You gotta love a thought-provoking trend!

As I’m watching my feed fill up with all these beautiful AI photos in multiple batches, I, too, have felt a desire to create an account to see what a computer would accentuate on me. What features would be reflected on a screen that sum up a common algorithm of the helmet on my spacesuit? What quirky glitches in my suit will be boldened and how would it be illustrated? Then, how would I judge myself…the illustrator….the app? How am I judging those things now? How does this AI art enhance and/or take away from the human element? I mean, it’s cheaper to pay AI to generate 30 customized photos of you than it is to pay your artist friend to do it for you.

Is this like having access to a whole bunch of music, digitized or not, through audio apps for a 10 dollar bill each month? What if the app helps you identify a style of art that resonates with you? What would happen if you started to look for artists in your community with that same style and began to support their art, too? What if someone else created an app that would help bridge this gap between the AI and human elements?

So many questions.

So many possibilities, directly related to your point of view and choices.

And, I may still see what the AI artist(s) have in store for me, but until then, I’ve enjoyed looking through the photos I’ve artistically created, well some of them, and accessing the memories associated with each photo. And, I also went through some of the questions above as I looked through my albums, becoming aware of my own criticisms as well as favorite features. My eyes, smile and hair are some of my favorite features, while I’ve alway been a little self conscious of my round face, thick cheeks and broad shoulders.

On another note, while appendicitis is a pretty common thing, it can be life-threatening. It can also land you in a hospital for 17 hours by your daughter’s side as she undergoes an emergency appendectomy. This, no doubt, provides ample time to ask yourself questions like the ones above. Between the Access Bars class and yoga retreat last month, along with two-weeks of travel, to a busy week back to work with noticeable wrist issues last week. Then, bearing witness to Nyah’s angry appendix over the weekend….I’ve embraced awareness to the fullest. Sometimes, being still and just breathing is the best thing you can do.

What does your body say?

Interestingly enough, back in 2012, I published a holistic wellness directory for the Ozarks that used a tagline reflecting the importance of listening to our bodies when they send us signals to tell us what they need. I talked about this ongoing balance in a previous post and not to my surprise, the journey continues! I’m learning to choose to ask my body what feels good more frequently when considering all kinds of things, like decisions about what to put into it. Basic kinesiology, fully supported by Access Consciousness.

In addition to enjoying the AI generated photos of your face and body, I invite you to also choose to look at your body in a mirror, a real one, and tell it THANK YOU. Thank you for fighting off infections, repairing tissue, keeping you warm and moving around.

Let’s continue to find the gratitude for our real life, the present moment, the friendships and connections we have. Consider if you had a flat tire in the middle of the night, what FRIEND(S) could you contact who would be there to help you? Who would you drop everything to help? Who do you respect the most in this world? Do they know this? Maybe you need to let them know. Are you someone your friends and connections respect and trust? If so, or if not, why?

In addition to AI, let’s also acknowledge and invest in EI.

Emotional Intelligence

Some would venture to say that Emotional Intelligence is more important than IQ for success in life. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, interpret, demonstrate, control, and use emotions to communicate with and relate to others effectively and constructively. This ability to express and control emotions is essential, but so is the ability to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others.

As with most of what I talk about on this blog, there’s a dark and a light, yin and a yang to everything. It’s how we keep the balance, thus being able to learn and grow from the contrast.

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How much better does it get than this?!

I’m excited to find out. Muah!