reVISION Experience - Interactive Practices
Interactive flip cards, challenges, films, and prompts to experience perspective transformation firsthand. Feel the shift for yourself.
Interactive cards that reveal how perspective shifts transform understanding
Unadoptable shelter dogs. Too much energy. Scheduled for euthanasia. → Trained search and rescue heroes who save lives in disasters
The dogs no one wanted became the ones everyone needed.
Resilience and vision transform what others label as flawed into exactly what the world needs most. The very intensity that made them unwanted became the gift that makes them irreplaceable—reminding us that our most difficult qualities may be our greatest strengths misunderstood.
Could my intensity actually be exactly what's needed somewhere?
transformation, perspective shift, potential
Cobwebs swept away. Nuisance in corners. → Material stronger than steel, now used in medicine and military technology
What we brushed aside could stop a bullet.
Wonder and curiosity transform nuisance into near-miraculous strength when we stop to examine what we reflexively destroy. The delicate threads we sweep away may be stronger than anything we've engineered.
What delicate thing have I been sweeping away that's actually incredibly strong?
Vermin. Pests to be exterminated. Creatures of filth and disease. → Trained heroes who have detected thousands of landmines and saved over 150,000 lives
The creature we despised became the one saving us.
Vision and trust transform creatures of contempt into instruments of salvation. What we've been trying to exterminate may possess exactly the gifts we need—hidden beneath our disgust.
What gift might I find in what I've been trying to eliminate?
Bloodsucking worms. Medieval quackery. A symbol of bad medicine. → Precision surgical tools that save reattached fingers and reconstructed tissue
What we mocked as primitive is now cutting-edge.
Humility and patience remind us that what we dismiss as primitive may simply be wisdom we haven't caught up to yet. The practices we mock as backward sometimes prove to be ahead of their time.
What 'outdated' wisdom deserves a second look?
Bloodsuckers. Feared. Killed on sight. → A compound now used to dissolve blood clots and treat strokes
The creature we feared is now saving our brains.
Courage and curiosity transform our deepest fears into unexpected sources of healing. The very thing we've been killing on sight may hold the medicine that saves us—if we can overcome our terror long enough to look.
What would I discover if I looked closer at what scares me?
Tiny plastic clips. Thrown away without a second thought. → Wheelchairs for people in need across South Africa
The smallest thing we discard became someone's freedom to move.
Kindness and vision reveal that even the tiniest discarded things can accumulate into life-changing gifts. What we throw away without thinking may become someone else's freedom—if we choose to see it differently.
What tiny thing am I discarding that could add up to something life-changing?
Oil cans, forks, bottle caps. Refuse from a Paraguay dump. Worthless garbage. → Violins, cellos, and saxophones...The Landfill Harmonic, a world-touring orchestra that has performed for the Pope and shared stages with Metallica and Megadeth
What was thrown away was heard around the world.
Creativity and resilience transform society's refuse into instruments of profound beauty, proving that worth is never inherent but always waiting to be revealed by those who dare to look differently. When we are willing to hear music in what others call garbage, we discover that nothing—and no one—is beyond redemption.
What extraordinary thing might be hiding in what I've written off?
Misshapen fruits and vegetables. Rejected by grocery stores. Left to rot. → Food rescue programs feeding millions of hungry families
What wasn't pretty enough to sell was perfect enough to save.
Kindness and vision look past surface imperfections to recognize that nourishment has nothing to do with appearance. What fails our shallow standards of beauty may be exactly what's needed to sustain life.
What imperfect thing is ready to nourish if I stop judging its appearance?
The stinking waste left behind at treatment plants. Human refuse. → Graphene — one of the strongest materials on Earth
What we flushed away became what we build the future with.
Resourcefulness and innovation prove that even our most shameful waste can become the foundation for extraordinary strength. What we desperately want to flush away and forget may contain the building blocks of our future.
What am I throwing away that could actually build something lasting?
An invasive weed devouring the American South. Unstoppable. Hated. → Medicine for alcoholism and powerful anti-inflammatory treatments
The vine we couldn't kill is now helping us heal.
Resilience and adaptation reveal that what we cannot destroy may be trying to offer us something we desperately need. The relentless force we fight against might be carrying medicine for our deepest wounds.
What persistent thing in my life might actually be offering me something?
Rusting steel boxes. Industrial clutter stacked at ports. → Affordable housing, pop-up shops, mobile clinics, and schools
Vision and resourcefulness transform forgotten infrastructure into spaces of shelter, healing, and learning. The empty boxes we stack and ignore may become sanctuaries for those who need them most.
What empty structure in my life is waiting to shelter something new?
Café trash. Thrown out by the ton, every single day. → Oil-absorbing sponges that clean oceans 99% more effectively than traditional methods
Your morning waste is cleaning the sea.
Resourcefulness and innovation reveal that our most routine waste may hold solutions to our greatest environmental challenges. What we mindlessly discard each morning could be healing the planet—if we're willing to see it differently.
What everyday thing am I discarding that could solve a bigger problem?
Low-value crop. Pig feed. Not fit for proper farming. → Over 300 products including ink, plastic, and oil — transforming an entire economy
What was only good for pigs became good for everything.
Vision and resourcefulness reveal that what the market undervalues may contain infinite untapped potential. The crop dismissed as fit only for animals became the foundation of hundreds of innovations.
What have I undervalued that might have hundreds of uses?
Larvae crawling on rotting flesh. Symbols of death and decay. → Sterile biosurgeons that clean wounds better than any scalpel
The creatures of decay became agents of healing.
Humility and trust teach us that healing sometimes comes from the most repulsive sources, and that nature's wisdom often contradicts our instincts. What we associate with death may carry the seeds of restoration.
What healing might come from the thing I find most repulsive?
Annoying seed pods. Picked off and thrown away after every hike. → The inspiration for Velcro — used in everything from shoes to spacecraft
The nuisance we cursed became the fastener we can't live without.
Curiosity and innovation emerge when we stop cursing our irritations long enough to study them. The annoyance that clings to us may be demonstrating a principle we desperately need to understand.
What keeps showing up in my life that I should study instead of curse?
A glitch in a video game. Virtual chaos. Pixels dying on a screen. → Real epidemiological data that helped researchers model pandemic behavior
A gaming bug taught us how real plagues spread.
Curiosity and adaptation show us that wisdom can emerge from the most unexpected places, even from what seems like meaningless chaos. When we pay attention to patterns everywhere—even in play—we discover insights that can save real lives.
Where else might I find answers if I pay attention to unexpected places?
People with no one to talk to. Isolated. Forgotten. → Conversation partners helping foreign students master English while finding connection themselves
Connection and purpose emerge when we recognize that those who feel forgotten may have exactly what others need. The isolation that pains us may be transformed into the gift of presence for someone equally alone.
What if my loneliness is actually a gift I could offer someone else?
Factory garbage. Dumped on barren land and forgotten for decades. → A thriving forest with richer soil and towering canopy
What they threw away grew back as paradise.
Patience and trust demonstrate that what we discard and forget may be quietly regenerating into abundance beyond our imagination. Sometimes the greatest gift we can give is simply leaving something alone long enough to become what it was meant to be.
What might flourish if I just gave it time and space?
Weeds to be pulled. Lawn pests sprayed and poisoned. → Medicine, food, wine, and a promising rubber alternative
The enemy of every lawn may be the friend of the future.
Wonder and resourcefulness transform our most persistent enemy into an abundant source of nourishment and possibility. What we poison and uproot with such determination may be offering us gifts we refuse to see.
What am I fighting that might actually be offering me abundance?
Rough industrial packaging. Plain fabric meant to be discarded. → Depression-era fashion that clothed families with dignity and beauty
What carried flour began carrying hope.
Creativity and dignity transform functional packaging into garments of beauty and self-respect. When resources are scarce, love finds ways to clothe us not just in fabric but in worth.
How might I create dignity and beauty from what's meant to be thrown away?
Abandoned fishing gear. Ocean pollution killing marine life. → 3D-printed prosthetic limbs for children in coastal communities
What was destroying life now gives it back.
Resourcefulness and compassion transform instruments of destruction into tools of healing and restoration. The very thing causing harm can become the source of wholeness—if we're willing to reimagine its purpose.
How can something causing harm be transformed into something healing?
A brainless, single-celled blob. No nervous system. Nothing. → Mapped the Tokyo rail system more efficiently than engineers
An organism with no brain outdesigned human genius.
Humility and wonder emerge when a creature without a brain solves problems that stump our greatest minds. Intelligence takes forms we cannot recognize, and wisdom flows through channels we never thought to examine.
What simple approach might solve what my overthinking cannot?
Used once and tossed. Restaurant waste by the billions. → Furniture, building materials, and art
What held a single meal now holds up entire rooms.
Resourcefulness and creativity transform billions of single-use moments into structures of lasting beauty and function. What serves us briefly may be gathered into something that serves us for generations.
How might my brief moments accumulate into something lasting?
Discarded medical scans. Hospital waste destined for the trash. → Bootleg records — called 'Bone Music' — that preserved forbidden music during Soviet censorship
Medical waste became the sound of underground freedom.
Freedom and creativity converge when the human spirit refuses to be silenced, transforming even the discarded shadows of our bodies into vessels of defiant expression. This story reminds us that when passion meets constraint, ingenuity will always find a way to sing.
How do I create something meaningful when resources are scarce?
Trash on a shantytown roof. Garbage baking in the sun. → Free, bright daylight illuminating thousands of homes without electricity
Trash became light for those who had none.
Resourcefulness and hope transform garbage into illumination for those living in darkness. What bakes uselessly on a roof may become the light that changes everything—if we're willing to see it differently.
What's sitting unused in my life that could bring light to someone's darkness?
Rubber waste. Landfill mountains that never decompose. → Playground surfaces, artificial reefs, and sustainable roads
What we buried is now beneath our children's feet — keeping them safe.
Resourcefulness and care transform our most persistent waste into foundations of safety and play. What we bury in shame may resurface as protection for those we love most.
What have I buried that could become a foundation for something safe?
Disaster byproduct. Geological waste. Destruction. → Sustainable, energy-efficient concrete that doesn't require high-heat cement
Resilience and innovation reveal that the byproducts of destruction can become the building blocks of a better future. What buries us in one moment may become what we build with in the next.
How might the debris from what fell apart help me rebuild?
Broken rubber washing up on beaches. Trash polluting the ocean. → Vibrant art sculptures and a sustainable business employing coastal communities
What washed up as garbage now hangs in galleries.
Creativity and resourcefulness transform pollution into art and employment, proving that beauty can emerge from our worst messes. What the tide brings in as garbage may be raw material for transformation.
What beauty might I create from what keeps washing up in my life?
Contamination in a petri dish. A ruined experiment destined for the trash. → The antibiotic penicillin — which would go on to save over 200 million lives
What should have been thrown away became medicine's greatest gift.
Curiosity and patience reveal that what appears to ruin our plans may actually be redirecting us toward something far greater than we imagined. The accidents we curse and the contaminations we fear sometimes carry the cures we desperately need.
What if this mistake is actually leading somewhere important?
An annoying security test. Wasted clicks. Daily frustration. → A system that digitized millions of books and preserved centuries of human knowledge
Every irritated click was secretly saving history.
Patience and vision transform our daily frustrations into collective acts of preservation and meaning. Those moments we resent as wasted time may be quietly building something far greater than we know.
What if my small frustrations are secretly contributing to something bigger?
An ancient, armored creature crawling on beaches. Primitive. Unremarkable. → Blue blood essential for testing the safety of every vaccine and medical implant on Earth
The living fossil protects modern medicine.
Wonder and humility converge as an ancient creature proves essential to modern survival, reminding us that evolution preserves what matters. What appears primitive and unremarkable may be quietly protecting everything we've built.
What ancient or overlooked thing is quietly protecting something important?
A black slab with strange markings. Used as building rubble for a wall. → The only key to deciphering an entire lost civilization
Construction debris unlocked 3,000 years of history.
Curiosity and vision transform what seems like meaningless rubble into the key that unlocks entire worlds of understanding. The fragment we step over or build into a wall may hold the answers we've been seeking for centuries.
What overlooked thing might be the key to understanding everything?
Pond scum. Green slime fouling waterways. → Biofuel, nutrition supplements, and one of our best tools for capturing carbon
The slime we scraped away may save the planet.
Humility and vision reveal that what we dismiss as nuisance may hold the keys to our survival. The slime we scrape away in disgust might be the very thing that saves us—if we learn to see it differently.
What overlooked nuisance in my life might actually be essential?
Just fungi. Growing in dark, damp places. Ignored. → Solutions for cleaning oil spills, replacing plastic, and building sustainable materials
What we stepped over is building the future.
Curiosity and vision illuminate that the humble things growing in darkness may hold the keys to our survival. What thrives in places we avoid might be quietly preparing to save us.
What's growing in the dark corners I've been avoiding?
Deadly bacteria from a monster's mouth. Rotting, venomous death. → Antimicrobial peptides now used to fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs
The deadliest mouth on Earth held the cure we needed.
Courage and innovation reveal that our most dangerous enemies may carry solutions to our most desperate problems. The venom we flee from may contain the antidote we need—if we're brave enough to examine it closely.
What solutions might hide inside the things I consider most dangerous?
An eyesore cutting through Manhattan. Rusting. Destined for demolition. → One of the world's most beloved urban parks — The High Line — inspiring cities globally
What they planned to tear down, millions now walk upon.
Vision and courage transform what society condemns as blight into spaces of unexpected beauty and connection. Before we rush to demolish what seems broken, we might ask what it could become with new eyes.
What could this become if I stopped trying to tear it down?
Ocean waste. Floating excrement. Disgusting. → A critical nutrient cycle supporting entire marine ecosystems
The most undignified thing in the sea keeps the sea alive.
Humility and wonder reveal that even the most undignified processes may be essential to the systems that sustain us. What seems like mere waste may be quietly feeding the entire ecosystem.
What unglamorous part of my life is actually sustaining something important?
Abandoned U.S. military jeeps. Post-war junk rusting in fields. → The Philippines' most iconic form of public transportation
War's leftovers became a nation's ride.
Resourcefulness and creativity transform the remnants of destruction into symbols of identity and connection. What war leaves behind can become what peace rides upon—if we're willing to reimagine its purpose.
How might the remnants of difficulty become something that carries me forward?
Grotesque goo from an ugly eel. Mocked as disgusting and useless. → Fibers stronger than nylon, inspiring next-generation materials
The most revolting creature made the most remarkable thread.
Curiosity and innovation emerge when we look past our instinctive disgust to discover extraordinary strength hiding in the most unlikely forms. What repels us at first glance may contain the very solutions we've been searching for—if only we can overcome our initial judgments.
What strength am I missing because I can't see past my first reaction?
Interactive cards inviting you to imagine new possibilities for overlooked items
Broken slabs from demolished sidewalks. Construction rubble hauled to the dump.
Bent and torn packaging after delivery day. Recycling bin overflow.
Fuzzy gray clumps pulled from the filter. Household debris destined for the trash.
Peeling strips falling from trunks. Forest floor debris no one notices.
Cracked screens and outdated models shoved in drawers. Yesterday's technology gathering dust.
Dusty-winged insects drawn to lights. Pests that eat holes in sweaters.
Fine wood particles coating the workshop floor. Construction mess swept into bags.
Slow shell-covered pests eating garden plants. Creatures picked off and discarded.
Knotted cables for devices we no longer own. E-waste clutter taking up space.
Rusted fragments and bent pieces. Junkyard material sold by the pound.
Unwanted plants choking the garden. Pulled by the roots and tossed aside.
Brittle fragments cracked and discarded. Breakfast trash destined for the bin.
Brittle broken halves left in a bowl. Snack debris swept into the garbage.
Stale loaves growing hard on the counter. Food gone bad fit only for disposal.
Dried stoppers pulled and tossed. Bar waste piling up in drawers.
Tiny invaders marching across counters. Pests to be crushed and poisoned.
Slimy creatures wriggling on wet pavement. Garden dwellers stepped over with disgust.
Crumpled sacks stuffed under the sink. Single-use waste we hoard but never reuse.
Foam pieces spilling from boxes. Shipping waste that sticks to everything.
Wood curls and graphite dust. Desk waste emptied from the sharpener.
Paper and plastic headed to overflowing bins. Single-use convenience that became landfill guilt.
Slippery yellow skins headed straight to the compost. Kitchen waste we can't wait to throw away.
Green heaps left behind by the mower. Yard waste bagged for pickup.
Empty cardboard tubes. Bathroom trash we toss without thinking.
Sticky sap-covered clutter falling from trees. Yard waste raked into piles.
Dusty nets in corners and doorways. Cobwebs swept away without a thought.
Splintered wood stacked behind stores. Industrial trash waiting for disposal.
Leftover pieces too small to use. Sewing room waste headed for the bin.
Envelopes and flyers no one asked for. Paper waste heading straight from mailbox to recycling.
Mystery metal no one remembers. Junk drawer clutter for locks long gone.
Small metal discs pried off and flicked aside. Beverage waste too tiny to matter.
Brown dead foliage covering the yard. Nature's litter raked into bags and hauled to the curb.
Chirping insects that sneak indoors. Basement annoyances shooed back outside.
Many-legged crawlers coiled in damp corners. Bugs no one wants to touch.
Stubby snapped pieces rattling in the box. Art supplies too small to use.
Hard nuts littering the driveway. Tree debris crunching underfoot swept away by the bagful.
Green fuzz creeping across stones and roofs. Unwelcome growth scraped away.
Soggy pouches squeezed and discarded. Beverage waste dripping into the trash.
Short films capturing transformation in motion
Visual documentation of perspective shifts and transformation
A Rock Star Takes the Stage at Nursing Homes | Goldie | The New Yorker Documentary
Moving Windmills: The William Kamkwamba story
Invitations to practice seeing differently
What's something you're forcing that might work better if you stopped pushing so hard?
An invitation to practice seeing differently
How would someone from 100 years ago solve your modern problem? How would someone 100 years from now? What's useful in each approach?
Look at your hands as if you've never seen them before. Notice every line, every texture, every subtle color variation.
What's the thing you're not mentioning because it seems irrelevant? It might be the key.
Touch your own face as if mapping unfamiliar terrain. What do your fingers discover that your mirror doesn't show?
Think of something that frustrated you today. Now ask: 'What is this situation trying to teach me that I couldn't learn any other way?'
Think of a rule you follow without questioning. Where did it come from? Does it still serve you?
Listen for the quietest sound in your environment. What's underneath the obvious noise?
Pick a constraint from another field (a poet's syllable count, a chef's ingredient limit, an architect's weight restriction). Apply it to your project.
What would be different if you stopped apologizing for who you are?
Close your eyes. Notice where on your body you feel warmest, coolest. What story is your body telling?
Combine two unrelated things you love. What emerges?
Think of your current struggle as a chapter title in your memoir. What would you name it?
What's the most boring solution to your problem? Sometimes boring works.
What's something you've never thanked yourself for? Thank yourself now.
What if the thing you're rushing toward is exactly what you'll miss when it's gone? Slow down and notice.
Notice the quality of light right now. Is it warm or cool? Sharp or diffused? Where are the brightest and darkest points?
Notice the rhythm of your walking, your breathing, your blinking. You've been keeping time all along.
Think of how a chef, an architect, a gardener, and a musician would each approach a challenge you're facing. Borrow one element from each.
If your project were a person, what would it want? What would it be afraid of?
What would you try if no one would ever know whether you succeeded or failed?
Whatever you're working on, label it 'Version 0.1.' Notice how that permission to be imperfect changes your relationship to it.
If you had to make your idea worse first to make it better, what would you do?
Close your eyes and listen to someone's voice (live or recorded). Notice only the music of it, not the meaning.
What would nature's solution to your problem look like? How does the forest solve this?
Listen to a conversation (or remember one) and focus only on the tone, not the words. What do you hear?
What's something you're overcomplicating? What's the one-sentence version?
Find something reflective. What does it show you that you wouldn't see looking directly?
What would you do if you couldn't fail? Now, what would you do if you knew you would fail but it didn't matter?
Think of your problem as a knot. Where did the tangling start? That's often where the untangling begins.
Choose something you consider useless. How might it become valuable in a different context?
Think of the last thing that made you laugh. What's the connection to what you're working on?
If you're having difficulty with a person or situation, imagine genuinely wanting what they want. What would you do differently?
If your project had to be finished in one day, what would you do? One hour? Ten minutes?
Find a texture you've never consciously touched before. What does your skin discover?
Open a book or look at any image. Force a connection between what you see and something you're working on. The stranger the connection, the more creative the insight.
If you had to solve your problem using only things within arm's reach, what would you try?
Imagine explaining your project to someone who lived 500 years ago. What would you have to translate?
What are you tolerating that you've stopped noticing you're tolerating? Name it.
Think of something you've done a thousand times. What would happen if you did it backwards?
Recall a time you were completely wrong about something. What did that teach you about what you might be wrong about now?
Pick something you're expert at. Imagine you know nothing. What question would a beginner ask that you've stopped asking?
If you had to make your challenge worse on purpose, what would you do? Now avoid doing that.
Find a place in nature that seems neglected. What beauty or resilience can you discover there?
Stop and count how many distinct sounds you can hear right now. Most people discover 8-15 layers they weren't noticing.
What's something you've always done because 'that's how it's done'? Who decided that?
What's one tiny thing within reach right now that you haven't tried? Not the big leap—just the next inch.
Think of an opinion you hold strongly. What would you need to see or experience to change your mind?
Instead of asking 'How do I solve this?' ask 'How would I guarantee this fails?' Then reverse your answers.
Do one thing today with the intention of finding potential where others see none. What did you discover?
What would you do if you had half the time? What would you do if you had twice the time? What's different?
Notice one thing that's working well in your life. Trace back: Who or what is quietly making that possible?
What would you attempt if you knew your first try didn't need to be good?
Sit still and watch for any motion around you—however subtle. A curtain swaying, dust in light, the rise and fall of your own breath.
Imagine your inner critic is actually scared for you, not against you. What is it scared of?
If this problem could talk, what would it say it needs from you?
Think of someone you admire. What quality of theirs do you already possess in a different form?
What belief do you hold that might limit your potential? How could you see it differently?
What's the connection between your current challenge and your childhood? There usually is one.
Look at something from below—get low and look up. What's different from this angle?
Think of something you consider 'finished.' What would it mean to keep going?
Listen to a familiar sound (traffic, ventilation, appliance) as if it were music. Find its rhythm, its pitch, its variations.
Find something that's changing—ice melting, clouds moving, light shifting. Watch the change happen.
What's the opposite of your goal? Now, what's valuable in that opposite?
Notice the air on your skin. What is it telling you about temperature, moisture, movement?
Consider the last time you changed your mind about something important. What made that possible?
Consider a 'failure' from your past. What became possible only because that failure happened?
Take two problems you're facing. What if they were secretly the same problem in different disguises?
Look at something familiar until it becomes strange. How long does it take?
Find something with an interesting smell. Close your eyes and try to describe it without using the name of the thing.
What would a 5-year-old try that you're too 'smart' to attempt?
Where do you feel most stuck right now? Consider: What if being stuck here means this is exactly where the breakthrough wants to happen?
What's the stupidest, most impractical solution to something you're stuck on? Often, hidden inside bad ideas are seeds of brilliant ones.
Look at an object you usually ignore. What story could it tell if it could speak?
If your challenge were a game, what would be the rules? What would be cheating? What if you cheated?
What's the smallest possible version of something you're postponing? Not the full project—just the 5-minute seed.
Look at your surroundings through squinted eyes. How does blurring reveal patterns you missed?
What's one thing you could subtract from your approach that might help more than adding something?
Imagine yourself five years from now, looking back at this moment. What might you wish you'd appreciated more?
What story about yourself have you outgrown but keep telling anyway?
Look at someone's face (or a photo) and notice only one feature—just the eyebrows, or just the jawline. What do you see?
For a decision you're facing, ask: 'What would someone who has the exact opposite values from me do?' Then ask what's useful in that approach.
Consider your biggest current worry. Ask: 'What's the most generous possible interpretation of this situation?'
What's the 'wrong' way to do what you're trying to do? What might be right about the wrong way?
What's something you used to believe that you no longer do? What shifted? Could a similar shift be happening now?
Think of a time you solved something similar. What did you do? Does any of that transfer?
What permission are you waiting for that you could give yourself?
Think of something you're certain about. Hold it lightly for a moment. What's it like not to grip so tightly?
Touch three different surfaces within arm's reach. Can you find words for the differences that aren't 'smooth' or 'rough'?
Name three assumptions you're making about your situation. Pick one and pretend it's false. Now what?
Think of a relationship that ended. What gift did that person leave in your life that you still carry?
Notice your breathing without changing it. Just observe. What rhythm has your body chosen?
Pick one color. For the next minute, notice only that color everywhere around you. Most people find 20+ instances they'd never registered.
What rule could you break that wouldn't actually hurt anyone but might change everything?
Think of someone who annoys you. What quality in them might be a strength taken too far? What would the balanced version look like?
If you could ask one question to someone who solved this perfectly, what would you ask? Now answer it yourself.
Pick up something light and something heavy. Close your eyes and feel the difference fully. What do you notice beyond 'heavier'?
What would you do if you had a collaborator you completely trusted? Now be that collaborator.
Find something in your environment that you've never noticed before. It's there—you just haven't looked.
Find something blue. Now find five different shades of blue around you. How many blues exist in your world?
What would you do differently if you were already the person you're trying to become?
What would you do if resources weren't the issue? Now, what element of that solution can you start without those resources?
Close your eyes and point to where you think north is. Open them and check. How connected are you to direction?
Look at something through a window or doorframe. Notice how the frame changes what you see.
What would you do differently today if you weren't trying to be consistent with yesterday?
Find an object near you. Instead of looking at its center, trace only its edges with your eyes. What do the boundaries reveal?
Who in your life sees a version of you that you've forgotten exists? What do they see?
What's something you're waiting to feel 'ready' for? Ask: What if readiness only comes after you begin?
Consider something you're avoiding. What's the kindest possible reason you might be avoiding it?
Look at the corner of the room or space you're in that you notice least. Spend 30 seconds really seeing it.
Think of something you've given up on—a project, a relationship, an idea. Ask: 'What was I not ready to see then that I might see now?'
Before solving a problem, ask: 'What question am I not asking that might change everything?'
Think of your least favorite trait in yourself. How has it also protected or served you?
Feel your feet on the ground. Notice the pressure, the temperature, the contact. You've been standing on the earth this whole time.
Watch how light moves across a surface for one full minute. Patience reveals patterns.
What's the version of this that would be fun? Start there.
Think of your problem as a physical object. What shape is it? What color? What texture? What does its form tell you?
Recall a recent mistake. What unexpected opportunity did it create?
Look at something man-made and find where nature influenced its design.
What's something you've been meaning to let go of? What are you gaining by holding on?
What's something you once desperately wanted that you now have but no longer notice?
Instead of looking at objects, look at the spaces between them. What shapes do the empty spaces make?
Notice what your tongue is doing in your mouth right now. Most people have never paid attention to this.
Find the oldest thing near you. Consider everything it has witnessed.
Look at the ceiling above you—really look. When did you last notice it?
Take one thing you've labeled a weakness in yourself. What context would make that exact trait a strength?
If you could see the world through the eyes of a child, what would surprise you today?
Find something old and something new. Close your eyes and touch both. Can you feel their different histories?
Look at something 'broken' in your life. Before fixing it, ask: What does this brokenness make possible that perfection wouldn't?
Think of an ending in your life. What beginning did it make possible?
Share a story about something you once undervalued but now treasure. What changed your view?
Imagine your problems are gifts that arrived too early. What might you eventually appreciate about them?
Look at your living space as if you're a visitor seeing it for the first time. What do you notice that you've stopped seeing?
What's the most generous thing you could assume about why this is hard?
Notice what your shoulders are doing right now. When did they get like that?
Think of an idea you abandoned long ago. What would make it relevant now? What did past-you see that present-you has forgotten?
What's one thing you've decided is impossible that you haven't actually tested recently?
Think of something you're procrastinating. What feeling are you avoiding? What if you welcomed that feeling?
Choose a situation you've told yourself the same story about for years. What are three completely different stories the facts could support?
Think of something everyone does a certain way. What if the first person to do it was wrong?
What thought keeps showing up that you wish would leave? Instead of pushing it away, ask: 'What do you need me to understand?'
If you could only keep three elements of your current project, which three? What does that reveal about what matters most?
What's one thing that used to terrify you that you now find ordinary? What changed?
What's blocking you? Instead of removing the obstacle, ask: 'How could I build with this obstacle as an essential material?'
Think of a problem you're working on. Now open a drawer or look around you—pick a random object. How might that object inspire a solution?
Choose something you've been unable to do. Ask: 'If this limitation were permanent, how would I design a beautiful life around it?'
Imagine your challenge is happening for you, not to you. What changes?
Take any situation. Ask 'why?' Then ask 'why?' about that answer. Then one more time. The third answer usually reveals something surprising.
Notice what you smell right now. Most of us breathe through our days without ever registering scent.
Find the smallest thing you can see from where you are. How small can you go?
For 60 seconds, look only at shadows, not objects. What shapes and connections appear?
Find something that's casting a shadow. Watch the shadow instead of the object for 30 seconds.
Is there a universal truth in the idea that 'nothing is wasted'? Where do you see this in your life?
Think of someone you've judged harshly. What fear might be driving their behavior?
Close your eyes and listen. Can you tell how big the space around you is just from sound?
Think of someone who would find your problem exciting rather than stressful. Why would they feel that way?
What's something you've never combined that might work together? Try the unexpected pairing.
Consider the opposite of every element of your plan. Build a new plan from those opposites.
Find something nearby you consider unattractive or mundane. Study it until you find one aspect that has beauty, elegance, or interest.
What would change if you treated your doubts as questions rather than conclusions?
Think of your project as a living thing. What does it need to grow? What's poisoning it?
What's the most important thing you haven't said yet about your situation? Say it now, even just to yourself.
Look at something until you notice a detail you never saw before. Everything has hidden details.
If you had to explain your challenge to someone from a completely different culture, what would you discover in the translation?