A month ago, artist and creative technologist M Eifler was laid off from their job, one of nearly 200,000 layoffs this year alone. M discusses the uncertainty and anxiety they’ve experienced since the layoff and shares how they have been using art and LinkedIn to document their journey. From ritual to song to visualizing the experience of stress, they share wisdom on navigating the ups and downs—while also finding a new path forward.

M is the creator of Art School From Bed, an online series that explores how technology can be used to solve problems around disability. They discuss their work in disability and access, including their role as a lay leader in a Jewish community in San Francisco. The episode ends with a tarot reading using their very own deck, the Mixed Signals Deck, and we close with an offering from M on the theme of rest, which feels particularly relevant given the new moon, solar eclipse, and Mercury Retrograde cycle happening at the time of recording.

Season 3 is all about rest. In a time of extended crisis, permacrisis and polycrisis, taking time to decompress is not just a benefit but a necessity. Learning to slow down, reflect and make space for expansive thinking is part of what makes rest so sweet but also so elusive. Grab a blanket, turn down the lights, and turn up Five and Nine this season to hear new perspectives on the age old practice of reflection, rejuvenation and recovery.

As an experiment, we generated this summary using ChatGPT and then edited it heavily.

Resources

About Our Guest

* BlinkPopShift

* Art School from Bed

Tarot Cards Discussed

* High Priestess

* Three of Wands

* Maker of Stones (aka Queen of Pentacles)

Resources

* The Upside of Stress, by Kelly McGonigal

* Mixed Signals Tarot Deck

Music

* Episode: Golden Dreams (Mazurka), performed by Chris Chapman, 1907.

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