Grokkist Newsletter #66

Hey friends,

Lately I’ve been thinking about thresholds — those quiet, charged moments where something inside begins to shift, even if you can’t yet name what’s emerging.

Grokkist has always drawn people in that space. Not quite at the beginning, not yet at the end. Just on the edge — unfolding, becoming.

Over time, I’ve come to recognise how I work with people in those moments. It’s relational, intuitive, handcrafted. There’s a pattern to it. A kind of mischief. And now, a name.

Groksmithing.

It starts as a vibe — playful, alive, and disarming enough to invite people in. But beneath the surface, it’s becoming something more: a methodology grounded in curiosity, care, and the art of capacity transfer.

Groksmithing is how we design our courses. It’s how we consult. It’s how we support people through both inner and outer thresholds — building momentum through shared aliveness.

And now it has a home: Grokkist Projects.

A playful interactive menu that feels more like choosing a side quest than filling out a form. That’s intentional. Because often what unlocks the next step isn’t more advice — it’s a reframe that lets you imagine differently.

At the heart of this is what I call threshold work — the space between stories, when you’re no longer who you were, but not yet who you’re becoming. Unsettling. Clarifying. Sacred.

If that’s where you are, I’ve written a new companion piece in the Grokkist Press — drawn from years of Find Your Red Thread, and written for those standing in-between.

And of course, we’re not doing this alone.

We’ve been deepening our collaboration with philosopher and Grokkist Press contributor Jessica Böhme, whose PhilosophyGyms project hosts unhurried, focused conversations for practising philosophy in daily life. Think Grok Cafes with a little more Socratic core strength.

Jes is reaching into this space from the academic world, through an EU-funded research initiative exploring how relational ways of working can take root inside organisations. By bringing a PhilosophyGyms @ Grokkist series to our events calendar, we’re delighted to be contributing to that research and its outcomes.

It’s all part of Grokkist growing up.

From inspiration into infrastructure. From vibes into ways of working.

That’s also why I’ve started a new LinkedIn newsletter, Curiosity & Care — a weekly field journal for bringing grokky thinking into the world of work. For those who aren’t (yet) in grokkist-shaped spaces — but might want to be.

Because if you want to change the story, you have to give people somewhere else to stand.

Groksmithing is how we build that ground — together.

With curiosity and care,
Danu

Fresh from the Press

For Those Standing at the Threshold

By Danu Poyner (13 min read)

How threshold moments show up in our lives, what they ask of us, and why Grokkist exists to support the messy, meaningful work of crossing from one chapter to the next.

Read the article ↗

The Self-Made Myth Is Holding Us Back

By Jessica Böhme (7 min read)

We’ve been told we can become anyone if we just try hard enough. But what if becoming is always a shared act?

Read the article ↗

More from the Press

• Vagaries of the Brain (Peter Gilderdale, 4 min read) – What seems like chaos to one person is harmony to another. You can live side by side for decades and still be discovering how differently you experience the world.
• On the Ball (Peter Gilderdale, 4 min read) – Sometimes your body dives before your mind agrees — that’s when you know you’re on the ball.

Upcoming Events

🟢 Grok Cafe [#3 in 2025]

🗓️ Thur 8 May | 11am–12.30pm NZ time (view in your timezone)
Facilitated by Danu Poyner

You’re invited to the Grok Cafe: our signature social gathering for grokkists. The Grok Cafe is a place to share meaningful reflections, spark curiosity, and feel a sense of belonging with others who share a kindred ethos of care and curiosity.

This time, we’ll reflect on the backgrounds we come from — the stories, circumstances, and identities that have shaped us — and explore how they’ve both lifted and limited us. At the heart of our gathering are two beautiful questions to guide our reflections:

• In what ways has your background helped and hindered you?
• What part of your background are you ready to rewrite, reinterpret, or reclaim?

Event Details and RSVP ↗

🟢 Learning From Other People's Truths

🗓️ Mon 12 May | 8pm–9.30pm Central European time (view in your timezone)
Facilitated by Richard Bennet

What does it mean to learn from someone else’s truth—especially when that truth feels foreign, uncomfortable, or even confronting?

From classrooms in Bangladesh to dinner tables across Europe and the U.S., I’ve found myself repeatedly faced with differences in opinion and in worldview. Through my experiences, I’ve learned how hard—and how necessary—it is to maintain relationships across disagreement. In this, I ask: 

How do we build spaces of learning that center care, respect, and the courage to understand difference?

This session is a personal reflection on my journey with these ideas, but more than that, it is my invitation to explore what it means to create spaces where people can:

• Be in honest disagreement without shutting each other down
• Sit with discomfort without needing to resolve it
• Practice ‘moral flexibility’ without losing their values
• Make space for growth that doesn’t demand perfection

I am particularly curious about what happens when people don’t want to understand difference. Can progressive spaces make room for those not ready (or willing) to change? Should the waves of development drown all of those who are not on the growth boat?

Event Details and RSVP ↗

Other Upcoming Events

• 5 May | 🟠 Neurographica: Colour and Coherence
• 7 May | 🟢 Grok Cafe [#3 in 2025]
• 21 May | 🟢 Creative Expression through Focusing
• 22 May | 🟢 PhilosophyGyms @ Grokkist

Featured Course

Intro to Neurographica

Transform your inner landscape through intuitive drawing.

Have you ever wished for a way to shift your emotional state—right in the moment—without needing a breakthrough or a big solution? Neurographica offers a uniquely powerful tool for gaining clarity and transforming inner tension through the simple act of drawing. No artistic skills required.

Self-paced video course
33 topics over 6 phases | Total duration: 1 hr 35 min
🔖 Suggested Tuition: USD$40* (30% off for Grokkist Members)

(*Can't afford it? Don't worry. Our Forget About the Price Tag policy ensures this course is open to everyone, regardless of budget.)

Explore 'Intro to Neurographica' ↗

#1 - How to keep wild places wild without being a buzzkill

How Science Might Help Keep Wild Places Wild

Recreation researchers are studying how to minimize human impact on public lands while maximizing accessibility.

Undark MagazineSarah Scoles

“[The goal] isn’t to be the buzzkill,” says a recreation ecologist. “We’re just trying to make sure people can have fun outside.”

It turns out the wild doesn’t always stay wild on its own. From Colorado’s alpine trails to Arches National Park, public lands are carefully curated by rangers and researchers who balance access with impact. Historically, that meant caps, permits, and fees—strategies that can backfire, displace damage, or favour those who can plan (or pay) ahead. This article explores the science of recreation management: how researchers are designing better systems by observing behaviour, talking to hikers, and even using drones. Instead of yelling “stay on the trail,” they build better trails. Instead of blanket bans, they ask: Why do people veer off in the first place?

The deeper question here is one of relational design: how do we create systems that meet people where they are without diminishing what they encounter?

#2 - "Meteor": a short film about the Woman, Life, Freedom movement

Atefeh Khademolreza’s Meteor is a dreamlike, non-linear tribute to grief, friendship, and resistance within the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran. Told through a collage of surreal visuals, intimate narration, archival footage, and glowing animation, it channels personal mourning into a political reckoning that resonates far beyond borders. What shines through is the entanglement of the personal and political, the cosmic and concrete. [9.5 min watch]

#3 - A unified theory of the handbag

Audrey Wollen: “A Unified Theory of the Handbag”

Audrey Wollen examines the handbag as a symbol of femininity, desire, and control—unpacking its cultural weight through feminist theory and alternative…

The Yale ReviewAudrey Wollen

Audrey Wollen’s essay reimagines human evolution through the humble act of carrying. What if the first tool wasn’t a weapon, but a bag — to hold babies, berries, and the beginnings of culture? Drawing from feminist anthropologist Elizabeth Fisher’s “Carrier Bag Theory of Evolution” and Ursula Le Guin’s literary echo of it, Wollen stitches together care, narrative, and kinship in all their misremembered glory. Oscar Wilde of course makes a cameo. A handbag? Quite.

#4 - Badges that tell you how AI was used

Badge AI - AI Usage Transparency System

Badge AI helps you communicate the level of AI involvement in your creative works with transparency and clarity. Evaluate your AI usage in audio, visual, and textual content.

Badge AIPhilippe Bourque

What if creative works came with a label that told you how much AI was involved — not just that it was used, but how? Inspired by the spirit of Creative Commons, Badge.AI is a new experimental system for signalling the level and kind of AI involvement in anything you make. A badge like T-AI-1 means: “mainly human-written text with AI tools for assistance” — useful for clarity, credit, or just setting expectations. Early days, but a thoughtful attempt at legibility in the AI age. Worth keeping an eye on.

#5 - Inner Peace Police

"You've been caught feeding your fears and starving yourself of joy. I'm issuing you with a citation for chronic self-doubt."

@endangerhood patrols the streets on roller skates in a pink suit and a disco-ball helmet, pulling doomscrollers over for crimes against their own wellbeing. It’s absurd. It’s joyful. It’s oddly effective. Mischief as medicine. Reframing as resistance. (And if you liked that, he has a whole universe of cracks in the kingdom to explore.)

Membership Benefits

As a Grokkist Member, you’re part of a circle of active grokkists walking the grokkist path. Here’s what membership includes:

• 🟣 Member-Only Gatherings
• 🛠 Groksmithing Project Support at Member Rates
• 🚪 Unlock Your Grok - Self-Paced Course
• ❤️‍🔥 30% Discount on Courses and Ticketed Events
• 🎭 Featured Member Profile
• 📣 Post Calls & Invitations
• ✨ Early Access & Prototypes
• ▶️ Events Recording Library
• ⭐️ Digital Member Badge

Become a Grokkist Member - $75/yr

A pair of parting thoughts...

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” ― Oscar Wilde

“No woman ever shot her husband while he was vacuuming.” ― Kathy Lette