September is a month of transition. School begins again in a lot of places, the seasons shift, and the pace seems to change, regardless of where you are in the world. I love a transition for its power to bring me back to intention, to figuring out what it is that I really want, that I am working toward.

I have a chalkboard up next to my desk on which I've written: What do I value most? Where do I find them in work, relationship, spiritual practice? How can I be intentional about bringing those values in? This is a chance to express love for the things I hold most dear.

I love this reminder, because I'm not always intentional. Sometimes, life moves at a pace that finds me just going along, getting things done in the most efficient manner without thinking too much. But when I can slow down and think about the long term implications of my daily choices, it's an invitation to re-center in what is most important to me overall (not just for today).

Practicing What I Preach

Last week, I taught a workshop for parents on Transitions as a way to explore how we can help our kids as they go back to school. Whether it's the shift from summer freedom to a school schedule or your child is changing schools or leaving home to begin college, transitions require us to pay attention and make choices. In my experience, we can set ourselves up for a smoother, happier transition if we do it with intention.

As part of that Transitions workshop, I share this with parents as a way to help their students think about how they want to begin this new chapter. In general, I think that doing the first three questions over a period of a couple days and then waiting a couple weeks to answer the last question is the most powerful. It offers us a chance to frame our values and goals and then pay attention to whether or not our daily choices reflect them.

No shame

No blame

No judgment

Just curiosity. Gloria Steinem once told me (yes, that's a whole other story that I'll tell you someday) that if I "want to have X at the end of my journey, I have to practice having X all along the way." And while that seems obvious, it's also really hard to maintain that unless I make a point to pay attention to it over and over again. I can say that I want to be healthy, and then make consistently unhealthy choices because I'm stressed or exhausted or simply on auto-pilot.

Which Brings me to the Rant on AI

Please, please, please for the love of all things, stop using ChatGPT, stop using AI to fuel your internet searches, stop using it to create websites or marketing materials or just "for fun."

Especially if you're someone who is enraged (or even mildly upset) by climate change, the consolidation of capital to a small group of (mostly) white men, and wage theft. Stop it.

People's intellectual property has been stolen and co-opted to train these systems. That's wrong.

The folks who are benefiting from you using this technology are the ones who are already hoarding resources for themselves to the detriment of the rest of the population. That's wrong.

And AI is gobbling up water and energy and land and creating noxious pollution faster than you probably know. A few sobering facts:

• the estimated consumption of energy by data centers in 2028 is 12% of the total amount of power in the US.
• training GPT-3 used 700,000 liters of fresh water and by 2027, AI is estimated to use between 4.2 and 6.6 BILLION cubic meters of water per year
• that water consumption is largely coming from poor communities (including places like Newton County, Georgia where AI data centers use 500,000 gallons of water a day)
• some data centers are powered by methane gas turbines which are already causing spikes in cancer, asthma and COPD diagnoses in those areas.
• these turbines also flood the air with toxic nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, and other toxic chemicals (researchers have measured peaks in nitrogen dioxide in Boxtown, TN as high as 79% above normal levels).

Here's the thing: AI isn't necessary. At all. And it is theft. And it will destroy us faster than we think it will. Is that worth it for the sake of convenience?

If you are someone who used to shop on Amazon and have recently decided that you don't want to support that any longer - consider the damage that has already been done. When Amazon first started, most of us saw it as convenient, cheaper, and fun. Within a few years, we saw the decline of local stores that couldn't compete with their prices. Another few years saw us unable to actually get a lot of things literally anywhere but Amazon. Now, Bezos is one of the richest humans on earth and many of our small towns have been affected in ways we didn't really understand. Because it was convenient. Or fun to be able to get two dozen rubber chickens for a birthday party overnight.

But is it worth it?

Is it necessary?

I'm begging you - the next time you do an internet search, add "-AI" to the end of your search terms. The next time you want to mock up a resume or type a report, don't opt in to the Microsoft CoPilot for help. Remember what AI is doing to the planet. In five years when droughts are worse, you won't be able to say you didn't know.

Ok, that was harsh. Sorrynotsorry

Finally, some links/news because this is already longer than I intended (see what I did there?). The new website isn't ready yet, but I'm still doing new things and wanting to share them with folks, so here goes:

1. In case you missed it, my online memoir-in-vignettes is on Episode 5 here Don't worry if you haven't started yet - all the posts are evergreen, so you can consume them at your own pace. I will just encourage you to start at the beginning so it makes more sense. And as soon as I figure out how to have folks comment without paying/becoming members, I'll let you know. My intention was to have it be interactive and I'm still committed to figuring out a way to do that.
2. I have two more Communal Grief and Rage Ritual workshops coming up this year - one beginning next Monday, Sept 8 for four sessions, and one in November. The sign up sheets are here, but you can also respond to this newsletter and let me know if you want to sign up or have questions. I know the interface isn't sexy, but the previous online forms I used were with a company that supports Israel's genocide and Trump's administration, so in the spirit of being intentional, I can't have them hosted there anymore.
3. I'm starting another 12-week generative writing workshop October 5 for folks who want to meet for an hour a week online and get prompts, have accountability, and write with other writers. Sign up sheet is here​
4. Some of you know that I have been helping support a Palestinian family for nearly two years. Some of them made it to safety in Cairo before Israel closed the borders, and five of them are still trapped in Gaza. Things have been horrific for a long time for them, and they're getting worse, but last week I managed to get $1000 to Ahmed and his family to purchase materials for tents that they can use to shelter and camouflage themselves overnight. If you want to help me continue to support them to get food and water and stay safe, you can send money to me via Paypal here or Venmo here​

Finalllllllly, for something fun

As part of the work to redesign/reimagine what it is that I do and how I offer it, I enlisted the help of two badass humans, Krystal (web designer) and Shelby (graphic and brand designer and photographer and writer and all-around creative superstar) and I am so thrilled to be able to share what they've helped me create. I am so lucky that Shelby knows me well and knows how I work and was able to listen to me talk about how I envisioned the intersections of all of my offerings as a Venn diagram and she came up with this gorgeous graphic that will appear on the website. I am over the moon about it and wanted to give you all a sneak peek and also tell you that if you ever need any kind of design work done, go check out Shelby's work. Seriously.

As always, reach out with comments, questions, highlights from your week. I love hearing from folks and I hope to see you soon at a workshop or commenting on the memoir or in your own work and life. XOXO

​