They say your greatest strength is often the one you can’t see. It lives so close to your bones that you forget it is not universal. It feels obvious, automatic, and so integrated it becomes invisible.
One of my strengths (I’m discovering) is an operating system of sorts: seeding invitations. Invitations are those magical, universe moments where something could expand into an opportunity.
Invitations are everywhere. You simply have to train your mind to see them. While most people are scanning for risk, I am scanning for openings. A conversation that could become a collaboration, a dinner that could evolve into a gathering, an idea that, with just enough attention, could begin to take form as a project.
I’m living life in creation mode. Some examples of seeding your own opportunities:
Host a gathering, ask your guests to bring someone you haven’t met yet
Send a message to someone whose work you admire, ask them for a coffee
Share a project that’s not fully baked, it could still even be an idea, to invite curiosity and participation
An invitation, at its core, requires very little. There is usually an underlying assumption that allows it to exist, along with a willingness to move before every variable has been resolved, and a certain tolerance for uncertainty that accompanies that movement.
I tend to operate with the belief that people are, in fact, interested in participating, contributing, and engaging more deeply than they often allow themselves to. What appears as hesitation is frequently a lack of initiation rather than a lack of desire.
At the same time, there are very few people who consider that the structure itself is not fixed, and that it is entirely possible to design the conditions of engagement rather than simply respond to them.
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People want movement. They want meaning. They want shared authorship. They want to feel chosen for something that stretches them. When you extend an invitation, you offer all of that in a single gesture.
Game theory offers a useful language for understanding this dynamic.
In a positive-sum system, cooperation increases the total value available to all participants, expanding the field rather than dividing it. The benefits accrue not through competition alone, but through shared contribution, where trust and reciprocity begin to compound over time.
Creative ecosystems tend to function in a similar way.
When cooperation is assumed, behavior shifts accordingly. Ideas are shared earlier in their development, introductions are made with less hesitation, and proposals emerge before they are fully resolved. Others are given space to contribute, adding texture and dimension to the work in ways that would not be possible in isolation.
The edges of the process remain open for longer. An invitation offers not just access, but movement. It creates a sense of meaning by placing someone within a larger context, and it distributes authorship in a way that allows the work to extend beyond a single point of origin. There is an implicit signal within it, a recognition that participation is both possible and desired.
And in response to that signal, people tend to show up differently. There is often a greater level of engagement, a willingness to contribute, and a sense that the outcome is something being shaped collectively rather than delivered fully formed.
Not every invitation results in something tangible.
Some dissipate before they take hold, while others arrive at a moment that does not align. Timing, context, and readiness all play a role in whether something develops or remains latent.
Over time, however, a network of projects, relationships, and ideas takes shape, compounding through a series of small initiations that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Many of the outcomes that feel most meaningful are not the result of fully formed plans, but of moments where something was opened rather than defined.
I’ve begun to notice that much of my work operates this way, as a series of invitations extended into different directions, each one carrying the potential to become something more.
And the practice, increasingly, feels less about controlling the outcome, and more about recognizing where something is ready to begin, and choosing to open it.
10 Invitations to Seed Today
Invite someone into a conversation you’ve been having privately
A thought, a question, a direction you’ve been circling on your own. Extend it outward and see what it becomes in dialogue. Send a DM to someone you admire on socials and open up a dialogue. Get curious about their POV.
Host something small with intention
A dinner, a walk, a working session with fewer people and more presence. Let the container do the work. The point is togetherness. Encourage your guests to bring someone you have yet to meet.
Make an introduction
Two people who don’t yet know they should know each other. Offer just enough context to spark movement. This is a gift and the karmic energy will thank you later.
Propose a loose collaboration
Cold call/email a dream collaborator, and shoot your shot. This doesn’t need to be fully formed ideas… just a shared direction with room for the other person to shape it with you.
Turn a recurring idea into a visible project
Something you’ve referenced more than once: give it a name, a container, and a moment to exist publicly.
Invite your audience into process, not just outcome
Share what you’re thinking about while it’s still forming. Let people witness the shape of it.
Create a reason for people to gather around you
A theme, a topic, a shared curiosity. Something that pulls people into proximity without over-explaining why.
Say “yes”
To a conversation, an event, a person, a setting you wouldn’t normally choose. See what opens. If you want to explore this one further, I recommend reading The Surrender Experiment
Name something before it feels finished
A concept, a direction, a body of work. Language has a way of pulling things into form. When people ask about what you do, try giving the fully-unformed indentity center stage.
Design a moment someone else can step into
An experience, an idea, a space, a thread. Something that allows participation, not just observation. Start a Creative Club, and invite your community to round-table work sessions where each person gets to share what they’re working on for feedback and pressure testing
On Repeat:
Five Worth Finding
Love these ideas Michaela, so inspiring!