The louder the world gets, the more I want to build an oasis.
The world is moving fast right now. Faster than feels comfortable. Faster than feels human.
And I've been thinking a lot about what that means — for creativity, for connection, and for a dream I've been quietly tending for a long time.
An AI Rendering of Paisley Lane - April 26, 2026
The Thing About AI
Six months ago, I joined Thomson Reuters. On my first day, I was told that using AI in our daily work wasn't just encouraged — it was a priority. Teams were being measured on how much they used it.
I won't pretend I was completely new to it. I'd used ChatGPT for ideation, email correspondence, and image creation. Technology has always been woven into the work I do — I went to school for programming, I've spent my career using it to create efficiencies, store and report on data, and build better experiences. I'm not naive to it.
But AI felt different. A little ominous. A little intimidating.
And so I did what I always do with the things that frighten me professionally: I embraced it.
Six months later, the sophistication of what I can do with these tools compared to day one feels like years of distance, not months. The capabilities are genuinely incredible. You just have to be curious and willing to experiment. I continue to use them to build a better work environment — and I'm grateful for what they make possible.
But there's a part of me that stays cautious. That thinks about the long-term environmental and human impact of all of this. That wonders what we might be trading without fully realizing it.
The Creating Is the Fun Part
Ronny Chieng, comedian and rotating host of The Daily Show, recently gave a keynote at Harvard's Class Day 2026. While other speakers were telling graduates they needed to master AI for the future, Chieng took a different stance entirely — arguing that the mission of this generation is to push back against it. Not because he doesn't see its value in scientific breakthroughs, but because of what he believes it's quietly taking away: creativity.
"What they're missing is this: the creating is the fun part."
As someone who considers herself deeply creative, I felt that.
And yet — I also believe technology has the ability to help us execute and deliver our creations. To bring them to life faster, bigger, and with more precision than we could alone. What it cannot do is create human connection. What it cannot replicate is the feeling of making something with your hands, your heart, and the people you love. Although I'm sure someone will argue otherwise.
What I know is this: the louder the world around me gets, the more I want to retreat somewhere quieter.
Summer sprinkler fun with the my kids - July 2, 2011
What Summer Used to Feel Like
My kids start their summer break this week. And watching them step out of the school year and into the open space of summer has me reminiscing on what those months used to feel like for me.
Outside from morning until the streetlights came on. Bike rides all around town. Water balloon fights with neighbor kids. Unlimited energy and drinking from the hose because you didn't want to take a break from playing to go inside for a glass of water.
Summer breaks felt care-free. A true unwind. A full reconnection with nature and yourself and the kids on your street whose last names you barely knew.
And yes — we got bored. But sleep came easily on those nights. The kind of deep, earned, physically tired sleep that only comes from a day spent fully outside. (Except for the nights when it was too hot and the box fan propped in the window was just recirculating the heat instead of cutting it — those nights were their own special kind of suffering.)
That feeling. That specific, unhurried, sun-tired, creek-splashed feeling. That's what I think about when I think about Paisley Lane.
Another AI Rendering of Paisley Lane - May 31, 2026
The Oasis I'm Building
Paisley Lane is a place I've been dreaming about for years.
No cars — just magical modes of transportation. Gondolas, trolleys, maybe thestral-pulled carriages for the fellow Harry Potter fans among us. Cobblestone streets lined with cafes and bookshops. Floral gardens and the smell of pastries drifting through the air.
It's designed entirely around what people need to breathe, restore, and feel like themselves again. Disconnected from the noise of the outside world and reconnected with nature, with yourself, and maybe with the besties you bring along with you.
Playing hard. Resting even harder.
An oasis of lush greenery, babbling brooks, and unlimited options to create — art, knowledge, strength, and connection. The kind of creativity that AI cannot touch because it lives in the space between people who are fully present with each other.
We were able to bootstrap The Stacy Mansion into existence in just seven months. Building Paisley Lane is going to require a different kind of creativity — in funding, resourcing, and planning. It's a bigger dream. It's going to take longer.
But I know it will be worth it.
And the creating? The creating is going to be the fun part. 🦚
“The louder the world gets, the more I want to build an oasis..” - Serena Riley
