It’s been a very long time since I’ve written for pleasure. I’ve kind of made my living with PowerPoints in fluent consultant-ease or executive memos and papers that:
- Are typically arranged in concise, bland bullet points that MS Word always decides to reformat at the last minute;
- Outline how whatever the subject is could be the most inspirational thing that has every happened in the company’s life and/or if it didn’t work it wasn’t our fault but we’re sure it can be fixed;
- Tread that necessary line between providing transparency but allowing for plausible deniability; and
- Generally result in a plea for more money.
With the rise of Generative AI, it feels like a good time to start going back to doing things by hand. AI definitely has good uses – and I’ve seen them myself in corporate settings – but when it comes to human creativity, it’s a vast slop machine. Robin Williams’s daughter Zelda recently said of AI that it “…is just badly recycling and regurgitating the past to be re-consumed. You are taking in the Human Centipede of content, and from the very very end of the line, all while the folks at the front laugh and laugh, consume and consume”.
So since I used to love to write, really write, while I’m taking a corporate break I thought I’d do some blogging to try to reconnect with that creative muscle and the joy of words on a page not copied, generated, and turned to bland mush.
The reader is requested to note that:
- I’m travelling off and on over the next 8 months, longer if I decide I like it and can swing it;
- I will share reflections, thoughts and photos here and on insta; and
- I am likely to lose interest in this and go back to wasting my time scrolling crap on the socials
In the meantime, settle in and enjoy, or not, your choice!
The Middle Aged Gap Year 
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