Taming Wild Uncertainty

We are all, always, trudging forth into wild uncertainty. Will I still have a job next month? Do I understand this emerging technology well enough (i.e. are my decisions about using AI for some menial tasks but not creative ones correct)? Will I be able to keep both my kids in university this year?

My uncertainties are not yours, but I know you have them too. Regardless of the unique nature of uncertainties, my best life solution -- when I am not tempted by that space where worry meets self-pity -- is to dive into my most creative tendencies and write my way through. So, I am regulating that impulse and committing to doing one new thing every week for a year. It's a big deal for middle aged folks, believe me. We love our comfort zones, but I haven't found a new show to stream since the end of Riot Women and The Other Bennett Sister, so now it the time to break out.

Last night, my friend Rose invited me to see Mimi Oz with Silver Reeds at LaRev. New to me bands, a new to me venue and a new kind of hang out for one of my Camp Neekaunis friends and I. It's a good place to start, I think.

In my experience, the emotional response to doing new things is at worst, a "well, that was OK, but I don't need to do it again," to absolute euphoria that lasts for days. This is how doing new things 1/52 worked out:

1/52. The first installment of my “do something new every week” challenge to myself.

Last night, I tried a new venue, new band, and a new way to hang out with a camp friend experience. I met my friend Rose at La Rev at 8PM to see Silver Reeds and Mimi Oz. The evening started with a mistake and I missed Silver Reeds. Turns out, when a week-night show ticket says 7PM, it really means 7PM. There is not an hour of sound check and schmoozing. Obviously, I am new at going out on school nights. Luckily, Silver Reeds is a Toronto band with a strong local following, so I will catch them soon.

Hanging out with camp friends, I am pleased to report, is much the same as hanging out with them at camp...except with no kids to care for, fewer mosquitos and there are no relaxed cleanliness standards in the city. 100% will do that again.

La Rev, at 825 Runnymede Road, is a small room in the same plaza as a massive micro brewery (contradictions are often true). It features Mexican cuisine and great acoustics. Maybe 40 people can sit comfortably and 60 less comfortably. It makes for an intimate show over a shared supper with friends or, dare I suggest, a date.

Mimi Oz took to the stage and the jazz and folk influences hit me a bit strangely at first. And, because the ocean features strongly in her lyrics, and because her vocables are so prominent, I immediately felt her sound would be better supported by an acoustic ukulele rather than an electric guitar. Then, David Celia joined her onstage and they performed a Hank Williams cover. Suddenly everything clicked into place for me. Organic intelligence, such as it is, also responds to context prompts.

Oz, I believe, has a big room voice and small room material. By that, I mean this lady could belt out a showstopper to a stadium crowd, but in her work there’s always another secret to be told, one that’s causing a lot of trouble for everyone, but it can’t be completely out in the open, just brought to safe friends.

“This is interesting,” I thought. And then, I caught myself.

My mind is always reviewing an experience while I am in the middle of it. And, perhaps, part of this challenge is also about challenging myself to think in new ways that aren’t structured around finding the right critical lens to look through, or defining the question I expect art and performance to answer. Plus, if AI is going to change my life and work, if it is going to become my cognitive extension, then I need to change how I approach life and work too. So, I just got into the music and swayed along.

And then, it was a weeknight show that was over too early and time to go home. 100% would do that again.

Week 2 and week 3 are ready for reading.

#OrganicIntelligence #AI #CognitiveExtension