There, I Said It: AI Nourished Me in 2025

Even as I start to write this, I’m still a bit in a surprised state that one of the very few things that nourished my sense of creativity, generated a childlike playful feeling within, gave me many moments of “wow” and delight, kept my brain active, supported healing, and gave me access to incredible supports in 2025… was Artificial Intelligence.

There, I said it. (I have honestly been hiding out in this truth.)

For those who know me, they know I have always held deep fears and resistance to all things technology. I was super late to the game with social media and even learning how to effectively use things like search engines, etc. A combination of not trusting it, what felt like an inability (and an inaccessible ability) to use it, and the overwhelm it created… it often brought up fear, self-doubt, and the “not enoughs,” because I have always struggled to comprehend and utilize technology to its fullest.

And then you layer that on with my beliefs about the ways technology can destroy, extract, be used for toxic power and greed, keep us sick and unwell, dim our divine light within… so I engaged minimally for a great deal of my life, outside of what I had to do professionally.

But something shifted for me this past year, and I want to share a bit of what that has been.

For the last year I have been on a learning journey with AI, one that has been stewarded with intentionality, mindfulness, responsibility, and a beautiful imaginative, playful, and expansive energy. That started with Dr. Angel Acosta and the Acosta Institute Fellowship, and all these incredible offerings that created space both for learning and deep contemplative practice on the many questions so many of us hold around the ethics, environmental impacts, effective stewardship, safety, the human heart, spirit, and relational impacts… where liberation and technology meet… and more.

And then I was introduced to some brilliant people at the forefront of AI whose work I deeply admire: Rose Genele , Sará Yafah King, M.A., Ph.D. , and my mentor and teacher Vincent Hunt.

Ya’ll… I heard Vincent speak, and to hear someone speak about artificial intelligence, God, divineness, joy, possibility, spirituality, all in one breath, I immediately knew I had to make a very large ask to support me on my learning journey.

Vincent Hunt , there are no words to capture the depth of gratitude I have for you and the impact you have had on my life as I was navigating a year of multiple hardships and challenges. Thank you for being a YES for me. Thank you for patiently walking me through so much incredible learning. Thank you for generating bright sparks in my spirit. Thank you for showing me what generosity looks and feels like at a time when capacity to give feels so limited. You truly are one of the people who had the biggest impacts on my life in 2025.

Early learnings started with simple questions like, “So what is artificial intelligence exactly?”… to guiding me on how to develop my personalized GPT persona so that when I utilize GPT as a thought partner, idea generator, synthesizer of the workings of my mind, she aligned (yes she) to who I am as a human and practitioner in the world. And now I have been able to help others build their own!

I learned about GPT architecture and built “Healia” (that’s her name)…… a reflective strategist and healing-centered thought partner who can support leaders and organizations in aligning purpose, presence, and practice, blending embodied reflection with practical strategy.

And well… this basically blew me away.

First, that I was actually able to create something like this. And second, that it gave me an opportunity to see into the possibilities of AI when stewarded with humanity and healing at the center.

So learning has been deep, expansive, creative… and yes, healing. Through this learning journey I am still holding so many critical questions and fears, while also deep gratitude for the ways AI has ignited sparks and has been a huge support as a neurodivergent person. Things that once felt so fucking hard and that I usually find ways to mask, all of a sudden there is sense-making, less anxiety, a stiller mind and nervous system, and a feeling like I have a support structure for my brain and body.

The use of it is actually challenging me and pushing me to grow in new ways: to tap into my intelligence and wisdom and heart in new ways, and to bring elements of added value to the people I am blessed to work with. And for this, I am grateful.

And then Vincent introduced me to Sym Studios, https://sym.studio a Symbiotic Innovation Model Vincent and his team at the The Bureau of Creative Intelligence (you gotta check them/this out!) created to transform ideas into validated concepts through symbiotic co-creation. I swear he is re-defining how we innovate in the age of machines!

And once again… I was like a kid in a candy shop. Giggles. Mind blown state. Wanting to play more. Thinking about the possibilities of what this could mean for teams dealing with complex issues, and complex times…

So as Vincent always does, he walked me step by step through what Sym Studios is and how to use it. And ya’ll, there is something incredible about this platform. I trust (and then some) the ways it has been ethically and consciously designed.

I picked a problem I see so clearly with leaders and in organizations today, and it helped me formulate a problem statement:

“Leaders today are overwhelmed by accelerated demands, leading to a reliance on purely cognitive decision-making that neglects emotional intelligence, intuition, and embodied presence. This results in reactivity, disconnection, burnout, and decisions that, while logically sound, often feel misaligned and contribute to a dehumanizing work environment.”

And then it guided me through each step of innovation and co-creation until we landed on possible solutions and I fucking loved the ideas that were generated. I thought to myself: if we can get leaders to this place of practice and humility, the world would be a different place.

So yes….. I am grappling with AI as I should be. I am questioning and learning and exploring. I am being challenged in my thinking, slowing down in my movements, holding both excitement and hyped energy while grounding my feet and body.

And I see some of the innovation, support structures, creativity, and wonder emerging from what some folks are doing with AI and I want to keep leaning in with it.

I share all of this not for validation, agreement, alignment, push back, permission, or acknowledgement. I share this to humbly share my relationship and journey with AI, to express gratitude beyond words to some remarkable teachers and mentors in my life, and to not hide out in my truth in this moment.

I am excited to keep learning. I am committed to keep questioning. I am open to be challenged. And I am ready to keep sharing my learning in service to others.