botanical studies of internet magic

to begin the new year, I’m creating a 3 part mini-series with grounding anchors; minimalist instructions for navigating the uncertainties of the creative life. when in doubt, or overwhelmed, or stuck in overthinking, all you need to focus on is this — make the work, share the work. this is the equivalent of (in meditation), returning to the body, and the breath.

I’ll explore my 4 guiding principles (agency, process/pleasure, regenerativity, authenticity), and we’ll discuss the nuance of each word — what is “work?” what does it mean to “make?” what does “sharing” mean? my hope is that this episode will give you a gentle nudge to just do / make / share the damn thing — and learn your way in the process — whatever your thing is.

🧃 take 7 days of ⁠⁠Money Juice Cleanse⁠⁠

🧧 explore my new course, ⁠Digital Abundance⁠

🦋 join ⁠Labyrinth Library⁠, winter season

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💌 ⁠receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my newletters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

✨ visit my ⁠web world⁠

🌳 explore my ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠courses⁠⁠⁠

the vast majority of business advice has never worked for me, not because it was wrong, but because it didn't align with my energy, and the way I wanted to exist in the world. it took me years to build my own operating system -- a model for business that didn't make me want to burn it all down, ghost everything, and just get a day job.

I realized that I run my business like a super scorpio -- lunar, cyclical, waiting behind veils, operating from the depths. Far from being a weakness, that it's my greatest power. I'm calling this my"underworld business practices" -- and today, I've distilled them down into 8 parts to share with you.

🧧 explore my new course, Digital Abundance

🧃 take 7 days of Money Juice Cleanse

🦋 join Labyrinth Library, winter season

~

💌 receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
✨ visit my web world
🌳 explore my ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠courses⁠⁠⁠

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 my new course, ⁠Digital Abundance⁠

🧃 take 7 days of ⁠Money Juice Cleanse⁠

🦋 join ⁠Labyrinth Library⁠, winter season

~

💌 ⁠receive ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

🗺️ visit my ⁠web world⁠

✨ 1:1 advising ~ ⁠⁠⁠⁠liminal leap⁠⁠⁠

🌳 explore all 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.

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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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💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠

🏡 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

~

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠

🏡 explore ⁠⁠⁠house on the webs course⁠

🌀 explore ⁠creative systems course⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠ my world