This week, the pattern beneath the headlines is unmistakable: nature is not a metaphor — it’s a mentor. Designers, scientists, and storytellers are converging on the same truth: the intelligence of living systems isn’t something we replicate; it’s something we rejoin.

From field-study trolls to fungi as processors and data stored in living soil, the work ahead is to think more like an ecosystem — adaptive, connected, regenerative — and a little less like an algorithm.

🌿 Bright Spots

• Myth and sustainability meet in a forest of trolls.
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• Fungi reveal new potential as memory chips for organic computing.
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• A small Appalachian town uses storytelling to rebuild its tourism identity.
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• Architects turn vacant malls into mixed-use micro-communities.
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• Scientists model city planning after the cooperative logic of mycelium.
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• Scroll on down for our November Monthly Playlist of fall feels

🏡 Local — Western NC

Maggie Valley — Tourism as Living Heritage

In Maggie Valley, storytelling is becoming infrastructure. The town’s renewed creative push, highlighted in the Blue Ridge Heritage itinerary “Memorable Views & Creations All Around,” reimagines tourism as a community-authored narrative.

This is the quiet future of regional tourism: not just drawing people in, but drawing stories out — turning place into participation.

🔗 Read more: Blue Ridge Heritage​

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Trolls: A Field Study at the NC Arboretum
​Thomas Dambo’s towering sculptures turn reclaimed wood into environmental allegory — reminding us that sustainability can feel like magic when it’s told through story.
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🔗 See the Trolls: NC Arboretum​

🌱 Statewide — North Carolina

Reclaiming the mall as a new commons
​Across NC, adaptive-reuse projects are transforming empty retail shells into mixed-use community hubs with housing, childcare, and coworking spaces. Urban planning meets regenerative design — proving that decay can be fertile ground.
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🔗 More Mall Info: LaBella Associates​

🌎 National & Global

Biomimicry in City Planning
​Architects in Singapore are designing infrastructure modeled on fungal networks, optimizing traffic flow and cooling systems based on natural symbiosis. Regenerative logic as civic design.
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🔗 Learn More: Arch Daily​

✏️ From Our Corner

Over the last few years, I’ve taught AI workshops for hundreds of small business owners. But what they needed most wasn’t more tools.

It was a system. A space. A signal they could trust.

So I built one.

The Authentic Intelligence Incubator is a six-week small-group cohort for purpose driven leaders who want to collaborate with AI in a way that feels aligned, not overwhelming.

We start soon. Only 10–15 seats. Let's do this together.

​When Your ChatGPT Threads Start Dragging — What’s Really Going On (and Why It Matters)​

You’ve noticed your ChatGPT conversations start to lag, drip out words slowly, or feel a little “foggy,” you’re bumping into ChatGPT context fatigue — and that matters for brand consistency, content production, and leadership clarity. We're here to help.
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🛜 Online — Events & Webinars

CharityHowTo – “Balancing Innovation & Integrity: AI in Nonprofit Grant Writing”​
Wednesday, November 11, 2025 at 1:00 PM EST
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​Why it matters: A timely conversation about integrating AI into grant strategies — aligns with systems-thinking and ethical growth.
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🔗 Register: Charity How To​

Digital Marketing Institute – “Survive the AI Hype and Take Control of Your PPC Campaigns”​
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
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​Why it matters: Especially relevant for creative professionals and brand strategists tackling the mix of tech + meaning.
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🔗 See upcoming webinars: Digital Marketing Institute​

🌌 Cosmic & Possible

Mushrooms as Memory Chips
​Researchers at the University of the West of England discovered that mushrooms can act as bio-computers — processing and storing data using living networks. The line between natural and artificial intelligence blurs further. Nature already remembers. We’re just learning to listen again.
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🔗 Learn More: Phys Org​

🔍 Featured Intersection

• Regeneration is intelligence, not aesthetics.
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• Local storytelling is economic strategy.
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• AI and fungi share the same instruction: learn through connection.

💭 Closing Spark

“To live in harmony with the Earth is to think in chorus, not just codes.”

Let’s keep listening for the pattern beneath the noise.

⚙ Grow on Purpose with Us

🔍 Clarity sessions for strategic brand alignment → Book here
​🎨 Logo, Branding, Experience Design? → That’s our jam!
​🧢 Intentional merch that matters → Explore Peak Promo​

Thanks for building what matters in community together.

By the way I’m John.​
Designing brands that actually mean something. Founder at Hornsby Creative Group. We lead with strategy, build with clarity, and partner with mission-driven teams ready to grow on purpose.

🎧 Fall Feels and Cozy Chills Playlist

Set the tone for the season with our curated mix of grounded beats and warm textures plus some edgy grit.

Nov 2025 by Hornsby Creative... Starseeds (1111 Hz) • Malte... PREVIEW   ​