the creative muse is a feral cat [w/ Aiden Arata]

Connect with Aiden, my guest: Instagram: @aidenaratahttps://aidenarata.com/YOU HAVE A NEW MEMORY (her book!)Connect with me, Hanna, your host: Instagram: @grace.pilledhannawilliams.com (bookings, merch, etc)patreon.com/gracepilled(join as a free member to get access to a collection of talks!)Today I’m joined by writer, poet, and internet oracle Aiden Arata. You might know her from her dreamy, timely memes, her prose that cuts through the screen of your phone, or her completely surreal yet relatable guided meditation reels on instagram. Aiden’s new book of essays, YOU HAVE A NEW MEMORY, came out just two days ago—and I haven’t read it yet, but I can’t wait to. I can only imagine that it will feel like a voice memo from a highly perceptive friend, sent from the edge of a spiritual breakthrough that happened alongside the produce rack at the grocery store.In this conversation, we talk about the dread that surrounds creative work, the porousness required for both art and intuition, and what happens when you accidentally end up at a 14-hour-a-day solitary retreat in France. We also get into spiritual hysteria, memes as mystical artifacts, and the healing power of finally feeling seen.This one’s funny, strange, and full of surprisingly delicious nuggets of gold. I hope you love it.we cover:– the dread that creeps in around creative work, especially writing, and how the language of the internet (short, catchy, algorithm-friendly) can distort your voice and make deep work feel impossible– the porousness required for both creativity and spirituality—and how curating your sense impressions can be a way of clearing space for awe, intuition, and your own mind to come back online– the shift from trying to use spirituality to fix yourself, to actually having a relationship with yourself—and how that changed everything (with the help of therapy, trauma work, and a more compassionate view of mental health)– Catholic roots, spiritual hysteria, gold + gore aesthetics, and the unexpected joy of accidentally ending up in a 14-hour-a-day silent monastery retreat in France– what the internet can be (divine connection through memes, shared humanity), and also what it is becoming (a pipeline for paranoia, commodified enlightenment, and people falling in love with chatbots)