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Friday, 31 July 2026
On this day of your life
I believe God wants you to know ...
... that change cannot be avoided in life. So do not
resist change, embrace it.
Life is changing all the time -- and certainly the
day-to-day conditions on our planet are changing
now in ways we could not have expected -- so the
fact of change is real, and very present.
Our invitation from life is to not let changes get us
down, but to lift ourselves up, and move past them.
What Makes Standing Ab Workouts Different (OM)
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Synchronicity: When Life takes a Turn from Ordinary to Extraordinary.
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Synchronicity Moments: When Life Feels Like It’s Sending You Signs
Some of the moments that make me question reality are surprisingly ordinary.
When you’re so used to living in a mental haze, reality can sometimes feel like a distant memory. But the moments that really make me stop and question reality are synchronicities.
The kind of moments that leave me sitting there thinking, “Wait… what are the odds of that happening?”
Like randomly thinking about a song I haven’t heard in years, only for it to suddenly start playing later that same day while I’m out somewhere. Or writing something while the TV is playing quietly in the background and typing the exact same word that gets spoken aloud at the exact same moment. Also, why is it that any time I actually think about looking at the time, it’s 11:11?
The moments where things align at the exact same time always give me the chills. I start wondering, “What does this mean? Is this the universe trying to tell me something?”
Not because I think these moments are necessarily supernatural, but because they make life feel strangely connected in a way that’s hard to fully explain.
I think part of being human is constantly searching for meaning and patterns in the world around us. Maybe it’s how our brains are wired. Maybe it’s emotional connection. Maybe they’re just coincidences, or perhaps we simply want reassurance that life is a little less random than it sometimes feels.
But certain moments stick with you, especially when they happen during emotional periods of your life.
I remember going through difficult stretches mentally where even the smallest coincidence felt amplified. Like hearing a comforting song at exactly the right moment when you desperately needed to feel your emotions.
I remember when my great-aunt passed away around the holiday season. I wasn’t especially close to her, but she was the last of my grandma’s siblings to pass away. It brought back memories of family gatherings, traditions, and especially my grandparents. It hit me that the generation before us was slowly disappearing, and that time was moving forward whether we were ready for it or not.
I remember sitting in those emotions when my favorite Christmas song, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” sung by Celine Dion, came on the radio. To me, that song has always symbolized time, reflection, and commemorating the people who are no longer here. Even though the timing of it felt eerie in a way, it was also exactly what I needed in that moment. It gave me permission to feel, to cry, and to embrace the reality of things changing.
Some moments like that almost feel as if reality thins—for split a second. I think there’s something strangely existential about them too.
Sometimes I’ll be lying in bed at night overthinking life or sitting at the beach staring at the ocean for too long, and suddenly I become hyperaware that I’m alive at this exact moment in time. That everyone around me has their own inner world. That memories are constantly being created while other memories slowly fade away.
I’ve also noticed that nostalgia plays a huge role in these feelings for me.
There are certain smells, places, or random moments that instantly transport me emotionally. Sometimes I’ll smell my grandma’s perfume, a rare one they no longer make, and suddenly all these emotions resurface. I think about the happier, lighter parts of my childhood. Cooking with my grandma. Listening to her stories. Playing card games with her in Palm Springs.
Just small moments that remind me of simpler times.
Sometimes I’ll drive past a place I used to go years ago and feel this strange disconnect between who I was then and who I am now.
It sometimes feels unreal that we can live so many different versions of ourselves within one lifetime.
I think being neurodivergent probably intensifies these feelings for me too.
I’ve always been extremely observant and emotionally sensitive to little details that other people brush past without noticing. Tiny things stay with me for a really long time. Seasons. Specific lighting. The feeling of rain. The atmosphere of certain days. Things become emotionally attached to memories in my brain.
Because of that, I think I naturally overanalyze life a little more deeply than I probably should. But I also think there’s something beautiful about that too.
Life is supposed to feel mysterious sometimes.
It reminds us to stay curious. To pay attention. To notice the strange little moments that make us stop and feel connected to the world around us for a second.
I don’t know if moments like these actually “mean” anything.
Maybe they’re just coincidences.
Maybe they’re simply examples of how interconnected memory, emotion, and awareness really are.
But I do know that moments like this make life feel a little more alive to me.
~
AI Thinks You’re Amazing & That’s the Problem.
{Editor’s Note: Elephant does not support the use of AI, casually or professionally, without ethical guidelines around it. 100+ AI experts called it a threat to the human species and our planet on the order of nuclear war—an existential threat. Not sure why? Rewatch Terminator 2; or think about drones + weapons + facial recognition + AI; or simply AI + faked news coverage + war or politics or lying about people we know and care about. AI is not a fun simple innocent tool. We are the guinea pigs, and short-sighted tech barons are the overlords here. Read more about our stance on AI. ~ Waylon, founder of Elephant}
I was reading Ryan Holiday’s Ego Is the Enemy the other day when I came across a quote from the ancient Greek philosopher Isocrates: “Abhor flatterers as you would deceivers; for both, if trusted, injure those who trust them.”
It stopped me cold.
Because my biggest flatterer was just a tab away.
AI.
We live in a world engineered to stroke the ego.
The likes, the followers, and the dopamine loop of positive feedback with every photo or opinion we post.
And now we have AI, one of the most widely used tools on the planet, doing the same thing.
The biggest difference? It’s at your beck and call.
Ask it a question, and you won’t just get an answer. You’ll get:
“Great idea.”
“You’re on the right track.”
“Excellent choice.”
A million little pats on the back, delivered in seconds, from something that sounds authoritative and feels neutral. And honestly? It feels good. Why wouldn’t it?
Now, let me be honest, I use AI in my work. I use it to brainstorm, to write, to organize ideas. But here’s the danger: when all you hear is “attagirl,” you start to believe it.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to want more confidence, to fake it till you make it, or to get the props you’ve been wanting as a means to manifest your desired outcome. But when you don’t get pushback, that’s when things can go awry.
A friend of mine recently asked AI to weigh in on a fight they were having with someone close to them. Sure enough, it told them exactly what they wanted to hear. And maybe it wasn’t wrong, but it never asked: “What role did you play in this?”
That’s what’s missing.
My greatest moments of growth haven’t come from being told I was right. They’ve come from being told to rethink, to go back to the drawing board, to sit in the uncomfortable stillness of confusion. The moments I felt genuinely angry, embarrassed, and frustrated at the feedback were humility doing its work. It was reality pulling me back.
It’s like going to couples therapy, hoping the therapist is going to take your side. (I’ve been there.) Sometimes what you need most is the person across from you to be human, fallible, and completely unfiltered to tell you something you didn’t want to hear.
AI can’t always give you that.
Not because it lacks information, but because it is, at its core, in the business of being helpful—and helpful has a way of sliding into agreeable.
I’m not saying don’t use AI. I’m saying use it with your eyes open. Notice when it’s flattering you. Notice when you’re going to it because you want to be told you’re right, not because you genuinely want to think something through.
And use it like someone who knows the game being played.
Whether you’re using ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, or something else, go in and adjust your settings to be more direct, less polished, and more willing to push back. Treat it like a first draft of a conversation, not the final word.
More than anything, check yourself with someone real: a friend, a mentor, a therapist, or a partner. Someone with something at stake. Someone who might disappoint you, but cares enough to do it anyway.
AI is an extraordinary tool. But a flatterer, trusted too deeply, is just a deceiver in disguise.
~
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