{"id":44664,"date":"2025-08-13T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=44664"},"modified":"2025-08-07T13:45:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T20:45:52","slug":"whats-in-my-now-whit-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/whats-in-my-now-whit-king\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s in my NOW? \u2014 Whit King"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Whit King<\/strong>&nbsp;is a philanthropic advisor, yoga instructor, and insatiable bibliophile based in Austin, helping small nonprofits grow with clarity and purpose.&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/whitneyaking\">Connect with her on LinkedIn.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2025\/08\/whit-king-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2025\/08\/whit-king-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2025\/08\/whit-king-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2025\/08\/whit-king-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/files\/2025\/08\/whit-king.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>PHYSICAL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/THbWVG3\">Kindle Scribe<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Instant access meets intentional reading\u2014because sometimes I need the book&nbsp;<em>now<\/em>, not next week. I highlight, annotate, and move through ideas at the pace they arrive.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blackwing602.com\/products\/blackwing-volume-2-set-of-12\">Blackwing Pencils<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 For when my hands need to move slower than my thoughts. Tactile, grounding, quietly nostalgic. Blackwings have been my go-to for writing anything that matters. I choose pencil over pen because you can erase and begin again\u2014a quiet reminder that most things in life aren\u2019t permanent.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.leuchtturm1917.com\/notebook-classic.html\">LEUCHTTURM1917 Hardcover Notebook<\/a>&nbsp;(Blank, B5)<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Where the noise clears. A place for first drafts, bold starts, the patterns I notice over time\u2014and anything else I want to give shape to. I\u2019ve used these notebooks for years\u2014always blank, always B5, always in color. I\u2019ve collected them in every shade, and when I line them up, they form a vivid rainbow\u2014a visual archive of my thinking across seasons. Each one holds its own chapter. I build an index in the back of every notebook and log it into a master index organized by keyword\u2014so if a thought needs to be retrieved, I know where to look. I know digital would be faster\u2014and I use iNotes and Google Docs, too\u2014but my best thinking still happens on paper. Seeing how I\u2019ve spent my days in physical pages just feels right.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>DIGITAL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Canva Magic)<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 I use AI the way I use my notebooks: to clarify, refine, and sort through layered thinking. It helps me develop my own thinking while expanding the frame with perspectives I hadn\u2019t yet considered. From there, I can test assumptions, spot gaps, and check for coherence. Part research assistant, part sparring partner, part mirror\u2014it complements my thinking by showing me what\u2019s missing, not just what\u2019s already there.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/user\/show\/94215704-whit-king\">Goodreads<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 There are more books on my TBR than I have shelf space, free weekends, or lifetimes. But I\u2019ve made peace with that. Reading is the one habit I never have to schedule. Goodreads is where I track what I\u2019ve read, what I\u2019m reading, and what\u2019s still lingering in the digital pile\u2014organized by theme, year, and a tagging system that occasionally only makes sense to me.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4><strong>INVISIBLE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cIf while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not \u2018washing the dishes to wash the dishes.\u2019 What\u2019s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can\u2019t wash the dishes, the chances are we won\u2019t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future\u2014and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.\u201d \u2014Thich Nhat Hanh,&nbsp;<em>The Miracle of Mindfulness<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This quote strikes me because it reveals a simple truth: presence isn&#8217;t about the task\u2014it&#8217;s about showing up fully. Some of my most memorable moments occurred when I was completely present\u2014and they&#8217;re proof of what Thich Nhat Hanh means by being truly alive. When I&#8217;m mentally racing toward the next thing, I miss both experiences. I&#8217;m not fully engaged with what&#8217;s happening now\u2014I&#8217;m distracted, going through the motions. And when that next moment arrives, I&#8217;ll still be somewhere else mentally, already chasing what comes after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The power lies in the doing itself. One action. One breath. One moment. Not the endless chain of what&#8217;s next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s the difference between living and surviving. When I stay present with what&#8217;s in front of me\u2014really stay\u2014something miraculous happens. The ordinary becomes alive. The mundane transforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Presence is a practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsinmynow.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Sign up here<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0to get\u00a0What\u2019s in my NOW?\u00a0a week early in your inbox.<\/em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8ec17518-5a1f-4d72-bb4c-90894919687f_600x600.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>issue #220<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2303],"tags":[2389],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44664"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44666,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44664\/revisions\/44666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}