Small town, big energy: when friends don't suck

From sold out stages to ChatGPT connections: This week's wild ride through music, minerals, and mind-blowing AI updates

Joshua Hale
June 26, 2025

6min Read | Watch | Listen

Hey there, Digital Pioneers,

There's something unsettling about returning from a place where people still look each other in the eyes.

Soap Lake, Washington: population under 1700, mineral springs that actually heal instead of just promising wellness, and a community that hasn't yet forgotten how to show up for each other.

But before I dive into the chaos that is my creative brain on overdrive, let me tell you about the small town experience that reminded me why community matters.

Why You Should Give All the Cares:

Small Town Power: How a 1700-person town sold out their venue and what that means for your business
AI Revolution Update: Claude just dropped game-changing Artifacts while ChatGPT connections are reshaping productivity
Website Rebuild Madness: Why I spent the week in full creator mode and what's coming

Soap Lake: Where Minerals Meet Music

So you get asked to DJ for your friends' band debut. You're secretly terrified they're going to suck but you'll applaud anyway.

But then you arrive in Soap Lake, this tiny Washington town with less than 1700 people, and find something beautiful.

Not only do your friends NOT suck (thank the music gods), but this little town has something special brewing. We're talking mineral water with actual healing properties (The lake is meromictic: its upper and lower layers do not mix due to heavy concentrations of 23 minerals), a farm-to-table cafe that puts city spots to shame, and a community that shows up.

How much did they show up?

The venue sold out. Completely. I went from DJ to doorman, sitting with velvet ropes while people spilled into the street waiting to get in.

We took the campervan, made it a family experience, and got to see what happens when small communities support local talent. There's something powerful about being a big fish in a small pond, but more importantly, there's something even more powerful about watching your friends succeed.

Website Building: Full Creator Mode Activated

This week I entered what I can only describe as creative possession.

I knocked out multiple pages for my website rebuild:

New homepage that actually represents who I am
About page that tells my real story
My autobiography (addiction, recovery, spiritual awakening, business failures, the slow work of becoming human again.)
Beyond The Matrix page for my upcoming program (Coming soon)

Learn what fuels my fire

ChatGPT & my mastermind have been holding my feet to the fire, making sure I don't push this off like I usually do. Combined my Human Design with my launch strategy for a plan that actually supports.

ChatGPT has become my accountability ally, refusing to let me procrastinate this work that needs to exist in the world.

The best part? I relaunched my 21-Day ChatGPT Challenge. I cut the fat, removed the pressure, and made it simple. No community to manage, no apps to download. Just one prompt every morning that will blow your mind.

I guarantee over 21 days, you're going to have some serious aha moments about what this tool can actually do in your real life.

Tech Corner: AI Just Got Personal (And Practical)

Two massive AI updates dropped this week that change everything:

ChatGPT Connections for Pro Users

Your Google Drive, Dropbox, emails, all connected. You can now say "Look in my drive and create a marketing campaign for that project I was working on" and it just knows.

This is the early architecture of human-AI collaboration that could either amplify human agency or complete our transition into managed subjects. The difference lies in conscious engagement versus passive consumption.

Lost that plane ticket confirmation? It can scan your emails and find it. Multiple conversations that need context? Done.

We're moving from asking AI to help us to having AI that actually knows our work and can jump in intelligently.

Claude Artifacts Launch

But wait, there's more. Claude just dropped updated Artifacts, think Custom GPTs but with a built-in app builder. Claude writes the code, hosts your app, and lets users access it through a shareable link.

This solves a huge learning curve I've been grinding through this week using Lovable, trying to figure out how to host the apps you create.

Artifacts turn anyone into an app creator with no coding needed. Just tell Claude your idea to instantly create shareable apps, tools, and games.

I've been testing this all week, and it's wild how fast you can go from concept to working application.

What's Coming: Beyond The Matrix

My family's heading to a festival for a week, which means I'll have uninterrupted time to finish what I've been cooking.

But I also know myself well enough to schedule downtime. Probably going to head out camping for a few days because the best ideas come when you let your brain breathe.

Here's what I'm actually building: a systematic jailbreak from inherited programming.

Not another self-help course. Not another spiritual workshop where people perform awakening for the weekend. This is complete operating system replacement.

I've escaped five different Matrix systems in my life - religious programming, chemical addition, corporate extraction, financial servitude, and the spiritual-industrial complex that monetizes consciousness. Each escape required the same thing: systematic deprogramming and updated framework installation.

Beyond The Matrix OS is a 3-month protocol that replaces the code you inherited with frameworks you actually choose. We're talking 12 weekly sessions, 20+ AI Ally’s designed as deprogramming tools, and a builder community that stopped talking and started creating.

While others optimize their prison, we're building outside the system entirely.

The applications open soon, and honestly, it's not for everyone. Only for the 12% of people who are tired of the “woke” and “fake awake” and ready to be awake and aware.

Today’s Takeaways:

Community Wins: Small towns that support local talent create energy that big cities can't match
AI Integration: Both ChatGPT connections and Claude Artifacts will change how we create and work forever
Creator Mode: Sometimes you need to go all-in on what excites you most

Check out my new About page and let me know what you think.

Your feedback matters as I continue building this platform.

If you haven't taken the 21-Day ChatGPT Challenge yet, now's the time.

I cut the cost in half so you and your crew can take it together.

The week reminded me that whether you're in a tiny town or building digital empires, it all comes down to showing up for the people who matter.

Stay curious and keep it real,

Joshua | The Holistic Tech Wizard

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