guide.notes 19 | creative focus deck
hello wilderness friends,
this week I had strange, vivid dreams, and woke up before sunrise everyday to write and draw. it felt comforting to return to those practices -- like drinking soul water, eating soul food.
I've been a bit too consumed by client work lately, and I made this pie chart to capture how I felt, and clarify how I wanted to feel in my distribution of creative energy:
a pie chart of creative work energy — kening zhu
reflecting on how i spend my energy these days
inspiration log
- to make: I was curious to try to make my own wallet, and found this video of how to make a leather wallet and a woven paper wallet -- which were both super inspiring. when I was a child (in the 90s and early 2000s), I spent my weekends making crafts out of a big "home crafts" book. this feels like the adult version.
- watched: aftersun: it felt like gaining a beautiful, painful childhood memory that I didn't live through myself, but imprinted itself on me, nonetheless -- with a strange kind of radiance.
- listened: on being with katherine may. for whatever reason I was resisting reading this book wintering, but listening to this conversation made me feel connected to its poetry.
- immersed in: my gene keys. I'm currently taking the activation sequence course.
how I stay focused in my creative work day
re: answer to your questions: -- I have several different digital and paper systems I use to keep track of creative chaos / organize projects -- but today, I'll share one thing that's been really working for me:
how I made a card deck for deep creative immersion — kening zhu
how i use this card deck to plan my work day and find my flow
other fragments
a fragment of botanical studies — kening zhu
a quick study
...and, as I relish the end of summer energy...
summer diaries
the pleasure-kill of crowded beaches — kening zhu
summer diaries no. 5
the lush greenness of everything — kening zhu
on listening to the soothing language of trees — summer diaries #4
much much more to come - in the works -- but that's all I have for this thursday night, my friends. i'm wishing you soothing, restful dreams.
kening
this is guide.notes 19, a weekly letter on distilling your life/mind/soul into beautiful digital expressions, and back again -- to nourish your material life.