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Hey friends,
The purpose of a flower is to open.
That was the message we heard in our recent Tulip Poplar workshop, where a group of us gathered to practise heart-centred listening with a tree.
People described it afterwards as the kind of "everyday magic" that was "just what I needed." Tulip Poplar’s invitation that day was simple: release your sweetness. Don’t die with your music still in you.
It’s spring here in Aotearoa New Zealand, and the air is heavy with pollen and possibility.
Nature is out here absolutely broadcasting itself — horny, unapologetic, alive. There’s no hesitation, no perfectionism. Just a fierce now-or-never energy: come dance with me.
I’ve been thinking about what it takes to move like that — to trust that the world will hold you if you put your weight on it.
Not a leap of faith, exactly, but a step.
Like one of those clear glass floors in a skyscraper: it feels like you’ll fall through, but actually, it’s solid.
The solidity comes after the step, not before.
Maybe that’s what we’re practising in our Grokkist spaces, too — trusting the floor underfoot, even when it feels precarious.
Our Members Lab & Lounge (running for the first time this week in the Americas/AusNZ timezone!) is a twice-monthly gathering where ideas, projects, and people can land softly and get unstuck. Half co-working lab, half relational hangout, it’s designed to combine momentum with care.
The Writing Salon is where word-loving grokkists come together each month to read aloud, share feedback, experiment with prompts, and be witnessed in the messiness of the writing process. You don’t need a finished piece — just a willingness to show up.
And our Lightning Talk Night (PK2) is back! Six-minute PechaKucha-style talks from community members sharing something they’re passionate about — fonts, fungi, forgotten cartoons — no polished presentations, just the quiet magic of showing what makes you come alive.
And in November, I’ll be presenting at the Online Facilitation Unconference with a session on "Coddiwomple Design" — how to hold space when you don’t know where you’re going (yet). It’s a ripe moment for Grokkist to be stepping into the wider conversation about how we work and learn together in uncertain times.
All of these are small, deliberate acts of aliveness.
They’re less about expertise, more about expression. Which has me reflecting on the kinds of spaces that often feel like the opposite.
Because honestly, most of the time, I find museums and art galleries kind of dead.
Even though I love the arts, even though I’m not on the side of the philistines (except when I am curious about seeing the world through those eyes), there’s something about how those spaces fetishise knowledge — as if meaning only exists at a safe distance, behind glass, in the right lighting.
It’s all too careful. Too inert. And I kinda wanna say fuck all that, y'know?
Which is part of why I’m excited about our upcoming Grokkist Press Horizons Town Hall. It’s a space to reflect on what we’ve built so far, but also to actively shape where we go next — a publishing ecosystem rooted in relationality, risk, and the kind of resonance you can’t fake. If you care about writing, publishing, or making meaning in public — come help us imagine what comes next.
What if we made things that were a little less polished but more present? What if the point wasn’t cleverness or curation, but contact?
One of the kindest things you can do is show up alive.
Not perfect. Not certain. Just... available. Willing to broadcast. Willing to be changed.
So if you’ve been hovering on the edge of getting more involved — coming to a gathering, sharing your gifts, becoming a member — this is your nudge. We’re not waiting for polish. We’re practising aliveness.
Come dance with us.
And if something’s still holding you back, reply and tell me. I’d love to know.
With curiosity and care,
Danu
Become a Grokkist Member to take part in Groksmithing in community and turn resonance to practice through hands-on gatherings, self-guided courses, and member access to Signature Projects where we help you bring your ideas to life.
For those standing at bigger thresholds, I also offer bespoke Groksmithing engagements — this is the heart of my livelihood, and how I support others to do their most meaningful work.
Your support keeps Grokkist open, regenerative, and dignity-first — sustaining a home for curiosity, care, and creative action.
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 ↗A pattern where grokkists find themselves ready to move on from a role, project, or pursuit once the initial challenge fades.
Read on for a deeper explanation or discover more luminous phrases in the Glossary of Grokkistry.
Fresh and Featured Pressings
Wounded Healers
By Jim Palmer (16 min read)
Transforming suffering into medicine for a hurting world.
AI, Culture, and the Forgetting of the Relational
By Evelien Verschroeven (5 min read)
When culturalisation narrows our relationships, mere cultural correctness isn’t enough.
More from the Press
- Our Seven Worst Weaknesses (Peter Gilderdale, 3 min read) – Sometimes a change in perspective is all that stands between our worst weaknesses and our greatest gifts.
- Becoming Centred (Peter Gilderdale, 4 min read) – Before we can meet in the middle, we'll need to agree on where that is.
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
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.
Featured Gatherings
🟣 Members Lab & Lounge [Timezone B]
🗓️ Tue 4 Nov | 5pm–8pm ET (view in your timezone)
Facilitated by Danu Poyner
Welcome to the new heartbeat of Grokkist membership. The Members Lab & Lounge is a three-hour gathering designed to combine practical groksmithing support with the warmth of relational connection — a reliable tentpole for our community of grokkists.
Each session is split into two parts — and you’re welcome to join just the first half, the second half, or stay for as much time as you like:
The Lab (first 90 minutes): Hands-on, practical, energising. Get live groksmithing support from Danu or another groksmith on your project, workshop, talk, or life situation. Rehearse, test, ideate, or simply listen in and learn from others. During the Lab we also open private breakout rooms for parallel play, so you can co-work quietly on your own project or team up with others in a smaller space.
The Lounge (second 90 minutes): Slower and more spacious. Two cosy 1:1 conversations with fellow members, followed by a closing circle of care — a chance to ask for advice, share what’s on your heart, or simply connect as humans.
Other Upcoming Gatherings
- 3 Nov | 🟢 Grokkist Writing Salon
- 10 Nov | 🟢 Grokkist Press Horizons – A Town Hall for Our Publishing Future
- 13 Nov | 🟢 PK2 — Grokkist’s Lightning-Talk Night
- 19 Nov | 🟣 Members Lab & Lounge [Timezone A]
- 20 Nov | 🟢 PhilosophyGym @ Grokkist
🍬 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 - An existential guide to making friends
The Shadowed Archive
"People are creatures that rot if they are alone. To be human is to be an animal that needs witnesses."
Friendship, this piece insists, is not natural—it’s ritual, risk, and occasional miracle. Against a backdrop of loneliness and the absurdity of trying, it offers rituals, field notes, and metaphysics for finding the Infinite Friend—the one who reminds you you exist. With mordant wit and sacred tenderness, it reframes friendship as the art of being interrupted—by others, by the world, and by grace.
"Every friend you’ve ever had has wronged you. They drift. They acquire a dog with a complicated gut. They move to a suburb called Something-Heath where the last bus leaves at 9.12. Even the ones who stay close eventually betray you by dying. And if they don’t, you’ll betray them first. This is the contract hidden in the handshake."
#2 - The sound of the uilleann pipes
Feel the soft, mournful hum of the Irish pipes—quieter, gentler than their better-known Highland cousins—as a series of players bring them to life. Fragments of performance and tradition are intercut to form a conversation with the instrument itself: its history, its design, and the strange intimacy of its emotional reach. (10 min video)
#3 - When Knowledge takes a body: refusing the biomedical object
Sean Purcell
“We refuse to see human remains in the biomedical archive as research objects.”
This essay re‑maps what we call “collections” and “objects.” It surfaces how many collections were born in violence, theft and extractive logics — showing that access can itself replicate harm. It argues that in biomedical archives, human remains and biomatter often exist as objects of research — stripped of their stories, context, and living communities.
The authors propose refusal as an ethical method: refusing to treat people’s bodies as supplies, refusing uncritical access, refusing the assumption that all knowledge must be revealed. They anchor this in Indigenous‑influenced methodologies and build “opacity protocols” to redraw boundaries around what may or may not be used.
#4 - A short history of theft at the Louvre
Michael Prodger
[Open-access version via this link] What happens when priceless jewels vanish from one of the world’s most visited museums? This piece traces a history of art theft at the Louvre, focusing on the 1911 disappearance of the Mona Lisa—a theft that turned a modestly appreciated portrait into the world’s most famous painting. It explores how theft becomes part of an object’s story and can alter its meaning, shaped by spectacle, scarcity, and the unpredictable economics of cultural value.
#5 - Soft company for a hard day
All the feels. It’s his birthday. His friends aren’t coming. The messages are cheerful, but the room is still empty—until a small creature enters and changes the texture of the day. This small, earnest short (2.5 mins) says a lot with very little: about loneliness, low expectations, and the unexpected warmth of being chosen by something small and soft. It gently suggests that caring for another creature can be a shortcut to caring for yourself.
Grokkist is a living ecosystem — 🟢 free to enter, powered by members 🟣.
If you’d like to go deeper, you can join as a member, explore Signature Projects, or work with Danu.
A pair of parting thoughts...
“This is the strange way of the world, that people who simply want to love are instead forced to become warriors.” ― Lauren Oliver
“I was ashamed of myself until I realized life was a costume party and I attended with my real face.” ― Franz Kafka
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