That’s the email…
Okay okay. Not quite…
So. You want to know about the Silly Goose Philosophy?
Keep reading.
Now before we get started you need to know something about Geese. They’re assholes.
Pure, unfiltered, honking chaos machines that’ll chase you across a parking lot for looking at them sideways.
But they’re also brilliant at what they do. They fly in perfect V formations across continents. They mate for life. They protect their own with the fury of a thousand suns.
That’s you, artist. That’s your path.
The Silly Goose Philosophy goes a little something like this:
You know what you love?
That weird ass thing that makes your brain light up like a Christmas tree soaked in gasoline? Make that. Make it with your whole chest. Don’t whisper your art into existence.
HONK it.
Scream it.
Let it rip across the creative landscape like a goose protecting its nest.
Authenticity is magnetic. People smell fake from miles away. But when you’re genuinely, unapologetically yourself? When you’re making the art that sets your soul on fire? That’s when your flock finds you.
Geese are also absolute menaces.
Geese don’t apologise for taking up space and neither should you.
Your art should be a little dangerous. A little uncomfortable. It should make people stop scrolling and go “what the fuck?”
It should lodge itself in their brain like a splinter they can’t stop touching.
It should also be beautiful. Not pretty. Beautiful. There’s a difference. Pretty is safe. Beautiful has teeth.
(Have you see goose teeth???)
You want a cult following? (Not the Kool Aid kind. The good kind) Then you need to understand something…
Communities form around shared obsessions. Around people brave enough to love something so hard it becomes contagious. But the thing with this is. Your job isn’t to please everyone. Your job is to be so passionate about your specific brand of weirdness that other weirdos can’t help but gather around you like moths to a flame.
It’s as serious as a heart attack (When it counts)
Here’s where the philosophy gets its teeth.
Silly doesn’t mean stupid. Fun doesn’t mean frivolous.
A goose will honk and waddle and be a general pain in the ass 99% of the time. But threaten its goslings? That bird becomes a feathered missile of pure protective rage.
Your art needs that same duality. Have fun. Be weird. Make people laugh. But when it’s time to say something real when the work demands depth and truth and raw fucking honesty. You better bring it. You better mean it with every fibre of your being.
The most beautiful thing about the Silly Goose Philosophy? The flock that forms around you might be passed off as just another audience, when it’s truly a community of fellow geese. People who get it. Who understand that life is too short for boring art and safe choices.
They’ll honk along with you. They’ll defend your work when the critics come calling. They’ll spread your weird gospel to other potential geese who just haven’t found their flock yet.
But you have to earn it. You earn it by showing up consistently.
Being vulnerable in your work.
Engaging authentically (no bot bullshit)
Supporting other artists in your flock.
Never, ever compromising your core weirdness for mainstream appeal.
The Silly Goose Philosophy is about understanding that you can be both a lovable chaos agent AND a serious artist. You can make people laugh and make them think. You can build a community around joy and depth, silliness and substance.
Most importantly? You can be yourself. Your full, unfiltered, honking, flapping, magnificent self and find your people along the way.
So whether you’re a visual artist, writer, make music, sell a product or a service or even a voyeur still trying to figure shit out. This will be for you.
But it’s going to be weird. Good weird.
I’m not going to get you to download yet another app like Circle or Skool or squish yourself into the many abandoned Facebook Groups. We’re going real old school.
We’re going back to 2000s era forums. Super not so sexy silliness.
But why you might ask?
People still want some sort of anonymity. Forums let you have that. You can create a wild username and participate in your own way. You can stalk and watch and be that voyeur if you want. Or you can join in and become a chaos agent too. On top of that. 100s of groups on FB have vanished the last few days.
They seem to be cracking down and forcing people to do what they want which is not cool.
I’ve also chosen to do it this way because those were the early days of true community. Where online discussions mattered and friends for life stuck around.
We’re so damn distracted by every app going. I can’t remember the last time I sat down at the computer and logged into a forum and got lost for hours having genuine chats or interactions on topics that interested me and the others there too.
There’s way too much noise out there and not enough signal and as we’re getting bombarded with A.I. bullshit and fakery. Being able to talk freely about what matters is important without some stupid algorithm limiting your reach.
Who knows though. Maybe I’m having some grandiose idea and people will look at me as if I’m crazy.
But between email and forums. Structured long form content will win any day of the week. I don’t care much for the copy paste prompt world we’re slowly being forced into.
Now if you excuse me. I have to slip into something a little more comfy and get cracking on this forum.
Stephen Walker