Narrated Essay: Entering the Estuary

Narrated Essay: Entering the Estuary

From The Guest House: "Gem Tactics" by Shawn Parell and David Keplinger

May 12, 2026 · 8 min

About this episode

The episode discusses an upcoming yoga and meditation retreat in Ireland while reflecting on the impact of AI on creativity and writing.

I’ll be teaching yoga & meditation this September 20-26 at Ballymaloe House in Ireland with Erin Doerwald. It’s a profoundly beautiful, nurturing setting for retreat. Join us for rhythms of daily practice, exquisite farm-to-table meals, and cultural exploration. Plus cedar saunas and a cold sea plunge! We welcome you to join us for this extraordinary retreat—more info at shawnparell.com/ireland I was puttering around on my desktop last week—doing anything to avoid beginning this draft—when an email arrived from Satya Doyle Byock , Director of the Salomé Institute of Jungian Studies, psychotherapist, and author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood . I’m connected to Satya’s work through a yearlong course in Jungian psychology, so it felt synchronous that her voice should reach me in the midst of a procrastination I had entered but not yet named. In her newsletter, Satya reflected on how AI-generated content has begun to drain her motivation to write, or at least to write in the digital landscape: “The existential (or is it creative?) concern is not only that I don’t know that I can keep up; it’s that I’m not sure I want to.I don’t want to feel frenzied for any…

People in this episode

Hosts: Shawn Parell, David Keplinger

Topics covered

  • yoga
  • meditation
  • Jungian psychology
  • AI-generated content
  • creativity
  • retreat

Keywords

  • yoga
  • meditation
  • retreat
  • Jungian psychology
  • AI
  • creativity
  • writing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Salomé Institute of Jungian Studies

Books & works: Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood

Places: Ballymaloe House, Ireland

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