Writing with the Moon: The Medicine for the Week of May 10
AI Overload, Waning Moon Slowdown, and the Quest for Realness
The past couple of days, we’ve been under an Aquarius moon. It can be easy to live life from the neck up with an airy moon. For me, anyway.
Extra grounding, slowness, and presence have been the necessary medicine.
With an Aquarius moon, a futuristic sign, I’m going to talk about AI today.
I have to be honest. I’m kind of sick to death of talking about it.
Sick of hearing people complain about it.
Sick of reading it.
Sick of hearing people complain about reading it.
Can we stop obsessing over it? Really. It’s a tool.
On Friday, I sat in a workshop on AI for business owners. At the end of the workshop, I felt … agitated.
I wasn’t sure why. I learned some cool shit. I carried on through the rest of the afternoon. Being fully present while making dinner felt like cooking with a weighted vest on (a trend I didn’t jump on).
At dinner that night, I told my family what I thought was bothering me. I started off …
“I have some concerns for humanity.”
The guy leading the workshop shared how he’s invested thousands of dollars in training his AI tools to sound like and think like him.
He wears a recording device, clipped to his shirt from morning until night — so he can record everything he says on every call.
He said that he’s been telling people for over two years that if they aren’t training AI on their voice, they’re going to be left behind.
He shared that his wife is a very direct communicator — yes/no answers kinda woman. And she regularly uses ChatGPT to <add warmth> to her message.
Then I saw another woman say she subscribes to hundreds of newsletters. To figure out which ones to read, her agentic AI gives her a report of the emails she should read.
Also, that day, a photographer with whom I’ve had passionate conversations about how we just want to see real humans in photos posted a very AI-ed photo of herself on Instagram.
I messaged a photographer I’ve used for the past nine years, who lives in Chicago. I’m in Florida. I told her I needed to find a reason to travel up there regularly for a few pics now and then. She’s feeling the AI ick too. Doesn’t know where her place will be. I told her we need her. Her place is real. We need more real things. People are craving it.
This all gave me the ick. I’ll tell you why in a second.
First, I need to be clear. I’m NOT anti-AI. I used talk-to-text to write the weekly moon writing forecast, then had an AI tool organize it and remove my rambling. Still me. Still my voice. (Studio members have a video walkthrough of how I did this).
This intro … written with me, a Google doc, in bed at 10 pm sipping fennel and nettle tea (I didn’t intentionally choose to rhyme my tea).
Anyway, AI has a place … as a tool.
Here’s the problem I had with these discoveries:
The man who wants to merge with machine into singularity, recording himself all day (and I presume everyone he talks to), OMFG. Why? Don’t you talk differently when you’re being recorded? Do you perform all day? What do you gain?
The woman who “warms up” her emails. When you meet her in person and get a completely different experience, you get whiplash. “Are you the same person?” I’d rather experience YOU. Yes/No answers and all.
The hundreds of newsletters? Unsubscribe. I subscribe to maybe 15 newsletters total (and that’s counting Substacks).
The photographer sharing AI photos of herself online — what’s she actually promoting? That she can AI you? Why do I need a photographer? While I also have no desire to spend thousands of dollars on branding shoots — I do love having some photos just for me. My exact vibe in a bookstore I love.
I don’t think it’s that I’m necessarily sick of hearing about AI — I think it’s the complaining. Maybe this message is dipping my toe in that water too. I don’t know.
I do want to share these stories with you because if I’m craving more realness, then I’m guessing you are too.
Realness that’s ALSO not a performance. Realness that’s just me, stretched out with the AC just a little too cold for my liking, cooling my tea way too fast, typing this message to you, as quick as I can.
My aim … be REAL. Everywhere. Whether you read here on Substack, read my book, come to a retreat, or sit next to me at a networking event.
And being REAL — takes work. If you grew up as the person who spoke their mind, were consistent in every setting — you rock. Seriously, I admire you. Years of conditioning — family, school, society, corporate … all spaces where you had to be you but a little more of this or that to be liked, accepted … and even employed.
I’m noticing my realness as much as I can lately. Spending time IN my energy. Being real is usually more about subtraction than addition. Peeling away the layers glommed on, some with duct tape. Get this shit off of me!
Are you feeling any of this? I’d love to know. Get in touch in the comments or reach out. I’m all ears. Like, my real, actual ears that are attached to my head (and I’m irritated that I even just typed that LOL).
✨ This week in my world
🎙️ On the podcast — 70: Kelsey Murphy on How to Write Emails That Don’t Feel Like Noise. I met Kelsey in 2015, and there are so many things I love about her. In the business sense, it’s her emails.
📖 The book is 9 days away — Writing with the Moon: Daily Practices to Unlock Your Voice, Write with Flow, and Align with the Power of Astrology. Book birthday: Tuesday, May 19. Preorder should be ready in DAYS. You’ll be the first to know.
🌙 WEDNESDAY — I’m hosting a free workshop: One Hour of Writing with the Moon. Where I’ll teach you the 3-step method from my new book and then we’ll write and edit. Right there, live on the call. No cameras. No sharing your work. No fuss. Just show up. PS — it’s not a webinar, pitchfest or anything like that. It’s free and I’d love for you to come.
✨ In The Studio this week — we’ve got a live coaching and Q&A call. Writers share their work — sales pages, blogs, book descriptions, outlines, bounce ideas around. They’re lively sessions that are always so much fun — AND super practical to keep people moving. I also just finished planning the June Studio calendar and am excited to host a 3-hour virtual retreat the day after the summer solstice. Join us here.
That’s a peek at what’s on my (very disorganized) desk this week.
Welcome back to your weekly writing rhythm.
We’re in the final exhale of the cycle — the waning moon is almost gone, and the Taurus new moon arrives this Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET. If your energy feels lower than usual, if you’re moving a little slower, if your to-do list feels heavier than it should — that’s not a problem. That’s the moon doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.