Rupi Kaur
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Podcast Summary
Rupi Kaur, the globally acclaimed poet behind bestsellers like "Milk and Honey," shares her journey from a shy teenager performing at open mic nights to becoming one of the most recognizable voices in contemporary poetry. (00:25) In this deeply personal conversation, Kaur explores the creative highs and lows of her career, from the organic magic of writing her first book to the punishing deadlines that followed commercial success. She discusses her recent sabbatical from social media and touring, her spiritual awakening through Sikh traditions, and her evolution as both a writer and performer. The conversation reveals the tension between artistic authenticity and commercial expectations, while highlighting Kaur's commitment to making poetry accessible and transformative for audiences worldwide.
- Main Theme: The balance between creative authenticity and commercial success, exploring how to maintain artistic integrity while navigating fame and external pressures.
Speakers
Rupi Kaur
Rupi Kaur is a globally acclaimed poet, performer, and artist who rose to prominence with her debut collection "Milk and Honey" in 2014, which she self-published at 21 years old. She became one of the best-selling poets of the 21st century, with her work expanding through later collections including "The Sun and Her Flowers" and "Home Body." Kaur's achievements extend beyond publishing to sold-out international tours, multimedia collaborations, and millions of followers engaging with her work across platforms, fundamentally reshaping how poetry is consumed and performed in the digital age.
Key Takeaways
Trust the Creative Process Over External Expectations
Kaur's most successful work came when she wasn't focused on outcomes or commercial success. (00:25) Her first book emerged from pure creative flow, with her professor even warning that "nobody publishes poetry" and "nobody reads it." Yet by trusting her inner voice and self-publishing, she created a cultural phenomenon. When external pressures and deadlines took over for her second book, the creative process became "punishing" and physically harmful, leading to migraines and digestive issues. (02:28) The lesson is profound: authentic creativity cannot be forced or manufactured on demand. It requires space, trust, and surrender to something larger than our conscious minds.
Redefine Your Relationship with Success and Identity
After achieving massive commercial success at 22, Kaur experienced what she calls "a midlife crisis" because having "all the things" still felt empty. (69:01) This led to her recent sabbatical, where she deliberately stepped away from social media, touring, and the identity that others had created for her. She realized that much of how people valued her was tied to her platform and followers, not her authentic self. (17:01) By letting go of external validation and the need to sustain her peak success, she's rediscovering her creative spark and preparing for her next evolution as an artist.
Create Space for Growth Phases in Your Creative Work
Kaur distinguishes between different phases of creative work - the growth phase and the production phase. (62:20) During growth phases, you're not "picking fruit off the trees" but allowing life experiences, observations, and inspiration to accumulate. She spent a year in sabbatical, not posting or performing, which felt scary but ultimately restored her creative energy. This challenges the cultural obsession with constant productivity and "grinding." Sometimes the most important work happens when you're seemingly not working at all - when you're reading, experiencing, and allowing your creative wellspring to refill.
Lower the Stakes to Unlock Creative Flow
When Kaur shifted from writing for pure expression to writing under commercial pressure, creativity became torturous. (55:54) The solution involves dramatically lowering expectations and stakes. She advocates for creating without attachment to outcomes - viewing early drafts as "free play" rather than potential masterpieces. (64:04) She suggests exercises like writing a poem daily for 50 days with no expectation of quality, just to "turn on the machinery" of creativity. This approach removes the paralyzing pressure of perfectionism and allows authentic expression to emerge naturally.
Honor Your Multicultural Creative Heritage
Kaur's unique poetic style - lowercase text, minimal punctuation, concise verses - draws directly from her Punjabi language background, which has no uppercase letters and is naturally symmetrical. (77:34) Her performance style also connects to Eastern traditions where poetry was primarily oral and communal rather than written and solitary. (86:16) By honoring these cultural roots while working in English, she created something entirely new. This demonstrates the power of drawing from your authentic background and experiences rather than trying to fit into existing Western literary traditions.
Statistics & Facts
- Kaur's debut book "Milk and Honey" spent 100 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling millions of copies worldwide after she self-published it at age 21. (01:14)
- During COVID, Kaur's online writing workshops on Instagram attracted up to 10,000 participants who would stay for the full hour, sometimes extending to two hours. (35:51)
- Kaur was given only six months to write her second book after signing a two-book deal in November 2016, with a draft due by January 2017. (02:14)
