Georgia Lupi on Brain Retraining, and Visual Storytelling with Data

Georgia Lupi shares what she’s excited to wake up for with us. She recounts getting COVID in 2020, developing worsening long COVID symptoms with reinfections, becoming house- and sometimes bed-bound, and stopping work in 2023 before beginning recovery in early 2024. Lupi and Brad discuss the anxiety and trauma that can persist during physical recovery, the scientific mind-body connection, and how nervous system regulation, brain retraining, and visualization became central to her healing. She describes publishing a New York Times visual op-ed using her symptom data, the messages it sparked, and how a conversation prompted her to commit to brain retraining, leading to slow but meaningful functional return and recent confidence saying she’s fully recovered, alongside an ongoing reintegration into work, creativity, and life.

Links:

• Giorgia Lupi
• "1,374 Days: My Life With Long Covid" — NYT Visual Op-Ed
• Dear Data
• Caravan Palace
• Parov Stelar
• Kormac
• DNRS (Dynamic Neural Retraining System)
• Gupta Program
• Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM)
• Limbic System / Vagus Nerve / Nervous System Regulation
• Psychedelic Therapy & Neural Rewiring
• Subway Map as Information Design
• Music Notation

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Morning Excitement Check
• (00:25) - Yoga Team Gratitude
• (01:18) - Long COVID Journey
• (02:46) - Trauma And Body Trust
• (05:38) - Brain Retraining Turning Point
• (06:18) - NYT Visual Op Ed
• (08:41) - Feeling Fully Recovered
• (15:02) - Reintegration After Recovery
• (17:11) - Returning To Creative Work
• (19:29) - Presence Priorities And Limits
• (23:21) - From Darkness To Acceptance
• (25:57) - Art Data And Experience
• (28:56) - Art Beyond Words
• (30:22) - Branding as Narrative
• (32:28) - Sketching to Think
• (33:25) - Designing Shared Languages
• (35:42) - Healing and Tracking
• (38:16) - Vulnerability and Sharing
• (39:27) - Dear Data Origins
• (43:36) - Learning Through Speaking
• (48:23) - Finding Your Style
• (52:31) - Obsessions as Projects
• (56:31) - Electro Swing Picks
• (57:40) - Where to Follow
• (58:03) - Closing Reflections

Creators and Guests

Host

Brad Frost

Creator, web designer & developer, teacher, consultant, speaker, writer, musician, & artist. Author of Atomic Design. Enthusiasm enthusiast.

Editor

Chris Enns

I edit podcasts so you don't have to.

Guest

Georgia Lupi

Giorgia Lupi is an information designer and Partner at Pentagram in New York.

What is Wake Up Excited!?

Inspiring conversations with exuberant humans about how to live a creative, fulfilling, and authentic life. Hosted by enthusiasm enthusiast, Brad Frost.

We experience a brief moment of truth when we first wake up in the morning. Before the cold shower of reality, our infinite to-do lists, and macro-level woes seize our consciousness. We experience a brief moment of excitement — and this pure moment tells us something important about ourselves.

There are people out there who seem to move through life with intention, authenticity, creativity, kindness, and enthusiasm. And they do this despite the deeply inperfect world we inhabit. This podcast is an attempt to learn from these people.

Through wide-ranging conversations, Wake Up Excited explores guests' passions, interests, enthusiasms, and philosophy of life.