A guide for creatives craving connection, care, and a slower kind of success.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about fungi.
Not just as a metaphor, but as a way of working. Mycelium – the underground network that connects forests – has become a kind of guide. It’s helped me imagine a different shape for creative life. One that’s more adaptive, connected, and rooted in care.
Since 2021 I’ve become a big admirer of mushrooms after spotting them on my outdoor adventures, taking far too many pictures of them, gaining a small collection of books and also attending some foraging walks.
I’ve had the privilege of learning from Martin from GoForaging, Robin from WildFoodUK, Leah from Living Wild and Emily from EcoWild and my curiosity about these mysterious lifeforms has grown exponentially thanks to these connections.
Here are a few fungal principles I’m holding close in the form of some quick and imperfect (glue free) paper illustrations:
Interconnectedness
Fungi don’t do things solo. They thread themselves through soil, stone, root, leaf, bark. They’re all about relationship. And I want that too.
Nothing I make exists in a vacuum. It’s always entangled – with memory, influence, context and community.
So I’m thinking less about making ‘a big thing’, and more about feeding the ecosystem – citing my sources, championing others, working in ways that feel alive and in conversation.
Illustration, for me, is a way to connect stories. Share information in fun and engaging ways. To make something that resonates beyond a brief. Taking the emphasis away from the billboard and more in the realm of the forest floor.
Decentralisation
Mycelium doesn’t have a CEO. There’s no big shot down there telling spores what to do.
Instead, it responds, senses, adapts and listens.
I’ve been trying to let go of the old pressure to “climb” or “scale” or “be consistent for the algorithm.” Instead, I’m building a more mushroomy model – gentle projects, non-hierarchical collaborations, side quests, sketchbook experiments, seasonal shifts.
I’m enjoying swapping the megaphone for some quieter conversations.
Seeing the overall structure less top down and more pro-sideways.
Mutual Support
Fungi don’t gate keep nutrients. They share.
I want that spirit in my creative practice.
Skill swaps. Generous DMs. Tiny collabs. Quiet cheers in the comment section.
Sometimes support is huge – mentoring, co-creating, lending time or tools.
Sometimes it’s a single kind sentence.
We don’t have to hustle alone. We can myceliate together. (I may have made that word up. But still.)
Responsiveness + Adaptability
If the soil shifts, fungi shift with it. No drama. Just gentle rerouting.
I’m learning to work more like that – to build flexibility into my days. To change course when I need to. To honour energy when it dips, and ride momentum when it flows.
Not everything has to be tidy. Or finished. Or immediately monetised.
Sometimes the work needs time to compost, quietly, before it feeds anything else.
Sometimes the best thing I can do for my creativity is: take a nap.
I know this isn’t always easy – especially when money’s tight or pressure’s high. But I’m learning that making space for softness doesn’t mean giving up. It means protecting the soil.
No need do shout…
Fungi do most of their work underground. No fanfare. No likes. I’m a big fan of this style of doing things!
I’m not particularly loud. I don’t thrive in constant visibility. But I do believe in the slow, quiet impact of thoughtful, well-made things.
Tiny acts of care. Honest marks. Work that takes root over time. That’s the kind of legacy I want.
Not viral. Not urgent. Just true.
Collaboration Over Competition
Fungi aren’t empire builders. They’re web-weavers.
I used to see other creatives as competition (thanks, capitalism). Now I see good friends and co-weavers!
Some of my favourite moments lately have come from collaborating – accountability meetings, workshops, cross-pollination, messy joyful planning sessions with no real agenda.
More magic, less ladder.
In a nutshell
If you’ve also been feeling a bit adrift lately – like the old creative models don’t quite fit anymore – I see you.
I’ve been feeling the same!
I’m still working it out. Still unravelling. Still rerooting.
But I’m trying to grow my practice more like fungi: slower, wiser, more connected.
If any of this resonates, I’d love to hear from you.
Let’s keep growing. Together, sideways 💙
Sources: Entangled Life. How Fungi Make Our Worlds: Merlin Sheldrake , Mushrooms: Roger Phillips , Let’s Become Fungal – Mycelium Teachings and the Arts: Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodriguez , Mushrooms: Roger Phillips , The Magic of Mushrooms – Fungi in Folklore, Superstition and Traditional Medicine , River Cottage Handbook – Mushrooms: John Wright , The Foragers Calendar – A seasonal Guide to Nature’s Wild Harvest: John Wright , Wild Food Uk Mushroom Foraging Guide: Marlow Renton & Eric Biggane , Fungarium: Curated by Katie Scott and Ester Gaya
