Grokkist Newsletter #70

Hey friends,

One of the occasional delights of running Grokkist is when the people I’ve come to know as little rectangles on a screen turn up in the same physical place and we get to discover how online connection carries into the real world.

This week, I got to hang out in Copenhagen with Richard (who’s leading our BYO Curriculum campaign btw). We wandered the city, shared stories, and did some fun activities together. It’s always quietly wonderful to notice how much presence is already there — and of course to find out how tall people really are.

That same sense of relationship-deepening was felt at our recent launch party for Salt & Seeds — the first published book to come out of the Grokkist Press. The event was full of laughter, love, and luminous fragments from the future. You can watch the recording here.

It also marked the official beginning of our new Writing Salon, a space for collaborative storytelling and imaginative world-building that lives in the new Wild Margin Realm of the Grokkist Network. Thank you to Nathan and Alan for hosting, and to everyone who showed up and shared.

We've also welcomed two new voices to the Grokkist Press this week:

• Dr Rodney King, a former world-renowned martial arts coach turned philosophical practitioner, writing on education as conditioning as part of an upcoming series on living in the absurd. Rodney also has a grok talk event coming up: Natural Wisdom in an Unnatural World.
• Jim Palmer, a former megachurch pastor turned spiritual director and public philosopher, known for his work on religious deconstruction and existential health. His first contribution to the Press is a lyrical meditation on self-actualisation, soulful contradictions, and the ongoing dance of becoming more fully human in a world of categories and containers.

All these offerings reflect a broader shift toward community-led creativity. Projects like the Writing Salon and the BYO Curriculum campaign are less about broadcasting and more about making things together. We’re increasingly developing ways to channel our collective curiosity into shared action — not just talking about the world we want, but practicing it.

The BYO Curriculum campaign in particular is a wild and generative experiment — imagine a game jam for curriculum design. If you’ve ever thought “why didn’t they teach this in school?” or “I want to learn that but in this way,” you’re not alone — and this is your moment. Come jam with us.

To frame all this activity and open up a window into where we’re going, we’ll be holding our Q3 Town Hall soon —a chance to reflect, align, and shape what’s next.

And a little real talk: from the outside, Grokkist can look like a well-oiled machine. In reality, we’re still running everything on the smell of an oily rag — powered by love, late nights, and shared belief. I continue to support Grokkist full-time through Groksmithing work — helping others articulate their magic, align their story, or bring a project to life. If you or someone you know could use that kind of help, I'd love to hear from you. It’s a great way to support me and the wider ecosystem.

And finally, a little delight to leave you with: new community member Westley is doing conservation work with urban wildlife, including a zine he hands out to people in Berlin about helping pigeons that become entangled in string and trash that we leave laying around. Just one of the many little worlds that tumble out of pockets during conversation in this place we’re building together.

See you soon, whether in a Realm, a gathering, or somewhere unexpected.

With curiosity and care,
Danu

Fresh from the Press

Becoming More Human and Learning to Love the World

By Jim Palmer (17 min read)

In a world of labels and categories, what if our contradictions are clues—and brilliant sanity is the key to becoming whole?

Read the article ↗

Education as Conditioning

By Dr Rodney King (4 min read)

First, we’re taught to comply. Then, to forget that we ever danced to our own rhythm.

Read the article ↗

More from the Press

• Promises Promises (Peter Gilderdale, 5 min read) – When does a promise expire? And who decides what still counts, years after the moment has passed?
• Babies, Teenagers, and Cultural Difference (Peter Gilderdale, 4 min read) – Cultural difference reveals our blind spots — and loosening our grip on what we think we know is part of the learning.

Upcoming Events

🟢 Grokkist Writing Salon - July 2025

🗓️ Mon 7 Jul | 7–9pm UK time (view in your timezone)
Facilitated by Alan Raw

This is the first session of something new—a regular rhythm for people who write (or want to), who care about what they’re saying and how they’re saying it, and who don’t want to do it alone. Find out more about the Grokkist Writing Salon here.

Here’s what we’ll do:

• Start with check-ins—what’s on your mind as a writer?
• Read something you’ve been working on (finished or in progress)—get reflective, appreciative feedback
• Play together—create short stories or ideas collaboratively
• Open it up—discussion, collaboration invites, and a circle of care for anyone needing momentum or support

Event Details and RSVP ↗

🟢 BYO Curriculum 1 | Setting the Hearth

🗓️ Sat 12 Jul | 10.30am–1pm Central European time (view in your timezone)
Facilitated by Richard Bennet

What happens when you bring, build, or become your own curriculum?

This event is part of Grokkist’s BYO Curriculum Campaign (Jul–Sep 2025). Grokkist campaigns are collaborative adventures built around a living question. Over ten weeks, we’ll gather around big questions, support each other’s projects, and prototype new ways of learning grounded in curiosity, care, and lived experience.

🌀 Find out more and join the campaign here

🪵 Session 1 – Setting the Hearth: Build trust, uncover shared ground, and warm the space together. In this opening session, we’ll bring our beautiful questions, objects of resonance, and stories of why we care — and begin mapping what’s alive for each of us.

Event Details and RSVP ↗

Other Upcoming Events

• 1 Jul | 🟣 Grokkist Members Meetup [Jul '25]
• 3 Jul | 🟢 PhilosophyGyms @ Grokkist
• 8 Jul | 🟢 Grok Cafe [#5 in 2025]
• 15 Jul | 🟣 How I Work with AI as a Writing Partner
• 17 Jul | 🟢 Grokkist Town Hall – Q3-2025
• 23 Jul | 🟢 Natural Wisdom in an Unnatural World: A Story of Recovery, Reconnection, and Return
• 26 Jul | 🟢 BYO Curriculum 2 | Makers & Visioning

Groksmithing is our in-house approach to project work. It blends coaching, collaboration, creative delivery, and strategic sense-making — all held in a container of curiosity, care, and practical momentum.

We don’t do it to you. We don’t do it for you. We do it with you. It’s the kind of help grokkists need — and the kind grokkists love to give. Find out more.

Featured Menu Offering

Publishing Push-Off

You’ve got something to say — an idea, a story, a perspective — but the medium, the message, and the mechanics are all swirling.

Is it a blog? A newsletter? A podcast? A video series? Something entirely your own?

We’ll help you shape your intention into a publishing container that fits. Together we’ll choose the right platform, and then actually set it up with you, step by step. You’ll get your first piece out into the world, with a publishing space that feels right and works the way you want it to.

You leave with something live, a simple rhythm, and the clarity and confidence to keep going.

🍽️ 2–3 calls + async support
🔖 $280 (members) / $1,400 (non-members)

Enlist a Groksmith ↗

#1 - Insecurity Check

Baggage is a short film written & directed by Lucy Davidson (Melbourne, Australia) and produced at The Aardman Animation Studio Academy 2024. Three girlfriends check in their baggage at the airport, but one is carrying a little more than the others. The film reimagines airport security as a scan for self-doubt, forcing us to consider what we carry, what we hide, and what might happen if it’s all laid bare. (5.5 mins)

#2 - Why a Haiku Isn’t Just 5-7-5 in English

What Goes Wrong When We Write Ghazals in English by Anthony Madrid

June 24, 2025 – “All this is bigger than ghazals, of course. Bigger than haiku. I’m saying we have to graduate from pastiche and mimicry to something higher.”

The Paris ReviewAnthony Madrid

What are we really translating when we borrow a structure from another language? It seems simple: 3 lines, 17 syllables. A haiku. But when writing in English, that 5-7-5 rule can quickly become a trap. Japanese syllables don’t map neatly onto English ones — and strict adherence to the form often misses the point. The heart of haiku lies in extreme minimalism, not math. This reflection on poetic form invites to write with a tradition, not just in it — and to treat forms as gestures of spirit, not cages of precision. Or, to put it another way:

Count five-seven-five  
but miss the breath between words —  
haiku lost in math.

#3 - The new 'vertigo years'

The New Vertigo Years

Over a century ago, the world felt anxious and unsettled much like today

NovumAnton Cebalo

The years 1900–1914 were a time of existential whiplash, called the 'vertigo years' by historian Philipp Blom.

To read about the early 20th century is to look into a society that was struggling to keep up. Emotions ran high, tension was everywhere, and there was this nagging sense that the old rules no longer applied. “This new world was a merciless place,” Blom writes, “dividing humankind into those who coped and those who did not.”

As cities transformed into bustling metropolises, people’s sense of self began to fracture under the pressure of overstimulation. Nervous exhaustion became the ailment of the age. It was a time of techno-utopian fads: X-rays were the new magic trick, and electrical baths were prescribed for everything from fatigue to fertility. Amid all the buzzing gadgets, deeper cultural anxieties brewed — a “crisis of masculinity,” fears of “falling birth rates,” and an unshakable sense that the world was speeding up beyond what bodies and minds could bear.

#4 - Internet Fridge Magnet Poetry

Welcome to the internet's fridge wall! Drag words around to make poems! Have fun and be nice.

Fun little fridge magnet poetry site. The main wall is pretty congested but you can make your own too. Why not play around with a grokkist one?

#5 - Oh, Lady Be Good in dual swing guitar style

Watch two early jazz devotees from Osaka, Japan, revive a now-rare tradition: the dual swing guitar style. With vintage tones and impeccable timing, they breathe new life into this Gershwin classic and jazz standard. Performed by Yuji Kamihigashi & Hirofumi Asaba (2.5 mins)

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...

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” ― Dom Helder Camara

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ― Maya Angelou