On the myriad ways we are asked to disappear and an argument for getting back to our humanness
We are not here to master nature, we are nature; an easy week 6 challenge to remind us creativity is about harmony and not competition
A kind person I know has begun using AI for most of his correspondences.
It started with emails here and there, then articles he wrote. Then, quickly, any digital correspondence from him sounded nice but flat. Online, he wasn’t the person I knew. There was an odd formality. A lot of generalizing and recommendations. Less heart.
I get it.
He is trying to save time. We are all told to hurry and amass all we can. The more content, the better.
But for what?
This person, kind-hearted, has disappeared behind words that are not his own and only reflect now a muted version of his light and an even more muted version of the words of others across history.
He may be more productive in the short-term, but at what cost?
I’m not saying writers should never use artificial intelligence at all—we can’t not when it’s built into every piece of software, including basic word processing systems. But to bravely sidestep generative AI when expressing ourselves to other humans and in our art is a self-preserving act.
And a self-preserving for the planet.
“Art was made to connect us with our reality … The human experience is the key factor that separates it from ever coming close to human creativity.” —George Saunders
Yes, AI can sound nice and hit algorithms (though it does have tells), but using it as a replacement to express ourselves or gain followers is playing someone else’s game.
The joy of creativity and the gifts it offers are stripped of us when we outsource our autonomy and experience. The gift of connection turns immediately into a transaction.
So this week, I want to dive into our humanness. I hope you’ll try this prompt.
“I am a writer and my faith in the world of art is intense but not irrational or naïve. Art invites us to take the journey beyond price, beyond costs into bearing witness to the world as it is and as it should be. Art invites us to know beauty and to solicit it from even the most tragic of circumstances. Art reminds us that we belong here.” —Toni Morrison
Week 6 prompt (it’s week 6!)
The body speaks, if we listen.
This week is less about writing a lot of words and more about writing a few from a different source.
Every day: Take a walk. (If you’re near me, break out the heated clothing or bundle up.) Anywhere will do. If you can get to a park, great. If you’re limited to your block, great. If you’re limited to your house, pace or move your body in another way (dance, sway, stretch).
10 minutes minimum. Just 10. But as you move for these particular 10 minutes, do so with no tech. No instruction.
Feel into all of your senses as you move: what do you smell, hear, see, taste, touch? What is your body telling you?
When you return, write one sentence on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil. At least a single sentence that reflects where you are and what messages are moving through your body. For the rest of the week, add to that sentence (or sentences). Write in your notebook in longhand. At least a sentence every day. See where this slowing down of process takes you. See how it becomes a conversation with self.
There is a walking meditation I recorded from Insight Timer at the end of this post.
It is my belief that muting individual voices is the goal of AI.
There are few, positionally and financially powerful people, who do not want argument. And, for many of us, it’s working. But relying on the external alone for creative expression deprives us of so much. It deprives those who use it (don’t believe the hype).
Yes, it’s faster. Yes, it’s fun to see what we’d look like a 19th century duke. And yes, it’s a competitive edge in our still-teetering Capitalist society.
But finding touchpoints to return to who we are, encompassing all the perils, pains, joys and loves alike is a way to not only feed ourselves but stay visible in a world that so desperately needs humanity.
I think harmonious human creation is the long game (a very long game), but I think it’s worth it.
Patience is confidence. Patience teaches us how to grow.
A thousand assents to this. The genuine connection, human heart to human heart, is what saves us. ❤️