Finding my way like this happened twice in my career. Walking into work felt like the clouds parted, and bright light hit every part of my being. I was literally singing at 6 am as I got ready to head into the office.
I love this piece and hope more people both look for and follow when the clouds part and the truth arrives.
Andrew is such a good writer and his story was very moving to me. Anecdotes are only ever anecdotal but maybe it offers a little hope… as does your story!
It's really powerful when you hear directly from people who have lived these transitions, such as yourself and Andrew. Case study approach definitely adds texture.
Thanks again Tom, I appreciate this having gone through similar to your friend, and there's something very timely - I think my experience in the corporate world lead me to reject money, or at least working for it in any way which didnt reflect my own inner values, for quite a long time. Which came with its own difficulties as well, but has been a very interesting journey. And now I feel much more ready to accept and celebrate money in a new way... I hope!
I also want to say I don't like the AI artwork - there are plenty of issues with it but mainly it's because I value imagination so much, I feel it's one of the most fundamentally important aspects of human reality, and it's been subtly (and violently!) pruned and repressed and distorted and shamed, for such a long time, such that as a culture its existence and vitality and relationship to our individuality and soul is barely recognised at all. Art expresses this. And something about the quality of these images feels like an assault of that area to me. Like they've been dipped in cheap shiny plastic fantasy sugar. I do want to see the result of the meeting of a human's imagination with their attention and craft, and expression of the movement of their body, and desire to express, not the stylistic aggregation of lowest common denominator fx... I'm not saying everything has to be hard work - but cumulatively it begins to feel like the equivalent of a sugar hit, and my teeth are aching. X
Thanks so much. And actually I agree on the AI art. It's just a need a picture for the thumbnail and I can't exactly pay an artist every time? My imagination at least goes into the prompt. Some (like the last piece on money) I'm actually very happy with... But defintely taking suggestions for alternatives!
Yeah, there are all sorts of pressures out there, anything that promises to relieve them easily is very tempting. And it's such a fine line - efficient use of our time and energy vs the knowledge that the hidden costs might be huge, not least the way they nibble away at our souls... I certainly can't exempt myself from all this, I participate too. Aspects of me being on substack are this (and others perhaps feel more positive).
So, how would you have approached the question of illustrating writing before the availability of AI to help?
Maybe it could help to consider this aspect as part of your own creative endeavour - there can be something really meaningful and powerful about considered curation, Stephen Ellcock being a master...
There's loads of really good free stuff! Public Domain Review is a great place to start, IMO. And maybe there are artists who would like to collaborate somehow. (Is there a gap in the market for a service where artists make their work available specifically so that we don't have to rely on ai? Please feel free to steal this idea someone)
I get that you put some imagination into the prompts. I guess what I'm saying is that I personally feel a visceral difference between the generic ai-produced artwork, which just feels super cheap (so I don't think reflects well on your depth as a writer), and stuff like https://stephanvasement.com/ where there is something else going on - yes, AI is 'just a tool': so don't use it to churn out shit! Don't abdicate your discernment!
Finding my way like this happened twice in my career. Walking into work felt like the clouds parted, and bright light hit every part of my being. I was literally singing at 6 am as I got ready to head into the office.
I love this piece and hope more people both look for and follow when the clouds part and the truth arrives.
Andrew is such a good writer and his story was very moving to me. Anecdotes are only ever anecdotal but maybe it offers a little hope… as does your story!
It's really powerful when you hear directly from people who have lived these transitions, such as yourself and Andrew. Case study approach definitely adds texture.
Thank you! I just hope more people see at as being applicable to them.
Thanks again Tom, I appreciate this having gone through similar to your friend, and there's something very timely - I think my experience in the corporate world lead me to reject money, or at least working for it in any way which didnt reflect my own inner values, for quite a long time. Which came with its own difficulties as well, but has been a very interesting journey. And now I feel much more ready to accept and celebrate money in a new way... I hope!
I also want to say I don't like the AI artwork - there are plenty of issues with it but mainly it's because I value imagination so much, I feel it's one of the most fundamentally important aspects of human reality, and it's been subtly (and violently!) pruned and repressed and distorted and shamed, for such a long time, such that as a culture its existence and vitality and relationship to our individuality and soul is barely recognised at all. Art expresses this. And something about the quality of these images feels like an assault of that area to me. Like they've been dipped in cheap shiny plastic fantasy sugar. I do want to see the result of the meeting of a human's imagination with their attention and craft, and expression of the movement of their body, and desire to express, not the stylistic aggregation of lowest common denominator fx... I'm not saying everything has to be hard work - but cumulatively it begins to feel like the equivalent of a sugar hit, and my teeth are aching. X
Thanks so much. And actually I agree on the AI art. It's just a need a picture for the thumbnail and I can't exactly pay an artist every time? My imagination at least goes into the prompt. Some (like the last piece on money) I'm actually very happy with... But defintely taking suggestions for alternatives!
Yeah, there are all sorts of pressures out there, anything that promises to relieve them easily is very tempting. And it's such a fine line - efficient use of our time and energy vs the knowledge that the hidden costs might be huge, not least the way they nibble away at our souls... I certainly can't exempt myself from all this, I participate too. Aspects of me being on substack are this (and others perhaps feel more positive).
So, how would you have approached the question of illustrating writing before the availability of AI to help?
Maybe it could help to consider this aspect as part of your own creative endeavour - there can be something really meaningful and powerful about considered curation, Stephen Ellcock being a master...
There's loads of really good free stuff! Public Domain Review is a great place to start, IMO. And maybe there are artists who would like to collaborate somehow. (Is there a gap in the market for a service where artists make their work available specifically so that we don't have to rely on ai? Please feel free to steal this idea someone)
I get that you put some imagination into the prompts. I guess what I'm saying is that I personally feel a visceral difference between the generic ai-produced artwork, which just feels super cheap (so I don't think reflects well on your depth as a writer), and stuff like https://stephanvasement.com/ where there is something else going on - yes, AI is 'just a tool': so don't use it to churn out shit! Don't abdicate your discernment!