S2 E2

Hey Awesome you!

In this episode, I talk about creativity, AI anxiety, and why I believe we need to double down on being human right now.

As technology moves faster and the world feels increasingly uncertain, it is easy to fall into fear, apathy, or the feeling that we are powerless. But underneath all the noise, we are still human beings. We still need nature, rest, food, movement, connection, art, and moments where we remember we are alive.

I reflect on the difference between the natural world and the human-made world, and how civilization can start to feel like a kind of virtual reality built on top of nature. Screens, algorithms, work culture, consumerism, and the constant flood of information can pull us away from our bodies and our instincts.

S2 E2

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads ⁠⁠@curiouskit7⁠⁠

👉IG ⁠⁠@curiouskit7⁠⁠

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This episode is a reminder that humans are creators, not just workers in the machine. Creativity, meditation, music, art, cooking, cleaning, walking outside, and even simply listening to birds can bring us back into ourselves.

If the noise of the world has been feeling heavy, this episode is an invitation to stay calm, stay sharp, return to nature, and remember what makes you human.

Awesome Artist Introduction

🔥Liam Mangino

Liam is an amazing artist whose talent span across multiple creative disciplines, including photography and dance.

Go visit his website and IG!!

Instagram👉 ⁠⁠@liamfotoz⁠⁠

Website👉 ⁠⁠Liam's Darkroom⁠⁠

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

Check out Tim’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠⁠

Welcome back!!

Season 2 is here... !

———

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

———

Season 2 begins with a return.

After a few months away, I’m back with a simple update that turned into something much bigger: perfectionism, nomad dreams, getting a 2009 Nissan Xterra, and trying to remember what actually makes us feel alive.

In this episode, I talk about coming back to New York after time in Japan, letting go of old routines, and feeling the pull toward nature, road trips, camping, and a life that feels less boxed in. I also reflect on fear, courage, and why stepping outside the daily grind can feel like a spiritual reset.

This one is about returning after getting stuck in your head. About choosing movement over perfection. About looking up from the noise, reconnecting with nature, and reminding ourselves that life is still here, waiting for us to participate.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the world, stuck in routine, or quietly craving a reset, this episode is a gentle nudge to breathe, step outside, and remember what makes you feel alive.

———

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Awesome Artist Introduction

🔥Liam Mangino

Liam is an amazing artist whose talent span across multiple creative disciplines, including photography and dance.

Go visit his website and IG!!

Instagram👉 ⁠⁠@liamfotoz

Website👉 ⁠⁠Liam's Darkroom

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

Check out Tim’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify

🎶 👉Soundcloud

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads @curiouskit7

👉IG @curiouskit7

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ep. 23

🤩 We welcome Amber from Amber Japan Travels in our first-ever invitation episode!!

Please go support her:

IG @amberjapantravels

Threads @amberjapantravels

———

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

———

As mentioned above, this is BLTN!’s first-ever invitation episode... and we welcome Amber from Amber Japan Travels!!

Please go support her @amberjapantravels

Amber and I talk about what it’s actually like to live in Japan long enough for the novelty to wear off and the real learning to begin.

We share stories about cultural assimilation, identity, subtle social cues, and the small, often awkward everyday moments that quietly teach you how a place actually works.

We talk about reading the room, navigating unspoken rules, and why living abroad is less about mastering a culture and more about softening yourself enough to listen.

This is not a guide on how to “do Japan right.” It’s a conversation about humility, curiosity, and the patience required to belong anywhere new. About what happens when you stop observing from the outside and begin participating from the inside.

We also discuss about living abroad as a process of adjustment, humility, personal growth, and self-reflection.

About how culture reveals itself in small details, shared spaces, and the patience it takes to truly belong.

This is an episode rooted in curiosity rather than certainty. A reminder that understanding another culture often begins by letting go of your assumptions and paying attention to what’s right in front of you.

If you’re interested in travel, identity, or the unseen layers of cultural life, this conversation offers a grounded, thoughtful place to sit with those questions.

———

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Ep. 23 - Awesome Artist Introduction

🔥Liam Mangino

Liam is an amazing artist whose talent span across multiple creative disciplines, including photography and dance.

Go visit his website and IG!!

Instagram👉 ⁠⁠@liamfotoz⁠⁠

Website👉 ⁠⁠Liam's Darkroom⁠⁠

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

Check out Tim’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠⁠

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads ⁠⁠@curiouskit7⁠⁠

👉IG ⁠⁠@curiouskit7⁠⁠

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ep. 22

This episode is Part 3 of a 3 episode series on:

“How to get off the proverbial treadmill of life and find our true selves”

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads ⁠@curiouskit7⁠

👉IG ⁠@curiouskit7⁠

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ep. 22 - Awesome Artist Introduction

🔥Liam Mangino

Liam is an amazing artist whose talent span across multiple creative disciplines, including photography and dance.

Go visit his website and IG!!

Instagram👉 ⁠@liamfotoz⁠

Website👉 ⁠Liam's Darkroom⁠

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

Check out Tim’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠

----

Episode 22 brings the three-part journey to a close.

After noticing the treadmill and questioning the carrot we’ve been chasing, this episode sits with what comes next. 

I talk about the layers of illusion that shape our lives, the identities we inherit without realizing it, and how slowly peeling back those layers can feel both unsettling and freeing.

We explore what it means to break the spell of comparison, productivity, and borrowed timelines, not through dramatic change, but through honest seeing.

Through recognizing where survival patterns once helped us, and where they quietly kept us running long after they stopped serving us.

I reflect on truth, gratitude, and presence.

I also ponder on how clarity often arrives later than we expected, and why that does not make it a failure, but rather show us the way forward.

I share openly that this is still a process for me too. 

I am not speaking from the other side of it, but from inside, as I continue learning how to live with intention instead of momentum.

This final chapter is an invitation to meet your honest self, right where you are.

To choose a life guided by honesty rather than illusions.

To let go of the rush, reclaim your attention, and remember that presence is not a destination.

It is a practice, one moment, one day at a time.

——

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Ep. 21

This episode is Part 2 of a 3 episode series on:

“How to get off the proverbial treadmill of life and find our true selves”

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads @curiouskit7

👉IG @curiouskit7

Ep. 21 - Awesome Artist Introduction

🔥Liam Mangino

Liam is an amazing artist whose talent span across multiple creative disciplines, including photography and dance.

Go visit his website and IG!!

Instagram👉 @liamfotoz

Website👉 Liam's Darkroom

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

(Scroll down for their links)👇👇

——

This episode is Part 2 of a 3 episode series on:

“How to get off the proverbial treadmill of life and find our true selves”

Episode 21 continues the journey we started in the last episode.

Once we notice the proverbial carrot in front of us and the treadmill beneath our feet, the next question becomes how to step off and why it is so difficult for most, if not all, of us.

I talk about the inertia that keeps us running, the invisible expectations that shape our days, and why so many of us feel we are falling behind regardless of how fast we run.

Then we explore what happens when we zoom out far enough to see the bigger arc of human life, and how mental time travel can break the spell of that very feeling of falling behind.

When we look at our life through the lens of human history, something shifts in our perspective.

The pressure to compete fades, and a different kind of clarity appears. You remember that being alive is a miracle, and deep presence is a form of freedom.

This episode is about understanding the forces that may have pushed us off our true path and learning to reclaim the only moment that belongs to us.

It is also a reminder that we can always return to ourselves at any moment by waking up from the illusions.

This is the second chapter in a three part invitation to find your way back to who you were always meant to be.

If you have ever felt lost in the pace of the world or disconnected from your own path, this episode offers a gentle way back to yourself.

It is an invitation to live, breathe, and love your life with a solid sense of gratitude and presence.

——

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠⁠

Artist Introduction

Check out Tim Skula’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠

Ep. 20 This episode is Part 1 of 3 episode series on:

"How to get off the proverbial treadmill of life and find our true selves"

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads & IG & YT @curiouskit7

Ep. 20 - Awesome Artist Introduction:

🔥Liam Mangino

Liam is an amazing artist whose talent span across multiple creative disciplines, including photography and dance.

Go visit his website and IG!!

Instagram👉 @liamfotoz

Website👉 Liam's Darkroom

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

(Scroll down for their links)👇👇

——

At some point in adulthood, you wake up and realize you have been running someone else’s race.

You do not remember choosing the lane or the pace, yet there you are, out of breath and wondering how you drifted so far from yourself.

Episode 20 begins with that moment of noticing.

The moment you pause long enough to ask the question most people avoid.

Who am I when I stop performing long enough to hear myself think?

This episode opens a three part series on finding your way back to yourself.

We start with how identity slowly forms around culture, comparison, survival patterns, and the pressure to keep up.

These forces guide us onto a treadmill that looks normal from the outside but feels increasingly disconnected on the inside.

I talk openly about the moment you realize that speed is not the same as direction, and how easy it is to build a life that looks right while losing the one that feels true.

We sit with what it means to step out of that momentum and return to presence.

Not the polished, inspirational version, but the real thing.

The grounding, sometimes uncomfortable act of meeting yourself as you are, without timelines or borrowed definitions of success.

I share my own process of learning how to do this, because I am still in it too.

If life has been moving faster than you can live it, or if something in you knows it is time to course correct, this episode is your starting point.

It is the first step in a three part journey of returning to yourself, one honest moment at a time.

——

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠⁠

Artist Introduction

Check out Tim Skula’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠

Ep. 19

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads & IG & YT @curiouskit7

Ep. 19 - Awesome Artist Introduction

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

(Scroll down for their links)👇👇

——

In this episode, I talk about our ancient brains trying to survive a world built for speed, fear and overstimulation. I share what it is like to see Japan through a sensitive lens (as someone with the high sensitivity), how culture shapes perception and how creativity has always been humanity’s oldest technology for staying innovative.

I trace the arc from cave art to Greek discovery of 'perspective' to VR and the cult of AI accelerationism and why it reminds me of GenX classic... Fight Club. This one is about fear, imagination and keeping your sanity & humanity while the world accelerates without us.

——

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠⁠

Artist Introduction

Check out Tim Skula’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠

Ep. 18

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads & IG & YT @curiouskit7

Ep. 18 - Awesome Artist Introduction

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

(Scroll down for their links)👇👇

——

In this episode, I talk about what it feels like to grow up in Japan, spend most of my adult life in the US, and the process of internal recalibration of my own identity that brought many struggles.

I also talk about what it feels like to live between two worlds during a moment when both sides seem louder, more reactive, and more easily misunderstood than ever due to the rise of global tension.

I share the experience of growing up Japanese, spending almost thirty years abroad, and returning to Tokyo with a mind shaped by two different worlds.

I share the experience of running two cultural operating systems between my ears and the quiet humor of realizing I no longer fully ‘belong’ anywhere except myself, and that it’s ultimately futile to try to ‘fit in’ elsewhere.

I talk about how identity becomes fluid when you belong everywhere and nowhere, and the quiet humor of being a walking Venn diagram translating two cultures that rarely understand each other. I reflect on Japan’s subtle communication, the US’s expressive culture, and how the internet turns the whole world into one giant cafeteria table where everyone talks at once.

This episode is about nuance, compassion, cultural gaps, and the strange hope that comes from realizing most of the conflict online is just noise amplified by algorithms and the nature of such platforms. 

The real conversations happen off screen, between people who are willing to breathe, listen, and see the human on the other side.

——

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠⁠

Artist Introduction

Check out Tim Skula’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠

Ep. 17

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads & IG & YT @curiouskit7

Ep. 17 - Awesome Artist Introduction

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

(Scroll down for their links)👇👇

——

In this episode, I share what it feels like to live between two worlds. 

I talk about growing up in Japan, spending almost thirty years in the U.S., and how the rise of nationalism on both sides makes many of us feel anxious and out of place. I reflect on different cultural context and expectations, how self promotion is frowned upon in Japan, national identity, and the strange confusion and comfort of belonging everywhere and nowhere.

I also introduce the “art of relentless optimism” and how I learned to choose positivity after spending decades immersed in negativity. 

From identity struggles to generational shifts to the noise of social media, I explore how we can stay grounded, see people for who they really are, stop letting secondhand information define our worldview, and the importance of firsthand information earned from actually experiencing things with our own senses before reaching concrete conclusions about anything.

This episode is a reminder that most people are good and that borders, categories, and labels are merely human inventions/construct, though it may serve practical purposes to a certain extent.

The real work is choosing optimism, seeing humanity in one another, and pulling each other away from the torrent of negativity that bombards us relentlessly and ubiquitously through various screen-based devices.

Join me in countering the dark force by practicing relentless optimism. lol

——

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠

Artist Introduction

Check out Tim Skula’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠

Ep. 16

Hey Awesome you!

Kit here.

Thank you for being here, I really appreciate your time.

Time is priceless.

I hang out on Threads a lot these days… hope to see you there!

👉Threads & IG & YT @curiouskit7

Ep. 15 - Awesome Artist Introductions

🔥Tim Skula:

Great sonic artist..!

He is the composer behind the intro & outro tracks for this podcast.

(Scroll down for their links)👇👇

——

In this episode, I talk about the rising anxiety many of us are feeling today and why it is important to zoom out before we drown in the noise.

I share how growing up in Japan during the Cold War, living through 9/11 in NY, and watching the world shift over the past 46 years has shaped how I view this moment.

I look at history , including the optimism of the Industrial Revolution and Paris Expo, and compare it to today’s reactionary climate. I also reflect on how our visual technology has advanced faster than our philosophy and how our ancient nervous systems are struggling to keep up. 

Inspired by the story of Musashi and the metaphor of Ukiyo, I explain how I try to stay grounded by mentally sinking to the bottom of the water where things are quiet and clear. This is a reminder to breathe, stay calm, and choose clarity instead of fear.

——

Thank you for being here.

You deserve the best.

We deserve the best.

Have a wonderful day, night, wherever you are.

Love and gratitude,

Kit

Here are my links:

👉 ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/curiouskit7⁠⁠⁠

Artist Introduction

Check out Tim Skula’s music:

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠

🎶 👉⁠⁠⁠Soundcloud⁠