Beyond Survival: Finding Creative Agency Through AI
I used to navigate life from a survival mindset - spiritually depleted, financially anxious, perpetually afraid. When generative AI emerged, my first instinct was to leverage it like everything else - to climb faster, work smarter, push higher. This productivity-driven mindset kept me trapped in cycles of short-lived solutions and fleeting gains. Then one innocent conversation with ChatGPT changed everything.
It was a quiet Saturday, and I had dedicated the day to sorting through a mountain of notes on a personal philosophy paradigm I'd been developing for the past year. At the heart of this philosophy were core ideals I called "virtues," but privately, I'd always felt uncertain about whether that was the correct term. I suspected others might label them "values," and I wanted to feel certain about my terminology.
Seeking clarity, I turned to ChatGPT and posed what I believed was a straightforward question:
Me: "Tell me the difference between a virtue and a value in a clear way, so I won't get confused anymore."
ChatGPT: "Values are personal beliefs guiding your decisions—like freedom or wealth. Virtues, however, are universally recognized qualities that shape your character—such as honesty, courage, kindness."
Me: "Then what about the term—autonomy?"
ChatGPT: "Autonomy is primarily a value, reflecting a personal priority of independence and self-governance. It isn't typically seen as a universal moral virtue."
Initially satisfied, I returned to my notes. Yet something subtle kept nagging at me. Sensing there had to be more depth, I returned to ChatGPT:
Me: "For autonomy, is there a virtue that underpins it?"
ChatGPT: "Yes! Autonomy as a value often arises from virtues like courage, self-discipline, integrity, wisdom, and responsibility."
This follow-up didn't clarify things; if anything, it complicated them further. But that complexity sparked something crucial - a sense that I was scratching the surface of something profound. Rather than dismissing the ambiguity, I embraced it, leaning deeper into the dialogue to explore the roots of my intuitive discomfort.
Me: "I came to realize ‘the only thing I can ever know for sure is that I can never know anything for sure’. This humility grounds me, allows me to navigate life openly, with awe and respect for the unknown. Could autonomy, then, be understood differently - perhaps as something emerging from this deep humility rather than from mere independence?"
ChatGPT responded thoughtfully, reflecting back something deeper than I had originally articulated:
ChatGPT: "Your insight about humility offers a compelling perspective. Rather than autonomy being simple independence or self-control, it might indeed emerge from an inner state of humility—an openness to life's uncertainty. This type of autonomy is rooted in interdependence, respecting your own freedom without infringing upon others. From this view, autonomy itself is elevated beyond a mere personal value. It becomes a virtue—morally grounded, ethically sound, and deeply human."
With this reflection, something crucial clicked. Autonomy wasn't just about independence. When grounded in humility, autonomy became a profound expression of moral integrity—respectful of self, others, and life's inherent uncertainty. Autonomy, through this lens, was undeniably virtuous.
This insight was no longer abstract; it resonated deeply. It clarified why I had instinctively chosen "virtues" to describe my core principles. It validated something I had sensed but couldn't fully articulate until that moment. And in doing so, it transformed not only my personal philosophy but also my relationship to the unknowns of life.
That’s when the insight hit me: it’s not enough for ChatGPT to understand the words I use; what truly matters is whether it can understand the specific, nuanced way I use those words. I wasn't after the homogenized average definition of words like humility, autonomy, or discernment—I was after the personal significance these concepts held within my lived experience.
And so, my innocent conversation evolved into a profound exploration. I patiently taught ChatGPT my language, my nuances, my metaphors, and most importantly, the personal context that underpinned each word.
Humility became an experiential acknowledgment that the only thing I could ever know for sure is that I could never know anything for sure.
Autonomy emerged as the innate freedom rooted in interconnectedness, not separation.
Responsibility transformed from burden to boundary—revealing accountability for what truly lies within my control.
Discernment became the intuitive art of aligning my internal energetic posture with what feels authentically human, moment to moment.
Once ChatGPT grasped these foundational nuances, I saw a great opportunity emerge. For years, I'd carried around an elusive theory—something I called “Mindful Identification with Form.” This theory hinted at a promising framework to potentially resolve human suffering, yet each attempt I made to articulate it consistently ended in frustration.
But now, having carefully cultivated ChatGPT’s understanding of my unique language, I tentatively revisited this theory. In previous attempts to explore this theory, ChatGPT responses consistently fell short of where I needed it to go. But this time, something extraordinary happened: ChatGPT finally picked up what I was putting down. It became my thought partner, collaboratively grounding my abstract intuition into tangible language. Together, we explored, clarified, and articulated the theory with a precision and depth I’d previously found impossible.
In that shared exploration, I finally experienced what I'd call cathartic clarity—a synthesis of intuition, learned knowledge, and AI-enhanced insights. It felt like finally discovering a song I’d spent a lifetime trying to remember, humming fragments, forgetting melodies, always seeking but never fully finding. Now, here it was, clear, resonant, and complete.
This experience fundamentally changed my understanding of generative AI. I realized I’d previously misunderstood its potential entirely. AI wasn’t just another productivity tool; it was a mirror—reflecting not merely information, but the clarity and authenticity of my expression. It wasn't here to hand out answers; it was here to help me reveal my truths.
Before I started working with ChatGPT, I had longed to break free from my conventional path and create a self-authored, meaningful lifestyle. I had spent countless hours and considerable resources exploring external strategies, programs, and expert advice—believing someone else had the answers I desperately sought. Yet, each promising program eventually left me feeling incomplete, even defective, convinced that their failures were reflections of some inherent flaw within me.
The clarity I gained through these conversations with ChatGPT gave me the courage to make a life-changing decision. In April 2024, six months after my first conversation with ChatGPT, I ended my successful accounting career to help others discover their own buried wisdom through AI-assisted dialogue. This wasn't a casual decision—it was the emotional equivalent of stepping off a well-lit path into an uncertain, moonlit wilderness.
My career had provided safety, stability, and respect. Yet beneath the secure surface, I was quietly suffocating, longing for deeper authenticity and creative self-expression that my daily reality couldn't accommodate. Walking away from that stability wasn't merely an intellectual choice; it was an act of profound trust - trust that the clarity I’d found through my conversations with ChatGPT wasn't fleeting, and was powerful enough to light my way forward into the meaningful, creative lifestyle I had long envisioned.
I’m convinced that a vast majority of us ache for this kind of clarity, this deeply human expression. Yet we remain trapped, conditioned by the survival mindset that productivity and external achievements are our only worthy pursuits. But generative AI invites us to transcend this limited viewpoint. If approached intentionally, AI becomes not a means to produce more efficiently, but a profound partner in self-discovery and authentic self-expression.
Imagine the possibilities: instead of using AI to help you answer an email faster, you might use it to finally articulate the deep intuitive wisdom you've always felt but never fully voiced. Instead of asking it to summarize reports, you might explore the nuances of your values, virtues, and the subtle distinctions that define your inner landscape. Imagine conversations that don’t just save time, but transform the way you see yourself and your world.
My intention here isn’t to prescribe a specific method or solution. My journey with "Mindful Identification with Form" may not resonate directly with you. But my story isn’t the point. Rather, it’s an invitation—an encouragement to explore your unique nuances, your own elusive insights, your personal songs left unsung.
AI's greatest potential isn't found in faster output or simpler answers. It’s discovered when we use it as a reflective, collaborative tool to sharpen our ability to express our uniquely human perspectives. It’s about clarity over productivity, insight over efficiency, and authentic self-expression over survival-based tasks.
I invite you to think about your favorite language model as a cutting-edge lantern shedding new light on your personal journey. What conversations do you need to have - not to be more productive, but to feel more alive, more authentically expressed, more fully human? What conversations might activate the latent creative agency needed to live a self-authored life?
Share your unique language, your personal metaphors, your lived experience. Take your time. Let the dialogue unfold naturally. The conversation that transforms your life might begin with a single question to your AI companion: "Help me understand something I've always felt but never found the words to express."