#002💃 The School for Human Arts

It all started from learning to freestyle in an hour...

Jun 14, 2025

Learn to Freestyle in an Hour

During Edge Esmeralda, Tasha hosted a workshop called “Freezestyling,” a method created by artist–scientist Jeff Lieberman, designed to open up flow and expression through sound and rhythm — often getting people freestyling within about an hour, though every personal journey looks different.

The experience was far beyond my expectations. By the end, we were yelling, jumping, absolutely buzzing! The session was able to strip away the masks we wear around strangers and tap straight into our raw, organic, expressive self, and things come out, buried dreams and unfiltered emotions, the childlike wonder, the subconscious mind.

“How was the experience?” Tasha asked.

“I think we all fell in love,” Mike replied, “but not in a weird way.”

Here’s a short recap of the structure of this experience:

Warm-up
Ambient hip-hop plays. We wander around making any sounds that pop out—words, rambles, squeaks. It doesn’t have to sound good; the only rule is to keep the noise flowing.
Edge Test #1
In groups of 3, each person talks as fast as possible until they run out of breath — then passes the mic. If you never gasp, you’re not pushing hard enough.
Ease-In Groove
Same groups, same beats, but now we’re “speaking” over the rhythm. What felt like an ice plunge a minute ago turns into a warm shower: suddenly, little sparks of flow emerge. “Hey, that actually doesn’t sound terrible…”
Edge Test #2
Stay on the beat—then deliberately break it. Rap nonsense, derail the groove, court disaster. We realized that everything is… fine? Nobody died? Failing is ok.
Music Circle
We form groups of 5 around a guitarist cycling 4 simple chords. Each person improvises a verse; when they finish, the group repeats their last line four times before the next voice jumps in.

After an hour, we were wide open! We were singing about love, fear, meaningless but meaningful nonsense… Some caught pristine flows, others stumbled joyfully, but it all felt good. When Tasha called time, we immediately called for round two, glowing like we’d just discovered a hidden superpower! 🦹

The Art of Being a Human

This powerful session highlighted a crucial question:

"When will we have schools to teach us how ‘be’?"

Traditional schooling wires us to retain facts, pass tests, and (hopefully, maybe, but not really) land jobs. It rarely trains the soft and tough arts of being human: listening deeply, holding grief, cultivating joy, navigating failure, building trust, or discovering what we truly desire.

What if schools existed to help us:

Take risks?
Love our bodies?
Pay attention and daydream?
Set boundaries and offer generous love?
Pursue joy and integrity?
Curate our inner creative world while holding cognitive sovereignty?

While life inherently serves as a school, I believe we can design intentional “curriculums” to help us learn these human arts faster, more safely, and more beautifully. Let’s call them Schools for Human Arts.

Because once we understand how to be humans, what we’re capable of, we can make anything happen. ✨

Pop-Up Cities Like Edge Esmeralda

Edge Esmeralda is a great example where you get to learn to ‘be human’, aside from all the spontaneous connections and a rich social life, there are so many amazing workshops on topics ranging from personal growth to the future of city governance.

Edge City events follow an Unconference format, which provides an open calendar that anyone can add events to, in addition to the events hosted by organizers.

A glance at week3 events of Edge Esmeralda

Timour, co-founder of Edge City having a conversation with Audrey Tang

There’s a lot more to be said about the compact, adventurous and intellectually stimulating events at Edge Esmeralda, check out this Week 1 Recap from Carolina Sculti to learn more details.

Emotional Fluency & Creativity: Sleepawake Camp & The School of Life 💕

I went down a rabbit hole about Jeff Lieberman, the creator of the ‘Freezestyle’ session, and discovered Sleepawake Camp – a week-long immersion for young adults seeking transformation, connection, and inner awakening.

The curriculum includes:

Mental Maps – How consciousness evolves, and how to work with stress
Embodiment – Awaken the pleasure and power that lives in your body
Creative Expression – Dance and sing like everyone is watching
Self Awareness – Expand your view of who you are and how you relate to life

To find out more, check out the beautiful Sleepawake Camp website!

Another well-established great resource hub for learning emotional literacy is The School of Life. Founded by philosopher Alain de Botton, this global movement offers:

Classes on meaning, relationships, and emotional health
Retreats and workshops around the world
Thoughtful books, videos, and games for modern living

Most material is online; in-person workshops run year-round in several cities, with a public calendar and pay-what-you-can spots for some events.

Some additional great resources the School of Life provides include these adorable videos on emotional intelligence and dating cards.

I stumbled into The School of Life in Amsterdam last summer. It was the kind of ‘third space’ I always imagined that more cities should have — a bookshop cafe that doubles as a coworking space and classroom, where people gather at the intersection of introspection, creativity, and community.

The School of Life Cafe in Amsterdam, from Google Map

Grit & Resilience: School of Lost Borders & Mars College 🦅

Program Overview at the School of Lost Borders

The School of Lost Borders offers modern-day rites of passage rooted in nature and ancestral practices — including vision fasts, wilderness programs, and grief work.

All that we do and teach at the School of Lost Borders may come down to this simple intention: to tap into the deep memory that we are not separate from nature, that, indeed, we are no different from the land on which we live. To know this simple truth sets us upon the path to becoming “fully human.”
– Course Description, Becoming Human, School of Lost Borders

Founded on the belief that true societal revolution involves remembering the way to adulthood, elderhood, and honorable death, this school contributes significantly to learning the "soft and tough arts of being human".

They aim to teach people how to 'be,' how to take risks, how to love their bodies, and how to live a joyful, fulfilling life, fostering qualities like resilience, love, and regeneration. Their work helps facilitate deep connection and transformation.

Meanwhile, Mars College is what happens when Burning Man marries a generative AI hacker camp. It’s called ‘Mars College’ as a wordplay on simulating ‘living on Mars’ – survival resources are scarce, self-reliance is the key, DIY technology is a lifestyle, and the only path to comfort.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’d know that this blog and my research towards Solarpunk and Grid-Free lifestyles began at Mars College in 2022. Living at Mars College, ‘dirtbagging’ in the desert, dealing with wind, rain, learning about DAO governance, off-grid solar installation, generative AI, and the purpose of life — was a transformational experience for me.

If we’re going to think differently, maybe it helps to live differently. And if nothing else, living in temporary plywood structures for three months – out in the wind and dust and rain – makes you appreciate permanent structures we otherwise might take for granted.
— Amy Brown Carver, Case Study: Mars College, SuperNuclear

Check out this comprehensive essay if you’d like to dive deeper into the crazy stories at this goofy piece of empty desert.

Fractal NYC – A Lifestyle Campus for Adults

Fractal began as a few friends hosting dinner salons in a Brooklyn warehouse loft — and quietly evolved into a thriving micro-society.

Tyler Alterman giving an incredible workshop on Fractal at Edge Esmeralda.

Today, Fractal is a decentralized civic ecosystem made up of coliving homes, peer-led universities, creative salons, and startup incubators — all stitched together by a network of friendship with shared intentions. With no central funding, ideology, or top-down governance, Fractal spreads through simple roles and replicable rhythms: weekly gatherings, skill-sharing, and a culture of emotional sanity.

It offers the magic of college, but for grown-ups — a walkable village of learning, purpose, and play.

In a time of widespread loneliness and civic decay, Fractal feels like a prototype for a new kind of social default: a “neighborhood campus” where people live, create, and evolve together.

To learn more, check out this epic deep dive on How to Start a School with Your Friends, and you might just start your own!

Reimagining Former Education: Minerva University

The World is Your Campus, and Life is Your Canvas.

Minerva University offers a fully accredited bachelor's program. It has been recognized as the "#1 Most Innovative University in the World" for three consecutive years. Its core philosophy is to prepare students for a life of impact, focusing on developing leaders and problem-solvers for the future. Here is a summary of the recipe:

Cognitive Science-Backed – Curriculum is built on how humans actually learn: active participation, critical thinking, systems thinking.
Global Immersion – Students live in 7 cities across 4 continents over 4 years. Cultural fluency and adaptability are part of the core experience.
21st-Century Meta-Skills – Focus on decision-making, ethical leadership, interdisciplinary thinking, and civic responsibility — not just academics.
No Lectures, Only Dialogue – All classes are small, Socratic-style seminars on a platform designed for live discussion and engagement.
Unconventional Success Stories – Alumni go on to launch ventures, work at top orgs (UN, Google, McKinsey), or attend top grad schools.
Affordable & Accessible – Lower tuition than most top universities. No bloated campuses — just lean, high-impact, global education.

Keep Practicing Human Arts 💪

*From blog ‘My Misogi Challenge’ by Stephen Moon*

The Japanese concept of Misogi encourages us to do one truly difficult thing each year — a ritual of purification, challenge, and growth. It could be emotional. Physical. Mental. Whatever pushes your edge and reveals your grit.

The practice of the human arts is a continuous journey: life is our dojo. We’re lucky to live in a time with so many schools, camps, and experimental spaces designed to help us grow into who we’re meant to be — raw, awake, creative, compassionate.

Thank you for reading Grid Free Minds. I hope you find this information helpful. I’m always on the lookout for unique opportunities like these. If you know of anything interesting, please leave a comment here or shoot me a DM!

Some breadcrumbs for thoughts: Which human art are you itching to practice next?

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