{💌 this is: my artist digest for October. I also send Friday letters (resuming next week) called guide.notes}
dear friends,
there’s a saying (attributed to zen buddhism, but who knows) that keeps coming to mind these days:
"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”
I’ve been finding comfort in these instructions for daily life — particularly in a moment when life & world feel overwhelming and baffling.
to me, the act of chopping wood and carrying water refers to the creative process — and, to the nurturing, tending work that surrounds it, and makes it possible.
this is creativity — not as having reached the pinnacle of maslow’s hierarchy of needs — but as a daily process of presence, and paying attention. to being awake in your own energy, and therefore, responsible for your life.
chopping wood and carrying water might sound like forced labor, but it’s really about freedom, agency, and power. it reminds me that whether I continually fall off The Tower, or climb the pinnacles of success, what comes afterwards is simple and repetitive: daily rituals that will ground me to the elements, to the earth, and to my body. I can find comfort in the mundane labors of love that make up a life.
—
💌 in this letter:
101 of how I work — in rituals and sprints
a triangle integration framework for art + sharing work + money
the family tree hierarchy of creative energy vs. money
returning home from travels & visual digestions of it
—
🍃 as for a brief update from my world: this month I’ve been embroiled in a situation around personal integrity, misplaced money, and thwarted creative energy — which my body is processing by waking me up in hives and nausea. I’m simmering in rage-grief, and my body is doing the energetic equivalent of throwing up. it all feels very fitting for scorpio season. in november, post-election, I’ll spend 3 weeks in the US, spending my birthday and thanksgiving with my family. what I’m most looking forward to: chinese food, my parents’ cooking, old female friends.
💡 recently inspired: I’ve been using Claude as a work journal that talks back to me in insightful, strategic bullet points (like Tom Riddle’s diary, but no dark lord (at least that we know of!)). I contextualize each question by giving my astrology/human design/gene keys. I have to say — it’s been life-changing. I will write about this eventually.
🗺️ IDEAS & NOTES
~thinking out loud
rituals vs. sprints: 2 modes of working
two ways of working that form the backbone of everything I do — tending to a garden vs. riding an energy wave.
rituals vs. sprints: working with creative energy — kening zhu
tending to a garden vs. riding energy waves
your art, ecosystem, and alchemy
a symbiotic framework to integrate (1) making art + (2) sharing your work online + (3) building a business. it took me 8 years to be able to write this.
your art, ecosystem, and alchemy — kening zhu
three symbiotic practices for art, sharing, & business
creative energy is the mother of money
I explore generative creativity, being creatively generous, and how creative energy is the empress/matriarch of everything — most especially, money.
my creative energy is the mother of money — kening zhu
on generative creativity, generosity, and power
no fear of being seen
unpacking the fear of being seen, and how to un-hide yourself from the world.
no fear of being seen — kening zhu
the process of un-hiding yourself
bringing home the feeling of travel
a table-journal on bottling the feeling of spontaneity/adventure/discovery, and taking it home with me
bringing home the feeling of travel — kening zhu
the three values that travel inspired in me
🌸 CREATIONS / DIGESTING LIFE
11 visual memories of mediterranean turkey
post-travel digestions of my two week roadtrip through the south of turkey
11 visual memories of mediterranean turkey — kening zhu
distilling each day into a visual memory
🏡 house on the webs - a world-building journey
I’ve finally finished the full 7 day rebirthing of house on the webs — and it’s become something more contemplative, comprehensive, and deep than even I intended. I have many more things planned for it, but for now…
you can explore the welcome introduction lesson + day 0 incubation for free.
💌 guidenotes: weekly letters on the creative life
on most Friday mornings, I write a leisurely letter called guide.notes — on the process of building a creative life on the internet wild — with new guides, inspirations logs, fresh notes, and curations from 9 years of my archives.
I'd be happy to write you there. You can sign up here.
🪷 thank you for reading
I’ll end this month’s digest here, with a funny selfie I took for Luna this week — where she looks as big as mount everest (she’s MY mount everest - and I take warm naps on top of her).
I’m sending you lighter hatchets
& better buckets for all
your daily labors.
until soon,
🪼 kening
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📮 this is my artist digest for october. get weekly letters here.
🍃 find me on my podcast: botanical studies of internet magic
🏔️ explore my website world-building course: house on the webs
🪷 inquire about working with me: advising & creation services
💧 send me a gift. water my world