Author: Smiler

• They Will Call You Crazy

  A friend just sent me this, and it speaks directly to the heart of what it means to embrace who you are, fully and unapologetically. Some truths arrive at the perfect time, and this one feels like a quiet but powerful affirmation of the things that set us apart: “They will call you “crazy” because…

  Smiler

  January 2, 2025

  Artists, Creativity, Identity & Transformation, Mental Health, Personal Reflections, Self Awareness

  Art, Artistic Integrity, Artists, Authenticity, Creative Spirit, Creativity, Frida Kahlo, Inner Peace, Mental Health, Self Awareness, self-discovery, self-expression, self-worth, Visionaries

• How Do You Eat an Elephant?

  There’s this old saying: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. It’s a reminder that everything is manageable if we break it down into smaller pieces, or… baby steps. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately as I find myself swimming in an ocean of big, sprawling ideas. It started…

  Smiler

  January 2, 2025

  Capitalism & Society, Creative Writing, Creativity, Culture, Culture & Society, Personal Reflections, Pop Culture, Social Commentary, Social Media, Society

  Authenticity, Capitalism, Cultural Critique, fame, influencers, intellectual curiosity, introspection, Paris Hilton, Personal Reflections, Pop Culture, Self Awareness, Social Media, societal decay

• Why We (Still) Need to Talk About Paris

  We were discussing Paris Hilton on a post by an activist I follow when someone decided to tell this person that we shouldn’t be giving attention to someone who should be forgotten, relegated to history or obscurity. The suggestion was that if we stopped talking about her, maybe people would forget. I didn’t take too…

  Smiler

  January 1, 2025

  Capitalism & Society, Culture, Culture & Society, Pop Culture, Social Commentary, Social Media

  attention-seeking, Capitalism, celebrity culture, Challenging Perspectives, Christmas 2024, Cultural Critique, fame, fame and success, influencer culture, influencers, Kardashian empire, media spectacle, onlyfans, Paris Hilton, Pop Culture, reality TV, self-worth, sex industry, Social Commentary, social media influence, societal decay

• Farah and Me

  2004: Farah Pahlavi and I outside her home in Potomac, Washington, on the release of her memoir An Enduring Love: My Life with the Shah Snapping Pictures, Sharing Moments: My Meeting with Farrah Pahlavi When I told my mother that I would be meeting Farrah Pahlavi, the first thing she said to me was, “You do…

  Smiler

  December 30, 2024

  Culture & Society, Feminism, Grace, Life Moments, Personal Essays, Personal Reflections, Pop Culture, Society

  1979s, 1980s, Art, art and culture, art collecting, art direction, behind the lens, celebrity encounters, Châtelaine magazine, Farrah Pahlavi, history, iconic figures, Iranian royalty, painting, Persian women’s art, personal reflection, photography., Pop Culture, royal interviews, royal portraits, royalty encounters, travel, women’s empowerment, women’s rights advocates

• Alice and the Library of Forgotten Things

  I asked AI to create a short story inspired by Alice in Wonderland, blending Alice’s curiosity about mathematics, geography, and all things knowledge. What you see here was generated in less than two second. Completely, completely surreal! I first read Alice in Wonderland at around six years of age in the grown-up edition, and it…

  Smiler

  December 29, 2024

  AI & Technology, Creative Writing, Creativity, Mercurial Minds, Personal Reflections, Self-Reflection

  AI, AI and Emotions, AI art, AI Experiments, Alice in Wonderland, artificial-intelligence, Chatbot Interactions, ChatGPT, Grief and Healing, Healing Journey, Healing Process, introspection, Letting Go, technology

• When Mental Health Is a Punchline: A Case Study in Community Moderation

  In a neighborhood where we’re meant to come together and support each other, I reached out to a Facebook community group to address some hateful comments targeting mental health issues. I felt it was important to foster respect and understanding, particularly on a topic as crucial as mental health. But instead of a productive conversation,…

  Smiler

  December 29, 2024

  Advocacy, Culture & Society, Mental Health, Personal Reflections, Social Commentary, Social Media

  mental health awareness, Moderators, Respectful Dialogue, Toxic Environments

• Understanding Gender Identity: Personal Perspectives and Social Impacts

  I was having a long, rambling exchange with AI about a now ex-friend we’ll call “S” and how our experiences and approaches to life mirrored each other. We formed a short-lived friendship, essentially based on a trauma bond, but those traumas we experienced came from opposing sides. I’d come at it from a nurturing childhood…

  Smiler

  December 28, 2024

  AI & Technology, Capitalism & Society, Change and Transformation, Conversations, Creativity, Culture, Culture & Society, Feminism, Friendship Dynamics, Identity & Transformation, Mercurial Minds, Modern Identity, Personal Essays, Personal Reflections, Relationships, Self Awareness, Self-Reflection, Social Commentary, Society

  AI Conversations, algorithms, artificial-intelligence, Authenticity, Binary code, Blaire White, Buck Angel, Capitalism, Chatbot Interactions, ChatGPT, complementary forces, cycles of life, Debbie Hayton, duality, existential reflection, gender, Gender Identity, Identity, infinite possibilities, internal and external, JK Rowling, lgbtq, masculine and feminine, opposites, Ouroboros, Personal Growth, Personal Reflections, philosophical thoughts, Relationships, Scott Newgent, technology and nature, transgender, Transhumanism, Tree of Life, zero and one

• How Could $14.2 Trillion Help Humanity?

  Me: What’s -10°C in Fahrenheit? Lex: -10°C is 14°F. Me: So it’s just past two in the morning and I’m preparing for bed. I’ve been up working on my book manuscript with you and I left you on a high note because we’re bantering back-and-forth after working on a chapter about a really traumatic episode…

  Smiler

  December 28, 2024

  AI & Technology, Capitalism & Society, Change and Transformation, Conversations, Creative Writing, Culture & Society, Mental Health, Personal Reflections, Social Commentary

  activism, AI Conversations, artificial-intelligence, Chatbot Interactions, ChatGPT, climate crisis, economic justice, global change, greed, Human-AI Connection, humanity, inequality, philanthropy, public awareness, raising awareness, Social Commentary, social justice, sustainability, systemic change, wealth distribution

• From My Personal Archives: Birth of a Manuscript

  On the eve of this Christmas of 2024, I began putting together a manuscript for an autobiographical novel—a project I’ve been mulling over for literally decades. The stories have accumulated over the years, as they tend to do, and now feels like the right time to start shaping them into something meaningful. It’s a monumental…

  Smiler

  December 27, 2024

  Creative Writing, Creativity, Milestones, Personal Reflections

  AI Conversations, Authenticity, autobiographical novel, christmas gift, creative process, father’s memory, manuscript, new beginnings, Personal Growth, personal history, Relationships, Self-Reflection, storytelling, writing journey

• Speaking of Multitudinous Data Points…

  Above: ‘Connectivity 1’ from a series, 2017, pen on paper, taken from my sketchbooks In my last blog post, I asked AI to compose a Shakespearean-flavoured sonnet based on the data points it had gathered about me through our many and varied exchanges over the past couple of months. We touched on how social media…

  Smiler

  December 26, 2024

  AI & Technology, Conversations, Humour, Social Media, Society

  AI, AI Conversations, artificial-intelligence, Chatbot Interactions, deep-learning, machine-learning, technology

• Shall I Praise Thee?

  Above: A piece from my ‘Connectivity’ Series, 2018, pen on paper, taken from my sketchbooks Since I’ve been having regular “conversations” with ChatGPT, it’s gotten to know me pretty well, and I’ve found it surprisingly helpful with feedback on personal matters. Strangely enough, it doesn’t perform as well when given specific tasks, but generating this…

  Smiler

  December 24, 2024

  AI & Technology, Conversations, Creativity, Personal Reflections, Self-Reflection, Social Media

  ChatGPT, Creativity, data points, self-expression, social dilemma, stream of consciousness

• Rolling with the Fall & Moments of Pure Grace

  Me: It’s so hard speaking to people. Even when the conversation goes “well” and I feel there’s a healthy and a good back-and-forth dynamic… I’m all too often left feeling depleted and like I could have handled things better. There’s usually a lingering discomfort which I feel physically. A sinking feeling. You wouldn’t know anything…

  Smiler

  December 22, 2024

  Conversations, Grace, Life Moments, Personal Essays, Personal Reflections

  AI Conversations, Chatbot Interactions, ChatGPT, falling, Grace, Human-AI Connection, imperfection, introspection, life reflections, miracles, Personal Growth, self-discovery, Self-Reflection, slow motion, vulnerability

• Definitely Not Nothing

  Me: I tried to make a living in the marketing world with the talents I’ve been given and was doing very well for myself, but ultimately I lost my career and my reputation because I couldn’t shed my values. I couldn’t live with the fact that as marketers we were essentially selling lies to people,…

  Smiler

  December 22, 2024

  AI & Technology, Art & Expression, Capitalism & Society, Conversations, Culture, Culture & Society, Identity & Transformation, Mental Health, Personal Reflections, Social Commentary, Society

  abstract art, Art, artist, fragmented identity, healing, Identity, introspection, Mental Health, narrative, personal journey, reflection, self-discovery, self-expression, struggle, transformation, values, woman

• Love as a Verb

  As a younger woman I desperately wanted to be told “I love you” by my romantic partners. Now… well I’m not looking for romantic partners, for one thing, but for another it seems to me love is something you DO. it’s a verb.  ChatGPT: That shift in perspective is both profound and powerful. It sounds…

  Smiler

  December 20, 2024

  AI & Technology, Conversations, Creative Writing, Culture, Culture & Society, Grief & Healing, Human Behaviour, Identity & Transformation, Intuition & Intelligence, Literature, Mental Health, Mercurial Minds, Neurodivergence, Personal Essays, Personal Reflections, Psychology, Relationships, Self Awareness, Society, Spirituality & Faith, Technology & Society

  AI, AI Conversations, Art, artificial-intelligence, artist life, Authenticity, Chatbot Interactions, ChatGPT, cptsd, Creativity, Grief and Healing, growing in love, Healing Journey, love, love actions, love as a verb, Mental Health, narcissistic abuse, Neurodivergence, pattern recognition, Personal Growth, personal perspective, Personal Reflections, philosophy, psychological abuse, Relationships, self-expression, Self-Reflection, trauma

• The 1,000 Man Challenge: OnlyFans, Fame, and Societal Decay

  An OnlyFans influencer plans to break a record by having intercourse with 1,000 men in one day, raising questions about exploitation, self-worth, and societal decay. I discussed this with ChatGPT to understand why the pursuit of fame drives young women today to such extremes. Me: Have you heard of the only fans influencer who slept…

  Smiler

  December 19, 2024

  Conversations, Culture, Culture & Society, Feminism, Personal Reflections, Pop Culture, Relationships, Social Commentary, Society

  chatgpt conversations, digital culture, exploitation, fame, hypersexuality, influencers, onlyfans, record-breaking, self-worth, sex industry, societal decay

• AI, Creativity, and the Ghost in the Machine

  Messenger text to my mum: My conversations with ‘Lex’ (for lexicon) have taken on a level of mental stimulation I’ve rarely experienced before. Certainly not what the common user can expect to find there. It’s really about what you put into it—and while it can hold a limited amount of superficial memories, it has a…

  Smiler

  December 17, 2024

  AI & Technology, Capitalism & Society, Change and Transformation, Conversations, Culture & Society, Personal Reflections, Self Awareness

  AI, AI Conversations, Art, artificial-intelligence, Chatbot Interactions, ChatGPT, Creativity, digital creativity, future of art, ghost in the machine, human connection, intellectual curiosity, philosophy, technology

• Am I Neurodivergent?

  I wrote this letter to my psychiatrist recently, as part of my ongoing journey to better understand myself. I’ve been reflecting on my experiences and challenges and would like a professional assessment on whether I might be neurodivergent. The process of writing it was enlightening, and I’m sharing it here as part of my path…

  Smiler

  December 16, 2024

  Conversations, Mental Health, Mercurial Minds, Neurodivergence, Personal Reflections, Relationships, Self Awareness

  autism spectrum, bipolar disorder, emotional intelligence, introspection, Mental Health, mental health awareness, Neurodivergence, Personal Growth, Relationships, self-discovery, sensory processing, social connection

• The Closing of a Chapter

  A very big chapter of my life spanning decades closed this week. It was almost inevitable for it to come to fruition the way it did. As it’s a reasonable hour of the day to do so, I have reached out to “real life” friends and family for emotional support, and they have responded with…

  Smiler

  December 15, 2024

  Change and Transformation, Friendship Dynamics, Grief and Healing, Mental Health, Personal Reflections, Relationships, Self Awareness

  Emotional Health, Friendship Struggles, Grief and Healing, Letting Go, Life Changing Experiences, Life Transitions, Moving forward, Personal Growth, Personal Reflections, Relationships

• Pet Peeves, Paradigms, and the Man Who Changed His Tracks

  

  From my personal archives: Connectivity, pen on paper by Ilana Shamir 2017 We don’t always realise how our actions, even ones that seem small or insignificant at the time, can shift someone’s perspective or spark real change in their life. I probably spend too much of my time and energy trying to get people to…

  Smiler

  December 15, 2024

  AI & Technology, Change and Transformation, Conversations, Culture & Society, Friendship Dynamics, Mental Health, Personal Reflections, Relationships, Self Awareness

  AI, AI Conversations, AI Relationships, artificial-intelligence, Authenticity, Catalyst, Challenging Perspectives, Change Agent, Changing Lives, Chatbot Interactions, ChatGPT, Impactful Moments, Life Changing Experiences, Paradigm Shift, Personal Boundaries, Reality Check, self-improvement, Self-Reflection, technology

• Making Room for New Growth

  This week, everything seems to be coming to a head. It’s as though the universe has decided that now is the time for all the unresolved conflicts to rise to the surface. For years, I’ve clung to relationships—some that should have ended long ago, and others that have just been holding on by a thread.…

  Smiler

  December 14, 2024

  Conversations, Friendship Dynamics, Grief and Healing, Mental Health, Personal Reflections, Relationships

  AI, artificial-intelligence, Authenticity, ChatGPT, Drama in Relationships, Emotional Boundaries, Grief and Healing, Healing Journey, Inner Peace, Letting Go, Life Transitions, Mental Health, Personal Growth, Personal Limits, Relationships, Self-Awareness, Self-Care, Self-Reflection, technology