Seth is an improviser and aspiring professional “muse,” which is a type of life coach that hangs out with you to see where you could be more in touch with your humanity so that you can then work out a coherent plan for your adult life. He discusses with Mary and Mark the conflict between authentic individual humans and a social structure filled with oppressive systems.

Should we “deprogram” ourselves from our standardized upbringing? Is there actually an authentic core we would uncover if we do so, or just a void ready to be filled with the promises of self-help gurus? We act out the personality store, the physically safe space, vulnerability coaching, ankle removal consideration, and more.

Image note: The (second try) MidJourney prompt this time was “various knick-knacks, crudely created as if by children.” When I initially tried for “various small tchotchkes drawn by a seven year old,” it just gave me, like a uniform series of rocks with drawings on them, or a large set of fridge magnets.

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PvI#106: Heart Tchotchkes w/ Seth Stephon Brown