By Inspirations of 2023: Highlights of the Year, as 2024 Beckons
It’s a season of surprise and delight, wonder and awe. It’s a time of candlelight glow, and also longing and belonging.
It’s been a December initiative of mine to share something uplifting every day, in a countdown to 2024 that brings extra inspiration, wonder, and appreciation from the past year. May these sources inspire you, too.
Inspiration can mean to breathe in, and it can be a reflective exercise. It’s my hope that sharing these moments, one by one, can serve to spread the uplift and connection with others at a time when extra care, kindness, and support can go a long way. There’s opportunity to discover and dive deeper in each share. Greeting 2024 with a sense of great possibility, expansion, and joy.
Day 1:
Craig Sheil’s keynote at the New Hampshire Christa McAuliffe Conference in November 2023. Craig talked about using curiosity when integrating AI — things to consider to strike a balance when using AI in education. It was a dynamic talk that gave so much to draw from. The video will be posted soon, and I’ll share it here as soon as it’s available. #NHCMTC #cmtc23 CMTC
Day 2:
ICON’s #3Dprinted stage that was unveiled at #SXSW2023 in March with Bjarke Ingels speaking. The design is exciting, inviting me to play and interact. A perfect site for outdoor concerts with city vista in all its splendor. #architecture #Austin
Day 3:
Observing many different species of whales in spring 2023, I learned much more about cetacean communication and behavior. I took this video on my phone… talk about #wonder and #awe!
Day 4:
Learning about Irish culture and history at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin. The exhibits were powerful and moving, and having an even better sense of ancestors’ lives and the past reshapes the present and future. Truly epic! #EPICMuseum
Day 5:
Speaking at Ignite Talks about building a curiosity mindset, and finding moments of #wonder and #awe everywhere. Finding “Extraordinary in the Ordinary” is an imagination-rich gift in this #AI age. I loved every minute of giving this talk… all 5!
Day 6:
Talking with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor about the brain, curiosity, wonder, and wellbeing. Grateful for her inspiring outlook and work. #neuroscience #brain #awe
Day 7:
Sharing time at MoMA with Refik Anadol’s art. Exquisite and moving, “Unsupervised” left the crowd transfixed… This piece has now been acquired by MoMA so it will stay as part of the collection. #AI #art #AIart #wonder #awe
Day 8:
The entire #Games4Change #G4C community of explorers and builders, connected by our commitment to vision meeting values. Loved this whole experience as a presenter, creator, and player.
Day 9:
Skies across the heart and west of Ireland… the quality of light and dark juxtaposed. Spaciousness, and layers upon layers. Limestone underfoot in the Burren, treading softly across fields, and all I could do was look up and become imbued with a sense of possibility.
Day 11:
#inspiration2023: A week spent with the @usairforce in Montgomery, Alabama, sharing about #XR, #resilience, #leadership and #presence in interactive in-depth workshops and trainings. Interdisciplinary work being done in labs and across teams was exciting to take part in!
Day 12:
In the span of one year, visiting 3 @MeowWolf locations, in Santa Fe, Las Vegas, and Denver, each filled with #wonder in its own signature way, with different evocative stories. I love this spatialized art coming alive! More descriptions to come…
Day 13:
Time exploring #NewMexico, a land of awe… expansive thoughts here in this wildscape. Visiting @GhostRanchorg and MEA, time with Nomadic School of Wonder and Meow Wolf, among other spaces and places, were highlights. That and the green chile. Yes!
Day 14:
Time with Vectriel @glassphere in Astral Bounds, a world they created out of wondrous imagination. It is evocative of dreams; since our time together reflecting & exploring, my own dreams have been even more awe inspired #raindanceimmersive @AndyFidel_
Day 15:
Talking with Ian Bremmer and hearing his insightful TED Talk at #TED2023. Grateful for Ian’s resonant and necessary voice on global issues.
Day 16:
Immersing the land and art of Georgia O’Keeffe. Inspired by her way of seeing the world, and the life she lived. It’s a meditation. #noticing #okeeffe #mindfulness #art #georgiaokeeffe
Day 17:
One of the prime highlights of 2023 was a #WebXR “WaterFire” experience with @AndyFidel_, Cause & Christi, JayW & community as part of the #XRTalentExpo. One of the things I appreciated most about this was how it reinforced my belief that meaningful immersive experiences can be browser based if done well, with care and attention, both in the creation and the engagement phases. It’s the connection that counts. #waterfire #XR
Day 18:
#inspiration2023: Four great books (among many!) I’ve read this year that uplift and broaden perspective: Awe by Dacher Keltner Poetry Unbound by Pádraig Ó Tuama Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin #reading #awe
Day 19:
My experience in Synesthesia Room, a neurofeedback experience by the Open BCI team built in Unity. I had the chance to demo this at #CES in early 2023, and it made a lasting impact. In the words of OpenBCI softeware engineer Eva Esteban, “The user is in a virtual world where they get continuous visual and auditory feedback about their brain state. Brain frequencies are often grouped into five main power bands: delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. In Synesthesia Room, we’ve mapped each of these bands to a specific color and sound. Since each band is associated with a different mental state, the user can use this room to get information about their brain state and learn how to induce different states. To make this possible, we read the data from the 8 active EEG channels in real-time using the Galea GUI. This data then gets filtered, denoised, and sent from the Galea GUI to the Unity app using the UDP protocol.” Learning more about my own brain state, enhancing my meditation practice, and helping others decode their mental states and the fluctuations throughout the day, as well as find new languages for self-expression and clarity, is absolutely vital. Can’t wait to discover more in 2024!
Day 20:
Seeing my latest collection of poetry, “Digital Satori,” in print. A book about humanity, nature and AI, the poems are a celebration of creativity and consciousness in the digital age. Readings, physical and virtual, throughout the year, have been wonderful.
Day 21:
Time spent writing, building art, sharing creative ideas with imaginative, uplifting humans. There are many people I treasure who offer so much to the world. There’s something about side-by-side sharing of process that makes a difference. Thank you for these much-needed times.
Day 22:
Time at Stanford spent teaching #DigitalWellbeing, sharing and learning with colleagues, and collaborating in ways that never cease to stretch and surprise me. The campus environment, including museums, labs, and gardens, inspires #awe every time I explore.
Day 23:
@ShelleyZalis is a force and inspiration. Times with the @femalequotient community this year have been meaningful. I’m excited about 2024 and what impact we will bring to #AI #tech #wellbeing+ Shelley champions women: “A woman alone is power — collectively, we have impact.”
Day 24:
Places I run. Running is a meditation. In breath, out breath. Rhythm and flow. Cadence, attention, and wonder. 2023 featured runs in high altitude and low, along beaches and coastal trails, discovering astonishing wildlife. Full senses open. On on!
Day 25:
Mexico: Vibrant, with so much to appreciate, and space for writing to take flight. The light here is what stays with me. Birds soaring, whales diving. One bird hopped on our boat and stayed with us for miles. Love this place and all the soulful moments here.
Day 26:
The community at @TEDTalks 2023 in Vancouver. Speaking at #TED was a great honor, as I led a session there about emotion, connection, and spatial technology, and the people in the entire global TED community have inspired me throughout the year with their spirit of curiosity and motivation to contribute to a better world. 2024 is bright with possibility!
Day 27:
Andy Fidel. A powerhouse of innovation, engagement, and social experience creation, Andy coined the phrase “Spatial Networking” in 2016. Her work transforms the nature of collaboration, empowering everyone to feel valued, included, and uplifted. On to 2024!
Day 28:
Seeing the Cliffs of Moher, celebrating poetry, treks, history and John O’Donohue in Ireland. Beyond moving… it was transcendent.
Day 29:
Hiking, obsidian fields, and petroglyphs in Utah. Mesmerizing, mysterious and utterly absorbing… this land is beautiful and astounding.
Day 30:
Walking the High Line and exploring New York City. Always one of my favorite spots, the 2023 visit was wild and wonderful.
Day 31:
Big Sur — the ideal place for retreat, for contemplation, expansion, fresh salt air, and for greeting 2024. It’s beckoning to us! What calls out to you in the coming year? Is there a word you’re embracing? Mine is (drumroll)… SUBLIME.
#appreciation #gratitude #curiosity #mindset #2023 #highlights #meaning #matter #connection #2024 #meditation #MindWise #wonder #awe
