Gerhard Molin handed me a gift box.
A magical Gerhard gift box, I call it now. At the time, it looked like a copy-and-paste kit. He had been pushing me for weeks, maybe months, in this particular area. To use Claude in different ways. Oh I noticed.
But I was resisting.
The classic battle between the me-now and the me-later. You know the one, the one that lives in your head but always seems just out of reach and the problem getting there lives entirely within yourself.
He had taught me how to use Claude back in December 2025. It made me realize then just how underutilized I was and how productive, creative, and expansive I could become.
This magical gift box he gave me was his way for pulling ideas out of me. Ideas for writing. Games for Elfen Town. App ideas. Experiences for our members. And more. We never talked about it, but I think he knew I was stuck and was trying to help.
We’ve also spent a lot of time together and I think he’s keenly aware of what I’m capable of... and sometimes you just need that friend, that mentor, it could even be a moment from a stranger to drop the rock in the pond of your imagination & motivation. Someone to see you. To give you that high five. To share the story and put into words the thing that helps you...
...remember.
There you are.
I actually had this magical box (a series of AI prompts) for a few days before I did anything with it. At the time, I was really going through it. I’ve tried to find words to describe it without actually saying it but I don’t think that helps me or anyone else reading this... it’s a lifelong battle with depression, anxiety, self doubt, feeling like you’re constantly in trouble, etc.
I could build a masterclass in nervous system regulation to overcome it. Play handpan. Meditate/pray. Go to the gym. Be in nature. Go for walks. Eat well. 8hrs of sleep. I’ve spent time with shamans. I’ve done the sound baths. I’m much better at teaching and guiding others in this area than I am at permanently fixing it for myself.
This isn’t about healing, it’s about alignment and purpose.
The journey inward is an infinite space by which you can expand.
This magical gift box... It didn’t write anything for me. It handed me a to-do list. Content ideas for the day, for X, for Substack, for LinkedIn. No drafts. Just ideas. They were ok I guess.
Then it started interviewing me.
Question after question. And then it asked for more of me. My old posts. The podcasts I’d been a guest on. The panels and talks I had given in my past. Levity Field, Unreasonable Art of Living, GO! Reboot Your Life (Lisa’s most viewed podcast), Rebellious Times with Chris. Anything that could capture me. My voice, my personality. Gerhard saw me, still does. And this gift didn’t just help Claude see me.
It helped me see myself.
“Create to see yourself.”
So I went on the hunt. Coffee, laptop, digging up old podcasts and interviews I’d done. It was fun, tracking all of that down, just to see how close it could get to how I think. And to remember.
And what got me, was just how much I’d already created. I’d never organized any of it.
And there I was, in old interviews, talking about Eleven Dunbar years before it was a thing.
That’s when I noticed it. This idea, this series of projects and ideas that I now work on with Gerhard, had been circling me. Waiting for me to be ready.
I didn’t find it. It found me. And when you notice that, you feel it.
Alive. Safe. Motivated.
Gerhard made it so easy, and it flipped a switch in me. He taught me, and I took it and ran.
If you’ve read the last two of these essays, you know what happened next. A teddy bear I drew in sixth grade. A children’s book I wrote in high school. And these Sunday pieces. New handpan songs. A cartoon.
I went from consuming to creating. And I haven’t really stopped. That was about a month ago now.
On Friday, I posted that I’d said no to something that was taking up my headspace.
It was dating. It felt great.
No more pressure to meet someone. No more pressure to go on dates. Just room. Room to focus on myself, on building, on helping people.
This week, I captured another idea (like Mr. Miyagi with his chopsticks) that has been swirling around me for some time. Broadcasting. Turning a camera on and letting people in while we make things. At some point you become keenly aware of it. “Wow. This keeps coming up. “
As a kid I loved the movie “The Wizard.” It was about kids running away from home, traveling across the country to play in a video game tournament. We didn’t have Twitch as kids, but I always thought I would’ve attempted to do Twitch streaming if I had been born maybe twenty years later than I had.
Combine my ability to hold space for people, be vulnerable, laugh, cry, and vent together while also playing a game or showing what I’m building/working on as I do it. So you’re there to learn, grow, laugh, and be inspired... not just watch video game TV.
On Wednesday, I posted a card that said “Someday is the excuse.” My caption was “Might as well be ‘never’... So LFG.”
Two days later I set up a Twitch account.
It’s a shift from thinking about something to actually doing something about it.
And who cares if it fails. If no one shows up to watch our live podcast shows. I love the idea of building in public & attempting something unique to reach more people. To inspire, motivate, and help them.
Gamers are incredibly smart, talented, creative people...and many of them just need that spark. That moment from a friend or a stranger that helps them just take the first step on getting started in whatever it is they intend to create.
When you move, the universe moves with you.
We’re going to play around with live streaming our weekly Levity Field recording. And other sessions through the week too: building in public, talking with whoever shows up, maybe playing some games. I know one thing, we’re definitely going to have fun and laugh. We’ll learn, play, and I’m sure something will come out of it. A person or conversation, another idea, a learning...
A spark for someone.
And you know what? That’s where I want to be. In moments exactly like that.
On Friday, I also shared a question a student (11D members are involved in an entrepreneurship program at a high school in Asia) asked us: what do you do when someone else already has your idea? TL;DR: I gave a long answer that was ok, but there are books on this already.
Elizabeth Gilbert has a version of this in Big Magic. Ideas go looking for someone to bring them to life, and if you don’t say yes, they eventually move on to someone else.
So maybe someone else does have your idea. Ideas get broadcast to everyone. But some of them really are meant for you. Those are the ones that won’t leave you alone.
The spark finds you.
I can’t tell you what your magical gift box will be that sets the wheels in motion. Lights you up. That part’s yours. But your chances go up when you’re around people who motivate you and inspire you, and make it feel safe to start.
Two weeks ago, when I wrote about that teddy bear, I described how drawing it felt. Alive. Expansive.
Funny thing. The gift box started me off with a to-do list. Since 2019, with my employees and even some friends, I actively maintain a to-feel list: three things I want to feel this year, instead of three things I want to get done. The first list back then contained Joy, Love, and Peace.
I like things in threes and fives, so there’s just three.
This year’s list? Connected. Freedom. Expansive.
I don’t think I actually wrote expansive in my essay two weeks ago because of my list. It just happened. That’s the power of that list. Sensations, feelings, thoughts are important to separate. More on that another time.
The last few weeks, since that gift arrived, I’ve felt all three.
Connected to our members, to Gerhard, to myself. To the work of helping people.
Freedom. Saying no gave me room, and the creativity is flowing. I can live & work anywhere and I feel like my authentic voice is just starting to shed its teenage crackling.
And expansive. On Thursday, I wrote that I’m finally becoming. This week I could feel it. I’m not there yet. I’m JustinTheMaking not JustinTheMade. I never will be. And JustinTheMaid… I think my halloween costume idea just found me, oh boy.
The beautiful thing about the journey inward being an infinite space to expand... is that if you go deep enough, it will ultimately lead you upward, whatever that even means to you. Uppercase G. Lowercase g. Sweet baby Jesus in the manger. Shiva. Source. Highest Self. Pachamama. Gaia. Sophia.
...And eventually, that journey will lead you outward.
Where you’re connected to yourself and your voice, free to use it, and expanding what you experience and the people you reach.
Those thoughts and feelings that I struggled with just a month ago? Gone. Like a distant memory.
Maybe inward is the awareness. Upward is the healing. And outward is the…
Real you.
Let’s explore our spark(s) together, shall we?
(Thanks, G <3)
***
What’s the idea that keeps finding you? Even if someone else already has it. And what would you say no to, to make room for it? Put it in the comments. It all starts with giving it a name.
That’s how someday stops being the excuse.
It’s been an extraordinary journey so far, and it only has been a year. It feels much longer, and in the best possible way.
I can’t wait to see what the creative energy that has been slowly unlocking in your will bring to this world, for many many people <3