💭 Opening Some days, I wonder if humanity is running on an unfinished prompt. We’ve been generating outcomes without ever agreeing on the input. We built dazzling tools, systems, and markets—but not shared meaning. We’ve mistaken speed for progress, and now our global output looks like what happens when you forget to specify a tone: fragmented, contradictory, and at times, dangerously clever. I see this everywhere—from personal relationships to planetary decisions. Even in finance, the balance of power has tipped so far that the choices of a single individual can ripple across entire economies. And while some outcomes may appear positive, the concentration of influence itself should give us pause. We’ve outsourced too much of our collective decision-making to the loudest algorithms, the boldest investors, the fastest builders. We keep asking our technologies to save us, but maybe the real work is to become clearer humans. 🔎 Clarity as Coherence Clarity isn’t just good communication—it’s coherence. It’s what allows a system, a community, a species to decide what it truly values before it automates the consequences. Maybe the next great leap isn’t smarter AI. Maybe it’s smarter agreement. A collective refinement of the human prompt. Because if we don’t decide what we actually want—together—the machines will keep guessing. And they’ll be very good at it. ✨ Clarity Call to Action The planet doesn’t need more data. It needs more decision. Every conversation, every project, every purchase is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in. We can’t keep pretending the future is someone else’s job—or that the algorithms know us better than we know ourselves. Clarity begins small: in how we ask, how we listen, and how we choose what matters most. When we speak with coherence—to each other, to our technologies, to our systems—the noise starts to settle. The fog lifts. Direction appears. So before we build, let’s pause. Before we optimize, let’s agree. Before we prompt the machine, let’s prompt ourselves:

Today I hung one of my mom’s quilts. It was stitched from hundreds of tiny scraps of fabric, no two alike. Every seam took planning, precision, and care. As I stood back and saw it on the wall, tears came. I miss her. But in this quilt, she’s here. Present in every cut, every stitch, every choice of color. It struck me how much quilts are like books. - Pieces → fragments of memory, research, or imagination. - Threads → the connective lines that hold it all together. - Patterns → the design that emerges only after time and patience. - Legacy → something that outlasts us, carrying our voice forward. My mom’s quilt is her proof of work. Our writing is ours. Both are ledgers of love. 💜 👉 Do you have an object (like my mom’s quilt) that connects you to your past and inspires your writing today? Share it with us.

Some days, it feels like I have the whole world at my fingertips. Other days, it feels just as far away as the next timeslot on my calendar. Right now, the best thing I can do for myself is step back, reset, and move my body. (Workout first, mastermind meeting later — both are important fuel.) Curious — what’s your favorite way to reset when time feels tight?

Hey aspiring novelists (and those who just like shiny ideas) — Big news courtesy of bestselling author and philanthropist James Patterson: he’s kicked off a bold new campaign called “Go Finish Your Book!”, offering grants of up to $50,000 to emerging writers. Yep — $50K per person. Twelve writers were selected from hundreds of hopefuls. These grants are meant to provide writers with the time, space, and motivation to push their manuscripts across the finish line.(AP News, CBS News, Publishers Weekly) Partners in the Plot Twist Patterson's doing this in collaboration with some heavyweight partners in the literary world: - PEN America - The Authors Guild - Iowa Writers’ WorkshopAnd others like AWP and Girls Write Now also helped connect the dots.(Hachette) A Little Motivation in a Tough World In Patterson’s words: “There are so many incredible stories out there that never get written because life gets in the way. I wanted to give these writers a little time, a little space, and a push to say: your voice matters — now go finish your book.”(AP News) What Are the Winners Working On? The 12 inaugural winners span a variety of genres—from memoirs and literary fiction to short stories, graphic novels, and even comics. A few names you might recognize: - Jungin Angie Lee, working on a short story collection about friendship, family, and disability, said the grant was “an extremely generous, much-needed burst of motivation and boost of confidence.” - Medar de la Cruz and T Kira Madden are also among the recipients—each with their own ambitious projects in the wings.(My Modern Met)