🗺️ sharing as release & falling into rhythm
dear kindred friends,
these days I’ve been finding a sort of unexplainable ease in my Istanbul life - in that I feel comfortably inside of it, and not simply gliding on its surface, or drowning in and suffocated by it. after nearly three years, Istanbul no longer feels like a chaotic background for the activities of my mind, but a complex labyrinth that I’m inhabiting with my body, and with more pleasure.
the embodiment practices are both internal and external. apart from (reluctantly) running, beginning an ashtanga yoga practice (with Laruga), I’ve also been returning to dance tango more regularly. I’m also experimenting with a daily audio journaling practice (via cocoonweaver), and attending more open-air concerts in the park.
since leaving the US in 2020 for a nomadic life, I used to have intense bouts of homesickness — whatever home means — but these days, those feelings of longing last only a moment. mostly, I’m happy where I am.
~
🍊 this week: I spoke about sharing your work as creative release, and explored three rhythms of the creative process. and from my archives, I share writings on AI, vulnerability, and a microfilm postcard.
🎙️ sharing your work as creative release
I used to be terrible at sharing my work. in this week’s episode, I’ll unpack the radical shifts in perspective that changed everything for me.
I’ll explore why I see sharing as a part of the creative process — not separate from it. we’ll go through 4 ways to rethink the practice of sharing, and 4 guidelines for doing it with more ease.
LISTEN ON APPLE | LISTEN ON SPOTIFY
sharing your work as creative release — kening zhu
transforming your relationship to sharing your work
🍂 the three rhythms of the creative process
letting go of our culture’s fixation on consistency — and embracing the dance between multiple rhythms in the creative process
the three rhythms of the creative process — kening zhu
dancing with creative energy is moving between rhythms
🔮 messages from the archives
how i share my work as an introverted artist
sometime last year, I decided to let go, completely, of my platform FOMO. I embraced this minimalist sharing ritual — and have never looked back since.
how i share my work as an introverted artist — kening zhu
a challenge which took me a very long time to solve
the scale of vulnerability
I wrote this 4 years ago — and while my personal scale has shifted completely, the spirit of it still feels true.
the vulnerability of sharing your work — kening zhu
vulnerability is a muscle of accepting potential pain
the new magic of AI vs. the old magic of artists
when AI started exploding last year, I spent a week or two playing around with it, and wrote some thoughts on my reactions to what AI meant, existentially — to myself as an artist. the conclusion: it only strengthened my belief in my own magic.
The new magic of AI vs. the old magic of artists — kening zhu
a brief, existential exploration on being an artist in the age of AI — and why AI magic does not diminish your artist magic
under the olive tree (a microfilm postcard)
four summers ago, I took a roadtrip with an italian astrophysics professor to visit his friends’ summer home in the south. I thought I was in love, but mostly I was just drugged.
under the olive tree — kening zhu
a microfilm postcard of seaside days with an italian family
📝 notes (what's rolling around my head)
paper journals: as mentioned in last week’s letter, I moved my primary artistic practice vessels from digital to physical last week; as in, I committed to working daily with paper, instead of writing/drawing on a screen. this week, I feel like a new super-pathway is forming between my body, my environment, and my creative process. I haven’t felt this in many years, and it feels exciting.
committing to what you want: the hard part is not getting what I want, the hard part is knowing what I really want, beneath what my mind wants, believing that I deserve it, and committing with my full energy, to it.
turning off metrics: in the last year, I’ve never looked at open rates / click rates anyway, but recently I decided to turn it off completely. do I really need to know how many people open or click my emails, which email titles get most clicked? would it change the way I do anything, or just engender inklings of anxiety over “optimiziation”? the answer is no.
🍄 inspiration log
what i’ve been listening to lately.
scenes from an open marriage by jean garnett on the paris review podcast. I really savored this reading and audio experience.
women who run with the wolves by clarissa pinkola estés - I’ve read this book multiple times, but last week I listene to it on audiobook. she has one of the rare voices and ways of reading that gives even more life to her life-giving book.
this conversation made me a sharper editor on the ezra klein show. a conversation deeply about the creative process. my favorite lines from this episode: on thinking of “editor as a mystic,” and on art emerging from the space between “rigor and play.”
your guide to deeper sleep with jennifer piercy on insight timer. i’m in a season of deliberating tending to my relationship to sleep, and jennifer piercy is such an amazing, grounding, soothing, wise guide for this journey.
🪄 opening soon: house on the webs
I’m currently still in the process of reimagining & rebirthing this website creation course, which I first created in 2022, when i stopped my nomadic travels. I’m excited to see what this will become. in the meantime, you can wander through house on the webs studies.
🌸 goodbye for now...
until next week, my friends.
wishing you many moments
of falling into place.
🪼 kening
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🗺️ this is guide.notes 44, a weekly letter on creative alchemy & growing digital worlds.
🍃 find me on my podcast: botanical studies of internet magic.
🪷 explore working with me via my 1:1 containers: advising, mentorships, and creation services.
💧 send me a gift. water my world.