This week sadly the jail was in lockdown so I didn’t manage to go in. So instead, in this little voice memo for you I share the ways in which I attempt to “scale” my volunteering efforts outside of direct jail work, e.g. trying to get Gil Fronsdal’s books available to incarcerated individuals, and offering to onboard chaplaincy students with my mentor.

I really have to put “scalable” in huge air quotes here because maybe the correct word is really “operationalizing” or “diversifying”—-just wanting to share all the ways in which “helping the world” really comes down to paperwork and pounding the pavement and following up. And so many of you are good at that!

Please also let me know how this voice memo format goes for you—-do you like it, do you prefer seeing my face, or prefer seeing words typed out? Let me know!

Warm Wishes,

Christin

Experimenting with a voice memo reflection recorded after serving meditation classes in the jail! I hope this can be a useful record for myself and for those of you interested in what it’s…

Read more

Let’s talk about money.

I am terrible at charging for my offerings, and fantastic at getting my friends to do it.

In fact, let me first tell you about my friend . She has been teaching me qigong for the past month and relieving so much tension I’ve been holding within, as well as helping me give relief to those who are incarcerated. I’ve been able to take some of her routines and share them with incarcerated individuals in the San Mateo jail system. Participants report a sense of joy and lightness, and I rejoice with them too as I benefit from Alex’s teachings.

She has even made it easy to learn through these offerings, which I’m so psyched to share with you:

• Easy Embodiment Qigong Routine - $12
  https://gumroad.com/a/1050532963/altgoy

• Feel Good with Qigong Starter Pack - $47 (1:1 session AND the video!)
  https://gumroad.com/a/1050532963/wjwqha

Full disclosure: I get 30% commission!

Alex is a shining example of sharing right livelihood and her work cares for herself and others. Yet she was hesitant to charge for her work at first. I highly nagged encouraged her until she did and I’m so proud!

In fact, if you are reading this newsletter, you are more than likely someone who is more on the hesitant-to-charge side because I tend to be friends with people like that.

Before I point more fingers, this is something I am working on myself!

You can become a patron of my chaplaincy work/meditation classes in the San Mateo jail system by clicking the button below ($13.50/month or $135/year.)

Become Christin's Patron

Your support helps me embark on a journey towards sustainable livelihood through chaplaincy work / meditation classes. I’ll continue to expand my offerings and this is a start, but it’s the purest offering I’m providing to the world right now to participants who cannot afford it and wouldn’t have access otherwise. Your patronage helps me keep it going!

Relatedly, I’m also happy to report that I will be a student of Gil Fronsdal and Ines Freedman in the dharma leaders training program at insight meditation center. This has been my dream come true since I was in my twenties, and now that I’m turning double that age, I’m glad that my early aspiration is answered. This training program will also ensure that I can be be a more helpful meditation teacher in the jail system.

So…what are you doing for free that you can ostensibly charge money for to make it a sustainable offering?

Warm Wishes,

Christin

I hope this missive finds you resilient among the changes of the world, especially if you are a member of a disenfranchised group affected by the shifts in power dynamics. I’ve been taking a class and mentoring students for another one at the Insight Meditation Center, where the breakout rooms inevitably circled back to our collective witness of suffering, how to support ourselves & each other. Likewise, it would be remiss of me to not begin the email to you by ignoring the Elephant In the Room, and offer my calendar to you if you would like to chat or simply sit together in camaraderie (or in collision!)

Still, life goes on and there remains much to be grateful for. As someone who habitually looks forward to the future, I must admit this is a practice that doesn’t come easily to me. Even as I flip through my electronic calendar with records of appointments, I wish I can do a better job conveying the friendships, excitement, and the *stuff of life* that made up these experiential highlights.

April-May:

• ‘s wedding (went with ), spent time with and Sam (Humankind Candles) who kindly hosted

• Went to NYC for Farcon, spent time with and Hsiao-Chi who kindly hosted, visited Empty Cloud Monastery with Sam as well

May-June:

• Attended Edge Esmeralda with for most of the month, got to hang out with Brian (Chao’s long time friend) and Eric (Brian’s college buddy) the whole time too. Spoke twice at the event about Reframe and developed Reframe Daily, a weekday digest of latest health discoveries that aren’t surfaced in regular news.

June-July:

• Camped in the Sierras with Yuhong

• Write of Passage alumni meetup, chatted with , , , Maile who needs to update her domain or something so I’m stuck linking her linkedin…

August-September:

• Attended a weeklong silent retreat with teachers Ines Freedman and Francisco Gable at the Insight Retreat Center

• Visited Iceland and the UK, kindly hosted by and Tobin in Bristol

Of course, these are experiences that are easier to share via photos and a few quick notes. I’m most grateful to those who continue to support me through challenges and struggles, the “stuff of life” that makes up the rest. When so kindly asked how I’ve been… what can I say? Continue to be blessed with connections made through the magic of the Internet, a place I hold so dear yet know it is changing. I grieve the loss yet know it makes way for the new unknown.

What have been your seasonal highlights since we last connected?

Warm Wishes,

Christin

You are receiving this email because you have supported me in the past.

This can include: honeyritual tea, evening drama rebooted, workshops with christine kwong or vicky zhao, write of passage or small bets mentorship, the sati center chaplaincy program, debug your meditation, kind camp, insight writing club, the beavchris and bart-head show with art lu, or paragraph.

If you are no longer interested in hearing from me via email, please unsubscribe here. Thank you for your kind support!

Remastering Music

Listen to this, with headphones if you have them. It’s the remastered version of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

Hear the crispness, the punchiness, the dynamic separation.

It’s the same song, just remastered for modern sensibilities—the way our modern speakers and headphones sound, suited to current trends / the zeitgeist.

Remastering Content

Now, imagine that for the content you release online.

It’s the same themes, just remastered for the way people consume media, suited to current trends / the zeitgeist.

In the past few years, I’ve been lucky to be able to share my writing and videos with all of you, and even some course and community offerings like Kind Camp. They all touched on themes around writing, spiritual/ethical practice, and friendship.

The OK Banger Show is the remastered version of all of my content so far, adapted to a live stream and shorts format to match the zeitgeist. Each episode features a single word theme, and my co-host and I feature banger content on the internet before diving into the word (disguised virtue) and what it means for us.

We share vulnerable, rarely-discussed stories from our lives. It’s a dangerous and exciting dance. We get to know each other so well that Cameron catches me off guard on these live podcasts, along with kind viewers who throw us fun curveballs.

Here’s an example convo from the end of our latest episode on “play.”

Cameron: What are your favorite games growing up?

Christin: The Sims! There’s nothing more satisfying than going from nothing to something, 0 to 1

Cameron: Is this because you felt like you had to do that by yourself growing up?

Christin: *DAGGER TO THE CHEST* 💀💀💀💀💀

Luckily, he fumbled and accidentally pressed the end stream button instead of our outro music, because I was left dumbstruck. (Did I mention this is a comedic podcast? A show for serious creators who don’t take themselves too seriously?)

This is why I continue to love content creation. I love how it doesn’t get easier. I love how I get to confront my raw growth edges over and over again, with friends who get me. That’s what we hope to offer to fellow creators: a friendly space to chat about creator strategy and tactics while making fun of them at the same time.

We go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 8AM PT / 11AM ET / 3PM UTC, and the YouTube channel contains full recordings / RSS feed for those who can’t make it live and want to hear us joke over dishes or laundry. Appreciate you subscribing and checking us out! There’s also shorts if you want to sample our madness.

For me, I have found great satisfaction with remastering my content through delivering the same messages in new formats, especially with comedy, my favorite art form. I wonder if this resonates with you (if you are a content creator) as something to try out, especially if you have been doing it for a hot minute?

Remastering…Feelings??

Alright, the truth. I have whined numerous times to about how I wish I can have the wherewithal to go back to all my writing and organize it, curate it…write a new book maybe?! But it was something I always “wish I had time to do” but never executed.

I see now that the desire to remaster…isn’t really about improving the content per se. It’s about whether what I put out is true to who I am, in that particular moment. And when that gets out of sync as time goes by, it feels uncomfortable. But that only meant I felt like I was always playing catch up with myself, forever slightly behind and hurting for it.

I searched the internet and listened to live versions of Bohemian Rhapsody, where Freddie Mercury sang his heart out over the years in LiveAid, Budapest. Each performance slightly different, yet more and more him. That’s what I see as the process we undergo as creators—remastering the content, and remastering our feelings and self-perception along the way.

Warm Wishes,

Christin

P.S. I had briefly switched to using convertkit and you may have missed my previous newsletter as a result (went to spam because of domain delivery issues, which is totally on me!) Here it is archived if you would like to catch up.

A huge thank you to friends who reviewed the 1st draft: Whimsicott.eth

​

you are receiving this email because you have supported me in the past.

this can include: honeyritual tea, evening drama rebooted, workshops with christine kwong or vicky zhao, write of passage or small bets mentorship, the sati center chaplaincy program, debug your meditation, kind camp, insight writing club, the beavchris and bart-head show with art lu, substack, or paragraph.

if you are no longer interested in hearing from me via email, unsubscribe here. thank you for your kind support!

if you are interested, in the next few paragraphs i share what i've been up to since, and this newsletter will reach you ~monthly.

​

ok banger

​ok banger is a live podcast with my friend cameron armstrong on striving to be a good person IRL, online, and onchain.

we have received strong testimonials, sponsorships, and grant funding after just 7 episodes in less than a month.

it's the culminated expression of all my work so far, with flavors of neuroscience, chaplaincy, and the craft of content creation.

cameron armstrong has been a dear friend for the past year. we met on farcaster, where we obsess over the craft of creating "bangers."

he also endlessly fascinates me as a former military leadership instructor, harvard business school graduate, founder of an e-commerce startup ($120M exit after 2 years) and is now building seemore.tv to help creators make more money.

so between the two of us, we got a lot to yap about. watch for yourself!

​

​

what others can't see, that you have witnessed: the number of projects i've started to get here.

the list in the beginning of this email--that's what it took. thank you for being there for me as I stumbled forward.

​

​

creator systems update

since we've last connected, i've gained 59K followers on a new social platform called farcaster.

so i'm eager to share new ways i've evolved my content systems to resonate with a larger number of connections than ever before.

i'll be sharing how i've kept writing and making content enjoyably this whole time, while streamlining my workflow.

e.g. sending email thru convertkit allows me to eliminate clutter from substack's email format, making the newsletter an easier read.

​

​

ask and offer

it would mean the world to me if you'd consider watching/listening to ok banger and subscribing to our youtube channel.

reaching 1K subscribers will allow us to join the youtube partnership program.

please also let me know how i can support your projects: reply this email, or reach me through any means below.

yes, it's been a while since i've reached out to many of you. what have you been up to? :)

​

​

warm wishes,

christin

I hope you’ve been well! There’s been a lot of fun and exciting things going on in this little corner of the universe. It’s been strange because most of my “web presence” has shifted to a different part of the internet…specifically, in the rapidly growing (now unicorn?) status social network called Farcaster.

So I’ve been busier than ever doing creator stuff (writing, co-hosting a weekly as-of-today-award-winning sponsored podcast, hosting an online chapel, being a contestant on a reality show…) but many of you may not even see it because it’s in a different cozy corner on the internet!

Exhibits

the BeavChris and BArt-Head Show: a Podcast for the Farcaster Middle Class: co-hosted with Art Lu: with regular viewer support, ad-read sponsorships, and usually ~5 good friends in the live stream

And today I found out we won an retroactive funding award:

https://warpcast.com/christin/0xcafc3962

Said Survivor-like reality show:

https://warpcast.com/~/channel/castout

(oh and I’m a local Drake meme format...)

https://warpcast.com/sdv.eth/0x1a023489

So what?

The point of this newsletter isn’t “look what *I* have been up to” (in fact, I felt self-conscious constructing the section above…) but to showcase a new playground with fantastic support for creativity, art, and culture. It’s a rare space in the creator economy where there is room to flourish, while some existing tools (looking at you, Twitter) flounder.

As my friend compiled poignantly:

https://adrienneshulman.medium.com/the-power-of-scenius-farcaster-and-the-collective-genius-of-communities-244f018a8767

An Invitation

• The “onchain” world like Farcaster is the equivalent of “early Twitter/YouTube etc.”—the ecosystem is new enough where there is still a cozy sense of community, it’s easier to make friends who have the same creative ambitions, and it’s easier to distribute with higher signal-to-noise ratios.

• To me, this is where ‘s essay “Beware of Chasing Prestige” applies as well—since Farcaster is still an early social network, I usually get quizzical looks when I mention where I spend my time online. But…

  https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1531397520408059904

  

• The onchain world is underpriced quality right now. This world may not be for you at all, and I totally get it—it’s high friction to switch to another social network, meet new people, etc. However, if getting traction is challenging for you in your current online space, I highly encourage you to explore where there might be more appreciate for your creativity and craft.

Warm Wishes,

Christin

P.S. I’m also tired of Substack’s dark patterns (I swear I am *not* inserting all these calls for paid tiers or emailing you about it!) and I’m thinking about moving to Paragraph as the newsletter platform provider. What do you think?

It’s been a while! :) Here’s what I’ve been up to, buried in a meandering encantation of this year’s mystical Word.

Backstory: What is Choose One Word?

• Choose One Word is a self-guided annual ritual taught by the Dr. Jason Fox. Dr. Fox is a metamodern wizard on a quest to create a world more curious and kind (with a PhD in motivational sciences.) The premise of the program is simple--choose one word that will guide behaviors, decisions, and goals for the year (or however long you wish.)

• Unlike most goal-setting programs, the witty Dr. Fox recommends against choosing certain types of words like happiness! Success! Etc., This is because it frees oneself from judging against what seems to be an objective metric at first glance, but is more-often-than-not an arbitrary one. (What is happiness? Success?) My word in 2019, which I had chosen before learning about the program, was "mastery." It served its purpose in that I spent the year honing 5 areas of my life (for which I will provide a retrospective) but there was a Sisyphean facet to the word that made it less useful.

• Instead, active, aspect, or archetypal words are preferred because they carry less of an inherent measuring-stick quality. In short, the chosen word is a beacon of light that guides along pathways to future relevance.

Why does Dr. Fox recommend heralding one's word on a page like this?

In his words,

"In a nutshell: cultivated dissonance.

The Ritual of Becoming is an act of manifesting*—of ‘telling the truth in advance’, so that you might live into it, make believe, and become it.

Rational friends: don’t be dissuaded by my employment of magical realism. I have not descended into irrationality—merely sidestepped into para-rationality. Join in the programme and you’ll see. Sound reasonableness cloaked in glamour, ‘pon my Word.

Thus, after deep work in Reflecting, Introspecting and Projecting (RIP)* upon ‘who you are’ and ‘who you might be’—and after finding the most exquisite and apt Word to serve you in the next chapter of your unfurling story—you then must pave the way for Actualisation. This is the phase in which you begin to adopt and an integrate new Principles, Patterns and Projects in actuality.

Yes, this is like an elegy for your past self—so that parts of you might die and rest in peace, so that new elements of ‘selfness’ might emerge.

Your ‘/word page’ helps you do this. It’s a living space for you to enshrine the insights from your Quest to find a Word for the year."

So without further ado...

2024 is The Year of the CozyGoober for me. 🥜

For me, the word “cozy” evokes:

• making room to sense the soma and feel discomfort to its fullest extent, and comfort to its fullest extent

• intimacy with the home and its associated duties—taking care of loved ones’ well-being in all dimensions

• not over-extending myself and getting into a grindset mindset (beautifully expounded by my friend zencephalon here)

As Dogen, the patriarch of Soto Zen Buddhism says, zazen is the comfortable way, but it’s not comfortable in the usual way. When you can actually accept yourself completely in all situations, then you’re comfortable.

And why append the word “goober?”

• To me, goober is a silly word for a fool. It reminds me to take things lightly, and to enjoy the practice of cosmic or mundane humor.

• I like how a goober means a peanut 🥜 and there’s nothing more cozy than peeling some warm boiled peanuts in a paper bag. I also like how the nuts of the peanut are cozily encased in its shell.

Principles and Patterns

If the chosen word is the North Star, then principles are the surrounding constellations. Dr. Fox also recommended that behavioral patterns should be doable when motivation is waning.

1. Silly: discard the need for everything I put out to be wrought with meaning. Maybe something more meaningful would emerge, if I don’t force it to happen.

2. Small: avoid grindset mindset by setting up even smaller goals, and maybe don’t even meet them all the way.

3. Still: coziness comes from not needing to be everything, everywhere, all at once. Treat every moment as “good enough.”

Projects

Although I’m heralding the Word now, I’ve been chipping away at projects that represent the CozyGoober:

Stand up comedy at a local open mic, supported by the Gift Your Gift community

• https://warpcast.com/christin/0x3a648a81 - a bit about the Bay Area Virus causing insidious productivity

• https://warpcast.com/christin/0x21e5c602 - an homage to George Carlin’s Stuff

The BeavChris and BArt-Head Show (http://bcbhshow.com/) a video podcast about the Farcaster middle class

Hosting https://warpcast.com/~/channel/spirituality a channel for interfaith sharing

All of these projects above have been supported by the Farcaster community, a social platform where I have been the most active: https://warpcast.com/christin (it’s like early Twitter / Reddit, with lots of cool people open to new ideas!)

Enclothed Cognition

Dr. Fox encouraged giving ourselves symbolic reminders of our chosen word.

• Website: with guidance I’ve updated my website (https://christinchong.com to be the cozy destination that showcases different facets of my preoccupation. More to come on this one!

• Emoji: the 🥜 shall serve well for this year.

• Sigil: my friend Anansi drew a sigil that represented the “wiggly goober” on the inside of me. I am keeping this image private for now, as it feels deeply intimate to my being and was probably the most significant spiritual work of this year for me. Please reach out to him if you’d like an incredible trip into your true state and purpose though!

How you can help

• Enjoy the silliness from me this year 😊 perhaps this is my new way of sharing the dharma…

• Comment some 🥜🥜🥜 down below if you read this bullet point

What is your chosen word?

• I hope this page led to inquisitiveness about a word of your own. (Or bafflement--a pre-requisite to investigation!)

• If you are interested, here is an affiliate link to the Choose One Word program.

• The program is flexible and self-directed, and can take anywhere from 3 mins/3 hours/3 weeks/3 months/as long as you want. Just the chapter on "hidden commitments" is well worth the price alone. If concepts such as "infinite games," "seminal invocations," and "why personal branding can be yucky" are intriguing, then Dr. Fox is a fine companion for exploring a ritual of becoming.

Warm Wishes,

Christin

I’m taking the Path of Fearlessness course at Insight Meditation Center and there is writing homework :) so I thought I’ll share a snippet…

Write a 500-word essay on the story of how your life led you to Buddhism and Buddhist practice. What were the significant people, events, experiences, learnings, and influences that shaped you in such a way that you became interested in Buddhism? 

I grew up in Asian countries where Buddhism is featured prominently, though my family was mostly Christian and much of the practices were seen as folklore. Though one of my early memories is watching a Buddhist monk meditate on television, and me imitating the monk because it felt like a right thing to do…I also recall building a little cave next to my parent’s bed out of blankets and pillows, finding it a place of solace illuminated by red LEDs from a button badge…

My earliest “official” exposure to Buddhism was through a world religion class I took in college. Our teacher was a fun, boisterous man who also taught the drama class. I remember him telling us stories that made us belly laugh. Like how maybe, in the future, archeologists would find these temples called “AT-Ms”! Future historians would hypothesize that we must have worshiped the machines, and ritually smoked tobacco based on the cigarette butts littered nearby. Even as he made light of our human tendencies to make assumptions about religions we don’t understand like this, he made sure that we understood the tenets of major world religions. 

I remember that our main course project was to focus on one religion, and I ended up getting assigned Buddhism with my friends. We gathered Buddhist statues, electronic boxes that played amitabha adfinitum… but it lacked an intellectual touch. My friend had somehow obtained this academic textbook on Buddhism, so we placed it in our booth quickly, having nary a time to flip through its contents.

When our teacher came over to examine our booth, we were eager to show off the book to him. Maybe it will impress him?

“Look at the foreword,” our teacher said as he held a fake-serious expression. His name and introduction was printed right there, as the editor of the textbook. Our teacher was Mr Vijaya, a well-respected leader in the Buddhist communities of Malaysia.

So my first formal introduction to Buddhism was one of spiritual ego blowing up in my face–a drive to people please, a failed attempt at looking smart, all with a dose of cosmic humor. This continues to be a theme as I proceed on the path…

After writing the essay, reflect on what it was like for you to write it. Did it provide a new perspective of your life? 

It felt good to share a story–it has always been challenging to share with folks the multidimensional, multifactorial origins of practice (of course, there are many more events that unfolded and are still unfolding!) But I really do want to share this story because it illustrates how important good, humorous teachers are to the path.

Warm Wishes,

Christin

P.S. When you’re ready, here are ways I can support you:

➞ Debug Your Meditation — This book helps you build a joyful meditation habit.

➞ 1:1 Chat — Do you have a question about Buddhist practice, creative entrepreneurship, or just want to catch up? Let’s do that!

asked: why do you forage for mushrooms in the wild?

"Over here! It's HUGE!" My wife Yuhong pointed to the forest floor, just a few feet away from the winding trail that took us through the Sierra Nevada mountains. A tan dinner plate-sized dome poked through the dirt, looking unnaturally smooth and clean among the forest debris. It was the telltale sign of a Boletus grand edulus, or the California King Bolete, or the Porcini--many names for the most prized fungus in this part of the world. They are sold for US$50 a pound in bougie shops, if they are even in season.

Back at home and bent over the kitchen sink, I cleaned our bounty. It took hours to peel off the skin of the slippery caps, remove the spongy undercaps, and cut away the worm-eaten parts. Yuhong and I cherished our kitchen time together, as we caught up on our respective conversations with our friends during the trip. "Oh she told you this...?" "Yeah we gossiped about..." We giggled over inside jokes. Soon the processed piles became cream of mushroom soup, pizza, pasta.

The foraged fungi weren't enough to make full-on meals on their own, and these treasures are found too infrequently to be part of our regular diet. And the chances of encountering a porcini in the wild are slim; and we have spent countless hours driving and hiking, only to come home empty handed. So why bother?

I can tell you that it's fulfilling to have an alternative to the industrialized food systems, to take out the middle men, to take a break from capitalistic paradigms where everything comes down to money. But it's a drop in the bucket, and Amazon Fresh orders still appear at my door. (In fact, I "cheated" with the mushroom pizza--I had placed the ghee-fried slices on top of Digiorno's croissant crust with four cheese.) It’s also fun to show our friends what nature can provide, especially with fellow foragers who understand the amount of work involved.

But a non-foraging friend expressed alarm–he warned us of mushroom poisoning. “You don’t want to need a liver AND a kidney transplant!” We tell him we take caution to prevent our premature demise–lots of time spent researching the poisonous look-alikes. For boletes, we make sure the cap undersides are spongy and not gilled, and definitely no red undersides (that’s a Satan’s bolete–not fatal, but will get us very sick.)

Yes, nature can wreck us with her unpredictable weather patterns, wildfires, and armada of mosquitoes. Even the friend who warned us about needing both liver and kidney transplants takes calculated risks while flyfishing, traversing rivers in waders with water chest-high to feel the exciting tug of a hooked steelhead trout.

But for me, the risks involved in foraging help me face my culturally-ingrained fear of nature itself. As someone who grew up indoors in air-conditioned malls and houses in Asia, nature was something taught to be shunned, controlled, and kept apart. Only the poor live with the dirt and the mosquitoes—and the rest of us, we are kept “safe” and “clean,” and exiled from the natural world.

Therefore, foraging is a way for me to reclaim my connection to nature–to be less afraid of what is “out there” when what is “out there” is the same as what is “in here.” When I get to eat what I find in the woods, it feels intimate–like I am taking my place in nature, as nature.

Colophon

The title / subject line of this piece is inspired by Taking Our Places: The Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up by Norman Fischer. It is an excellent read on the meaning of spiritual “adulting” from the Soto Zen tradition.

A huge thank you to: and . They gave fantastic feedback, especially towards restructuring the second half of the essay when I went into weird third-person mode and became too distant from the subject matter. Sandra also had to put up with excessive alliteration in the first draft, and playfully reminded me to publish this essay over the past several months.

A huge thank you tofor holding space and encouraging me to finally ship this piece!

0. How I got sick and got better

It’s been a while! I had traveled back home to Malaysia in November after a wonderful trip in Japan with , and found myself in the midst of a crisis. My dad’s health seems to have taken a tremendous dip and he seems to be having dementia, angry at everyone. I grew up thinking most of his anger is justified—to be treated like an infant when you are 85 years old will make anyone mad. Still, we all did the best we could, and I found myself getting along with my brother in a new way. There’s only the two of us siblings, after all.

When I got home, I thought I was just having a hard time with jet lag. But even after a few weeks, I found myself still sleeping 15 hours a day, barely mustering up the energy to appear chipper on a zoom call or a quick tweet/cast.

I was concerned—was I depressed? Understandably the whole family situation is quite upsetting and I have had clinical depression in the past that manifested in low energy. But I didn’t feel like my mood was affected. If anything, my mood was great. I just couldn’t get my body to move!

After some detective work digging through scientific research data, I had put this hypothesis together:

In Malaysia → diet with low B12 (my family tends not to eat a lot of beef, and Malaysian cooking does use meat but not in the insane amounts that we use in the US) → gastritis issues a while back damaged stomach lining → B12 absorption in the stomach requires Intrinsic Factor, a glycoprotein found on stomach lining → B12 can be absorbed sublingually (under the tongue) which does not require Intrinsic Factor

In desperation, I whipped out my phone and found a B12 sublingual spray from Sprouts through Instacart.

Because we live in a fantastic modern society, the spray arrived in 30 min.

I sprayed it, and instantly, it felt like someone PLUGGED IN MY POWER CORD. I raved about this to on our scheduled zoom in a maniacal state.

Here's an important nuance missed by most advice about B12 intake: for folks with GI conditions like me, B12 is NOT absorbed well when ingested in pill form or from dietary intake (e.g. red meat.)

The sublingual (under the tongue) pathway is the key here: there are blood vessels under our tongue that allows direct bloodstream absorption.

This was a few weeks ago and I’ve since added a few more supplements to my arsenal, and together they seem to support a level of energy closer to what I had, though recovering from B12 deficiency takes time (closer to a year!) My scientist- and chaplaincy-trained mind introduced questions too, like:

• Are we really sure this is what happened? To prove my hypothesis, I should test for Intrinsic Factor antibodies, B12 metabolites, etc. (Thanks to our fave functional medicine expert for putting up with my WhatsApp messages!) But the tricky thing is—I have already started restoring my B12 levels, so the data may not be clear!

• In light of all the health messages we are bombarded with, it is so hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. I often reference health influencer podcasts, dig a little, and find that the data do not support their conclusions. What can I do to help others come up with a heuristic that works for the average person?

• Spiritual practice relies on a foundation of reasonably good health, yet awakening does not prevent ill health. The OG Buddha realized that he couldn’t starve himself to enlightenment and ate the rice and milk porridge from Sujata. He had backaches as he aged (comparing his body to an old cart held together by straps.) Yet he asked for back massages from his disciples, and was able to relieve himself of pain by entering jhana (absorptive meditation.) How can we care for our worldly vessel without egotistically trying to not die?

With this experience, I’m seeking to re-integrate my skillset in the biotech industry and share my thoughts on physical health within the context of these phrases: healthspan within reason, understated and ordinary aliveness, experimental within accessible context windows. The last one means openness to products with clarity on their efficacy to safety profile trade off, and exploring aging phenomena that are not as prominent in the zeitgeist. More on this, soon!

1. Social post highlights

https://twitter.com/Christintweets/status/1743128909523325302

2. Recommend-a-Friend

writes a newsletter called Creator 3x3 where he talks about the HOW of being a sustainable content creator, using his military strategy expertise to analyze the creator economy (though he would clarify that he is NOT a Jocko type. ;)) He created seemore.tv, a linktree alternative, so that it’s easier for creators to feature their offerings without having to constantly update their rotation. I’ve been using seemore.tv and like how it highlights my Substack posts without me having to lift a finger!

Cameron’s goal is to help creators “cross the chasm,” that awkward sophomoric phase when we have been doing it for a while and need a dose of strategy and motivation. He was there for me as I struggled through my health issues and worried about my creator hiatus. Check out his stuff and see if it helps you!

3. Resurfacing

I un-paywalled this newsletter edition, a crowd favorite according to Substack.

Warm Wishes,

Christin

P.S. When you’re ready, here are ways I can support you:

➞ Debug Your Meditation — This book helps you build a joyful meditation habit.

➞ 1:1 Chat — Do you have a question about Buddhist practice, creative entrepreneurship, or just want to catch up? Let’s do that!

My Fellow Americans Dear Friends,

I used to update a /now page like Derek Sivers, listing my routine under 5 categories: Cultivation, Connection, Creativity, Constitution, and Currency.

Such vain attempts at categorizing the messiness of being human must amuse the gods. But if somehow, I am making progress across these 5 categories, then the train is chugging along, and all is right in the world.

This newsletter replaced the /now page, yet it is usually a canary in a coal mine. When it stops chirping, it means something is amiss. As I loaded up my Substack page, I found myself going wait, what? I haven’t published in over 2 months?! Yet, the train is chugging along, and all is right in the world.

So let me share what I’ve been up to by reviving the ol’ format for the State of the Union address.

Cultivation:

This category holds spiritual practice and matters of the heart. I’ve semi-joked that my spiritual “key performance indicators (KPIs)” are loving-kindness and letting go (here’s my video about the topic.) I had a discussion with my teacher Gil Fronsdal that confirmed positive signals on this front. (It’s always good to validate learnings with trusted teachers because it is easy to be led astray by our egos.) This has been the strangest thing—the subsequent categories are a lot messier, yet I am more at peace and settled.

In fact, so at peace that this newsletter fell by the way side! 😅 In disentangling my ego from accomplishments, I’ve taken to only doing 2-3 tasks per day, mostly towards building Human Intellect with . Perhaps this was a respite I needed and I do have renewed creative energy (discussed below), but I’m more certain than ever before about the benefits of practice.

Where I am spending my time:

Maggasekha, Clear Mountain Monastery and Buddhist Insights online communities, Wednesday half-day retreats at Insight Meditation Center. All of these places offer helpful videos, and the monastics in the first 3 places often answer questions about practice on livestream.

Connection:

In the past few months I had shifted my online presence to the Farcaster network, as an alternative to X/Twitter. I tried a few other places like Bluesky and Mastodon, but found that Farcaster has been the place that “clicked” the most. There is a particular magic to this place—the people are friendly and innovative (many are in web3), and I see delightful posts every time I check the platform. I’ve had Zooms, Telegram group chats, and IRL meetups with a number of mutuals.

In fact, some friends have helped me establish the world’s first onchain interfaith chaplaincy service! I’ve held a few sessions and it’s been a great way to connect with new folks.

Where I am spending my time:

Farcaster, Telegram, weekly-ish meetups with creator friends like the Sunday Crew and the Sounding Board, Rickshaw ( ‘s Discord)

Creativity:

I met through Farcaster. He has been a dear friend and advisor on the creator front.

As many of you fellow creators know, nothing makes you feel more naked than having someone audit your online presence. 🙀

When Cameron and I chatted over setting up my seemore.tv page, it became clear that…while I have created a lot of different types of content, there is an opportunity to make the audience journey more clear. (Seriously, take a look at https://seemore.tv/christin and see for yourself…)

Of course, this is a reflection for my need to integrate all I’ve learned in the past year of providing coaching services on writing, meditation, and early entrepreneurship.

Where I am spending my time: I am building a new self-paced offering similar to ’s course on Somatic Resonance. I’ve been extremely inspired by the way he structures his course content on Notion, where the student can choose from several ways of navigating through the materials depending on their natural way of learning.

Constitution:

I competed in powerlifting earlier this year and hit new personal records:

Bench Press: 52.5 kg / 115.7 lb

Back Squat: 112.5 kg / 248 lb

Dead Lift: 112.5 kg / 248 lb

Please watch this cool video montage that I totally paid extra for:

Where I am spending my time: Still training with the tactical conditioning program on weekdays at Fullgrip Barbell (except this month for traveling…and if you are coach Mark reading this, yes I miss days for “lame reasons” haha.)

Currency:

If you are wondering, “where’s the messiness Christin promised?” Well this is it—as Vicky and I have been working on Human Intellect, we have been pleased with the progress made so far (actual clients!) However, like all new startups, it’s very much two steps forward! One step back! Two steps forward! One step back!

Where I am spending my time: I’m traveling to Japan this month to work with Vicky in person, which we are very excited about. We currently Zoom once a week and send a lot of WhatsApp messages to each other. Most of my brain juices are spent trying to figure out the correct balance between what we want to offer vs what the corporate market perceives to be huge pain points.

So, what do you think? Isn’t it interesting how I began with such peace, and ended with such chaos? ;)

Warm Wishes,

Christin

P.S. Yuhong’s Life Hack For Stressful Times

My wife Yuhong taught me this trick for when we are feeling stressed out, especially from all the travel prep. (For example, today I realized I messed up on our hotel dates and had to make an emergency fix!)

The solution? A Xena war cry—AY AY AY AY AY! Extremely therapeutic.

Analog format inspired by :

Voiceover inspired by :

Warm Wishes,

Christin

How is your summer (or winter for the southern hemisphere folks, or monsoon for the tropical folks) going?

I took a break from publishing newsletters but I gotta warn y’all—it is VERY hard to jump back after a break. It feels like:

My excuse reason for not writing?

Introducing…the School of Human Intellect

• Some of you may have heard me lament about this in various forms over the past 2 years—as a creator who had a previous life in the corporate world, I felt there is a huge untapped market for creator energy in the corporate world. (I had called it the Writer’s Collective! Or some other name, and wished for “someone” to make it happen.)

• While the creator economy is growing, the corporate economy is humongous in comparison—and y’all can provide an unprecedented amount of gumption, creativity, and humanity.

• At the same time, I lamented to Vicky (yes I do lament a lot…) that while I love to write and create, the audience building hustle isn’t…something I actually enjoy. (Yes! I admit it!) Vicky has a silver-button-level audience on YouTube and has been thinking about how to share her audience with creator friends.

• Vicky and I had fun collaborating in our Articulation Sprint workshop a while back, and had been reflective listening to each other and with as part of Rik ()’s listening course.

• We thought that EVERYONE needs Rik’s listening course, especially those in the corporate world.

• We both have experience in corporate in-house roles and consulting, and have witnessed the huge market for corporate learning and development.

• I was done with chaplaincy school, and chaplains are found at academic institutions.

• So…with these ingredients combined, we present to you…

Visit the School of Human Intellect

What’s in it for you?

• In short, we aim to build a TED level educational brand for our creator and writer friends.

• The mission of the School of Human Intellect is to provide interactive, intellectually stimulating, and practical learning experiences to boost the irreplaceable essence of human intellect in light of AI.

• We want to help you become the next generation of corporate educators—not the boring, handwave-y courses that are status quo.

How can we do that?

• The first thing that we can collectively do, is…ok don’t cringe, be ourselves on LinkedIn.

• Yes, that place that we all avoid because it has our corporate colleagues and bosses.

• But strength in numbers: Vicky and I will be active and posting about Human Intellect.

• If enough creators and writers hang around, we can reach a completely new group of corporate readers, together.

Join us in making LinkedIn less cringe and more human? Connect with these accounts…

https://linkedin.com/company/humanintellect

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinchong/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vicky-beeamp/

We will follow you back! 🙌 Also, if you are a part-time creator embedded in the corporate world, please let us know. We want to help you shine at work just as much as you do in the creator world.

Seeking Creative Community First? Join Da Vinci Café

While I work on the B2B side of the School of Human Intellect, and have been masterminding on what it takes to build a creative community.

What is the Da Vinci Café? 

​​It is a place for…

• ​​Practicing a method of creative, associative thinking, for the purpose of connecting dots in personally and collectively profound ways

• ​​Intellectual and creative exploration in a welcoming and inclusive environment

• ​​Collaborative exploration of each other's interests, tapping into collective wisdom and practicing the art of conversation

​​Future Cafés:

• ​​August 27 (Sun) 12noon ET 6PM CET / 12 midnight HKT

• ​​September 23 (Sat) 8AM ET
  September 24 (Sun) 2PM CET / 8PM HKT

Highly encourage you to check it out!

Apply to Join Da Vinci Café

What has Christin been up to? (Part 2) will be about the future of my personal writer’s journey—I’ve been thinking a lot about the implication of AI on our creative livelihood, and how I want to share my writing moving forward. (Preview: Open to all…humans only!)

Warm Wishes,

Christin

Mentoring for Small Bets

It’s been a while! I have been deeply immersed in mentoring for the Portfolio of Small Bets community along with , , and .

If you want a small taste of what the sessions are about, here’s a Twitter thread with a “super speed run” Loom recording:

https://twitter.com/Christintweets/status/1677860139960008706

(Sad, sad lack of Twitter embeds…)

🎲 If you’d like to attend my mentor sessions on the next 3 Sundays at 11AM PT, Join small bets for 50% off (the best discount I can get you, no kickbacks for me!)

Insider Look at the Book Publishing Industry

I had a wonderful conversation with my friend Jermey (incidentally, we met through Small Bets!) We talked about what it’s REALLY like to go through the traditional publishing process, and options for authors who want to consider self-publishing vs traditional publishing (turns out, there’s lots of hidden options in between these two choices!)

Jermey Matthews is a seasoned book publishing strategist and entrepreneur, having spent 15+ years reviewing and publishing award-winning books, interviewing and recruiting high-profile authors, and launching new publishing and digital content brands. A former research scientist and senior acquisitions editor for the MIT Press, he now works with author services businesses (hybrid publishers, premium book coaches and editors) that serve professionals writing nonfiction books.

Follow him at jnamatthews.com, or Twitter or LinkedIn

(If you click through to watch on YouTube, I left a GPT-generated comment with time stamps so you can skip around to parts you care about.)

Spiritual Entrepreneurship

My friend and I “talked shop” a while back on Twitter Spaces:

Click here to listen to our chat together:

https://twitter.com/Christintweets/status/1664402831372349440

Graduated from Buddhist Chaplaincy Program

Lastly, my buddies and I have graduated from the Sati Center Chaplaincy program! I’ve been taking a bit of time to rejuvenate so this newsletter has been coming at a slower, more manageable pace. 🙏 I had written 12 multi-page essays as part of the course requirement, so my writing brain is a bit fried 😅.

I’m thankful for all of you because of the immense support you have provided me through this period of spiritual development. All of it—from reading this newsletter, to the poor souls who get random messages from me at all times of the day.

Warm Wishes,

Christin

You are receiving this because you joined Insight Writing Club and/or you are already subscribed to my Substack. :)

I am using Substack today to update you on Insight Writing Club, including:

New Mini-Coaching Videos

Here are new mini-coaching videos in response to your questions:

Serve All Your Writing Goals

Find Cozy Communities Beyond Social Media Platforms

• Please ask questions here and I’ll respond by adding another video to the database!

• If you want *all* the mini-coaching videos in a neat searchable Notion database, please add Insight Writing Club to your Gumroad library here.

90 Min Sprint on Gently Finding Your Personal Monopoly / Niche

If you struggle to find your writing niche/personal monopoly, Vicky Zhao and I are teaming up to run a 90 min sprint to help you articulate your Quest.

The Quest framing is a new, gentle, and encouraging way to think about your personal monopoly/niche. It prevents you from feeling “boxed in” and maximizes your expression of somatic enthusiasm so folks will be keen to support you.

Here’s the link to sign up—the event is this Friday 6/16 with limited spots remaining!

https://lu.ma/articulationsprint

Use code SELF50 for our 50% off mate rate - $15 for the session. We are charging a little bit to keep engagement quality high, and financial assistance is available upon request (just reply to this email.)

Reflective Writing Prompts for Spiritual Care

I recently started a Twitter thread with my favorite questions for spiritual care. I invite you to consider them as starting points for new essays that may be nourishing to craft. For example, “What is it like to be you?”

https://twitter.com/Christintweets/status/1667561167894761478

My intention with this Substack is to continue to share resources related to insightful and reflective writing, including updates to Insight Writing Club.

Please let me know how I can support your writer’s quest at any time—just reply this email or comment below. :)

Warm Wishes,

Christin

I’m excited to unveil the secret project mentioned a few Substacks back—

Get Insight Writing Club

Insight Writing Club

This is an easy-to-use mini-coaching database with categorized tips and insights. Take a tip, apply it, and see how it elevates your writing.

• Lifelong Writer's Mindset: Develop a writing mindset that equips you to write for a lifetime. Embrace a perspective that adapts to your passion for learning, avoids imposter syndrome, and dissolves writer’s block.

• Authentically Human: Learn to tap into deep, profound human experiences, so your work can never be replaced by artificial intelligence. At the same time, learn to use AI to wisely and honestly improve your craft.

• Practical Editing Tips: After editing hundreds of essays, here is an array of practical editing tips that will serve as your secret weapon in streamlining your editing process and perfecting your craft.

But enough copy. Why did I really make this?

It’s because I found myself forgetting my own advice, while at the same time, repeating myself in various coaching situations.

I dreamt of being able to access my wiser, chaplain-y self…on-demand! And to be able to share this aspect of myself with others when they need it too.

So while I call it a mini-coaching platform, you folks understand what this really is…

…it’s Personal Knowledge Management (PKM), made public.

…it’s an Internal Family Systems (IFS) Self-revealing mechanism.

…it’s a way for me generate AI training data—standardized videos of myself saying wiser things, so I can make ChristinGPT when the technology matures.

My next goal is to go through my past Substack posts and distill the most useful advice back into Insight Writing Club. This way, the platform continues to grow in value, and I can help future clients get to know the way I think and decide if we are a good fit.

Get Insight Writing Club

Warm Wishes,

Christin

P.S. Next week’s newsletter will be about my powerlifting competition experience, told in a highly-experimental, mixed-media format with video storytelling and prose. I’ll tell you how I crushed my personal record, yet lost first place because of an easily avoidable error that had nothing to do with lifting. Stay tuned…

Conversations with Spiritual Friends
Zezan Tam And What It Feels Like To Come Alive

I had an invigorating conversation with my friend Zezan Tam a few weeks ago about his expertise in career transition coaching.

We talked about how definition of career transition is broad and includes not only changing jobs but also changing attitudes and approaches to work.

One wonderful reflective question he offers his clients is—What did it feel like the last time you felt alive?

Of course, many of us will answer this question with a scenario outside of our work. The art is figuring out how to maintain our sense of aliveness even when we are frustrated at our work progress, or rubbing our eyes from the nth Zoom meeting on calendar.

Zezan Tam is a career coach and life coach. He work with ambitious mid-career professionals, helping them to navigate big career and life junction points. After working together, his clients leap into the next phase of their career and life with clarity and confidence. He bring his background of 10 years in consulting and tech, as well as lots of hard earned personal lessons, to his clients in this work. Learn more about Zezan here: https://ztcoaching.com/

New Secret Project
Authentic Content + Connection Frameworks

Friends, I missed last week’s newsletter for the first time! Although I was good about a weekly writing habit, recently I’ve been working on exciting projects that took up more time than ever before. Ironically, one of these projects is developing a sustainable content strategy for “sophomoric creators” who have written for a while! The idea is to refine what they have already written to better serve new audiences. As usual, I’m my own first guinea pig to prove the concept.

I am developing a knowledge database, similar to those deployed by template makers like bettersheets or Easlo.

Instead of Excel or Notion tips, it will contain all the authentic content + connection frameworks I’ve developed over the years in a searchable, video-first format, along with prompts and templates for practice.

My question for you is…what should I call this project? Please also comment if you’d like beta access to this project as well. :)

Warm Wishes,

Christin