The ‘grown’ Gremlin:
There’s been something on my mind and it’s about how we age. This week, I’ve noticed a common thread with the people I’ve met. From the cosmic coder who surprised me with his mystical approach to Web3, to the friend who came back into my life - they are each stepping into a new kind of joyful maturity and becoming brave leaders. And not just any kind of leader, but the ‘grown’ kind. Stay with me…
When I use the word grown, I mean someone who is able to “meet triumph and disaster and treat them both the same”. Level headed hope. Yes please. The kind of leader that is rational and creating. That is why I spent half of the week envisioning the Web3 future with Kernel in Portugal and the other half not so glamorously gluing and sticking an exhibition together in London. I paint to feel alive, connect to people, and to strengthen my nervous system, so that I can be of service and still like myself in the process.
You see, I’ve met enough bitter, dried up raisin heads, to know that it’s easier to swallow cynicism than build the alternative. But that’s what we need to do right? We need to each, find the ways that stoke our fire, so that we maintain our sense of joy whilst we do our messy, hard work in the world. Because if we don’t reach a clear state of mind before approaching the world, we are a victim to its problems rather than being a player for change.
What I’m painting:
The ‘abrdn Yearbook’ a commissioned portrait project brings 80+ stories of inspiration together. It will be on display in London before being taken across the world to Singapore and the U.S.
You’re invited to the private view Thursday 21 July
Sarabande, N1 5SH, UK
6PM-8PM
What I’m Writing
A short bite about joy:
‘The Webb of Celebration’
Are you celebrating? Can we laugh in chaos?
Can we celebrate in this world that is breaking down?
To live in the world that is already changed.
Let me not become bitter and cynical.
Let me not dry up like a shrivelled raisin out of sadness and deep disappointment with life.
With love from these cuties, and myself.
Till next time you beautiful beast,
K X
“Gremlin, be a good animal, true to your instincts.”
