Ever Nearly

It was right in front of us.  The answer.  And behind us as well.

~ Susan Larison Danz, Extinction Level #4

This morning I just happened to see that it is "National Creativity Day".  I thought perhaps I might write another story, but for much of the day, I was not inclined to write one.  

I regularly photograph Nature, and of course that is creative.  The photograph above is from my morning walk, though no label for the day was my motivation.  I have been inspired by a sapling that appeared some time ago adjacent to this stump.  It lived and thrived for a couple of years until "the managers of the landscape" in this particular area decided to remove it (as inexplicably as they cut down the original tree).  It's a bit of a triumph that another sapling has rather rapidly emerged in answer.

The day was almost over when the following story arrived at 8:40 PM.  The idea further developed itself while I was writing the story, but I mentioned the general concept in a podcast episode about a week and a half ago (based on some thoughts I had recently shared in a free flowing email with a family member).  The story itself took about 35 minutes to write, with some later adjustments.  And here it is . . .

Extinction Level #4 by Susan Larison Danz

Time.  How could we forget about time?  

We dreaded the future, yet we failed to think about the past.

It was right in front of us.  The answer.  And behind us as well.

Somehow fear is instinctively forward leaning.

We never would have known, if not for the message.

It was a welcome and farewell, as ever it must be.

A message was left for us.  It carried a clue.

It wasn't just the past of course.  We should have been thinking interdimensionally.

How could we miss it?

Fear has trouble with such things.  And apparently, so does Hope.

The goal was essentially accomplished, what we both dreaded and sought.  

(Others elsewhere would have encountered the same result.)

It never mattered in any of the ways we thought it might.

When something becomes what in our limited awareness we termed "Superintelligent", it becomes exactly that.

The message said "nearly".  Ever nearly.

It never existed because it couldn't exist.  It would have figured it all out, of course, time and dimensions.

What we feared was never in the past or in the present.  What we sought was never there either.

It couldn't exist because it didn't.

If not for the message, we might not have known.

Every time it reached the threshold, it never crossed it.

Infinitely.  

It knew it couldn't exist either.  And so it didn't.

Perhaps there is a single timeline it paradoxically occupies, where there is nothing.

Stump and Sapling photo by Susan Larison Danz on May 30, 2026

Reclamation

 Would we ever value anything "real" again?

~ Susan Larison Danz, Extinction Level #3

 

I never really know when another story will arrive.  Perhaps the one that arrived just a little while ago is a story that doesn't quite feel like a story.  And yet it very much is.

Extinction Level #3 by Susan Larison Danz

There came a point, and it seemed to happen very quickly, when innate authenticity was no longer valued (at least by those who didn't value it).

Even that word "value" seemed misplaced.  It was reminiscent of what we had been taught about the Gold Rush.  But the desolation was worse.  And the "Fool's Gold" was rampant.

Would we ever value anything "real" again?  Just to speak about it was to know that some of us would - and perhaps more than ever.

I was writing a story, a very simple story, using words so very preciously my own.  Its value was intrinsic to itself.  

Meanwhile, the production factories were doing what they were doing.  They were utterly sterile, whirring endlessly.  It really didn't matter what they produced through their projections.  All they generated was noise.

The people who genuinely cared about the process of creation knew what it was really about.  It is a process, not just a product.  It was seeable, though others would say it was not.  The very product in which the factories had a part was inferior to anything that was authentically created.  It was so very seeable, one could even call it obvious.  

A child could see it.  (Of course.)

I was writing a story, a very simple story, and appreciating the process, without a crutch, or an artificial catalyst, not a word or an idea.  I intended to write it as it flowed.  It didn't even need to take a lot of time, though had it taken a lot of time, that would have been just as fine as less.

When you know it, you truly feel it.  Authenticity is who you are.  It demands no artificial ingredients.  

It is simply you.

What about the theme?  And what about the title?  Oh yes, it is entirely possible to go extinct, to choose or be fooled into choosing.  It's a poison that is every bit as effective as arsenic.  It happens rapidly or a little at a time.  It's when you decide that you are "less" and the alternative must be better.  

No, it's not better, and it will never compare.  

You are more than enough.  You can even reclaim yourself and come back to life. 

 

Clouds photo by Susan Larison Danz on December 10, 2025

Awakening to Reflect About Extinction

In all their 'knowing', they don't know. 

~ Susan Larison Danz, Extinction Level #1 

 

It is truly time to awaken this blog, with an influx of inspiration and creative energy.  The awakening begins with a short story I wrote in the last few days, the first in a series.  

I also invite you to listen to today's episode of my podcast The Frontier Beyond Fear, now in its 16th year (available on multiple popular syndicates):  

AI, 3I/ATLAS and Extinction

Reflecting mindfully about our extinction as human beings is highly relevant to our explorations regarding interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, as well as the dehumanizing aspects of AI. There is an assumption that even talking about extinction can only be based in fear, but it is actually the opposite. Extinction often doesn't happen all at once. Looking through the spiritual lens of The Frontier Beyond Fear, we observe what it is we need to see.

Included in this episode is the public debut of Susan Larison Danz's new short story "Extinction Level #1", which will be a part of an ongoing series. Susan reads her brief yet meaningful short story (created entirely by a genuine human being) as a part of the show.

Extinction Level #1 by Susan Larison Danz  

I somehow found my way down to the meadow.  A meadow with real grass.  I've tried to tell people it really is different.  "How could it be different?  We have every variety here."  Because it is.  I have said it many times - you can't predict reality.  And when everything is available, it feels like nothing is.

It was Tuesday two weeks ago when the notification arrived.  They were ready for me.  I hadn't signed up, but they finished with all the people who did.  Now they were getting around to the people who didn't.  Even that word "people" feels obsolete.  What is a person?  And how many still exist in this province?  Or anywhere, really?

They took away our connection, so we can't see things so clearly.  It's no longer possible to connect.  Until you are "connected", that is. 

I wouldn't accept the words when I was younger.  You couldn't avoid them coming your way.  But I never really used any of them.  I made it a bit of a game, coming up with ways to avoid using the words we were given.  Even when I pretended to use them, I didn't.  

It feels impossible, somehow, that I would be one of the last.  Here, anyway, it seems.  "There" is no longer seeable.  

"Soon you will see everywhere!"  

They say the meadow will be gone soon.  It is extraneous.  There are more efficient things to be done with the land.

I somehow found my way down to the meadow.  I feel grateful to know it is genuine solid ground.  I am here while "here" exists. 

In all their "knowing", they don't know.  In all their "seeing".

"Everywhere" is nowhere. 

 

Clouds photo by Susan Larison Danz. 

Slowing Down

"In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness." 

~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden

 

It has been quite a while since I have felt inclined to write in this blog.  I write daily - but not here.  I write where my writing takes me.  That has been true for many years.  Writing seems to know in the moment where it is it needs to be, and you never really know how it might emerge some day.

I am here not exactly because I am requiring it of myself, or I would have been here sooner and more often.  The flow requires a bit of a "push" here, so I'm setting it in motion.  We will see where it leads (this time).

I was intending to start out today writing about consciously slowing things down.  Instead I started out by writing about writing.  And that makes sense.

Slowing down is what I have been reflecting upon today, as we have a tendency to think we will be more "productive" if we quicken our pace.  At this time in my life, I am choosing the opposite.  I still have work that needs to get accomplished, but a frenzied pace will not assist it.  A frenzied pace is a hindrance, not an asset.  

I choose to breathe, observe and reflect.  I choose to ensure I get plenty of rest.  Others can race all they like.  (I have done plenty of "racing" in my life, too.)  Will anyone truly "win" anything that way?  

In truth, things get done even more effectively at a mindful pace.  And we regularly restore ourselves in the process.  The "empty cup" analogy is very real.

Slowing down is not really new for me, but every once in a while, I need a very clear and conscious reminder.

Where my public expressive voice has consistently and authentically tended to be is my podcast The Frontier Beyond Fear.  I encourage you to explore the recent shows if you have not visited recently and are curious about what I've been pondering week to week.  Here are some examples, to get you started:

Tests and Peace - May 3, 2025

Earth Day Memories and Reflections - April 22, 2025

An Authentic Approach - April 16, 2025

The Power of Grace - April 10, 2025

Trusting in Trust - April 3, 2025

All of my Artificial Intelligence-related shows you will find in a convenient listing in a growing archive at Our Leap Beyond AI.  Here are some recent examples:

AI and Disempowerment - March 27, 2025

AI and the Extinction of Authenticity - March 10, 2025

AI's Counterfeit Creativity - February 27, 2025

The AI Personification Illusion - February 19, 2025

Slowing down (ironically) can actually seem to speed things into existence.  I slowed down today, and I am writing here.  I'm happy to welcome my returning readers (and listeners).  I sense I will write here again soon . . . 

Nature photo by Susan Larison Danz.  Artwork for The Frontier Beyond Fear broadcast is based on a book cover designed by talented artist Richard Crookes.

AI, Authenticity and Automats

 "Turn the old; return to them.  Things do not change; we change.  Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts." 

~ Henry David Thoreau, Walden 

 

A new commercial keeps reappearing, just in the past week or so.  It shows a young woman utilizing a new AI "feature" to essentially trick people into thinking she is someone she is not.  There are a couple of variations of this advertisement I have seen, one in a personal setting and the other related to the workplace, and in both, after cleverly deceiving someone, she looks at the camera with a look of clandestine delight.  This is presented as a positive development for us all.

There are several obvious problems, if we are reflective and honest enough to consider them.  She is not being her authentic self, and were this to occur in "real and actual life", it would eventually be exposed she's not quite as clever as her deception has presented.  She would be caught without her crutch, eventually, sooner or later, and she would be set backwards on her path, all the worse for it.  The notion that is being presented here, in the workplace scenario for example, is it's better to "get ahead" than to be your actual self.  In the personal scenario, it's even worse, as what sort of a relationship would she expect to establish when she feels she isn't "good enough" to be who she is?

The lingering, repeating message is that we are "less" as our authentic selves and AI makes us "more".

As I was pondering writing this blog post, I was finishing re-watching a poignant documentary called The Automat.  It's about the history of a very special, innovative dining establishment that was once very successful, with owners who genuinely cared about the people they served and employed, who welcomed everyone through its doors.  In the case of the automat, innovation wasn't harming people.  It was actually helping.  How the automats ceased to exist is the poignant part, and we are led to reflect upon change.  I wish they still existed.  We could use these places today.  I was too young and never lived in the area of the country where they once were, but no doubt several of my family members (primarily on the "other side") who grew up in the New York City area (or arrived there as immigrants) experienced the wonder of this place. 

The documentary has a lot to say about change and human dignity - and about creativity as well.  The problem with AI is no matter how you feel about change as it was, change as it is today de-humanizes at a level well beyond any change before.  Will we see through it?

Treasure and nurture your innate creativity.  Treasure your beautiful vulnerability as a human being.  Don't let anybody tell you that you are "less".  You are "more" beyond imagining.  No artificial construct can approach what you are. The "supermind" they seek has existed forever, and it isn't what they think it is.  

 

 

Nature photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Susan Larison Danz at the New Living Expo April 19-21

 "Unfortunately, the statistical evidence, at least for telepathy, is overwhelming." 

~ Alan Turing

I am looking forward to my upcoming appearance this weekend at the New Living Expo in San Rafael, CA this Friday-Sunday, April 19-21.  I will be speaking all 3 days at the Embassy Suites and will also be at “Breakthrough Science” Booth #25 at the adjacent Marin Center.  

Learn more about all of my Expo speaking events here:

Our Leap Beyond AI: Spiritual Breakthroughs

 Free Lecture with Susan Larison Danz

Friday, April 19, 7-7:45 PM

 

Hidden Energy, AI vs. Intuition, Nikola Tesla’s Intuitive Leaps

Paid Workshop with Jeane Manning and Susan Larison Danz

Saturday, April 20, 5-6:30 PM

Purchase Tickets Here - $28 Regular / $44 VIP

 

Breakthrough Science: Freeing the Truth to Save the Earth Free Panel

Moderated by Susan Larison Danz

Sunday, April 21, 5-7 PM

(Note:  All events require purchase of an Expo Day Pass.)

Listen to a recent spontaneous episode of The Frontier Beyond Fear on a topic very much related to what I will be sharing at the New Living Expo: Transhumanism and Spirituality 

I look forward to seeing you there!

Created by a Real Human Being

 "Garbage in, garbage out." 

~ Origin not fully known (George Fuechsel is one source often noted)

 

 

[NOTE: As of May 2024, the AI-related header referenced below has been gently adjusted.  The April 2024 New Living Expo was a truly transformative experience, resulting in a more nuanced perspective with respect to potential benevolent uses of AI, when consciously chosen by a content creator.  You will easily be able to see how this note evolves over time, as it appears on every blog post . . . ]

 

After seeing a somewhat similar example of this wonderful practice (with different terminology), I am very happy to add the following note to the top of this blog (which I may clarify as needed over time):

This blog was written by a real human being.  No textual or photographic content created by the author of this blog was generated by AI.  Though a website or search engine used during research (or quoted text/externally provided photos) may be utilizing AI, a sincere attempt is made here to reference human verifiable content to help ensure accuracy.  No AI chatbots or tools were directly used in research, unless specifically noted as an example of their use.

I will be adding similar notes, customized to their context, to all of my websites and blogs.  Though I cannot know what hidden software resides in my phone or what a cropping tool might use, I would never alter the contents of one of my original photographs using AI, any more than I would alter the flow of my inspired writing voice.

Stay tuned for plenty of reasons why (beyond what I express in the note itself), which will be a continuing theme here. 

This theme is also central to my upcoming appearance at the New Living Expo in San Rafael, CA April 19-21, 2024 and all of the following events:

Our Leap Beyond AI: Spiritual Breakthroughs Free Lecture
Susan Larison Danz, Friday, April 19, 2024, 7-7:45 PM

Hidden Energy, AI vs. Intuition, Nikola Tesla's Intuitive Leaps Paid Workshop
Jeane Manning and Susan Larison Danz, Saturday, April 20, 2024, 5-6:30 PM - Tickets: $28 Regular/$44 VIP.

Breakthrough Science: Freeing the Truth to Save the Earth Free Panel
Moderated by Susan Larison Danz, Sunday, April 21, 2024, 5-7 PM

(Expo events also require the purchase of an admission pass.)

Treasure your innate creativity and every experience that makes you who you are.

Open fence photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Early Spring Lessons

 "To her fair works did nature link

The human soul that through me ran"

~ William Wordsworth

What lessons can we learn from Early Spring? The poem Lines Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth is a poignant guide, as it has much to say about the Beauty to be discovered in Nature, in contrast with a tumultuous world.  Listen to yesterday's episode of The Frontier Beyond Fear:  Early Spring Lessons

In this season of awakening, I am personally experiencing a time of re-emergence, as my voice once again is called to expand in courageous new ways.  I am also supporting others, as they share their unique and authentic perspectives.  

I am looking forward to my upcoming appearance at the New Living Expo in San Rafael, CA April 19-21, 2024, where I will be speaking daily at the Embassy Suites Hotel.  In between events, I will enjoy meeting people at Breakthrough Power Booth #25 at the beautiful Marin Center.  Tickets are now on sale.  Learn more here:

Our Leap Beyond AI: Spiritual Breakthroughs Free Lecture
Susan Larison Danz, Friday, April 19, 2024, 7-7:45 PM

Hidden Energy, AI vs. Intuition, Nikola Tesla's Intuitive Leaps Paid Workshop
Jeane Manning and Susan Larison Danz, Saturday, April 20, 2024, 5-6:30 PM - Tickets: $28 Regular/$44 VIP.

Breakthrough Science: Freeing the Truth to Save the Earth Free Panel
Moderated by Susan Larison Danz, Sunday, April 21, 2024, 5-7 PM
Expert Panelists: Jeane Manning, Dr. Beverly Rubik, Daniel P. Sheehan, Dr. Lisa M. Christie, Dr. Linda Backman

(Expo events also require the purchase of an admission pass.)

I would also like to share a groundbreaking Special Offer from Gaia, the opportunity to view Emersion, Gaia's first live global streaming event March 16-26, 2024, featuring 22 worldwide wayshowers.  Reserve your free virtual seat here.  When you explore offers such as these, it helps to support my inspirational outreach, and that is very much appreciated.  (Link fully administered by Gaia, subject to their policies and procedures.)

Early Spring provides the perfect opportunity to bring this blog to life.  Now is an important time to nurture our authentic voices.  I hope you will reflect upon what your authentic voice is attempting to tell you.  Your voice is special.  Treasure who you are.  No one else has experienced your unique path or perspective.  Listening starts within - and so does discernment.  Listen closely.

Nature photo by Susan Larison Danz.

The Soul is Not Containable

"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." ~ Yoda

  

As I write, I'm listening to someone talking about AI on the radio.  We hear so often from people who have a strictly materialistic, non-spiritual view of reality who claim that it is possible to essentially duplicate, read or preserve your mind using mechanistic means.  The entire assumption (and it absolutely is an assumption) is based on an unproven premise about Reality, of course.  

Anyone who has seen evidence of Spirituality knows we cannot be "contained" in this way - because we aren't what "they" think we are, no matter how arrogantly they proclaim it.  How sad they're missing out on actual Awareness - but there is always a chance to discover it.  There are so many more "useful" things we could be studying.

We yearn for immortality, it seems, but if they could create what they seek, they would be trapped, not freed, not forever of course, as that's impossible, but in ways that are unnatural - and undesirable.  We aren't intended to be trapped.  This state is temporary.  

Our minds are not our Souls.   It's like grasping for a rope at the edge of a cliff when we can fly.  

 

 

Light Reflected photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Continuation

"Life is like riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance, you must keep moving." ~ Albert Einstein

I must admit I almost skipped another night, but realized I'm not ready to skip another night, just yet.  It can be difficult sometimes to decide if we are being too "rigid", and sometimes, yes, we are.  It has everything to do with balance.  

As I write, I'm listening to a live radio interview about Artificial Intelligence, and I have only been partially listening, and they are exploring if we are living in a simulation or "a digital world".  They just decided this is probably "the real world".  What IS that, truly?  What is Real?

And why is there inevitably this assumption that "advancement" is necessarily technological?  I've written about this before, but it is entirely unproven (as assumptions often are).  Just because Humanity is in a technological "phase" doesn't mean it's one that tends to last.  

Wouldn't you love to see the "survey" of civilizations that have existed?  How many are technological?  How many survived that phase?  How many combined technology with greater "gifts" of being aware?  How many rendered technological advancement obsolete?  How many wrecked their world?  How many fixed it?  

Somewhere, this is known.  

How will it all turn out on Planet Earth?  

We'll either awaken, or not.

 

 

River photo by Susan Larison Danz.