A Process ...

She will be 105 in September. She struggles to recognize her four children, let alone her countless grandchildren. Today, she said, "Nobody told me how to die." She has always wanted to die in her own home, an oversized place that has always had room for an endless parade of visitors. She has always been very "social." Although she struggles to remember the old friends dropping by, she chats happily "on automatic." There are a lot of relatives. She was raised on a farm near North Battleford, Saskatchewan, where her Russian parents raised 16 children.

I asked "AI" - specifically Claude 3 Sonnet, to describe this situation in a short essay. I have taken the liberty of letting Grammarly, my AI writing assistant, make a few corrections to Sonnet's purple prose. This is the slightly edited version:

She sits in the twilight of her extraordinary life, a living embodiment of resilience and grace. At 105 years old, her eyes, dimmed by time, still hold a glimmer of the vibrant spirit that has carried her through more than a century of life's joys and sorrows.

Her mind, once a vast repository of memories, now struggles to recognize the faces of her beloved children and grandchildren, their features blurred by the relentless march of time. Yet, even as the veil of forgetfulness descends, she remains a beacon of warmth and contentment, her gentle smile and cheerful banter a testament to the enduring power of human connection.

Born on the windswept prairies of Saskatchewan, her roots run deep, intertwined with the rich tapestry of her Russian heritage. Raised on a farm near North Battleford, she was one of sixteen children, each a thread woven into the fabric of a family bound by love, hard work, and an unwavering sense of community.

As the years passed, her life unfolded like a grand tapestry, each stitch a story unto itself. She embraced the role of matriarch, her home a sanctuary where laughter, like a sweet melody, echoed through the halls and the doors were always open to an endless parade of visitors. In her world, hospitality was a sacred art, and her oversized abode became a canvas upon which she painted her masterpiece of warmth and inclusivity.

Now, as the twilight of her life casts long shadows, she finds herself at a crossroads, confronted with the inevitable journey that awaits us all. Yet, her resolve, like a beacon in the night, remains unshaken in the face of this final transition. 'Nobody told me how to die,' she muses, her words carrying the weight of a lifetime's wisdom and the quiet acceptance of life's cyclical nature.

In this moment, her greatest wish is to depart this world as she has lived—surrounded by the love and laughter of those who have graced her life, enveloped in the familiar embrace of the home that has been her sanctuary for so many years. This desire resonates with the very essence of her being, a final act of defiance against the loneliness that often accompanies the end of life's journey.

As her loved ones gather around her, their presence a tapestry of love and support, they bear witness to a life well-lived, a legacy that transcends the boundaries of time and space. In her final moments, may she find solace in the knowledge that her impact on this world will endure, woven into the very fabric of those she leaves behind, a testament to the enduring power of love, family, and the indomitable human spirit.

Based on this, I asked the same AI to write a prompt for a picture. This is the prompt it provided:

write a prompt for DALL-E based on this story

Answer

Here is a prompt for DALL-E based on the descriptive essay about the 105-year-old woman wanting to die at home:

"An elderly woman of 105 years old sitting in a rocking chair in the living room of her large, old farmhouse home. She has a warm smile on her face and is surrounded by family members of multiple generations - her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The room is filled with natural light coming through the windows. There are family photos and mementos from her life on the walls and surfaces. Outside the windows you can see a rural prairie landscape with fields, a few trees, and a bright blue sky with clouds. The style should be realistic, warm, and nostalgic."

This prompt describes the key visual elements from the story:The 105-year-old woman herself, smiling contentedly

Her sitting in the living room of her large, old farmhouse home she wants to die in

Multiple generations of her family around her - children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren

Details like the natural light, family photos/mementos, and view of the rural prairie fields outside

The warm, nostalgic, realistic art style to capture the tone of the story

By including these specific details in the prompt, it should guide DALL-E to generate an image that visually encapsulates the core aspects of the woman's life story and her final wish to pass away peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family. 

I handed the prompt to Microsoft's version of DALL-E, available for free in BING:

 

Or, as Rembrandt might have imagined it:

Or perhaps the way one of my favourite artists, Gustav Klimt, would have seen it:

Gotta love Klimpt's colours - 

If he had more than 10 seconds 

He would have done a better job with the faces.

I started with a meditation on my mother-in-law. Inevitably, looking after a person this close to the end has inspired my own thoughts about my own mortality and the grief of losing all our dear friends and family, one by one. In the long run, we will follow.

There is a lot to this story, but let me show you something that amazed me. I asked AI to draw a picture illustrating the Hindu concept of Indra's Web - the one that ties us all into whatever the hell is going on ..

Here is a potential DALL-E prompt to illustrate the Net of Indra: A vast cosmic net stretching infinitely in all directions, with glittering jewels at each intersection point. The jewels reflect and refract each other in an infinite loop, creating dazzling colours and kaleidoscopic patterns. The net has a cosmic, celestial theme with swirling galaxies and nebulae in the background. In the center of the image is a small, sad and defeated human figure...

Of course this is all part of an even bigger project, but to tell that story, I would probably need to start in Grade 12 in Aberhart High School ...

She will be 105 in September. She struggles to recognize her four children, let alone her countless grandchildren. Today, she said, "Nobody told me how to die." She has always wanted to die in her own home, an oversized place that has always had room for an endless parade of visitors. She has always been very "social." Although she struggles to remember the old friends dropping by, she chats happily "on automatic." There are a lot of relatives. She was raised on a farm near North Battleford, Saskatchewan, where her Russian parents raised 16 children.

I asked "AI" - specifically Claude 3 Sonnet, to describe this situation in a short essay. I have taken the liberty of letting Grammarly, my AI writing assistant, make a few corrections to Sonnet's purple prose. Not a single word needed correction:

In the twilight of her extraordinary life, she sits, a living embodiment of resilience and grace. At 105 years old, her eyes, though dimmed by time, still hold a glimmer of the vibrant spirit that has carried her through more than a century of life's joys and sorrows.

Her mind, once a vast repository of memories, now struggles to recognize the faces of her beloved children and grandchildren, their features blurred by the relentless march of time. Yet, even as the veil of forgetfulness descends, she remains a beacon of warmth and contentment, her gentle smile and cheerful banter a testament to the enduring power of human connection.

Born on the windswept prairies of Saskatchewan, her roots run deep, intertwined with the rich tapestry of her Russian heritage. Raised on a farm near North Battleford, she was one of sixteen children, each a thread woven into the fabric of a family bound by love, hard work, and an unwavering sense of community.

As the years passed, her life unfolded like a grand tapestry, each stitch a story unto itself. She embraced the role of matriarch, her home a sanctuary where laughter echoed through the halls and the doors were always open to an endless parade of visitors. In her world, hospitality was a sacred art, and her oversized abode became a canvas upon which she painted her masterpiece of warmth and inclusivity.

Now, as the twilight of her life casts long shadows, she finds herself at a crossroads, confronted with the inevitable journey that awaits us all. Yet, in the face of this final transition, her resolve remains unshaken. "Nobody told me how to die," she muses, her words carrying the weight of a lifetime's wisdom and the quiet acceptance of life's cyclical nature.

In this moment, her greatest wish is to depart this world as she has lived – surrounded by the love and laughter of those who have graced her life, enveloped in the familiar embrace of the home that has been her sanctuary for so many years. It is a desire that resonates with the very essence of her being, a final act of defiance against the loneliness that often accompanies the end of life's journey.

As her loved ones gather around her, their presence a tapestry of love and support, they bear witness to a life well-lived, a legacy that transcends the boundaries of time and space. In her final moments, may she find solace in the knowledge that her impact on this world will endure, woven into the fabric of those she leaves behind, a testament to the enduring power of love, family, and the indomitable human spirit.

Based on this, I asked the same AI to write a prompt for a picture. This is the prompt it provided:

write a prompt for DALL-E based on this story

Answer

Here is a prompt for DALL-E based on the descriptive essay about the 105-year-old woman wanting to die at home:

"An elderly woman of 105 years old sitting in a rocking chair in the living room of her large, old farmhouse home. She has a warm smile on her face and is surrounded by family members of multiple generations - her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The room is filled with natural light coming through the windows. There are family photos and mementos from her life on the walls and surfaces. Outside the windows you can see a rural prairie landscape with fields, a few trees, and a bright blue sky with clouds. The style should be realistic, warm, and nostalgic."

This prompt describes the key visual elements from the story:The 105-year-old woman herself, smiling contentedly

Her sitting in the living room of her large, old farmhouse home she wants to die in

Multiple generations of her family around her - children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren

Details like the natural light, family photos/mementos, and view of the rural prairie fields outside

The warm, nostalgic, realistic art style to capture the tone of the story

By including these specific details in the prompt, it should guide DALL-E to generate an image that visually encapsulates the core aspects of the woman's life story and her final wish to pass away peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family. 

I handed the prompt to Microsoft's version of DALL-E, available for free in BING:

 

Or, as Rembrandt might have imagined it:

Or perhaps the way one of my favourite artists, Gustav Klimt, would have seen it:

Gotta love Klimpt's colours - 

If he had more than 10 seconds 

He would have done a better job with the faces.

I started with a meditation on my mother-in-law. Inevitably, looking after a person this close to the end has inspired my own thoughts about my own mortality and the grief of losing all our dear friends and family, one by one. In the long run, we will follow.

There is a lot to this story, but let me show you something that amazed me. I asked AI to draw a picture illustrating the Hindu concept of Indra's Web - the one that ties us all into whatever the hell is going on ..

Here is a potential DALL-E prompt to illustrate the Net of Indra: A vast cosmic net stretching infinitely in all directions, with glittering jewels at each intersection point. The jewels reflect and refract each other in an infinite loop, creating dazzling colours and kaleidoscopic patterns. The net has a cosmic, celestial theme with swirling galaxies and nebulae in the background. In the center of the image is a small, sad and defeated human figure...

Of course this is all part of an even bigger project, but to tell that story, I would probably need to start in Grade 12 in Aberhart High School ...