There is so much controversy around AI at the moment. Some people are having lots of fun and success by using it to get lots of work done, and others are up in arms and panicking that it exists. I honestly haven’t played around with it that much yet, but I see both sides of this argument. But the fact is, AI is here and certainly not going anywhere. If anything, it’s just going to become an even bigger part of our lives, and ignoring it or becoming upset about it isn’t going to make it go away. AI is here to stay, so I think the real question would be: how do we use it for good? How do we co-create with it?
As I sat down to write today, I was ruminating on a variety of topics and couldn’t narrow down the right one. So, I thought, “Let me see if ChatGPT has any ideas that might be interesting?” It threw out some prompts and then asked me if I wanted it to pick one and it would write the article for me. Obviously, lots of people are saying yes to this as it is a quick fix, but it does remove the wonderfulness of human messiness, in my opinion. I like AI as a brainstorming companion. I don’t want it to do the work for me because that takes the humanity out of it. I’d be totally down for a robot to do my dishes and laundry, but I’d like to be the one doing my creative work.
Here are some of the prompts it gave me to write articles about. Instead of writing a full article on any one of these topics, I thought it would be fun to co-create with the “AI machine” by just briefly and vulnerably answering the questions, giving you a glimpse of the messy imperfect human that’s here instead.
- “What would your younger self be proud of if they could see you now?”
Right this moment, I don’t know that she’d be super proud of me. I think she’d be a little bummed that I’m not painting and writing more than I am. ☹
- “Describe a belief you once held that no longer serves you—and how letting go changed your life.”
The old belief would be “I have to be in control of everything.” I now find this immensely comical as I know that I have absolutely no control over anything at all and the more I attempt to live life in this rigid illusion of control, the more my life sucks. LOL. The more I live with surrender, the more flow I experience.
- “Write about a time you showed up for yourself when no one else could.”
Well, there was that one time in that mental institution… Yup. I’m just gonna drop the mic there and leave everyone wondering more about that story. 😉
- “What does it truly mean to live in alignment with your values?”
Oh, I love this question so much. I do a lot of work with my clients and students about core values and how important they are for everyday happiness. Living in alignment with my values means I keep myself in a place of integrity and by doing so, love myself deeply by staying true to the things that matter most to me.
- “Think of a time you took a risk without knowing the outcome. What did it reveal about who you are?”
I moved to Hawaii once with about 3 days notice. I was living in Austin, and had no plans of moving to Hawaii, but an opportunity came out of nowhere and I felt a surge of truth about it, so I just left all my belongings and left my car on the side of the road in Texas, and just got on a plane. I stayed in Hawaii for two years. What does this reveal about me? I’m bold. When something feels true for me, I am willing to make quick, bold, radical choices and change the entire trajectory of my life in minutes.
- “Write a letter to the version of you who feels stuck, lost, or unworthy.”
Oooh. This one deserves a real letter and more thoughtfulness, but if I had to sum it up, I’d remind her to get into her body and move those feelings through, one somatic exercise and one breath at a time. I’d also remind her that everything changes.
- “What have your struggles taught you that your successes never could?”
That I am immensely resilient, and that struggles and failures are kinda like rooting down deep so you can grow just as tall into your successes.
- “What are you learning to receive that you once felt you had to earn?”
Money. I don’t have to always work super hard to be well-paid. Sometimes, the things that are the most natural and easy for me are the things I get paid the most for. I used to actually turn down money for things that I felt I didn’t “earn!” The belief that you have to work hard to make money is a very old and limiting belief, and it’s simply not true. Strangely, this has been a hard one for me to change over the years because I was taught that you have to work really hard to get paid. Sometimes, yes, hard work pays off. But it’s also true that being in a state of flow can also pay off. I’m still a work in progress on this belief.
- “Describe a small daily habit that quietly transformed your life over time.”
Definitely a daily meditation practice. If I meditate for even just 3 minutes each day, my entire world is different.
- “What does it look like to rewrite your story in real time?”
Oooh, such a good question! Rewriting my story in real time means being self-aware enough to know that every single moment is a choice. With each moment, I get to choose to see things as either a blessing or a curse, an expansion or a contraction. I think this is one of the keys to living a happy life—knowing we are the authors and thus the authority of our own stories.
I hope you enjoyed my little AI collaboration here. I found it really fun, and if you feel inspired to answer the same prompts with your own thoughts and share them with us, we would love to read them! As always you can send them directly to bonnie@topanganewtimes.com or to me at olivia@oliviapool.com. We love hearing the wonderful, messy, brilliant thoughts of our readers.
