botanical studies of internet magic – Details, episodes & analysis

inhabiting a home on the internet is really about making space to be yourself, in public. you resist the digital flattening of the self and, instead, grow a wild ecosystem. how? first, through committing to your creative practice. in this episode, we’ll explore:

• what it means to inhabit a space
• my three step, cyclical processes for growing a digital home -- create, curate, carve paths.
• why focus on creation first, before structuring
• Q&A: how often do you need to maintain a website?
• Q&A: will things look jarring side by side?
• and more…

I hope this episode gives you a sense of permission and possibility for growing and tending to a creative world of your own.

🌱 additional resources

⁠build a labyrinth, not a funnel⁠

house on the webs: introduction
house on the webs: day 0 incubation work
build a world, not an audience

the internet as a creative practice

~

🌀 explore ⁠⁠⁠creative systems course⁠⁠⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ my world

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

this week, I’ll deconstruct and translate the concept of website as digital world into concrete design elements, and give you a poetic reframing of how to think about each piece of your website under the philosophy of world-building — we’ll explore:

• the website as a body to inhabit
• the atmosphere of a world — vision / brand / world logic
• places & destinations — homepage & subpages
• the garden for creative growing things — blog CMS
• 4 pathways of traveling — navigation & links

this episode is about the big-picture vision of imagining and building a website world, and making your creative home in a digital body.

🌱  additional resources

house on the webs: introduction
house on the webs: day 0 incubation work
how to build a world: a cyclical guide
ways of seeing by john berger

~

🌸 read ⁠⁠⁠⁠the ⁠⁠⁠⁠text transcript⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ of this episode

🗺️ visit me on my ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website-world⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my weekly newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

this week's chapter on my wayfinding journey is about my years of the creative hustle, in which I tortured myself with the question: “how do I survive as a creative, and not hate myself?"

I’ll explore:

• my personal distillations of the prescribed / trailmarked paths of success — for writers, visual artists, and business owners
• how I thought something was wrong with me for not climbing those ladders (and what I realized instead)
• the illusion of safety + promise of conditional success… (that is, if you just override the self)
• why “means to an end” thinking doesn’t work for me
• how and why process is my guiding compass instead

this is about my Jump #3: from new creative entrepreneur trying to follow a 10-step plan of "shoulds"… to jumping into the void of my artist-hermit self.

--

⁠read the ⁠text⁠⁠⁠ for this podcast episode

visit me on my ⁠⁠⁠website-world⁠⁠⁠

sign up for ⁠⁠⁠my weekly newsletter⁠⁠⁠

A very personal account of the extreme feelings that lead me to quit my full time / part time jobs, and commit to working for myself.

This is a continuation of my series on wayfinding (my series of jumps into the void), featuring Jump #2: from aspiring writer with a 9-5 job — to deciding to become an entrepreneur.

I’ll explore these topics:

• the ever-present feeling of wasting my life
• life as a recovering good asian daughter / repressed creative / secret obscurus
• the idea of energetic reciprocity as an embodied feeling
• the notion that in order to feel safe, you must compromise yourself
• an infinite earning potential as a metaphor for expansion
• the desire to give 100% to the work that belonged to me
• escaping the cycle of job samsara

My “one way road” was more like a deeply anxiety-provoking, messy, uncertain, tangled wandering in the dark. but I’ll explain why it was (and still is) worth every second.

--

read the ⁠text⁠⁠ for this podcast episode

visit me on my ⁠⁠website-world⁠⁠

sign up for ⁠⁠my weekly newsletter⁠⁠

the "Iron Rice Bowl" is a Chinese metaphor for job security and stability (aka, what we, as artists and entrepreneurs, didn’t exactly choose.)

this is a beginning of a series about wayfinding, in which I’ll share the phases of my own decade long journey, from (almost) the very beginning.

I’m unveiling the ghosts of my head, and untangling a few themes:

• inherited cultural blueprints of what “success” means
• immigrant Chinese-American values, and de-programming
• quitting the marathon of accomplishment & prestige
• the SOS alarm bell of panic
• on choosing to be a writer, with a 9-5 day job.

then, I begin to open the question: if not Iron Rice Bowl, then what?

***

read the ⁠text⁠ for this podcast episode

visit me on my ⁠website-world⁠

sign up for ⁠my weekly newsletter⁠

an introduction; an opening of themes and unspooling of threads:

🌱 botanical -- plant life as a metaphor for creation

🪁 studies -- a way of curiosity, growth, and discovery

🏕 internet -- a space to inhabit, build, and be

🪼 magic -- the power of energetics and creativity

***

read text and notes for this podcast episode

visit me on my website-world

sign up for my weekly newsletter

why your website doesn’t have to be a brochure that compartmentalizes your infinite self — into three glossy pages. I’ll put these two frameworks side by side: “website as brochure” vs. “website as a digital garden-home-world”, and explore:

• why we feel pressured to turn ourselves into brochures
• the ethos and intention to sell / show / prove / substantiate — versus the intention to exist, inhabit, and be
• how brochure-like websites compartmentalize and limit the self into a marketing “niche”
• on building a nourishing garden-world to hold the multi-dimensional, expansive creative self — and invites visitors to linger
• why building a rich digital world to share your creative wealth is the key to inviting in prosperity

~

🌱 additional resources

house on the webs course

infinite possibilities for a digital world

how to build a world: a cyclical guide

why world-building is wealth-building

the internet i long to visit, inhabit, and build

~

🌀 explore ⁠⁠creative systems course⁠⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠⁠ my world

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠

this episode is about my approach to cultivating a creative and business life outside of all social/content platforms (including Substack and Youtube) -- and feeling excited about it. this is not a critique of platforms so much as a portrait of alternative possibilities: we’ll explore:

• why platforms are like cruise boats - seemingly “easy” and “effortless” by promising all the amenities you’d ever need (while keeping you locked in).
• alternatives frameworks and approaches to (1) building community (2) being discovered (3) “monetization” (4) content creation/distribution
• why embrace making art alone; why being hard to find is not a bad thing
• the power of embodying your individual essence — centering in your creative process outside of the validation loop of platforms

🌱 additional resources

how I share my work as an introverted artist

⁠off the grid: leaving social media without losing all your clients⁠

build a world, not an audience

why world-building is wealth-building

make art for no audience

make art in the void

~

🏡 explore ⁠⁠⁠house on the webs course⁠

🌀 explore ⁠creative systems course⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠ my world

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠

on a radically different way to relate to sharing your work on the internet — how to see sharing as a part of the creative process, not separate from it. I’ll explore the shifts in perspective that unlocked the act of showing up as myself, in public. we’ll explore:

• emotional resistance to sharing your work — swimming through feelings of overwhelm, creative stuckness, and guilt.
• sharing as being in energetic flow with the world
• sharing as creative release & death cycle
• sharing as cultivating creative self worth
• sharing as an act of surrender
• my 4 guidelines for more effortless and easeful sharing
  

I’ll explain why I think sharing your work is NOT about the audience, or for “the other” — it’s first and foremost — for ourselves, and our creative flow.

~

🏡 explore ⁠⁠⁠⁠house on the webs course⁠⁠

🌀 explore ⁠⁠creative systems course⁠⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠⁠ my world

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠⁠

this week’s episode is about inhabiting yourself on the internet — by relating to it as a public vessel for your ongoing creative self. I’ll explore:

• the opposite of internet as creative practice -- the internet as performance, as a strategy game, and as obligation
• seeing the internet as a genre-defying infinity canvas for your creative expressions
• how being in public is about allowing yourself to be seen
• internet as a portal for manifesting new visions and worlds
  

this episode is an expansion of a post I wrote a few months ago with the same title.

~

🏡 explore ⁠⁠⁠house on the webs course⁠

🌀 explore ⁠creative systems course⁠

🪷 inquire about ⁠⁠⁠advising sessions⁠⁠⁠

💧 ⁠⁠⁠water⁠⁠⁠ my world

💌 sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my letters⁠⁠