Summer & the Incredible Mind Manifesto

Jul 15 / Michelle Cross Smith
July in my garden- bee balm and a variety of bees.
It’s been an unexpected summer. After years in corporate America, I was praying for a way out of the “hurry, it needs to go out yesterday! wait, leadership has changed course” grind. In late spring the way out arrived in the form of a mass Zoom call. I knew I should be anxious, but I couldn’t stop smiling. I finally had my chance. 

For the last few years I’ve been waking at an ungodly hour to study and write, reading hundreds of research papers and looking up the meaning of words like temporal and interoceptive. This dense work is inspired by a mission that fell into my head one December afternoon at the kitchen counter: I needed to use my skills as an educator and instructional designer to teach about the human mind and the incredible things it’s capable of.

The Why

Tech’s encroachment into so many areas of life has left many people feeling both dependent on and threatened by it. The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor market is only just ramping now. There’s growing concern over AI reducing our ability to think creatively and critically, with early studies confirming these concerns are not unfounded. Adults are reducing social media use due to its impact on their mental health,and Americans are increasingly skeptical of news accuracy across media channels. In short, people are worried about technology weakening their natural intelligence, messing with their well-being and livelihoods, and skewing their understanding of what is true and false. 

Meanwhile, advances in the field of neuroscience have allowed scientists to track brain activity in real time, revealing exciting and often unexpected insights into how the brain works. This new layer of discovery, taken with breakthroughs in psychology and even philosophy, makes it possible to gain a broad and deep understanding of the human mind and its capabilities, from attention and learning to association, decision-making and even emotion. The human brain is miraculous in its ability to adapt, respond, and create new worlds. I want to provide a platform and community where everyone can learn and start activating their natural brilliance.

My Objectives

  • To get you excited about your endless potential as an intelligent being
  • To offer solid learning and playful but meaningful ways to activate your most fundamental thinking skills
  • To provide a community space where folks can share their ideas and insights with others 
  • Big big big goal- for all of us to take science’s insights into how the brain works and integrate them in the classroom


So there you have it. A project made possible by inspiration, lots of coffee, and some surprise free time. I plan on continuing this work well into the foreseeable future, so stick around. It’s just getting started!
Created with