MayBe 2023. Day One.

“Mom, I changed my tutor’s voice to sound like Alfred from Batman.”

“Ok perfect. Is it challenging you enough?”

“HE is very challenging. Thank you very much.”

If you told me eight years ago, when I first challenged myself to a mayBE project – a month of dwelling in possibility – that my son would eventually be navigating his education with a part-time AI tutor, I would have laughed.

I would have been in disbelief for two reasons: 1) My firm stance on technology use and my children (“No thanks.”) AND 2) That was the stuff of Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury novels that projected into the distant future.

Someone once called me an “Ambassador of Possibility.” After the last eight. years, I tend to remain calm and open and still firmly believe that anything and everything is possible.

My son is also a huge gamer and he has not lost his sense of empathy, responsibility (with the occasional reminder), and articulate communication including plenty of solid eye contact. He stills eyes me with suspicion every time I ask him if he has gamed enough today. I encourage it as my own personal experiment in testing what all the meta-analyses have proven – gaming isn’t bad if we treat it like we treat the rest of extra-curricular activities, with moderation and lots of boundaries.

Again, if you told me that eight years ago, I would have laughed. I would have laughed if you told me where I would be and what I would be doing in 2023.

I am currently teaching Data Science to my high school group and we did a lesson on machine learning algorithms and how they are different than a traditional computer programming where you build the algorithm and input the data to achieve a goal. Machine learning algorithms use both the data and the answers that a traditional program might output to learn the underlying patterns, or rules, about the data. 

I like this reiterative process that we humans can be really good at when we want to be with the added value of ethical considerations that perhaps is still absent with machine learning. I love learning about my underlying patterns and making adjustments in real time.

My second mayBE project was in 2019. It was 31 days of self-made creative prompts that allowed me to expand my thinking, to take gigantic leaps of faith, and to be present of my creative Self.

In honour of the reiterative process, I will be using my prompts from 2019 to create mayBE 2023 – 31 days of looking back to look ahead, inspiring myself with myself, and remixing everything I have learned in the last four years in order to remain in the realm of possibility.

I am embarking on the greatest creative project of my life (besides having my five children) with a dream team of educators, families, and community members.

WE ARE BUILDING AN EDUCATION CENTRE. (On our own piece of land with lots of space and of course, possibility.)

As you can imagine, there are always three constraints to consider – energy, time, and money. And as of today, because I have been ruthless with maintaining my physical, psychological, and emotional well-being, energy is not the issue. It’s like I have primed myself for this moment – from having my kids earlier in life, educating them at home, creating beautiful relationships with them, and now finally understanding what is essential.

But yes, there is the concern that there is not enough time to build nor is there enough money to build.

In order to be clear with my vision (my 2023 word of the year) and quiet the fears and doubts, I need to be creative. In 2015, mayBE set me on the path to move to Costa Rica. In 2019, mayBE set me on the path to create the foundation of Casa Morpho, guiding one small group of teenagers. Today, I need mayBE again to set me on this path when I know it seems it is an impossible dream.

Are you in a place where you want to take it to another level? Or feel stagnant? Or are you secretly excited about a huge goal that you aren’t ready to share because of public scrutiny? Are you afraid to fail?

Join me on this 31-Day adventure of opening, expanding, and allowing those creative juices to flow to prime you to “do.” Give yourself permission to show up and appreciate beauty so that you lay a welcome mat for magic and miracles.

If you are a yes, not just a maybe, then continue to read below what I originally wrote on May 1st, 2019:

1. NO TIME TO PREP. First of all, I am not giving a lot of notice or time to think about it. If I overthink this or prep like I did back in 2015, I will scrap the idea.
2. NO NEED FOR A SPECIAL SPACE. Unless you want to or you have one and it doesn’t stress you out to create this space like I did in 2015.
3. NO SPECIFIC SUPPLY LIST. No specific supplies needed for this journey. We are traveling at the moment and space and supplies may consist of a car ride and a pen and scrap piece of paper or I may pull out some paint depending on what I have available.

My objective is to not just play with art and materials. I want to play with thoughts, beliefs, and concepts. This may include reading or writing or making art or music or just taking screen shots of inspirational images or poetry.

I want to push the limits of possibility starting with my own assumptions and narrow definitions.

Some things will be the same like these points from the original 2015 prep post:

It can be a family endeavour or a solo voyage.  You can get together with friends and share or keep it top secret to be revealed at a later date.  Each prompt will not take longer than 15 minutes.  (You can choose to make it longer of course.)

You will also find stories of people who have inspired me creatively and who also have embraced creativity as a part of their lives.  Some are artists.  Some are mothers.  Some are fathers. Some are families. Some homeschool. Some are just wildly creative in all that they do.
I didn’t want to be alone in designing and facilitating this mayBE.  I needed some companions on this journey.  Other stories of wonderfully creative activities and stories of different creative journeys.-mayBE 2015

31 Days. 31 Creative prompts.

What’s next?

Prompt #1 of course:

To complete today’s prompt, make sure you read this 2015 post on how you are probably convincing yourself that you can’t do this and why you SHOULD do this mayBE project.

At the end of the post I ask you for your #10. Define your intention and answer these questions: Where could this take you? Where could this possibly lead you after establishing a little daily habit taking a moment to reflect on possibility?

My 2023 answer:

I intend to invite more curiosity and interest in the world around me while I navigate this next stage of transformation – perimenopause, commitment to building an alternative education centre mixing technology and nature, and my shifting family structure with kids leaving home to start their own journeys.

I also invite the past to intersect the future at this very spot as I reacquaint myself with who I was four years ago, eight years ago, and as I imagine myself in the future, searching for patterns as a source of comfort and as agents of change.

Will you join me?