The World is Alive with Being: AI Art Music Video With an Animist View
Animism is the worldview that everything is alive, interconnected, and worthy of respect. Walking in nature with this perspective, you may feel the trees breathing with you, the stones holding memory, the stream carrying song, and even the ground beneath your feet pulsing with life. This is the feeling that inspired my latest AI Art Music video, Alive With Being. When I walk in the forest, I often sense that I am not alone. The air itself seems to shimmer with presence, as if every leaf, bird, and ripple of water is aware of me, and I of it. This is the animist view of the world: that all things—plants, animals, rivers, mountains, even weather and places—carry spirit. It is not a metaphor but a lived experience, a way of perceiving the world as ensouled. In this view, humans are not separate or superior; we are one kind of person…
Novel Writing Mastery: Your Essential Guide to Writing and Publishing Success
It’s done. Finally. Tick. Finished. Move on to the next thing. That’s how my creativity urges me on. Oh, wait—I need to tell people about it. No one will know it is exists if I don’t, and someone might like to read it. So, here I am, letting you know that I’ve written another book. It’s called Novel Writing Mastery: A Step-By-Step Guide From Conception To Publication. I keep forgetting to mention it, which is silly because I genuinely think it’s a book that could help anyone who’s writing. It’s been formatted. The cover’s done. I’ve uploaded it to the printer/distributor, and it’s on Amazon, ready for you to order. What’s in the Book? This book is a culmination of everything Rose and I have shared on our Alkira Publishing YouTube channel over the past couple of years. I actually started writing it long before that, but life got in the…
Life Is a Circus – A Song Born by the Stream
A surreal satirical song born by a rainforest stream, Life is a Circus reflects on the absurdity of modern politics and the soul’s longing for truth beyond illusion.
New Angles on Writing From the Heart: Personal and Professional
Life is always changing. It’s a fact that we sometimes, if not often, forget. We tend to live our lives as if we’ll always feel the way we do now – always be this poor, or this sick or this angry or sad – but the truth is that everything changes all the time. Everything. Our moods for sure, but also things we normally consider relatively permanent, like the seat upon which we sit, or that mountain that rises above our home; they change constantly only it’s on a microscopic scale, so we tend not to notice. We notice the big things, like a tree falling, a roof being blown off, a flood that washes away a whole town, that sort of thing, and of course, death. But this post isn’t about death, I’ve left writing about that for my Substack publication, Tahlia Newland – From the Heart. This post…
My Journey of Autistic Self-Discovery Expressed in a Surreal Music Video
My AI art music video below, set to a song about a late-diagnosed autistic discovering their neurodivergence, illustrates the first chapter of my book Psychemagination: Into the Underworld — where myth, art, and introspection meet, not only to tell my story but also to help you find your own way into discovering who you really are. But the Psychemagination story doesn’t begin—or end—with the book. Psychemagination is a living creative exploration, a multi-modal journey into the depths of self through myth, introspection, and art. It takes form as prose, poetry, visual storytelling, and AI-generated music videos. Not all of it fits between the pages. Some of it sings. Some of it dances. Some of it flickers across the screen in images that speak where words fall silent. The story first emerged two years ago as a series of videos set to my husband’s music. Those early pieces were heartfelt, but…
What Makes Psychemagination: Into the Underworld So Special?
This video is of an interview I did with my daughter as part of our Alkira Publishing YouTube Channel, Below it I tell the story of how the book came to be and why I published it. Did you know that more than 50% of adults with ADHD only receive their diagnosis after the age of 18? That means most of us live half our lives — or more — without understanding why we feel different. Why the world seems to ask so much of us. Why it’s so exhausting to keep up, to fit in, to mask. When I was finally diagnosed, I felt both relief and grief. Relief that there was a reason for the lifelong sense of not-quite-belonging, and grief for all the years I’d spent trying to fit in. It made me ask a question that I think many of us face after late diagnosis:Who am…
The Loving Light Meditation Song: Surreal Music & Imagery
I’m pleased to share the Loving Light Meditation Song—a surreal, peaceful journey into awareness through music and imagery. This song is based on my Loving Light guided meditation, and it carries the same healing intention: to help you feel loved, energised, and deeply connected to your inner light. The visuals are dreamlike and spacious, and the lyrics guide you through a three-part imaginative meditation. It’s part of my YouTube Music and Imagery for Meditation playlist, and it’s a beautiful way to begin or end your day. I hope it brings you the same sense of calm and clarity it brought me while creating it. The imagery in the video will be familiar to anyone familiar with some of the symbolism used as analogies for teachings in the vajrayana tradition – eagles flying, diamonds, mandalas, lotus-flowers opening, dakinis dancing in the sky, even mirrors – and I’ll do a video at…
A Guided Meditation for ADHD — Loving‑Light Practice
The only thing that stops me feeling driven (an ADHD thing which can be very intense), that allows me to live in a relaxed way is when I diligently do my daily meditation practice. I was wondering why it was so noticeable in me, like turning off an engine. Does meditation give you a dopamine hit, I wondered? Yes. It does. Another reason why it is so very good for those with ADHD – where low levels of dopamine are a problem. ‘Levels of dopamine (the neurotransmitter of pleasure), serotonin (the neurotransmitter of happiness), and GABA (the neurotransmitter of calmness) all rise in response to meditation. And in people who practice on a daily basis, they send signals more routinely. But it’s not one big, er, brain dump. “It’s more that there are overall changes in these combinations of neurotransmitters that reflect a more positive, relaxed, and even contented direction,”…
It’s Real. It’s Here. In My Hands – Plus Other News
It’s here. I’m holding Psychemagination: Into the Underworld in my hands—and I’m so proud I could burst. This book is the result of several years of introspective art, neurodivergent healing, and poetic storytelling. It’s part memoir, part picture book for adults, and part self-guided art therapy journey. In the video below, I unwrap the paperback and share what this book means to me. It’s the first in a series that explores the neurodivergent experience through symbolic art and contemplative practice. Whether you’re neurodivergent or simply curious about your inner world, this book is an invitation to reflect, imagine, and heal. I’m still waiting on the hardback, and it should be an even better print job – at least I’m hoping so. I’ll show you that when it arrives. Join me on this journey. This is just the beginning. The Substack Project If you’re interested in exploring the deeper layers of…
Begin the Journey: Into the Depths and Heights of Being
The journey begins. The short work of videoart below illustrates the inciting incident for my book ‘Psychemagination: Into the Underworld,’ the moment when my sister suggested that our whole family was autistic. Set to an original song and visionary AI art, it invites you to follow the Psychemagination series – illustrated books and videos about a contemplative, neuro-affirming path of healing and transformation—using the expressive arts, imaginative meditation, and modern psychological insight. But Psychemagination isn’t just a book series—it’s a personal and universal journey of exploration of our psyche through the expressive arts. It’s looking into ourselves and expressing what we find through writing, art, music and dance. The act of putting our inner world outside ourselves helps us to process what we find. The Psychemagination books combine my story, written in lyrical prose, and my art, plus introspective art exercises for you, so you can also take a journey…