Spiral in, spiral out
Helping Friendly Newsletter, 06.06.25
GM! ☕️
Here are this fortnight’s 5 things to consider:
Earlier this spring, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James shared his experience of the connection between healing oneself and healing the world. As Zen priest angel Kyodo williams teaches, “Without inner change there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.”
“Instead of trying to erase Jim, or trying to escape from Jim, or trying to destroy Jim…what if [I] turn the other way and try to love Jim and take care of Jim and heal Jim? The more I’ve been trying to do that, the more I’ve realized: I can actually be of greater service to the world, rather than trying to run from the world or escape from the world. If I’m nicer to myself, I can be nicer to those around me, and I can also let go in this new way that’s really come through in the music.” —Jim James, interview with Zane Lowe
“Is this love a light in the dark of the world”?
On Monday, I led a small-group training on divergent and convergent thinking. These mental modes are complementary, and we need both. Diverge to go wide, expand your perspective, and generate a quantity of ideas; then converge to focus on the most impactful path forward. Diverge to break through myopic thinking, groupthink, or bias; converge to act concretely on what you discover in the field of ideas. Each person may have a preference or a more developed strength, but no one is locked into a single way of thinking. (Note: Divergent thinking is not the same as neurodivergence.)
When AI lies: Amanda Guinzburg documented a particularly unhinged ChatGPT exchange on her Substack. I happened to read it on the same day as Cal Newport’s latest New Yorker piece, which mines classic sci-fi for insight into the challenge of building trustworthy chatbots: “It’s easier to create humanlike intelligence than it is to create humanlike ethics.”
Fun fact: Hens sing after laying eggs to announce they are ready to rejoin their flock.1 It is enthusiastic, endearing, and an earthly reminder to make some joyful noise.
HAPPY PRIDE!
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
and 📣 calling all allies 📣 to help create spaces where every person can be who they are and love whom they love, with no exceptions and full safety in every sense of the word.
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY
Happy early Father’s Day to 💗Andy Jaspen💗, to 💛my dad💛, to all the wonderful fathers who grace our family, and to rad dads everywhere. You are cherished! To anyone who finds this holiday heavy, I hope you encounter lots of love as you move through it.
THANK YOU, PAID SUBS
Paid subs, I would love to send you some analog love this summer. I’m still deciding what that will be—maybe a zine? a cool sticker? a postcard, or some combo? If this sounds like a welcome surprise, hit reply to send me your snail mail address or DM it to me on Substack.
Thank you for reading. This newsletter is a labor of love. 💌 To support it, you can upgrade to a paid subscription, share this post, or engage my services. You can learn more about my work at jenniferlphillips.com.
Peace,
Jenny
P.S. let’s do it 👇🏼
Thank you for the barnyard insight, MM!