Under a rock, under a calm little shell bed.

He is a charming little guy,

Standing strong for a very long time

Under limestone, under muddy green lawn,

Holding his stainless steel sword in his hands.

He is always ready.

No need for misunderstanding.

No need to blame him for being alive.

Still.

After all these years.

Let him be.

Let him hold his sword -

Preserve his secret identity

Embroidered with pearl-like tears,

Woven into serenity.

Do they want to be the “balls of yarn” with hundreds or even thousands of observers? Do they know what it entails? Or is it an unconscious desire to stretch out and connect?

My ultimate goal was to finally complete my project - to find a way to complete it. The rest of the content is thoughts and contemplations - random little shells, rocks, flowers I pick on the way. I knew I would have close to zero exposure. I knew the random strangers who do discover my accounts may find the content confusing or boring. AI haters may see some of my content and refuse to see it on principle. And, on a rare occasion, there will be a few passers-by who see the soul of it all and smile.

I am only speculating and assuming I am at least partially right.

Substack was the platform that was almost forced on me. I saw one of the Supernatural’s starry dudes advertising his new channel. I thought, “What the hell. He was quite funny in interviews. He might be a deep thinker and is certainly a do-gooder, in a nice way. Let’s see what he has to say.” I checked out his content, but found it incredibly saddening. I cannot quite explain why it feels that way. They certainly laugh a lot, talk some politics but not much, and somehow I just see it as a large pool of sadness. Eh, well. It is my “problem”, isn’t it? 😆🤔

So, since I have already created a Substack account, I wondered why not post something. It was mostly random stuff that made me feel at peace. 😁Sometimes I simply browse my own accounts, watch videos, read random text I typed in and threw out there, and feel how tranquility spreads in my vessels. In a way, I am achieving my goal of spreading hope and inner peace even if I spread it inside myself 😀

Still, there’s zero exposure, zero reads, zero views. Almost by accident, somebody sees what I posted. But the ocean is mostly still. Stillness can be wonderful, but it did make me wonder: what is the percentage of those little pools of zero, of those little places desiring to connect - outstretched and never-reaching?

I cannot claim I am an expert of any kind. I barely read any articles about love or hate towards AI.

Man, every time I see AI, I think of Adobe Illustrator. Does it make me “old school”?

Anyway, let’s move on.

At the end of all arguments (as it seems to me), we all return to one question: “What is art?”

What makes art the Art?

Since (and once again) I cannot refer to any preexisting article, I’ll share my current view.

It’s been my view for a while, so there’s a good chance it will not change.

To me, anything (any piece of work that is intended to be seen as ‘art’) is art if it has a soul.

What do I mean by the ‘soul’?

Something indescribable, yet clear, coherent, and direct. Something that represents a clarity of intention, balance of execution, and simplicity in its purity of emotion.

To me, this soul can be present in any piece, whether it’s been created by a child or a master.

Art speaks; it conveys a message.

My preferred personal messages are curiosity, transformation, peace, love, and compassion. Universal sadness is not bad either. But… well… it is sad 😀

Can an AI piece have a soul?

And now I am going to say something controversial 🤭

If a human put it in, it will be there 😀

It seems for many the argument stems from the simplicity of execution. How can something that anybody could make in seconds be Art?

What about skill?

What about hard work?

What about sweat, pain, and tears?

What about AI taking our jobs away?

I am not a politician or anyone in a position to make employment decisions (other than my own).

Plus, the employment part is a separate argument and resembles the one during the times of the Industrial Revolution.

Artists have a drive to create. To give birth to their pieces. To understand themselves and the world through their creations. Some (more tactile ones) will (I speculate) always need to explore various physical mediums to find their own. Some (more mind-focused ones) will explore abstract mediums (coding or digital art tools).

Being an artist is not only about the final product but also about the process of getting there. It resembles conception, pregnancy, and birth. And there will always be those who value skill, precision of execution, exactitude. And there will be those for whom emotion and idea will always come 1st.

And there comes another question. Now that my ‘baby’ is born, who will see it? Who will appreciate it?

To me, it is quite simple. Viewers, absorbers vary as much as artists. Some value skill, precision of execution, exactitude. Some - emotion and idea. There’s also the rhythm and balance. There’s relatability and social conventions.

So is AI really a problem? To me, it’s simply a useful tool. And, as with any useful tool, it can be utilized by regular folks or by those with predatory tendencies. And that’s pretty much all it is.

And now, as an artist, I turn around and wonder where I am going to plant the next piece of my soul.

I cherish all my experiences, since they make the journey so much more rewarding in lessons and deeper understanding. Still, that initial helplessness left the deepest scar. And now, I can be with it. I can be with the understanding of its impact. I will use it as a fuel in my work. I will watch it dissipate, or I will carry it to my grave.

While organizing a vast number of old pictures, I discovered how incredibly helpful it is to meditate on the emotional experiences that took place when the photos were taken.

I started from birth — from the earliest images I could find — simply “feeling the feelings,” as some might say 😊

If the emotions were mostly positive, I would let the image go or emphasize the experience further by editing the photo to make it look more professional (more or less).

If the experience was negative — meaning that some of the emotions and sensations I felt at that moment were painful — I would feel those as well.

Sometimes I found joy mixed in with the darkness, and I would emphasize that again through editing, or even by using AI (for example, by placing myself in a fantasy world I created at the time to escape painful reality).

I kept going forward year by year, processing feelings, emotions, sensations, thoughts, and beliefs.

I used the iRest technique by first experiencing negative emotions, then positive ones, and then both simultaneously. I’ve been practicing this for many years, so the process has become automatic.

Over time, I noticed the therapeutic effect. I began to experience a sense of ownership of all the elements I had been processing. I allowed them to exist in their own time period, rather than spilling over into my current one.

I don’t know if I’ll need to return to some of those memories and reprocess them. Maybe I will, or maybe I’ll notice something new — almost like rewatching the same old movie or TV show and catching new little moments and nuances.

But one thing is for sure: the whole process is incredibly helpful.

Has anyone else tried something like this?

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