Design Prompts
This year I manufactured Design Prompts, a box of 110 double-sided cards to help creative people get unstuck. They are inspired by Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, but the 216 prompts here are all my own, and more general purpose. And the beautiful box I made for them is much easier to use and store. Magnetic cover, upright stance. Draw a card at random and try what it suggests: “Find the third side” or “Change what you’re optimizing.” Hundreds more. It’s for artists, writers, designers, makers, inventors, and other innovators. Limited edition: only 400 copies, available on Amazon. I use mine all the time. — KK
Update your outdated facts
When you’re young, you learn facts about the world that are later debunked or revised. If you’re curious to see what has changed since you graduated from high school, check out RetroCodex. I learned that Tyrannosaurus rex probably had lips that covered its teeth, that adults can indeed grow new brain cells, that the appendix might actually have a purpose, and that eating eggs won’t raise your blood cholesterol. It also corrected many other facts I was taught the opposite of. It’s a fun way to update your out-of-date mental factbook. — MF
Where the sun is
I don’t like to travel during the winter, but I do like fantasizing about where I could go that’s warm and sunny, so I think Sunshine Atlas is a really cool idea. Pick a month, and the map ranks places around the world by how warm, dry, and sunny they tend to be. It has more parameters and filters than I need, but as a way to chase the sun, it works. Every destination has its own airport, so everything on the map is somewhere you can actually fly. — CD
Posca pens for painting rocks
Kevin has already recommended Posca markers here, but I want to add my own endorsement of these water-based acrylic paint pens. I like to paint on small rocks and have experimented with all kinds of acrylics and gouaches. But as soon as I tried Posca pens, I realized they are superior to a paintbrush. The colors are opaque and vibrant, and I have much more control with a pen nib than with a brush. They work on many surfaces besides rocks, too, including wood, glass, metal, ceramic, and fabric. They come in a range of tip sizes, from extra-fine to broad. — MF
Optimistic adventures
There are a lot of folks vlogging their adventures on YouTube, and you get to travel with them vicariously. Only a few are people I would actually want to spend time with. One guy who makes me happy is Matt Spears. He does stunts like riding a jet ski 1,000 miles to Alaska, or seeing how far he can get on a motorcycle chopper bought on Amazon, and so forth. Things are constantly falling apart, but he is constantly chipper, upbeat, confident, excited, enthusiastic, and his optimism is contagious. I’ll tag along wherever he wants to go. — KK
Live guided imagery journey
A while back I recommended the Pearl Dive, a 30-minute guided imagery journey I listen to whenever I feel confusion or resistance in my body. Dr. Rosalind Watts created it to prepare participants for a clinical trial of psilocybin for depression. It guides you out of your thoughts and down into your body, where buried emotions and desires are waiting. I always discover something new, and when I stay with what feels uncomfortable, it so often becomes a pearl of insight. I’m sharing it again because in a few days Dr. Watts is leading the dive live in a free Zoom session (no psychedelics involved), open to anyone preparing to explore altered states or simply wanting to go deeper into their own experience. Full disclosure, I’m a facilitator with her community, ACER Integration, but being guided through this practice by its creator, for free and in community, feels like a rare gift. The session is Wednesday, November 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. UK time. You can learn more and register for free here. — CD
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