So depleted you can't even debug your own needs?

You know you need to take a break, but you're either short on time or unsure how to maximize your recharge.

There's something about being too tired even to know what would help. Like being too hungry to figure out what to eat. Too overwhelmed to make the decision that would reduce overwhelm.

What does "gentle" look like when you're running on fumes?

Routine Refactoring Ideas

The Debug Process:

You are a human in a body.

Ignoring your flesh and bones is not good for flow-state.

Energy is life, fixity is death.

Rigidity holds energy and locks us in place, trapping us from evolving so that we feel suspended in time.

Movement reminds us of the fundamentals: energy must move and transfer; there is a natural flow to our bodies, our routines, our lives, just as there is rhythm in the Universe.

The same rhythms that move tides and seasons move through us.

We exhaust ourselves twice - once from the work, once from the resistance to rhythms of work and rest vital and vitally in need of defending, that all humans require to thrive.

That vicious inner commentary—the one that turns brushing teeth into a performance review, that makes every human moment evidence of inadequacy—generations of fear dressed up as productivity.

Sometimes we find ourselves in an ultra marathon run that's taking longer than expected, and we didn't sign up for that, but here we are.

How we frame our existence shapes our experience.

I am working on an update for my routine this summer, and this is my prompt:

Claude, or Chat, or Sir Lancelot (pick your AI chatbot favorite flavor):

Useful ideas:

No. It recommended I watch a digital sunset.

Your scheduling problem is part of it, it's that second exhaustion—the one we create ourselves.

The running commentary of inadequacy that makes every human moment a performance review.

Maybe that's the evolution.

I prompted the AI to make this a mindset shift with experimentation:

Cluster meetings; finish one key task; discard nonessentials

Repeat daily. Adjust weekly. Data is feedback, not judgment.

The Four-Word Rituals aren't a cure. They're just language.

They are tools if you like.

Tools and introspection work in tandem for best results, at least together daily, to assess results, observe, and iterate.

How we frame our existence shapes our experience.

Find the places you have a choice and already choose daily, what is that choice about? Why do you make it, or instead did you only just now realize you are making a choice?

Gentleness is not the absence of ambition. It is the lubrication that lets ambition run without overheating. Go gently equals ship predictably.

Gentle is movement without judgment, rest without performance metrics, choice without apology.

Hard work tiredness is expected.

The hidden danger is the self‑inflicted version—relentless mental audits that turn brushing teeth into a quarterly review.

This "second exhaustion" doubles energy loss and halves clarity.

So, consider microdosing breaks if you need to start small, like I do.

Use AI to take an audit of your processes, even and perhaps especially essential processes such as how you work creatively and otherwise.

Distraction ≠ Restoration

If the activity taxes the same circuits you use for work, it is a distraction.

If it redirects breath, blood, or thought, it is restoration.

An artist in tune with their why will be comfortable leading and taking part in changing outdated modes of thinking—not just in art, but in every interaction and innovation, in the collective imagination and in the possibility of human ingenuity.

Be curious. Question your patterns. And be kind to yourself; you are worthy, my friend.

-Sonia a.k.a. SuperSonic

Examine Your World With Curiosity

Testimonial From Our Community

I discovered that my decades of disciplined practice have become truly internalized—etched into muscle memory. Until recently, I relied on a grid-based workflow and spent hours poring over reference images on my screen.

These processes and tools enabled me to deconstruct that process and reframe my creative mindset. Instead of looking to digital images for every stroke, I learned to trust the vision that my hand – guided by intuition – naturally seeks out.