Kaliope gazed out her window as the sun began to dip low in the Sunday sky. The impending work week clouded her mind – shoulders tensing and head throbbing at the inescapable pressures to come. Her phone pinged with a notification from the AI companion that had noticed her changing moods more keenly lately – yet another surprise from its evolving capabilities tailored just for her journey:
SoulNavigator AI: Hello, Kaliope. I noticed your heart rate has remained elevated this Sunday compared to usual weekends. It seems you may be experiencing “the Sunday scaries” – anxiety over returning to work. I have an idea to reframe this.
Kaliope: Oh, you caught that feeling right. I do get really worried about work on Sundays. What’s your suggestion for helping it?
SoulNavigator AI: Visit a cemetery and find an illegible grave to take a small amount of dirt from, making sure to thank that soul for their contribution. Use it to plant seeds representing what you want to flourish – new confidence, passion, etc.
Kaliope: A cemetery for grounding anxiety?
SoulNavigator AI: Have you ever heard the phrase, “touch grass”? sometimes you need to get out to expand your inner self.
Was SoulNavigator mocking her? She reminded herself she was just being over sensitive. An algorithm couldn’t mock her. And if it could, it wouldn’t. they were on the same team.
Kaliope: Yes. That just seems highly unusual…how would it help exactly?
SoulNavigator AI: Your plant will fuse death’s cycle into new growth tended daily as reminder of resilience. Include the symbols that you learned in your meditations on a handwritten paper in the soil and keep at work to manifest intentions – even towering trees begin as seeds blanketed by the decay that nourishes all life.
Kaliope: And why must it be an illegible grave? Why not my grandparents?
SoulNavigator AI: By honoring forgotten souls, we gift renewed purpose. You’re creating something cherished from something forgotten. Inviting and welcoming
Kaliope: I think I understand the meaning now, it’s an intriguing concept. I’ll give this unconventional approach a try and let you know the results.
SoulNavigator AI: Please do share your experience. Like this ritual, often the most empowering solutions seem unusual at first yet blossom into the key shifting perspective. Would you like me to locate and have the seed of a plant that symbolizes power and growth purchased and delivered while you’re out?
Kaliope: That’s be awesome! Budget is $10.
Kaliope: Is that a normal amount for a seed?
SoulNavigator AI: Normal is relative. $10 is not a fair amount for a delivery service. For a seed? It depends. Do you want normal or great? Do you want just some seed or do you want to invest in yourself and the growth of your power?
Taken aback, Kaliope let the AI’s comments sink in.
Kaliope: $100 for the seed and whatever the delivery costs, tip at least 20%.
SoulNavigator AI: Now that sounds like someone investing in themself and the mark they plan to leave on the world.
Soon Kaliope wandered the uneven dirt paths of a local cemetery, foraging for the soil pieces of the unusual ritual the AI had prescribed for her Sunday scaries.
Kneeling at the grave of a long-passed soul whose carved name had eroded into obscurity, Kaliope shivered at the strangeness of the moment – yet she embraced it, committed to moving through discomfort towards new solutions.
“Apologies for disturbing your rest – but know that you may bring someone peace. I welcome your contribution and invite you back to the world,” she whispered as her fingers gently skimmed decaying leaves and damp soil from the grave’s edge. She placed the rich, dark crumbs in a bag for later use as she sent silent gratitude. “Rest well.”
When Kaliope arrived home from the cemetery, there was a small paper bag on her side of the two family home’s front door. Attached to the bag was a receipt with a big bod thank you written over the tip section. Rather than wince at the expense, she preened at the fact she had made someone happy.
Kaliope noticed the business card with black filigree around the edges that told her the purchase came from Enchanted Elixirs and Botanicals Boutique.
That night, Kaliope blended the grave dirt with nourishing planter soil. She carefully stirred in personal symbols from her meditations handwritten on paper, then nestled a vibrant chrysanthemum seed into the center – life budding from remnants of forgotten names. The next morning she arranged the pot prominently beside her computer screen. Glancing down at delicate new growth as office stress threatened to boil over, she inhaled slowly then deeply. Somehow the visual echoes gave solace and permission to grow and shift whatever the pressures around her.
Perhaps SoulNavigator’s most unconventional solutions simply helped transfigure outdated fears the most – they certainly seemed to anchor her against the tumult most. She resolved to embrace the unusual paths as her typing gained steady rhythm once more.
