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Hey friends,
I’ve been thinking a lot about where Grokkist really begins. At its core, it’s about decommodifying the self—stepping out of the mindset that treats every moment, skill, or connection as something to be optimised, monetised, or squeezed for utility.
Instead, it’s about re-grounding in value rationality—doing things not because they’re useful, but because they matter, because they’re meaningful in and of themselves.
Sociologist Max Weber described this tension as the clash between instrumental and value rationality—between doing things for their utility and doing them for their intrinsic meaning.
The modern world runs on the fuel of instrumental logic, but when that logic seeps into how we see ourselves, it hollows us out, turning people into products and stories into strategies.
It’s that quiet voice inside whispering that even your downtime should be productive.
The pressure to turn every passion into a side hustle, every moment of rest into an opportunity for optimisation. This is how instrumental rationality becomes insidious—it colonises spaces meant for meaning, not measurement.
But instrumental rationality isn’t the enemy—it’s necessary for getting things done. The real challenge is using it without letting it use us.
Once you’ve re-grounded in value—once you’ve remembered who you are and what truly matters—the work becomes learning how to re-integrate with a commodified world without being consumed by it.
That’s where I find myself now—figuring out how to step back into the mix from a different place of grounding. I don’t want to retreat from the world or cede the playing field to those who only know how to extract, optimise, and exploit.
But what does it actually mean to work from this place of value?
How do you navigate the realities of the world without letting its logic hollow you out? I don’t have a neat answer to that. Maybe that’s the point.
Grokkist isn’t about having it all figured out—it’s about making space to live those questions in practice.
Can we get things done without turning everything—and everyone—into a means to an end? What happens when curiosity and care aren’t afterthoughts, but the foundation of how we build, create, and connect?
This naturally resonates with spiritual traditions, indigenous knowledge systems, and value-based ways of knowing. These frameworks don’t ask, “What can this do for me?” but rather, “What does this mean? How do I live well with this?”
They cultivate meaning instead of extracting it.
That’s why I’m especially excited about two things coming up in the Grokkist ecosystem. First, our upcoming Grok Talk: Dancing at the Intersections with Kim Tairi, an Indigenous feminist leader whose work embodies deep reciprocity, connection, and relational care.
Then there’s our new podcast collaboration with the Deignan Institute for Earth and Spirit at Iona University—Under the Ginkgo Tree. The first episode with Sam King explores how storytelling reconnects us with the living universe—not as something to control, but as a narrative we’re woven into, with all its complexity and wonder.
And if this idea of re-grounding, rediscovering, and reintegrating resonates with you—this is your last call to join the next round of Find Your Red Thread, starting next week.
It’s not about fixing or optimising—it’s about reclaiming your story, reconnecting with what matters, and remembering how to live from a place of meaning, not measurement.
In a world clawing for certainty and escape from complexity, we’re doing something different.
Not by retreating or resisting, but by standing quietly in defense of the textured, entangled, beautifully complex reality of being human.
It’s not about avoiding the messy, commodified world—it’s about learning to navigate it without losing yourself.
And maybe, just maybe, discovering new ways to get things done that feel… better.
With curiosity and care,
Danu
Grokkist Press
A home for creations that matter, where grokkists publish gifts of wisdom and creativity that inspire, challenge, and invite deeper connection.
Visit the Press ↗The reduction of things, people, or ideas to their utility or function, valuing them only as means to an end rather than for their intrinsic qualities.
Discover more luminous phrases in the Glossary of Grokkistry
Fresh from the Press
Telling the Story of the Universe, with Sam King
By Jim Robinson and Liam Myers (44 min listen / 23 min read)
In our first Under the Ginkgo Tree episode, Sam King shares his alarm at the eco-crisis and his commitment to justice. He explores the wisdom of the universe’s vast story while staying deeply attuned to the local and immediate, weaving cosmic perspective with grounded action.
Hippies, Hackers, Hipsters: Are We Changing the World or Just Talking About It?
By Jessica Böhme (6 min read)
What if the real gap isn’t between knowledge and action, but between concern and care? Our entanglement with systems makes meaningful change difficult—but does it absolve us of responsibility?
More from the Press
- Hard Work or Good Luck (Peter Gilderdale, 4 min read) – The Edwardian postcard craze was the social media of its time, revealing a divide between those who believed in luck and those who saw success as a moral reward. A century later, are we any closer to reconciling hard work with fortune?
- Find a Penny (Peter Gilderdale, 3 min read) – The tactile history of coins and the fading art of the coin toss—how a simple flip can uncover our deepest desires.
You can also read our guide to learn how the Grokkist Press works and how to get involved.
Grokkist Network
Connect across disciplines, generations, and geographies in Grokkist’s global community—a true speakeasy for the soul.
Visit the Network ↗Upcoming Events
Events Access Key
🟢 Open Access: Free and open to all.
🟣 Member Access: Exclusive to Grokkist Members.
🟠 Ticketed Access: Open to all with a cover charge (members enjoy a 30% discount).
For more info, check the guide to our events and gatherings or this guide if you're interested in hosting an event of your own.
🟢 Dancing at the Intersections: Life as an Indigenous Feminist Leader
🗓️ Sun 23 Feb | 7–8.30pm ET (view in your timezone)
Facilitated by Danu Poyner
About our guest speaker: Kim Tairi
Kim Tairi (Waikato Tainui) is an intersectional feminist and librarian. Her career spans more than 30 years in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. She works in the tertiary sector as a University Librarian. She was Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Māori University Librarian. She also works in Te Tiriti (The Treaty) Strategy. Outside of work, Kim makes textile art, is a sometimes poet and loves to dance. In this candid and heartfelt session, Kim will share her lived experiences as a “first in family” indigenous leader navigating the complexities of leadership, intersectionality, and identity.
With honesty and humour, she will explore the challenges and triumphs of being a menopausal indigenous woman in leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand, offering insights into the tensions and opportunities of this work.
Expect a rich conversation that weaves together professional insight, personal reflection, and creative energy.
🟢 The Dialect of Respect: Building Bridges to Shared Understanding
🗓️ Tue 4 Mar | 1pm-2.30pm ET (view in your timezone)
Facilitated by Kendra Fee-McNulty
When was the last time you had a dialogue where both sides felt heard, valued, and respected?
In a divisive world that often rewards those who shout the loudest, connection can feel out of reach. Too often, we find ourselves trapped in zero-sum conversations—focused on what we want to say, talking past each other, and missing the bridges that could bring us closer.
But what if communication wasn’t about winning an argument or simply getting your point across? What if we could learn to speak each other’s “dialects,” meeting people where they are with empathy and care?
Join us as we explore the dialect of respect—the art of communication that bridges differences and fosters shared understanding. Drawing on her experience as a marketing communicator and entrepreneur, Kendra will share insights from her journey of moving beyond “someone who had something to say” to someone who seeks to create meaningful connection.
Other Upcoming Events
- 13 Mar | 🟢 Grok Cafe [#2 in 2025]
- 20 Mar | 🟢 Stilling the Tempest: A Freewriting Circle
- 25 Mar | 🟢 Anti-Cult Blueprint: Reclaiming Belonging in a Disconnected Society
- 27 Mar | 🟣 Grokkist Members Meetup [Mar '25]
Grokkist Academy
Life-changing learning experiences designed to set your soul on fire and help you level up as a grokkist.
Visit the Academy ↗Featured Course
Find Your Red Thread [C3]
A five-week journey to explore the patterns of your life, reclaim your story, and connect with what matters most.
Starts 24 Feb for 5 weeks
Find Your Red Thread is about helping you make sense of yourself. Sometimes, life feels scattered—like the pieces of your story are out there, but they don’t quite add up.
Maybe you’ve been chasing the next goal, trying to live up to an idea of success that isn’t yours, and now you’re wondering what it was all for. It feels like burnout, but it’s something deeper: a longing to realign with what brings you alive and makes you feel whole.
This is a space to sit with those pieces—not to fix them, but to look at them honestly and see the patterns, the connections, the story they’re trying to tell.
🔖 Suggested Tuition: USD$275*
(*Can't afford it? Don't worry. Our Forget About the Price Tag policy ensures this course is open to everyone, regardless of budget.)
🍬 Snackables
A curated collection of hand-picked inspirations—thought-provoking reads, engaging ideas, and creative sparks to nurture your curiosity and expand your perspective.
#1 - Calculating Empires: a genealogy of technology and power since 1500
Calculating Empires is a large-scale research visualisation exploring how technical and social structures co-evolved over five centuries. It maps technological patterns of colonialism, militarisation, automation, and enclosure through a systems lens—complex, intricate, and hypnotic in its stark black-and-white clarity. More than a timeline—it’s a living network of how power, technology, and interconnected events ripple through history. If you’re drawn to seeing patterns unfold, tracing the invisible threads that shape societies, or simply love a beautifully crafted map of complexity, this one’s for you. (🙏 Simon D)
#2 - Songs that use the Magnolia chord progression
The Magnolia chord progression is a satisfying, bittersweet loop built on subtle shifts from major to minor, with roots tracing back to the 1928 jazz tune Magnolia’s Wedding Day. Pianist and songwriter David Bennett explores the enduring appeal of this simple sequence—why it feels so emotionally resonant, how it creates a sense of tension and release, and why it turns up in so many unexpected places, from The Beatles and Lana Del Rey to Earth, Wind & Fire.
#3 - How a trash heap in Thailand became the scene of a philanthropic turf war
Jared Downing
This is a story without clear heroes or villains—just layers of human ambition, desperation, and the messy entanglements of good intentions. King of the Dump follows Fred Stockwell, an Englishman who, after a personal reinvention, found himself running a grassroots aid organization on a landfill in Thailand. What begins as an earnest effort to help migrant squatters from Myanmar becomes mired in complex power struggles with other NGOs, accusations of favouritism, and an ecosystem where everyone—locals, outsiders, and even well-meaning volunteers—gets caught in the mess.
There’s no clear right or wrong here. Aid projects collapse under their own contradictions, humanitarian ambitions tangle with personal ego, and the villagers themselves—far from passive victims—learn to navigate the dynamics for survival. It’s a reminder of how, in the world of wicked problems, the line between help and harm is rarely clear, and every ‘solution’ carries its own set of unintended consequences.
#4 - The light touch and heavy feels of Tim Brierly's comics
Tim Brierley’s comics blend dry, deadpan humor with moments of emotional clarity that explore the quiet weight of life’s everyday heartbreaks. Grief captures the unspoken heaviness that lingers after loss—“love that just lost its anchor”—as a gentle, looming presence that follows you around while you figure out how to carry it. Checkin’ the News leans into the absurdity of modern overwhelm, where the everyday horror of doomscrolling hits like a flaming gut punch. Simple, relatable, and quietly profound—small windows into feelings we all carry but rarely articulate.
#5 - Meet a Navajo weaver inspired by video games
Melissa Cody’s work brings Navajo weaving into unexpected, electric territory. A fourth-generation weaver, she pulls from her cultural roots while infusing them with the energetic pulse of video games like Mario Kart, Pac-Man, and Contra stitched into sophisticated geometric overlays. In this short film from her Webbed Skies exhibition at MoMA PS1, Cody reflects on how tradition is never static—it evolves, shaped by the culture and politics of its time. Her weavings are a reminder that what we call “tradition” was once innovation, and her bold patterns carry that lineage forward with unmistakable energy.
If this already feels like home, membership is just making yourself comfortable.
As a Grokkist Member, you’re part of a circle of active grokkists walking the grokkist path. Find out more here.
Membership benefits include:
- 🟣 Member-Only Gatherings
- 🚪 Unlock Your Grok - Self-Paced Course
- ❤️🔥 30% Discount on Courses & Ticketed Events
- 🎭 Featured Member Profile
- 📣 Post Calls & Invitations
- ✨ Early Access & Prototypes
- ▶️ Events Recording Library
- ⭐️ Digital Member Badge
A pair of parting thoughts...
“A healer is someone who seeks to be the light that they wished they'd had in their darkest moments.” – Alan Watts
“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
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