Beard vs No-Beard isn’t really about facial hair.I think this is a quiet reflection on vanity, identity, projection, and how easily we build a sense of self out of other people’s reactions. I talk through what changed in me when I grew a beard during a period of spiritual transformation...and I suppoose what surfaced again when I shaved it off.Compliments, suspicion, respect, attention, invisibility.Being seen as attractive versus being seen as trustworthy.Being listened to before speaking versus having to earn the room.Both versions felt like masks. One felt safer. One felt more tempting.This isn’t a story about enlightenment or self-improvement. It’s about ego (ewwww I know )...how subtle it is, how persuasive it can be, and how hard it is to quit once you realize how much of your life it’s shaped.If you’ve ever felt pulled between wanting to be seen and wanting to disappear, this episode sits right in that tension.No advice. No conclusions. Just an honest examination of how identity forms and at least in my case, dissolves.🎧 Listen quietly.💬 Reflect honestly.🧠 Take what’s useful and leave the rest. ( you can even throw the whole thing in the bin if you want ) If you want to read stuff, check out www.idiotmystic.com or come tell me how much of a weirdo I am on the Discord. https://discord.gg/dXKjhZrZmM

When I mentioned to some people that I wanted to talk about this, they assumed it would be a scathing take on how watching commentary videos is a waste of time and functionless cultural practice that's furthering brainrot.

It was going to be that.

Then I started looking deeper into what was actually going on.

Talking to people who love commentators, their content and everything about the culture around it.

I started finding something different.

People were using these creators to stabilize.

It's not really my place to understand everything everyone does.

Or to label it as detrimental or beneficial.

I just wanted to talk about the practice of watching other people talk about other people talking about other people talking.

And I suppose, talk about it myself, as well as think about talking about it.

It's very meta meta meta.

And a kinder take than one that might come at a later time.

But I do hope you're well, and thank you for being here...on my weird, solitary corner of the internet.

If you feel like reading some stuff there's always www.idiotmystic.com or if you'd like to say hi, stop by the Discord. https://discord.gg/dXKjhZrZmM

Audio :

Unfoldment, Revealment, Evolution, Exposition, Integration by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear/Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Someone who once attended a meditation class I taught called my work AI slop.I didn’t argue. I saved it.This episode isn’t a defense of artificial intelligence, and it isn’t a productivity flex. It’s an honest look at how I actually think and write — through handwritten chaos, half-formed ideas, panic, mysticism, coffee spills, and a process that looks nothing like efficiency.Sometimes that process includes a machine.Not to generate thoughts for me, but to reflect them back — faster, clearer, and occasionally in ways that force me to confront what I actually mean.Not magic. Just legibility. My confusion spell-checked. My chaos folded into something readable.Every tool that ever made expression easier was accused of being impure.The typewriter. The word processor. Editors. Spellcheck. This one is no different. What people often react to isn’t automation — it’s the removal of visible suffering. We don’t trust clarity unless we can see the sweat.When I use AI, it doesn’t erase my thinking. It challenges it. Sometimes it misunderstands me beautifully. Sometimes it saves me from my own over-philosophizing. Sometimes it just sits there while I fall apart mid-sentence — which, honestly, is what most good editors do.The madness is mine.The coherence is shared.And no — this isn’t an AI voice.Just human emotion, divine confusion, one very judgmental cup of coffee, and a machine that politely declined to take credit.

Oh and here's the link to the blog post this was inspired by :

Source Code: A Standing Note on AI Use in 2025 | Zak El Fassi | Systems Engineering for the Agentic AI AgeIf this resonates and you want a quieter place to keep thinking together, you’re welcome to join the community or explore more work here:🔗 Discord: https://discord.gg/dXKjhZrZmM🔗 Website: https://idiotmystic.comNo pressure. Just presence.---AUDIOI Don't See the Branches, I See the Leaves by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/dtv/Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/