Collaborating with so many creative minds means intrepid investigations into the unknown, which—naturally!— recedes before us always, like the deepest woods. How will it turn out? Will it be good? Will it sell? We ease a wider tolerance for not-knowing and make for the fresh edge.
How each of us understands and reacts to the withdrawal of what’s known is a spectacularly dynamic process. We work together to formulate strategic perspectives and to build the foundations of physiological ease that melt rigidity away and allow curiosity to flow onwards, further into the mystery.
But here’s the news—this is such a good moment for stretching in all those new ways. During spring’s crazily vibrant greening the revelatory process seems to be happening everywhere and all at once. It’s so close at hand. I can feel it in my bones, the lush vegetal rise that means abundance and aliveness, the awakening wonder of what’s now and what’s next?
So, what’s your relationship to the unknown like these days? And if you love exploring the creative mind and its mysteries, how do you want to venture deeper? One thing I’ll say is that spring’s greening gives a very good demonstration of persistence without reliance on willful force. What perfect alignment feels like for you is where the tinkering calibration comes in.
One of the words that has come up in some of my sessions lately holds another clue: “Manifesting.” I know this one had its resurgent heyday a couple years back as the stuff of many a meme. But what I find interesting is a clue buried in its original, late 14th century etymology. Manifestation is defined as “clearly revealed to the eye or the understanding,” but follow the roots further and you discover corollaries like ‘apprehensible’ or ‘caught in the act.’ One etymologist, suggesting the root ‘manus’ from the Latin for ‘hand,’ theorizes that the word’s “grabbing” and “attacking” inference suggests it means something like being “caught by hand.” Fine for certain kinds of vigorous river fishing, I’d imagine? But when used in a co-creative process (between the conscious and the subconscious or between self and the world), I know that snatchy-ness is not alluring to good fortune. Fortune loves a flow, fluidity, some flexibility. It’s more mysterious, a slow reveal, and less grabby manifesting.
Spring, in particular, offers a good time to let go of that kind of grasping, which ultimately and paradoxically causes a lot of blockage. The possibilities are sprouting literally everywhere right now, and the season’s lushness is a great invitation to strike out into unknown territory, following eros’s sprinkled breadcrumbs into the thickets of your own creative process.
Ready to plunge into the deep woods with you…
Yes, I am open to new clients! I’ve had a couple people ask lately—and I do have several spots available for working together this summer. You can email jessica.kerwin(@)gmail.com, or reply to this newsletter if you want to set up a (free) 45 minute session. During that time we will dive directly into these questions about your creative process, so that you can experience my approach directly. (And if you’d like to go further after that, at the end we can talk about that too.)

A note for paid subscribers
ILYSM—and, ultimately, I paused paid subscriptions for the time-being. While initially the rush of paid subscriptions was a thrill, I found the dread of not producing what I imagined that my subscribers might want in a cadence that was timely too heavy. That said! I *do* absolutely love free subscribers, and the more the merrier. If you like this Substack and would love to support me and its growth in some way, please share it widely!