our first week!
inside the creative underground
hello, my love!
I was sitting on my porch swing with Rumi — birds going absolutely feral in the background, it was a whole thing — and I sent a voice note to the eight humans inside our very first Creative Underground beta cohort.
I told them about the night I was in the bath after a very long day, and I realized something:
My body was “resting.” But my mind was still strategizing. Optimizing. Running little business simulations in the background while I was supposed to be relaxing.
I thought I was being creative. I was — but only in service of utility. Creativity as a productivity tool. Rest as optimization fuel.
And I remember thinking: OMG. Gross.
Here’s the thing — I don’t think optimization is bad. Most highly creative people are natural optimizers. But I had to ask myself: what am I actually optimizing for?
Because I am here to enjoy my life.
So I want to optimize for aliveness. For delight. For curiosity — not because it secretly makes me more productive (though it does, which is a little annoying), but because it feels genuinely good to be alive.
This is the philosophy behind The Creative Underground.
It’s built on a simple belief: that curiosity is directional, attention shapes reality, and creativity expands when people feel safe enough to follow what feels alive — before it fully makes sense.
That’s what we explored in week one.
Like the fact that a horse fly was named Scaptia beyonceae because a scientist thought it was bootylicious.
Or that there’s an entire genus of beetles Agra, and within this family there is: vation, cadabra, and schwarzeneggeri.
Taxonomists are basically tiny nerd-poets with Latin privileges –
and this
delights me!
What I’ve noticed — in myself and now watching this beta group move through week one — is that when you genuinely let yourself be alive inside your own curiosity, something shifts.
Resonance becomes easier to feel. Ideas start coming from a more natural place. People can feel the difference in what you create.
Not because delight is a productivity hack.
But because aliveness is magnetic.
a peek inside!
our first session
join us <3
People joined from London, Amsterdam, Athens, Egypt, Colorado, Arizona, Houston, and Utah.
Within twenty minutes we were building a magic mansion together, debating whether pirates used birds for navigation, and someone described their mood as Mongolian wool.
Cohort two is coming this summer.
And between now and then, I have one small invitation:
Carve out a little space for delight for delight’s sake.
Not because it’ll make you more productive.
Because you’re here to enjoy your life.
And I really do think that’s where everything good comes from.
p.s. — the Beyoncé fly is real. I have photos.
the scientist who named it is a hero.
xx,
brittany
