Day 25 out of 100 wearing A.I. glasses designed to help you find happiness.

Do the tragedies we go through define us? When can it be turned into something good? And wtf am I doing inside of a prison in Lithuania?

These were the questions running through my head when my A.I. told me to visit Lukiškės Prison - a penitentiary at the center of Lithuania’s capital.

For 100 years, this prison was run by dictatorships - from Germany’s secret police during WW2 all the way to the Soviets during their occupation. For virtually all of its life, this prison has been synonymous with repression.

But now... it's a haven for self-expression.

In 2019 the prison shut down - only to be reopened in 2022 as a center for the arts. Now, interrogation rooms have been converted into art studios. Prison yards, into stages. Cell blocks, into Christmas Markets. Darkness has been replaced by light. Censorship has been replaced by art. Hopelessness has been replaced by dance.

Being here was a wonderful surprise - and what I think is most beautiful about this place is what its transformation represents. All of us will face a lot of tragedy in life - and while we all must grieve, we all get to make a choice about what to do with it afterwards.

Do you become its prisoner, letting yourself be defined by the pain that you've been exposed to?

Or do you become its liberator, letting yourself be defined by the story of how you overcame it - using that pain to grow or to make something beautiful?

The choice is up to you.

Built with @brilliantlabsAR, the awesome open source AR glasses that are making all of this possible, as well as OpenAI + Flutter!

Doing these videos has been the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. Mixing world-class innovation with world-class documentary filmmaking is what I love, and I want to continue doing these pieces not just to show people what’s possible, but to transmit very important wisdom to the youth of today.

But I need your support to make it happen! If you are interested in supporting my work, please comment “I want to support you” below and I’ll reach out via a DM.

Thank you and a happy new year to everyone. And if you are going through a hard time, just remember: all darkness is temporary :)