Sheep flipping, stage fright, and AI takeover

Farm chaos. Fear fights. Tech takeover.

Author

Joshua Hale
September 18, 2025

6min Read | Watch | Listen

Life's been full-throttle this week, and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Between flipping sheep upside down, teaching my kid about mushrooms, and facing down my biggest fear on a virtual stage, it's been one wild ride this week.

Grab your coffee (or whatever keeps you going) because we're diving into the beautiful chaos that is building a life outside the Matrix.

Why You Should Give All the Cares:

  • Farm Life Reality Check: Real talk about mutual aid and why sheep anatomy matters

  • Fear Face-Off: How I almost chickened out of my first speaking gig (but didn't)

  • Beyond The Matrix Launch: Last chance to join the program that's changing lives

  • Tech Revolution: AI adoption stats that'll blow your mind plus tools that actually work

When Mutual Aid Gets Real (And Upside Down)

So our mutual aid group just got five new sheep.

Sounds peaceful, right?

Wrong.

One of the males was walking funny after getting, let's call it "reproductive career change" to keep the flock manageable.

Guess who got to grab this sheep by the horns, flip it upside down, and check out its sensitive areas to make sure everything was healing properly?

Yours truly.

There I was, wrestling a sheep like some kind of rural WWE match while my neighbors held it steady.

Good news: the sheep's fine.

Better news: this is exactly the kind of real-world problem-solving you get when you step outside the bubble and start taking care of your community.

No corporate meetings about sheep welfare. No committees. Just people showing up, getting their hands dirty, and making sure everyone (including the livestock) is thriving.

From Leopard Spots to Mushroom Spots

Speaking of showing up, I DJ'd a friends kid's birthday party this week dressed as a leopard.

Tuff crowd until the mom held the cake hostage till everyone danced

Got all the moms and kids dancing, which was a win.

But the real education happened during our unschooling mushroom hunt later in the week.

Mushroom Hunt Adventure

My daughter and I headed up the mountain for some hands-on learning about local fungi.

We counted mushrooms, sorted them by shapes and sizes, and used ChatGPT to create an activity book.

w coloring pages of indigenous mushes

Then we got a flat tire on the way home.

Perfect teaching moment: how lug nuts work, how to use a lug nut lock, and how to change a tire.

Real-world skills beat classroom theory every single time.

The Speech That Almost Wasn't

Here's where I get vulnerable with you.

I'm speaking at my first public event this weekend - the Leadership CLA Virtual Summit.

And I almost canceled.

The nerves, the procrastination, the "Who am I to speak?" voice in my head... all of it nearly won.

But instead of backing out, I'm showing up anyway.

No slides. No Q&A safety net. No host to guide the conversation.

Just me & my message

Why am I telling you this?

Because growth happens when we do the thing that scares us most.

Your thing might not be public speaking. But we all have that one challenge we keep avoiding.

  • The business we won't start

  • The conversation we won't have

  • The move we won't make

Sometimes the best way forward is to just show up scared.

Beyond The Matrix: Final Call

Speaking of showing up scared, this is your last chance to join Beyond The Matrix.

Last Call For BYM

The doors are about to slam. Beyond The Matrix kicks off next week.

I had a BTM student drive out to my property this week because he wanted to meet the person he was about to learn from.

The shock on his face when he saw our 10-acre multi-generational farm was worth it.

View from my office

He'd been stuck in Seattle too long and forgot what real freedom looks like.

This program isn't theory. It's not feel-good fluff.

It's practical systems for people who are tired of how things are and ready to do something about it.

I've just recorded more expert interviews to drop each week:

  • The Art of Play with a movement coach who traded IT for nature

  • Trauma Healing with a somatic coach who teaches your nervous system to complete its cycles instead of getting stuck in loops

The relief on people's faces when they realize they're not alone in seeing through the dumpster fires online... that's why I do this work.

We're building a community of freedom builders who are done talking and ready to start building solutions.

Tech Corner: AI Is Eating Everything

Numbers just dropped:

  • 67% of UK adults use AI (up 22% since Feb).

  • 55% of US adults are in too.

  • Adoption hit 40% in 2 years. Internet took 6. PCs took 12.

This train isn't slowing down, folks.

I just built my first vibe-coded website using Claude and Kajabi.

Took me three hours to create something that would have taken about 3 hrs before. 😂

Check out the Hawaii retreat landing page I built for a client - it came out better than I expected.

Tools Worth Your Attention

The Creepy Part

That AI toy company Curio that Grimes 👽 is behind. It's a stuffed animal that "learns" your kid's personality and records every conversation. Privacy red flags everywhere.

Use AI as a tool, but don't let it raise your kids.

Today’s Takeaways:

  1. Show Up Anyway: Fear is just data. Do it anyway.

  2. Real Skills Beat Theory: Real skills > theory. Tires > textbooks.

  3. Community Is Everything: Whether it's sheep care or fire pit talks, we're better together

  4. AI is moving faster than your excuses.

That's all for this week, freedom builders.

Time to go stack some firewood and prep for the next Fire & Smoke men's circle.

Remember: the life you want is on the other side of the fear you're avoiding.

Stay wild and keep building,

Joshua | The Holistic Tech Wizard

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