dear friends,

after what seemed like years of savoring a simple, sweet peace, this summer has brought me more ruptures than even I would have wanted, or expected.

and so, I’ve been reacquainted with some chaotic, stormier version of myself that I thought I’d outgrown and archived away — locked into some filing cabinet in the back of my psyche. she is in my daily life again, asking me unthinkable questions, as sharp as swords, and reconnecting me to a sense of mystery, and sublime, terrible uncertainty. she is familiar, but also changed.

these days, I find myself relating to my creative work and business as the most stable, grounding thing in my life. it’s as though a decade of walking in the dark, continually reimagining, making things up as I go — how to share my work on the internet, build systems, create offerings, make a business, be true to myself, as an artist — all of it has coalesced into something that feels… unexpectedly solid.

like moonlight made material; a mercurial substance becoming a cool marble surface I can lay down on, and close my eyes…

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sharing space camp - self-paced course opening tomorrow

the self-paced version of sharing space camp will be open for registration tomorrow. I just finished teaching the live session with a most inspiring group of participants. for about a month, it took up 99.9% of my brain space. I’m looking forward to sharing the treasures with you…

today I’m very excited to announce my fall offering — a seasonal community I’ve been incubating for many years now…

labyrinth library, opening september

labyrinth is a 12 week, seasonal community & teaching container devoted to the meta-framework at the heart of my work — mystery studies of navigating the unknown — in creative work, business, internet, and life.

that is, we are each in our own labyrinths, wandering deeper towards our center.

labyrinth is a cross between a library and a garden. it will feel like entering a knowledge feast, being part of an intimate study circle, and wandering through a wild, empress garden.

each season of labyrinth will include:

• a 12 week thematic itinerary for the season

• 12 artifacts/teachings — including a monthly workshop and an illustrated zine

• monthly live discussion sessions

• a guided 10 day creative challenge

• community containers, notion journals, and group chat

• many other experimental, emergent things…
  

the fee is $88/month, or $264 for the entire season.

🌿 DATES — the first season will run September 22nd - December 14th.

📮 REGISTRATION — will open September 1st-21st

liminal leap, seasonal guidance

liminal leap is a 3 month, 1:1 advising container I created for alchemical guidance during your most tender threshold phases of your creative life, work, and business.

it’s another offering that’s been incubating for a while, as I’ve been longing to do more long-term, private work with individual clients.

my intention in liminal leap is to be a guide, companion, witness, systems builder, navigational advisor to you while you make your messy, transformative leaps between present realities and future dreams.

I’m currently accepting a few new clients for fall 2025.

🚀 welcome to sharing space camp (11 min video)

I created sharing space camp in what felt like 4 obsessive, feverish weeks where I could barely think about anything else except the universe of the internet void, and the practice of being an astronaut/creator in it.

I’ve excerpted a 11 minute video from the welcome orientation video to share with you.

welcome to sharing space camp (11 min video) — kening zhu

a 11 minute orientation video for sharing space camp

I’ll be opening the self-paced, asynchronous version of sharing space camp tomorrow (Friday August 29th).

OTHER THINGS I MADE RECENTLY

a raven waiting for a storm

made on a stormy day when my brain stopped working

a raven waiting for a storm — kening zhu

drawing the spirit companion I need

a jellyfish for floating in the dark

made one summer night, while longing to be weightless

a jellyfish for floating in the dark — kening zhu

a dream of becoming weightless

imagining labyrinth library

I wrote about my ideas, incubations, and thinking behind labyrinth library, and the creative process of creating version 0.1 of the invitations page, in a few days.

imagining labyrinth library — kening zhu

the beginning of communal mystery studies

FROM THE ARCHIVES

this week’s selections are curated around places of unknowing.

growing in circles

on returning to the same place in growth cycles (2020)

growing in circles — kening zhu

reliving the same struggles again

live in the discovery

forgetting everything you think you know to live in the continual discovery (2020)

live in the discovery — kening zhu

discovery as an ongoing way of being

mountain man, lemon shack

meeting a mountain man and reflecting on what it means to “make up a life” (2020)

mountain man lemon shack — kening zhu

a metaphor for living true to yourself

lonely work is swimming in the ocean alone

the existential angst of swimming in the open ocean (working for yourself)

lonely work is swimming in the ocean alone — kening zhu

the joys & perils of working for yourself

build a labyrinth, not a marketing funnel

reimagining the process of creating & selling

build a labyrinth, not a funnel — kening zhu

a slow, nourishing alternative to traditional marketing

my business is a hammock I weave by hand

weaving a business system that allows me to dream

my business is a hammock I weave by hand — kening zhu

a place to rest & feel supported to dream

MISC. ASSORTED NOTES

• I’m incubating some illustrations for Virgo season in collaboration with a friend and creative collaborator, LJ of Ceremony.

• last night I dreamed I was pregnant, and woke up with a strange, ambivalent grief.

• I intend to give myself an animation + podcasting sprint challenge, starting next week.

• it’s been weeks of windy weather in Istanbul, like a premonition of autumn.

• I’m listening to this milonga for moonlight by alper akgül to lull me to sleep.

I hope you are well in your world.

🪼

until soon,

kening

🍃 listen to my podcast: botanical studies of internet magic

🏔️ explore my courses: house on the webs | creative systems | sharing space camp

🪷 inquire about advising sessions

🌔 visit otherworldly - a web alchemy studio

💧 send me a gift: water my world