who gives us the right to call ourselves "artists"? where do you source your sense of legitimacy and validity from? how do you face the voices of imposter syndrome and not-enoughness?

in this episode, we'll unpack the gap between self-perception, other-perception, and the daily process/practice of being an artist. I'll share why claiming yourself as an artist in the wild -- beyond all institutional validation -- is the most powerful thing you can do. you don't owe anyone an explanation.

🦋 explore ⁠⁠⁠⁠labyrinth library⁠⁠⁠⁠, a seasonal community

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🗺️ visit my ⁠⁠⁠web world⁠ ⁠⁠

💌 receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✨ 1:1 advising ~ ⁠⁠⁠liminal leap⁠⁠⁠

🌳 explore my ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠courses⁠⁠⁠

one of the most significant shifts I've ever had is letting go of linear (ladder-like) models of external success -- in order to put my own journey, process, and energy at the center. but, how do you do that, if you don't know what's at your center, or if your center is always changing?

I'll explore facets of this question through the metaphor of a labyrinth as journey -- how to dance with seasonal cycles, moving between structure and spontaneity, and focus on just taking the next step forwards.

🦋 explore ⁠⁠⁠labyrinth library⁠⁠⁠, a seasonal community

~

🗺️ visit my ⁠⁠web world⁠ ⁠

💌 receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠⁠

✨ 1:1 advising ~ ⁠⁠liminal leap⁠⁠

🌳 explore my ⁠⁠⁠⁠courses⁠⁠

I've had a very long, tumultuous relationship with self-doubt -- as my number one enemy, a villianous monster, a generous teacher, a loyal friend, and a companion for the twisty, dark paths of the creative life.

today, I'll share my own relationship with doubt, and offer a reframe for what doubt is -- not as contamination, or poison, not as something to fight or run away from, but as a essential friction for your life. I'll suggest a 3 part practice to work with doubt -- by creating spaciousness and containers to hold it, and to keep moving forwards, even (or especially) with doubt by your side.

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🦋 explore ⁠labyrinth library⁠

✨ imagine a liminal leap

🌳 browse my ⁠⁠courses

🗺️ visit my ⁠web world⁠

💌 receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠⁠

there is a difference between wanting clarity, and wanting permission. or certainty. or safety. clarity isn't something external that I wait to happen to me (like good weather conditions), but a moving, fluid energy that I'm in conversation with -- like a bird. sometimes I see it. sometimes it's gone.

I'll explore why clarity feels so crucial for the pathless path, how people see me as having a lot of "clarity" (when in fact, I experience it as something different). I'll share what questions I ask myself for cultivating a deeper relationship to clarity.

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🦋 explore labyrinth library, a seasonal community
🌳 explore my ⁠courses & ⁠offerings⁠
🗺️ visit my web world
💌 receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠

hello there, after a summer.

this episode is on why being with the unknown is at the heart and core of all imaginative, wilderness work -- through your inner life, creative life, digital life, and business.

today, I'll share my syllabus-itinerary for navigating uncertainty through the autumnal astrological archetypes of Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius -- aka, how to hold complex truths, walk through the darkness, and find joy in the quest.

-

this is my itinerary for the first season of Labyrinth Library -- an ongoing seasonal community and teaching vessel for mystery work. we begin September 29. explore more here.

mentioned: truth is a glittering glacier

the visual slides of this episode (youtube)

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🏡 visit my website

🌳 explore my courses & ⁠offerings⁠

💌 receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠

this is about escaping the noise of platforms and constant connectivity. I reflect on why acclimating to digital silence can feel stark, lonely, and hard, at first. it's like how the body feels on "airplane mode," or when when waking up in a forest after a decade in a cramped city apartment.

in this episode, I explore how and why platforms (by design) turn us into static noise. I share my personal experiments on digital minimalism and solitude -- as a way of practicing more presence and here/now-ness, wherever you are.

this is a meditation on digital silence as a rich landscape, showing you a deeper way into the self.

related

12 experiments in digital freedom (from 2020, in Japan)

a day without screens (2020)

why I don't use email or social media before noon (from 2016, back when I was still on social)

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🏡 explore ⁠⁠house on the webs course

🌀 explore creative systems course

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠water⁠⁠ my world

💌 receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠

I spent many years needing to feel “productive” everyday — a word that was programmed into me, and which I clung to — but which felt wholly insufficient in trying to measure creative work, especially when self-employed. in this episode, I’ll tell you my journey — from being a productivity addict, to rejecting all imposed structures, to slowly, over time, reimagining what a sustainable, regenerative system actually looks and feels like.

I made this podcast shortly after creating my zine, in preparation for teaching a new course, Creative Systems.

📓 Zine: Deconstructing the Productivity Machine (download)

🪺 Creative Systems Course (self-paced study)

also mentioned:
The Serviceberry: an Economy of Abundance (essay) by Robin Wall Kimmerer
A Moody Creative’s Guide to Work Overwhelm

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🏡 explore ⁠⁠⁠house on the webs course⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠ my world

hello again, after a few months break. during my retreat, I thought a lot about what being "present" online means. I'll propose that digital presence isn't dependent on your labor or content production, but about cultivating a digital container that holds your energy. I'll explore:

• choosing inner rhythms over consistency pressure
• freedom from treating yourself as a means of production
• embodying the permission to be absent
• why content batching doesn't really work for me
• how time works differently on the internet
• accumulating wormholes to past selves
• digital spaces as vessels for presence

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💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠

🏡 explore ⁠⁠⁠house on the webs course⁠

🌀 explore ⁠creative systems course⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠ my world

on untangling the fear of being seen -- and understanding where the desire to hide (in your creative work, life, or your digital expressions) comes from, and exploring how to release it. we'll dive into:

the practice of un-hiding yourself

the tension of being different

being present is more important than being public

deliberately curating your safe zones

facing your imaginary shadow gaze

why making art in public -- IS the practicing seeing yourself

becoming the loving, attentive gaze

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🌱 additional resources

make art for no audience

make art in the void

⁠the internet as a creative practice⁠

~

🏡 explore ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠house on the webs course⁠⁠⁠

🌀 explore ⁠⁠creative systems course⁠⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠⁠ my world

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠⁠

inhabiting a home on the internet is really about making space to be yourself, in public. you resist the digital flattening of the self and, instead, grow a wild ecosystem. how? first, through committing to your creative practice. in this episode, we’ll explore:

• what it means to inhabit a space
• my three step, cyclical processes for growing a digital home -- create, curate, carve paths.
• why focus on creation first, before structuring
• Q&A: how often do you need to maintain a website?
• Q&A: will things look jarring side by side?
• and more…

I hope this episode gives you a sense of permission and possibility for growing and tending to a creative world of your own.

🌱 additional resources

⁠build a labyrinth, not a funnel⁠

house on the webs: introduction
house on the webs: day 0 incubation work
build a world, not an audience

the internet as a creative practice

~

🌀 explore ⁠⁠⁠creative systems course⁠⁠⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ my world

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠