainment, too.
Fiction and film regularly demean life, belittle sacred promises and mock virtue.

This backward and inverted tendency is similar to a hospital hanging pictures
of diseased and decaying bodies on the walls of patients trying to heal.

We become what we look at.

So let's imagine, expect and behold more beautiful things!

Mind :: Mined

Since September 2022, a motto + practice of mine has been:  ​"Use AI. Don't let AI use you."
​With my prompting, this post's image was generated by AI on NightCafe.

​It is not coincidence
that "mind" and "mined"
sound the exact same.

The mind is meant to be
excavated, deeply dug into,
and extracted from.

Just as Earth has been
excavated, deeply dug into,
and extracted from.

Humans use excavated iron,
granite, coal, copper, gold, etc. 
And, what organic materials
are surfaced from our mind?

New Earth Forecasters

Since September 2022, a motto + practice of mine has been:  ​"Use AI. Don't let AI use you."
​With my prompting, this post's image was generated by AI on NightCafe.
I grew up with the Mad Max post-apocalyptic film series. In it, Earth was barren. Desert-like. And drinkable water was everyone's obsession. It was disturbing to see such a negative forecasting of beautiful Earth. 

Mad Max was the first film franchise to introduce me to very negative projections onto the giant, captivating movie screen that, in turn, projected those lasting impressions onto the screen of my mind. Even if sub-consciously, decades later.

It was soon followed by a slew of other dark and cataclysmic films made to impregnate minds with images of a forsaken place where nothing grows except zombies or contagions. Everyone is usually covered in soot, and many need some kind of breathing apparatus. All kinds of hellish nightmares... normalized.

WHYYYY????

Why the big budgets to cinematically and sensorially popularize the obliteration of plant-life, clean water and breathable air? Why has so much creative energy and capital been spent to glorify destruction and decay? Why have our palates, temperaments, sensibilities and preferences not required higher and better from those who plan and plot the pixels we stare at for hours of life?

Why Is Idea-Planting In Entertainment Almost Always Dystopic?

​Everyone forecasts. The trick is to realize that you hold generative power, in either direction. The triumph is to not let anyone use your vessel or your voice to project movies you'd never want to watch, let alone live in.

In the Emerald Tablet, Thoth wrote The Law of Correspondence.
It says:  "As above, so below. As within, so without."

The toxic spread in East Palestine, Ohio is an OUTER expression of the toxic spread -- both chemical and mental/emotional -- happening INSIDE the bodies of just as many humans. Many regret recent medical decisions that exposed them to chemical toxicity, and I am sorry for your betrayal and distress. Please read on.

And to now practice new earth forecasting:
​
  • On a practical level, East Palestine and affected areas can do as Chernobyl did, and use hemp to phyto-remediate the toxicity.

  • On an equally practical level, anyone who has consumed or received toxic chemicals in their physical body through other forms of delivery -- such as injected, swabbed, eaten, drunk, smoked, snorted, etc -- Bruce Lipton's work on epigenetics can help build a new belief system that can accept sudden, favorable, physical outcomes that defy reason or logic (aka "miracles"). Medical miracles are available for anyone who can receive and accept them.

  • And on the most practical level of all, those who SEE the outer/physical world mirroring the inner/emotional world... you know that toxic chemicals and conflicts are not the only things that can spill and spread. We can also create enormous collective clouds of care and compassion. We can dance down royal rains, that restore Life to its beautiful, organic wholeness. It all starts inside the extraordinary drop that you are.

As different as we each may be from each other, we are still all under the same mysterious Sky, that pours light on us, day and night. Subtle and bright.

The next time you're leisurely outside at night, I hope you surprise your neck, throw it all the way back, and stare at the Sky until you feel something inside your chest or gut. A sense of wonder. Or maybe even a sense of home. Just hopefully something beyond fright or dread brought forth by the aforementioned dystopic screens.

After years of feeling lonely and unsafe in this disagreeably-changing world, I did what I just suggested... and I came back inside filled with assurance. No names, faces, theories, or agendas. Just a comforting certainty that even in the midst of madness, Life still takes a protective interest in those who take a protective interest in Life. 🌿💚 

Something interesting about the word "fiat."

​Since September 2022, a motto + practice of mine has been:  ​"Use AI. Don't let AI use you."
​With my prompting, this post's image was generated by AI on NightCafe.
Fiat. I have only come across this weird word in two uses/contexts:

(1)  in the Bible where God decrees “Fiat Lux,” which means "There shall be light"; and

(2)  to describe a government-issued currency not backed by any physical commodity.

Fiat is Latin for "let it be done."

It is an authoritative decree of the highest order, given by one in total command.

What an all-powerful word... for a dollar.

Most human activity has been rooted in the pursuit of these decreed units...
which were positioned as high and vital, as light itself.

Sure, it could get nice things, and even "pay to keep the lights on"...
​but it never was light. Seems wise to keep that sorted.

Fiat Lux.

Indomitable Mind

Since September 2022, a motto + practice of mine has been:  ​"Use AI. Don't let AI use you."
​With my prompting, this post's image was generated by AI on NightCafe.
This post is not as random as it may at first seem. In fact, it even had a sequence:

  1. GOOD WILL - I was thinking about good will as a positive force or regard that someone holds toward you. Do you have good will coming toward you? Do you send it out toward others? Eventually, thinking about good will brought to mind the 1997 movie "Good Will Hunting" (with Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver). It only took 26 years for me to realize the movie title was never about Good Will, but about Will Hunting. Emphasis can get put on the wrong thing.

  2. INDOMITABLE MIND - The movie "Good Will Hunting," is titled "Indomitable Mind" in Mexico. What a much better title! The two words would not leave me... even days after I had rewatched the inspiring film. Such a mind seems a good thing to have, but in deceitful times, an indomitable mind can be portrayed as bad or even dangerous. I wondered how DALL-E 2 would depict these unforgettable words.

  3. DALL-E 2 is an AI-based text-to-image generator. How do other writers feel about it... using words to create boundless images? I admit this micro-task of making a post image with AI is highly enjoyable. (But I am still guarded, overall, because of the presumptive and sweeping language so often used about ALL of humanity adopting X.)

    Anyway, to create the photo for this post, I used the prompt: "depict a fantasy image of a mind that cannot be dominated." I did not edit or alter the image DALL-E 2 offered. And I like what it did when I added the word "fantasy" to the prompt, to free it up from the limits of "realistic." I speculate a lot of the images DALL-E 2 was trained on probably cross-links India, yoga, meditation and mind... and that's how this gentleman got featured? Just a guess.    ​

Rain Falls

Since September 2022, a motto + practice of mine has been:  ​"Use AI. Don't let AI use you."
​With my prompting, this post's image was generated by AI on NightCafe.
Rain falls to engorge 
seeds, roots and crops 
with life-icious water drops.

Rain falls to slow some plans,
to light some candles, 
and hold some hands.

Rain falls to transform your system
from nervous,
to calm.

Rain falls to reset your ears
from bells and alarms
to tiny crashes of splashing water.

Rain falls to remind you
to also be fresh
like it, and the air.

So Thin...

Picture




Since September 2022, a motto + practice of mine has been:  ​"Use AI. Don't let AI use you."
​With my prompting, this post's image was generated by AI on NightCafe.
So thin
is the sheet between
thought and thing.