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Joshua Hale
January 22, 2026

6min Read | Watch | Listen

Hey there Visionary Navigators,

My life is a predesigned mixture of high-tech watchtower guard and village worker.

One minute I'm tracking AI developments that'll reshape civilization.

The next I'm elbow-deep in sheepskin skinning.

This week perfectly captures that split.

Why You Should Care:

Village + Watchtower: Why you need both skills to survive what's coming
Fire Pit Philosophy: Opening Fire & Story Festival with witchy tribal folk meets bass
Age Is Just Data: Meet the 70-year-old learning AI faster than people half his age
Big Tech Surveillance: ChatGPT Go just launched with ads, and it's exactly as creepy as you think

Working The Village: Ultrasounds, Sheepskins, and The Circle of Life

Sunday morning a sheep vet (from down the street) showed up with an ultrasound device.’

We grabbed all 3 sheep one by one, she put the device on their stomachs, and we got the news.

All 3 are pregnant.

Some possibly carrying twins.

We're looking at 3+ lamb births in the next few weeks.

The ladies are taking a sheep birthing class next week because this is actually happening.

Then I got my first crack at processing sheepskin from last fall's harvest.

The process goes like this: cover it in salt to preserve it, use special scraping tools to get all the fleshy bits off, then throw it in tanning solution for a few weeks to seal the skin side.

Soon enough I'll have my own sheepskin rug that I harvested myself.

Which would be pretty cool.

Except for the learning curve part.

Right when my mutual aid member was showing me the technique, I pressed just a little too hard and ripped a big hole right in the middle of the sheepskin.

So that's gonna need to get sewn up.

Live and learn.

This is how I balance my week.

Working in the village. Manning the watchtower to see what's coming.

Preparing for the technological wave that's about to hit while making sure we can still birth lambs and tan hides when the systems get weird.

Thursday Night: When Ancient Fire Meets Modern Bass

Speaking of balancing worlds.

Thursday night I'm opening Fire & Story Festival in Bellingham, and this might be the wildest set I've ever attempted.

1.23-25 2026

30 degrees at the waterfront. No moon. Just pure dark.

And a bunch of absolute lunatics decided this is the perfect time to throw a festival.

Five massive custom cast iron fire pits crackling against the winter dark.

Waterfront wind cutting through everything.

And me, channeling throat singing and bone drums through Serato.

The stage curator asked for witchy.

So I'm building something I've never done before.

Nordic folk. Ancient calls. Elemental ritual sounds processed through modern gear.

This isn't background music.

This is sonic ritual.

The kind that reminds you why humans have gathered around fire and sound since the beginning.

The kind that cuts through all the digital noise and gets back to something real.

Something that makes you remember you're alive.

Between fire pits you'll find saunas and cold plunges. Storytellers and circus acts. The whole primal community arts experience.

Kids under 12 are free. Bring your crew or come solo.

Either way you'll leave stronger than you arrived.

The 70-Year-Old Who Made Everyone Else Look Lazy

This week I met with a guy in his 70s (?) who wanted to learn about AI.

He wanted to learn AI

Dude could barely hear me on the call but had a fire in him to learn.

He saw me on a podcast. Went to my website. Booked a call. Showed up ready.

This guy is older than most people's retirement plans and he's moving faster than people half his age.

He's been working with computers for 20 years. Knows his way around systems.

And when AI showed up? He didn't sit back and assume it was for the next generation.

After we talked, I gave him access to the ChatGPT Challenge. He's starting it today.

So if a 70-year-old who's been working with computers since before most people had email can see why this matters, what's your excuse?

Not age. Not timing. Not experience.

The tools are here. The shift is happening.

You're either learning or you're watching everyone else learn.

Exodus Quest Week 4: Your Triggers Are Running You

Your triggers are running your life.

And you don't even know what they are.

You can be crushing it professionally. Promotions, raises, recognition.

And still sabotage yourself if you haven't dealt with your internal patterns.

The part that says yes when you mean no.

The part that freezes when money gets tight.

The part that burns it all down when things get hard.

That's not a problem you solve with Netflix.

That's an inner work problem.

Week 4 of the Exodus Quest is live: Inner Work.

Grab the Week 4 guidebook Here

The part nobody wants to do. The part that actually changes everything.

Inside the full guidebook you get visual learning, audio learning, songs to go with it, cheat sheet, and AI ally prompts to actually see change happen.

Heads up BEYOND THE MATRIX will be starting next month.

Tech Corner: ChatGPT's New Honeypot

The new $8/month ChatGPT Go plan isn't a subscription, it's a honeypot for your brain. And you're paying for the plane ticket.

Instagram and Facebook have been serving you creepy accurate ads for a decade by building a profile on you. Every click, every pause, every search. Now imagine that same system supercharged by AI that can process your actual thoughts in real-time.

Early testing shows 23% increases in sales.

Sam Altman says the ads will be "helpful and relevant." Translation: ChatGPT will know what you're struggling with before you finish typing. It'll know your insecurities, your aspirations, your late night fears, then sell that intelligence to the highest bidder.

You'll be dealing with AI bots that know more about you than your mother. They'll predict your breaking points, your impulse triggers, your weak moments. And you won't even realize it's happening because it'll feel helpful.

Unless you understand how these systems work and how to build moats around yourself and your family, you're going to make purchases you never consciously decided to make.

This is exactly what we discuss in my Inner Circle. Not just what's happening, but how to stay human while the machine learns to think like you.

Today’s Takeaways:

Village + Watchtower: You need both skillsets. Manual competence and tech awareness
Community Over Convenience: Sometimes the best experiences require showing up in the cold
Age Isn't The Barrier: Mindset is. Learn the tools or watch everyone else learn them

Ready to dive deeper into any of these topics?

Want to share your own experiences with AI, community building, or inner work?

Hit reply. I read every response.

Alright, that's a wrap.

Time for me to finish this set and get down to the waterfront.

If you're in the Northwest, come find me by the fire Thursday night.

Stay grounded and free,

Joshua | The Holistic Tech Wizard

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