circle conversations | satya jeremie

Satya Jeremie is an Attorney at Law and adviser to artists and art professionals. As a public interest lawyer she has a holistic approach to solving legal problems and is a strong believer in the pursuit of 'truth'. She is currently looking after an artist with a unique take on colour.

@satyacrystal | jonathancrystal.com

What are the things worth fighting for in life?

Positive change is the thing that I think is most worth fighting for in life, and that might be a positive change in a macro situation. Change in an individual. Because the nature of life is that nothing remains the same and it's a state of flow. I think fighting for a change that's positive allows us to participate in that flow with direction and purpose.

What's your life philosophy?

My philosophy in life comes from gratitude. I am grateful to wake up every morning. And I have an expectation that something good is going to happen every day. It's not an overt expectation. It's not right at the front of my mind. It's more like a welcome. My spirit is welcoming. Whatever good happens that day.

Is there anything you would like to achieve in your life that you haven't already?

That’s a question where if you begin to name it, you begin to lock it off, as the word ‘achievement’ has a notion of being ended and I don't want to do that. I feel like the journey is only at its beginning. The best is in front of me and I'm open to whatever that is. I'm passionate about art, as you know, and I'm passionate about change, so I feel it will be something along those lines. More change, impactful change, change something big and continue to work in art.

What inspires you in life?

Being able to make a difference. I guess the knowledge that one can make a difference is not something you're born knowing, but it's an experience that you inject into. If you live your life making a difference, then you want more of that, so then it becomes an inspiration.

How do you think law- and law-making will evolve with AI coming into our lives?

AI is currently able to do many tasks like assisting with forms and discovery, useful to manage efficiency and the cost of items that traditionally require human time. Artificial intelligence has not yet fulfilled its threat potential, and by threat, I mean good or bad. Law exists to regulate society and ensure fair outcomes in as much as that is possible. Every legal system that is managed by humans has inbuilt human shortcomings. If we were to get to what is called Artificial General Intelligence, which is the thing that’s being talked about that has this scary potential, to become smarter than human beings and if AI were reliable enough to allow for decisions that were much more accurate, then I would see that as a good thing. I think for that to happen, we must be closer to Artificial General Intelligence. There is also a project called Superalignment and I know that Ilya Sutskever was working on it. I'm not a computer scientist. I don't know how far off they are. But I believe they need to be closer to something like Superalignment, which is where the tools and the software which a human is directing, can be aligned with all of those requests of all of the other humans making requests in such a way to allow transformative potential. I think only if we get to something like that, which feels very far, then we can begin to see a positive impact in terms of the accuracy and fairness of decisions that humans can't see now.

What is most beautiful in your opinion?

Humanity. Despite the moments of gloom that we are reminded about daily, those are balanced with moments of sheer unpredictable gloriousness. And nobility. So, humanity for me is the most beautiful thing in life.

Why do you think humans create art? As far as I know, no other species on the planet create art.

That's a good question. To answer that, I think we must look at the earliest sort of evidence of art. And that's cave drawings, I suppose. There is a certain audacity in a being producing an image which is not the thing itself, a drawing of a horse is not a horse. But when you make that drawing of a horse and you present it to other humans, you expect them to look at that and say that it is a horse. Or rather to accept it when you say that it is a horse, even though it's not a horse. There is this audacity in humans to represent reality that I don't think animals use except for survival. It's from our ability to use deception that we have this ability to create an alternative reality in a way that is different from reality, and it ultimately is satisfying to humans. The art comes from that audacity. I don't create art, but I certainly enjoy it and I can see that a world without art would be a much less interesting and less enjoyable place.

It's a good observation and I'm just wondering if there is something like animal survival that humans need, to feed their souls to survive, to stay human?

Art, when it's true, provokes a response, and that could feed into your need to feel alive. So yes, it's essential because we need those things, or we need more esoteric access to our emotions. Then perhaps we're misjudging animals!

I think that positive energy and healthy thoughts can come from a human who is physically, mentally and spiritually healthy. What do you do for your wellbeing?

I love to stay fit. The benefit of staying fit is instantaneous and is something that if you are physically able, or lucky enough to have the use of your limbs, can have access to because even if you don't have a gym membership or an environment into which you can go and set aside time to be fit, you can build it into how you move around. You go for walks, take stairs, get off the bus a stop early and so on.

We can also train our minds by doing mental exercises daily, building in repetition.

If you're fit physically, it's easier to channel your mind in a positive direction. There's so much negativity around us and it's easy for it to claim that space in your mind. Negativity almost feels like it's more prevalent than positivity, but if you start with a physically fit body, it feels like you can govern your mind a bit more and shape it towards positivity, which then feeds back not just for yourself, but for everybody around you.

What you choose to eat is very important. Part of that whole process. All feeds into that process and you know it's just one long chain that doesn't start and end anywhere and the benefits are from accessing all the points of that if possible. We live lives that are short on time, short on resources. And I am very much aware that this is a constant struggle with this one, that we should try to win if we can.

What is most valuable for you in life?

The people I love.

What books are you reading now?

I'm reading a few non-fiction books. One of them is The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. I'm quite curious about the brain. Why do we do what we do? And as I began to read about the brain, I understood the brain's capacity to change itself. And that is really something that fascinates me because I think that that's our greatest asset as human beings. What's inside our heads that empowers change.

I am also enjoying ‘Behave’ by Robert Sapolsky and ‘Determined’ by the same author. They explain why we do what we do and explore free will as something that is not as consciously directed as the phrase implies.

I hear you're a good baker. What is your signature cake?

I love to cook, but I love baking more than I love cooking. I have a sweet tooth. I grew up in a home in Trinidad where my mother made cakes, her hobby was making cakes. I guess my signature is a gluten free clementine cake, which was inspired by a gift of a bag of chestnut flour that came from a special mill in Italy. I didn't know what to do with it! So, this cake was an experiment. I added some almond flour to it because I thought the cake had to be gluten free and it would be a shame to add wheat flour to it. In the end, I made clementine syrup for the topping. And people say that this is a memorable cake.

You have lots of pieces from our collections. What attracted you to our brand?

I like the forgiving shape or in fact the no shape. And it's in your O logo - a circle is for everyone. It's inclusive and your clothes feel very inclusive. They are lovely to wear. You don't get a button in the way and there is nothing added to them, that's what attracted me. It makes everybody look good.

If I say sustainability, what does it mean to you?

Sustainability to me means everyone putting back into what sustains us more than we take out. That goes for the planet, which is our home, and for our relationships with our fellow humans. If you will take more than you put back, then there's less for somebody else which threatens all of us.

Blue?

Water.

Strength?

Love.

Softness?

Mother.

Beauty?

Stars.

Timeless?

The Earth.