Aside: I've been composing this newsletter in my head for a few days now and finally sat down to write it. I'd brain dumped my thoughts using a voice memo and took the transcript from my thoughts. It wasn't a dictation of what I wanted to write in the newsletter. It was the thoughts I had about the reading itself. So when I decided to see if an LLM could write the newsletter for me while on the go, I got so mad at the output. It was not AT ALL like how I'd been drafting it in my head. I wanted to write it though because I haven't sent a newsletter "in a while" and that goes against "marketing advice" and so I thought I'd be efficient.

It was not what I desired to say. And to prompt the LLM to get it to how I'd been writing it would take more work than sitting down and writing it myself.

So, now, even though it's a few days later than "my schedule" I'm sharing my thoughts as I desire to share them.

I've been reading [listening to] Florence Nightingale's Notes on Nursing, her book encompassing the principles for anyone who needs to take care of someone in their lives. It's targeted beyond healthcare professionals.

In multiple places, she challenges us to take responsibility to optimize how they care for themselves and others for health. She points out that so many outsource their power in their own ability to take care of themselves to medical professionals. She challenged women of that time to spend less time optimizing for the drawing room and spend more time learning how to take care of herself and her own children. She discusses how many invalidate their own expertise because they're not trained in "pathology," that is, knowing what causes diseases.

She challenges that we can all learn the signs of health and vitality and optimize for that. Her book lays out fundamental principles that still ring true today.

• The importance of fresh air - while our houses are certainly less musty than in the 1900s, in the United States at least, we often keep our windows shut and let our HVAC systems do their job.
  • How often is the HVAC filter changed?
  • It's too hot to let in fresh air! What about walking around outside? Or at least sitting outside in the shade? Get creative :)
  • Now we also have those chemically scented devices from those plug-in air fresheners to scented candles. That alters the air.
  • It seems simple and it's a way to optimize for health
• Light - the spirits of an invalid are lifted by light. Always give someone a room that gets light, unless they're trying to sleep. Getting some sun is also a good way to lift spirits.
  • Do you think about getting natural light during your day?
• Noise - was an interesting one to me. She talks about how noises are particularly troublesome to invalids. It's easy to think one is being overdramatic about noises. After I heard this though, I started to realize how there are certain times of day when noises affect me more. Like when I'm home alone, a strange noise might put me on edge.

These are only a few of her principles, I highly suggest visiting them if optimizing for health interests you.

I got into this because I had a conversation with my mom about nursing. My great-grandma, grandma, and mom were all nurses. I broke the generations long cycle and choose another path than nursing (in our modern conception of nursing). I found my way to healing regardless in my holistic health journey I've been on. And now, after revisiting the origins of nursing, I've fallen in love with the field. Before I avoided it completely. It's been a lot of fun reading Nightingale and other nursing theorists and finding so much overlap in the wellness field I've been exploring.

I've been writing a lot about AI lately. And I started Renaissance Rachel as a place to explore where technology meets wellness. There are so many directions that can go. For instance, I've used AI to create a channel I named The Rooted Commons because I desired to listen to content that explored the root of modern ideas. It explores questions like: who invented affirmations before Louise Hay? Where did conscious language practices come from? What are different theories around wellness?

I'm creating audiobooks so I can listen to these original thinkers (all under public domain). I've created different videos to track ideas or dive deep on specific ones.

For me, I've found lately that AI helps facilitate going back to the original sources and studying them. And I'm also reaching a point where I'm discovering that AI output frustrates me.

It's an evolving journey.

Thanks for being on it with me.

Rachel