I'm passionate about helping people recognize their ecological awakening and supporting them on their EarthCare journey. I also love to talk about intersecting topics like ethical entrepreneurship, ecological design, grief, connection, being highly sensitive and cheese :) Sign up to get my weekly newsletter and learn about this and more!
don't let AI take this away from you đźš©
Last week, I turned down a big newsletter sponsorship proposal. It was with a company who offers “1000 Proven ChatGPT Prompts That Help You Work 10x Faster.” It was an obvious no. Zero alignment there. I write because I love it. I don’t want it to go faster unless I’m in the flow. I write to process my experience in life. I write to express myself and figure out my feelings. I also write to help humans reclaim being human and to facilitate growth in ways grounded in the wisdom of Nature… things that AI cannot comprehend, even with the best prompts. Why do you write, Reader? You may have tried AI, found it somewhat useful, and then found yourself feeling stuck or even guilty for using it at all, as news articles come out about the absolutely unethical ways these tools are being used to exploit people and the environment. I’m sure you’ve heard about the water use, and many of you may already be involved in local efforts to prevent data centers from being built in your communities, on farmland, woodlands and fields, where flora and fauna find bits of remaining habitat in our hyper-developed world. If you haven’t joined the resistance yet, here are some ways to get involved - I would be remiss not to mention I’ve experimented with AI (and allowed my team to). As a result, I had to spend much of this year removing “AI infections” from any content we’ve used it for in the past, actively resisting it in any programs I have attended and trying to find my line in the sand. I’ve even lost contracts and connections over it, sadly. But it really, really matters. Not just to the environment, but also to our brains. Here’s the science: Led by researcher Nataliya Kosmyna, an experimental study at the MIT Media Lab evaluated 54 participants writing essays using ChatGPT, a traditional search engine, or only their own brains. Brainwave measurements showed that the ChatGPT group had up to 55% lower overall brain activity and the weakest neural connectivity compared to the brain-only group. Participants using AI also had trouble recalling details from what they "wrote" and reported less sense of ownership over the work. Here are several more sources:
I have literally witnessed this happening in my friends, family, coworkers, clients and colleagues. Please don’t send me an email using AI to “write” for you. We can’t connect that way. Every time we hand a question to AI, instead of sitting with it ourselves, it only feels like we are saving time. In reality, we are giving away our cognitive power, little by little. So what are we doing about this? We’re leaning into being MORE HUMAN than ever. In addition to the skills we discuss in this book, I have been fascinated by skills reclamation on a broader scale, throughout my entire life. I was fortunate to have parents who really believed in giving me and my 5 siblings a skill-focused childhood education, via homeschooling. They knew we were already losing skills to technology and institutionalized education over 40 years ago. This is the foundation of the knowledge and embodied experience I bring to my writing, my company, relationships and all I do. But it’s never too late to reclaim skills you were never taught, like land stewardship. Our ecological function, as members of the human species, is to steward the land, to care for Creation, and to tend the garden of this big beautiful world (it’s all one giant garden from an outer space perspective!). As apex predators, keystone species and the most adaptable species on this planet (as well as the most harmful to it), is it our responsibility to reclaim this skill and steward the land in our Places well. And it’s not that hard to do, if we slow down and keep it simple! That is the topic of my Fall Seasonal Wisdom Circle for The EarthCare Journey. ​ Autumn is the season of Action in the EarthCare Compass. I love this alignment, because this time of year we are being taught how to let go, slow down, and allow things to change.. which is deeper action than we’ve been taught to think. We are also witnessing how easy ecological impact can be when we let Nature take the lead (like leaving the leaves). So get your hands in the soil, resist AI + data centers, spend time reclaiming human skills like writing, and discover the unique ways you can take action that fit your capacity. Those are your invitations for this week, but don’t get overwhelmed! One tiny step at a time can make a big difference. For wildlife and a wilder life, Kendra PS It didn’t fit neatly into this email, but the US administration is also moving to repeal the Forest Service’s Roadless Rule, which would eliminate protections on over 45 million acres of national forest in our country and affect our mountains. If you love these places, you have until October 6th to submit a comment. PPS. I’m also hosting a very special song circle in a CAVE here in central PA on Nov 7th, to Honor our Deep Ancestors. We will sing songs like Bloodlines by Alay Blakely and Walk With Me by Maggie Wheeler. I cannot wait. It’s on a Saturday so you can travel to join us! PPPS. Next Monday (10/5) is World Habitat Day, and we will finally have the 2027 EarthCare Calendar ready for a pre-orders, so get ready for a big sale and grab a few copies for gifts too! PPPPS. I’m still curious if/why you write, Reader? Hit reply and let me know. Written by humans, never AI. ​​“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means.” – Joan Didion, Why I Write
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EarthCare Matters by Kendra Hoffman
I'm passionate about helping people recognize their ecological awakening and supporting them on their EarthCare journey. I also love to talk about intersecting topics like ethical entrepreneurship, ecological design, grief, connection, being highly sensitive and cheese :) Sign up to get my weekly newsletter and learn about this and more!
Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here. Are the leaves piling up in your Place yet, Reader? Mid-October is often when the pressure kicks in to get rid of the leaves. Neighbors are raking, bagging, and hauling their leaves to the curb and the sound of leaf blowers is filling the air. Even those of us who know better feel the urge to tidy up and look responsible. If you’re feeling the tension between what your yard should look like versus what Nature actually needs, that is your...
Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here. Yesterday (Oct 5) was World Habitat Day. The theme set by UN-Habitat this year is “Adequate Housing for All.” While this theme focuses on human habitat (the impacts of rapid urbanization, poverty, homelessness, and slum conditions), we recognize the interconnected web of all things. Disconnection from Nature and irresponsible development are causing harmful living conditions for humans and wildlife alike. EarthCare (mindful ecological action...
Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here. Most of us were taught that “good land care” in autumn means tidying everything up before winter arrives. Rake up all the leaves. Cut back all the flower stalks. Make it look neat and clean. But that approach has been causing harm for decades, Reader. Many “unruly” plants (think goldenrod, haha) are essential for pollinators to fuel up before they hibernate for winter. Too often, we get rid of these essential sources of nourishment because...