When I physically step away from LA and restore some space around me, I often feel showered with new creative ideas like shooting stars sparkling down. Having some downtime during the recent holiday opened up some space for Frido and me to continue our dialogue about where Baum-kuchen wants to go and how it might want to evolve.
One recurring theme that has been nudging me recently is: “Baum-kuchen is a gentle force that holds space for people to be present, to offer opportunities to sit still, and to experience all of the unique and beautiful feelings that come from living life.”
So, Frido and I asked ourselves how we can continue to cultivate the force through what we offer at BK. And it was like any other BK original idea I feel so excited about (like Truly Yours and Journey Program); the special whispers came to us. “What if we created a gentle drawing session, as if you were sitting around a coffee table next to a friend, and the friend was sharing how to be in the moment and visualize the world with a pen and paper?”
From my experience of interacting with many analogue enthusiasts, I often hear people feeling frustrated with the notion, “I want to add more visuals and drawings to my journal and planner, but I don’t know how to draw.” I understand those feelings because I am also pretty unskilled in drawing, and at this point, my girls draw better than I do. I wish I could draw as gracefully as they draw their dragons, wolves, and cats.
So, combining all the inspiration, Frido and I quickly started brainstorming on creating the first season of “MOSS” - aka “Moment of Stillness.”
Some of the questions we asked ourselves were…
“Is it a drawing class? Maybe a little. But less of the feeling of an instructional video and more of a dialogue.”
“Is it something you want to watch to decompress from the day? Also possible. It’s mesmerizing to watch a drawing come together slowly and steadily on a sheet of paper.“
“How do we cultivate a sense of doing this together as a community?”
In its current format, it is a new online course we are prototyping that is like our much-loved PBJ series but with a special twist of drawing and visualization techniques guided by Frido’s gentle narratives. The first season is a combination of asynchronous videos and some live virtual events. And all of the components exude a sense of groundedness and calmness.
Ever since we came back from our camping trip, Frido has filmed all of the videos for the first season and is filming more for the future series. Eunice is in full production mode, editing all of the footage together so they are easy to watch. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how I can build and adjust the course platform to make the MOSS experience more accessible and easier to navigate.
Basically, the three BK musketeers are in start-up mode. When we put all of our heads together, good things can come out even within a short amount of time.
And I love it.
I feel passionate about expanding our BK world so that it continues to align with its bigger purpose, and building a new service like this gives me so much joy to pour my energy into, even though constructing anything from scratch is hard work. Or maybe when I am putting my energy into the aligned project, the labor of love feels like just “love.”
We will officially launch the course very soon, but if you are interested, you can take a peek here to check out the course and sign up. And if you are like me, who is struggling to add drawings on journaling pages because you just don’t know where to begin, this course might feel like a gentle nudge. We are sharing the first season of MOSS for free of charge because it’s our prototype season, and we are hoping to learn from this experience to continue sharing the goodness of staying still and observing the world around us here now.
Amazing idea. This is what every soul needs. Thank you!
Dear Wakako and Frido,
your analogue journey continues to fascinate and inspire me.
Thank you so much for the many impulses you continue to provide to myself and my family. Much love from all of us and all the best on your fascinating journey!