–> Subscribe to The Art of Noticing Newsletter here: robwalker.substack.com

–> Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Knopf

 

Imagine a cross between, say, Ways of Seeing and Marie Kondo. It’s a book that’s meant to be not just read, but used, for years to come. It’s accessible, it’s helpful — and it’s fun!

Some media:

“If you want a more interesting and creative life, the first thing to do is to start paying better attention to it. In The Art of Noticing, Rob Walker provides an essential guide to becoming an explorer of your everyday world. I found a ton to steal here and so will you.”
—Austin Kleon, New York Times bestselling author of Steal Like An Artist

Look Slowly. Discover the Big Within the Small. Sketch a Room You Just Left. Follow the Quiet. Review the Everyday. Hunt the Infrathin. Get There the Hard Way. Eat Somewhere Dubious. Trespass. Make a Field Guide. Talk To a Stranger. Listen to an Elder. Be Alone in Public. Make a Personal Map. Interview An Object. Care for Something.

The Art of Noticing: 131 Ways to Spark Creativity, Find Inspiration, and Discover Joy In the Everyday presents a series of exercises and prompts and games and things you can actually do (or reflect upon) to build attention muscles or just get off your phone and enjoy noticing stuff that everyone else missed.

The Art of Noticing is a book about reading, verbal and non-verbal reading, which is how we increasingly read now, and how we have always read. Walker encourages us to make a non-literal reading of our world, which can mean non-judgmental and more enlightened.”
—Leanne Shapton, author of Guestbook and Swimming Studies

In the tradition of John Berger, Susan Sontag, and George Nelson, Rob Walker offers a guide not to looking but to seeing—and why the difference is crucial. At once passionate and charming, he makes the case that noticing what’s there is the first step in creating what’s new.”
—Michael Bierut, cofounder of Design Observer and author of Now You See It and Other Essays on Design

The Art of Noticing (Knopf) evolved in part from a class I teach at SVA, and draws (steals?) ideas from sources as varied as Adam Grant and Marina Abramovic. Plus, it’s cleverly designed and brilliantly illustrated by Mendelsund/Munday.

AVAILABLE NOW:

If you like the sound of this, there is even more at the Art Of Noticing newsletter: https://robwalker.substack.com, already endorsed by BoingBoing, Austin Kleon, Kottke, Paola Antonelli, and others.

“From ‘unitasking’ to the ‘mindful shower,’ The Art of Noticing is filled with clever, eminently deployable strategies for getting more from the world around you. It’s a paean to alertness, a sensory upgrade, a delightful field guide to being alive.”
—Tom Vanderbilt, bestselling author of Traffic and You May Also Like

  • I’ve given talks about or inspired by the book, along with customized workshops, for a variety of company, conference, event, and university audiences. More here.

“Rob Walker’s writing has always been wonderful because of his unique eye for noticing what other people miss. With this new book, he’s basically teaching you all his secrets for seeing.”
—Ryan Holiday, bestselling author of Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle Is The Way

  • Just throwing this in for fun, from my U.K. publisher:

“Attention is a precious resource, one we waste in stupid ways. And attention is a muscle, one we can easily develop. In this refreshingly practical book, Rob Walker gives us 131 ways to treasure and improve our ability to see.”

—Seth Godin, author of This is Marketing

 

 

SOURCE NOTES

I list sources and suggestions for further reading in the book. But there wasn’t room for fully detailed set of citations. Instead I’ll try to do that here.

But please note: The below is a first stab, and an uncorrected list! It may not be complete or up to date, and the notes for the introduction in particular are definitely not properly formatted, in many cases.

But I wanted to share what I can in case it helps anyone who is curious for more. I’ll update & improve it as time allows. Plus I can get your input: If you have a correction, or a citation-related question, please get in touch — write to Consumed AT robwalker DOT net.

Links are current as of December 2018, but you can also tell me if something has gone dead.

 

INTRODUCTION 

“Susan Sontag on Being a Writer: ‘You Have to Be Obsessed’,” by Emily Temple, Lithub, November 15, 2017 http://lithub.com/susan-sontag-on-being-a-writer-you-have-to-be-obsessed/

James Benning, from Draw It With Your Eyes Closed: The Art of the Assignment, edited by Paper Monument. 2012.

For Saul Bellow, Seeing the Earth With Fresh Eyes,” by Mel Gussow, May 26, 1997, The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/04/23/specials/bellow-gussow97.html

Can 10 Minutes of Meditation Make You More Creative?, https://hbr.org/2017/08/can-10-minutes-of-meditation-make-you-more-creative

Here’s What Mattis Sees As The Biggest Single Problem With Military Leadership, http://taskandpurpose.com/lead-yourself-first-eisenhower-mattis/ 

https://hbr.org/2014/07/becoming-a-first-class-noticer

“The Metropolis and Mental Life,” by Georg Simmel. 1903. Wherever I got this cites: The Blackwell City Reader, edited by Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson, 2002.

Gabrielle Esperdy, “Ugly America,” Places Journal, November 2014. Accessed 05 Jan 2018.https://doi.org/10.22269/141120

https://backchannel.com/distraction-is-actually-ruining-this-country-dd6244fbf817#.onfdpbgsj

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/08/tim-wu-interview-internet-classic-party-went-sour-attention-merchants

Hooked on Our Smartphones – The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/well/live/hooked-on-our-smartphones.html

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia

http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-iphone-effect-when-mobile-devices.html

http://www.salon.com/2013/11/02/smartphones_are_killing_us_and_destroying_public_life/

“Listening, hearing, and the infinite loop,” Ethan Hein, January 8, 2015. http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2015/listening-hearing-and-the-infinite-loop/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/business/why-trying-new-things-is-so-hard.html?

Being Lazy Is the Key to Success, According to the Best-Selling Author of ‘Moneyball’ https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/why-being-lazy-makes-you-successful-according-to-the-bestselling-author-of-money.html

http://nautil.us/issue/46/balance/darwin-was-a-slacker-and-you-should-be-too

What Are the Five Dimensions of Curiosity?,” by Todd B. Kashdan, Psychologytoday.com, January 2, 2018 https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/curious/201801/what-are-the-five-dimensions-curiosity

10 Learnings from 10 Years of Brain Pickings, https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/10/23/10-years-of-brain-pickings/

 

ONE: LOOKING

Horowitz, Alexandra. On Looking: A Walker’s Guide to the Art of Observation. New York: Scribner, 2013.

Munro Galloway, “Color Walk,” from Draw It With Your Eyes Closed: The Art of the Assignment, edited by Paper Monument. Brooklyn, New York: Paper Monument, 2012.

Nelson, George. How To See: A Guide to Reading Our Man-Made Environment, by George Nelson. Oakland, California: Design Within Reach, 2003.

See For Yourself: A Visual Guide To Everyday Beauty, by Rob Forbes. Chronicle Books; 2015.

“Why I Like to Instagram the Sky,” Jacob Harris, TheAtlantic.com, March 14, 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/03/sky-gradients/473034/ and https://www.instagram.com/jacobharris/

https://www.instagram.com/dave_walker_nola/

Seeing Is Forgetting The Name of the Thing One Sees: Expanded Edition: Over Thirty Years of Conversations with Robert Irwin, by Lawrence Weschler. Originally published in 1982; this edition from 2008.

“How Robert Irwin Breaks The Rules of Art,” by Margaret Carrigan, Hyperallergic, September 1, 2016. http://hyperallergic.com/320293/how-robert-irwin-breaks-the-rules-of-art/

You May Also Like, Tom Vanderbilt.

“Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit,” by Corita Kent and Jan Steward

“The Power of Patience: Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention,” by Jennifer L. Roberts, Harvard Magazine, November-December 2013. http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/11/the-power-of-patience

“A Painting Only You Can See,” Randy Kennedy. The New York Times, June 7, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/arts/design/caravaggio-denial-of-st-peter-met-museum-of-art.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

“An Audio Tour of the Museum of Modern Art’s Dust,” by Allison Meier, Hyperallergic, December 15, 2016 https://hyperallergic.com/340535/moma-dust-tour-nina-katchadourian/ Accessed December 26, 2017

“Photographing Museum Visitors Behaving Badly,” by Claire Voon, Hyperallergic, November 2, 2017 https://hyperallergic.com/409246/people-touching-artworks-stefan-drashan/ Accessed December 26, 2017

“The Art of the Sound of the Security of Art,” by Marc Weidenbaum, Disquiet.com, March 25, 2015 http://disquiet.com/2015/03/22/the-art-of-the-sound-of-the-security-of-art/ Accessed December 26, 2017

“Namaste, Museum Guests, It’s Time to Get Mindful,” By Alix Strauss, November 26, 2017 The New York Times.

A List of the Times People Mistook Totally Random Objects for Art,” by Eleanor Lambert, Creators, May 28, 2017 https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/8x4pv5/a-list-of-the-times-people-mistook-totally-random-objects-for-art

“Dear Guest Placard,” Mmuseumm 1, Season 4. 2015.

“Let’s End This Meditation Madness,” by Adam Grant. The New York Times. October 10, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/opinion/can-we-end-the-meditation-madness.html

“Milton Glaser on Art, Technology, and the Secret of Life,” By Maria Popova, Brain Pickings website. https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/09/19/milton-glaser-good-life-project/

“Why We Should Draw More (and Photograph Less),” video by The School of Life, June 24, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1eHm0PNnjo

“Don’t Let Snapshots Keep You From Seeing the World,” by Michael Zhang, Peta Pixel, Jun 27, 2015 http://petapixel.com/2015/06/27/dont-let-snapshots-keep-you-from-seeing-the-world/

Jacobson described his use of the Bouncing Jumbotron Woman as teaching device in a 2011 talk at Princeton that is available online: http://hulk03.princeton.edu:8080/WebMedia/flash/lectures/20111129_jacobson_historians_eye.shtml. The relevant portion starts at around 62:30; the whole talk is interesting.

www.streetartutopia.com

“Baudelaire on the Genius of Childhood,” by Maria Popova, BrainPickings, https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/09/14/baudelaire-genius-childhood/

Robin Wall Kimmerer: The Intelligence in All Kinds of Life,” On Being, July 19, 2018 https://onbeing.org/programs/robin-wall-kimmerer-the-intelligence-in-all-kinds-of-life-jul2018/

Correspondence and/or conversation with Alice Twemlow, Ingrid Fetell Lee, Sarah Rich, Austin Kleon, Nick Gray, Alex Kalman, Ellen Susan, Rotten Apple, Carla Diana, Geoff Manaugh, Dan Ariely, Rita J. King, Charlie Todd, Davy Rothbart.

 

TWO: SENSING

Gill, Jenny. “Jace Clayton’s ‘Art Assignment,’ ” by Jenny Gill, Creative Capital Blog. April 29, 2014. https://blog.creative-capital.org/2014/04/video-jace-clayton-art-assignment/

Brunner, Bernd. “The Art of Noises: On the logic of sound and the senses,” by Bernd Brunner. The Smart Set. September 1, 2015 https://thesmartset.com/the-art-of-noises/

Popova, Maria. “How to Be a Writer: Hemingway’s Advice to Aspiring Authors.” Brainpickings.org. November 11, 2013. https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/11/13/hemingway-on-writing-2/

“ ‘You learn a lot about the city by asking about its sound’: Peter Cusack Interview, Sounds.” Create Digital Music. May 21, 2013 http://cdm.link/2013/05/you-learn-a-lot-about-the-city-by-asking-about-its-sound-peter-cusack-interview/

Smith, Steve. “Pauline Oliveros, Composer Who Championed ‘Deep Listening,’ Dies at 84.” The New York Times, September 27, 2016.

Paulineoliveros.us

“The difference between hearing and listening,” Pauline Oliveros talk at TEDxIndianapolis, YouTube video published November 12, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QHfOuRrJB8

“Sonic Meditations,” scan posted on https://blogthehum.wordpress.com/2016/09/13/pauline-oliveros-sonic-meditations-1974-the-complete-text-and-scores/

“EX.293 Pauline Oliveros,” RA Exchange. https://soundcloud.com/ra-exchange/ra-exchange-293

“Deep Listening Intensive 2 — January 15, 2011 – Seattle WA,” http://deeplistening.org/site/content/paulines-intensives-1

“Sound Class: Extra Credit: Create a sound walk.” Marc Weidenbaum, May 11, 2017 https://disquiet.com/2017/05/11/sound-class-extra-credit/

http://studiox-nyc.tumblr.com/post/68468004025/smell-walkers-we-have-two-important-pieces-of

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/19/victoria-henshaw

http://www.udg.org.uk/events/yorkshire/sheffield-smellwalk

http://www.ediblegeography.com/smell-designing-sheffield/

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/style/tmagazine/t_w_1530_1531_face_smells_.html?pagewanted=all

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/18/smell-expert-sissel-tolaas-breathes-deep-and-then-follows-her-nose-in-melbourne

“Sissel Tolaas: SmellScape KCK/KCMO (2007-2012),” in Problems and Provocations: Grand Arts 1995-2015, edited by Stacy Switzer and Annie Fischer. 2016.

http://sensorymaps.com/

“Nina Katchadourian’s Playful, Persistent Questioning,” by Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, Hyperallergic, April 20, 2017 https://hyperallergic.com/373602/nina-katchadourians-playful-persistent-questioning/

Nina Katchadourian: Curiouser, edited by Veronica Roberts. Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas, 2017.

“Powers of Ten”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0

“I Tried the ‘Abramović Method’ (And I Think I Passed Out),” by Jacqueline Elise, Creators Project, April 29 2015. https://creators.vice.com/en_us/article/3d5vjw/i-tried-the-abramovic-method-and-i-think-i-passed-out and “Experiencing The Method,” https://mai.art/terra-comunal-content/2015/3/9/experiencing-the-method MAI.art

“Have you got what it takes to follow the Abramović method? — video,” by Mae Ryan, TheGuardian.com, May 12, 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/video/2014/may/12/marina-abramovic-method-video

“An Artist’s Life Manifesto: Marina Abramović’s Rules of Life, Solitude, and Silence,” by Maria Popova, BrainPickings, https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/11/30/marina-abramovic-artist-manifesto/

“You have more than five senses,” Vox video, September 19, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W0WPPpCFaM and “Beyond the big five, human have dozens of senses,” by Andrea James. BoingBoing.net, September 21, 2017 https://boingboing.net/2017/09/21/beyond-the-big-five-humans-ha.html

Correspondence and/or conversation with Marc Weidenbaum, Ethan Hein, Carla Diana, Nina Katchadourian, Lucian James, Kenneth Goldsmith

 

THREE: GOING PLACES

“Learning to Do Historical Research: Sources: How to Read a Landscape,” William Cronon. http://www.williamcronon.net/researching/landscapes.htm.

“The Public Value in the NEA Saguaro Project,” Kimi Eisele, Director, Standing with Saguaros; Tucson, Ariz. Aug. 1, 2017 The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/article_email/the-public-value-in-the-nea-saguaro-project-1501615219-lMyQjAxMTI3MDAxMjEwNTIyWj/

https://standingwithsaguaros.org/videos/

“Tips and tricks for street photography,” by Jason Kottke May 27, 2016

“15 Street Photography Techniques and Tips,” by Eric Kim, PetaPixel, August 6, 2016. https://petapixel.com/2016/08/06/15-street-photography-techniques-tips/ Accessed November 13, 2017

Horowitz, Alexandra. On Looking: A Walker’s Guide to the Art of Observation. New York: Scribner, 2013.

“Help! Infectious Boredom and Pee-Hoarding Roommates,” by Lynda Barry. September 21, 2017 The Paris Review website. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/09/21/dear-lynda-fickle-secret-admirers-and-tricks-for-not-getting-bored/

http://imjustwalkin.com/

“The City So Nice They Walked It Twice,” by Joshua Rothman, July 29, 2015. NewYorker.Com. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-city-so-nice-they-walked-it-twice

“Eager To Burst His Own Bubble, A Techie Made Apps To Randomize His Life,” by Alix Spiegel and Micaela Rodríguez, Morning Edition, June 8, 2017. https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/06/08/531796329/eager-to-burst-his-own-bubble-a-techie-made-apps-to-randomize-his-life and https://maxhawkins.me/work/the_third_party.html

https://hotelsdave.com/coin-flip-travel-decisions

The Glass Cage: Automation and Us, by Nicholas Carr. 2014.

“Conceptual Art’s Long Shadow,” by Farah Nayerimay, The New York Times, May 18, 2016 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/arts/design/conceptual-arts-long-shadow.html?_r=0

http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/57452

“On ‘Paris Vagabond’,” by Luc Sante, The New York Review of Books, April 7, 2016.

Play Anything: The Pleasure of Limits, the Uses of Boredom, & the Secret of Games, by Ian Bogost. 2016.

Explore Everything: Place-Hacking the City, by Bradley L. Garrett. Verso: London. 2013.

http://www.laweekly.com/news/the-year-i-ate-pico-boulevard-2129883

http://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-pico-boulevard-jonathan-gold-20160607-snap-story.html

“Always Read the Plaque: Mapping Over 10,000 Global Markers & Memorials,” by by Kurt Kohlstedt with assistance from Kester Allen and Roman Mars, May 13, 2016. https://99percentinvisible.org/article/always-read-plaque-mapping-10000-global-markers-memorials/

“The Power of Words to Save Us,” On Being transcript, May 4, 2017. https://onbeing.org/programs/marie-howe-the-power-of-words-to-save-us-may2017/

“There are ‘No Catcall Zones’ around the city now,” by Camille Lawhead. Brokelyn. April 14, 2015 http://brokelyn.com/seriously-cut-crap/

“‘No Catcalling Zone’ Street Signs Crop Up in New York,” by Prachi Gupta, April 15, 2015. Animal New York http://animalnewyork.com/2015/no-catcalling-zone-street-signs-crop-up-in-new-york/

“College Students Are Annotating Their Campus Monuments With Notes on Slavery,” by Cara Giaimo, Atlas Obscura, December 14, 2015. http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/college-students-are-annotating-their-campus-monuments-with-notes-on-slavery

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/04/to-titus-venus-bilhah-and-juba/

“Plaque to the Future: Memorial Stickers Commemorate Everyday People and Places,” by Kurt Kohlstedt. September 8, 2017. http://99percentinvisible.org/article/plaque-future-memorial-stickers-commemorate-everyday-people-places/

http://plaque2thefuture.com/

http://www.myblocknyc.com/

“A Look Back at the Greatest (and Only) Stray Shopping Cart Identification Guide Ever Made,” by Mark Byrnes, CityLab, January 26, 2016. https://www.citylab.com/design/2016/01/a-look-back-at-the-greatest-and-only-stray-shopping-cart-identification-guide-ever-made/426981/

Correspondence and/or conversation with Jim Coudal, Thomas Weis, Paola Antonelli, William Helmreich

 

FOUR: CONNECTING WITH OTHERS

“How Silence Works: Emailed Conversations With Four Trappist Monks,” by Jeremy Mesiano-Crookston. The Awl. June 1, 2012. http://www.theawl.com/2012/06/how-silence-works-trappist-monks

Attention Must Be Paid!” by Barry Schwartz, Slate, September 23, 2013. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2013/09/paying_attention_is_a_skill_schools_need_to_teach_it.html

Explaining KIPP’s ‘SLANT,’” by Elliott Witney, Education Week Bridging Differences blog, April 11, 2013. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2013/04/slant_and_the_golden_rule.html

“The Best Relationship Advice of the Year,” by Elizabeth Bernstein, The Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2018

“Just Breathe: Body Has A Built-In Stress Reliever,” Gretchen Cuda, Morning Edition, December 6, 2010 https://www.npr.org/2010/12/06/131734718/just-breathe-body-has-a-built-in-stress-reliever

When Strangers Meet, by Kio Stark. TED Books; 2016.

“Talking to Strangers,” by Aaron Henkin with Wendel Patrick, Transom.org, November 4, 2013. https://transom.org/2013/talking-strangers/

“This Video Brilliantly Captures Our Fear of Walking in Sync with Strangers,” by Jenny Xie, March 13, 2014. The Atlantic CityLab. http://www.citylab.com/tech/2014/03/video-brilliantly-captures-our-fear-walking-sync-strangers/8634/

“Vito Acconci, an Artist as Influential as He Is Eccentric,” by Randy Kennedy, June 2, 2016, The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/05/arts/design/vito-acconci-an-artist-as-influential-as-he-is-eccentric.html

“Sophie Calle investigates the distance between us in ‘Suite Vénitienne’,” by David L. Ulin, The Los Angeles Times, March 24, 2015 http://beta.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-sophie-calle-suite-venitienne-20150324-story.html

“Ways to Burst Your Filter Bubble,” by Tyler Cowen, BloombergView, January 24, 2017. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-01-24/ways-to-burst-your-filter-bubble

“Oral History Project Wins Prize for Boss,” by Noam Cohen, The New York Times, November 17, 2014 https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/business/media/david-isay-wins-2015-ted-prize-for-storycorps-an-oral-history-project.html

“Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear,” Dave Isay recorded at TED2015 https://www.ted.com/talks/dave_isay_everyone_around_you_has_a_story_the_world_needs_to_hear/up-next#t-16335

“10 ways to have a better conversation,” by Celeste Headlee, TEDxCreativeCoast, April 2015 https://www.ted.com/talks/celeste_headlee_10_ways_to_have_a_better_conversation

https://storycorps.org/participate/great-questions/

https://storycorps.org/discover/one-small-step/

“Ask the aged: Who better to answer questions about the purpose of life than someone who has been living theirs for a long time?,” Karl Pillemer, Aeon, January 19, 2016. https://aeon.co/essays/why-we-should-all-ask-our-elders-about-how-best-to-live

Uncreative Writing: Managing Language in the Digital Age, by Kenneth Goldsmith. Columbia University Press. 2011.

Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self, by Manoush Zomorodi. St. Martin’s Press, New York. 2017.

“How to Feel Less Time Stressed,” by Cassie Mogilner Holmes and Michael Norton, The Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2016

“How to Get More Out of Office Conversations,” by Alison Wood Brooks, The Wall Street Journal, October 2, 2016

“This Is Broken,” Seth Godin talk from 2006 Gel conference. https://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_this_is_broken_1

http://www.amandatiller.com/

“Sam Shepard in Praise of Writing Letters and an Incomparable Art of Human Connection and a Creative Practice,” by Maria Popova. BrainPickings.org. https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/08/31/sam-shepard-letters/

“How Lewis Carroll’s Rules of Letter-Writing Can Make Email More Civil and Digital Communication Kinder,” by Maria Popova. BrainPickings.org. https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/01/27/lewis-carroll-letter-writing-email/

“Love Letters To Strangers,” TED Talk by Hannah Brencher https://www.ted.com/talks/hannah_brencher_love_letters_to_strangers/transcript

https://www.theawl.com/tag/strangers/

“Meet in the Middle,” The Art Asssignment. PBS Digital Studios. http://www.theartassignment.com/assignments/meet-in-the-middle

“Sky readers,” by Gene Tracey, Aeon, December 23, 2015. https://aeon.co/essays/what-have-we-lost-now-we-can-no-longer-read-the-sky

https://www.sarahkpeck.com/movement/walk-talk/

See For Yourself: A Visual Guide To Everyday Beauty, by Rob Forbes. Chronicle Books; 2015.

Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Dutton: New York, NY. 2016.

Correspondence with Seth Godin.

 

FIVE: BEING ALONE

“Tidying up,” by Jason Kottke, Kottke..org, November 2, 2005. https://kottke.org/05/11/tidying-up

“Drop Everything and Read This,” by Verena von Pfetten, The New York Times, May 1, 2016

“How to Use Fun to Find Meaning in Life,” by Julie Beck, TheAtlantic.com, September 13, 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/09/how-to-use-fun-to-find-meaning-in-life/499805/

“Looking for Intimacy in the Age of Facebook,” Andrew Reiner, November 1, 2013 The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/education/edlife/looking-for-intimacy-in-the-age-of-facebook.html

Singal, Jesse. “Why You Should Go to the Movies (and Do Other Stuff) Alone.” April 26, 2015. The Science of Us. http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/04/why-you-should-go-to-the-movies-alone.html

“The Girl Chewing Gum, and the Perils of Google,” Daily Serving, May 12, 2013 Written by Hadley Lyman http://www.dailyserving.com/2013/05/the-girl-chewing-gum-and-the-perils-of-google-2/ and http://johnsmithfilms.com/selected-works/the-girl-chewing-gum/

http://www.paulazuccotti.com

“ ‘This is your life!’ 24 hours, and every object you touched — in pictures.” The Guardian. December 22, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/dec/22/every-thing-we-touch-paula-zuccotti-in-pictures

“One Secret to Cutting Spending: Wait 72 Hours Before You Buy,” by Carl Richards, The New York Times, August 9, 2016

“Design Matters From The Archive: Brian Rea,” Debbie Millman. https://soundcloud.com/designmatters/design-matters-from-the-archive-brian-rea

“QS17 Preview: Overthinking Everything I Own,” Posted on May 21, 2017 by Azure Grant on quantifiedself.com. http://quantifiedself.com/2017/05/qs17-preview-overthinking-everything/

“The Stop Sign Wasn’t Always Red,” by Hilary Greenbaum and Dana Rubinstein, December 9, 2011, New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/magazine/stop-sign.html

“The Labels on These Clothes Tell the Tragic Stories of the Workers Who Made Them: Strong stuff from the Canadian Fair Trade Network,” Adweek, March 31, 2015, by Tim Nudd http://www.adweek.com/creativity/labels-these-clothes-tell-tragic-stories-workers-who-made-them-163769/

http://where-you-are.com/

https://medium.com/@Amy_Siskind

“Trump won, and Amy Siskind started a list of changes. Now it’s a sensation,” by Margaret Sullivan, The Washington Post, June 25, 2017

“The Sweetest Hangover,” by Joshua Glenn, HiLobrow, July 10, 2009. http://hilobrow.com/2009/07/10/the-sweetest-hangover/

“Why Mind Wandering Can Be So Miserable, According to Happiness Experts,” By Libby Copeland, smithsonian.com, February 24, 2017 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-mind-wandering-can-be-so-miserable-according-happiness-experts-180962265

“Mindfulness for Children,” by David Gelles. NYTimes.com. https://www.nytimes.com/guides/well/mindfulness-for-children

“The Invention of Empathy: Rilke, Rodin, and the Art of ‘Inseeing’,” by Maria Popova. BrainPickings, https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/12/14/you-must-change-rilke-rodin-empathy/

“Douglass Rushkoff’s Five Tips for Fighting ‘Present Shock,” by Brian Marchant, Motherboard, April 16, 2013. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8qqj85/douglas-rushkoff-5-ways-to-fight-present-shock

“Unlocking the Secret Logic of Symbols Through Repetition,” Samuel Jablon, September 30, 2016, Hyperallergic. https://hyperallergic.com/326896/unlocking-the-secret-logic-of-symbols-through-repetition/

Wasting Time On The Internet, by Kenneth Goldsmith. Harper Perennial (galley); 2016.

On the Virtues of Preexisting Material,” by Rick Prelinger, January 31, 2013, Contents. http://contentsmagazine.com/articles/on-the-virtues-of-preexisting-material/

“You Made It Weird #380: Timothy Speed Levitch,” August 23, 2017. https://nerdist.com/you-made-it-weird-380-timothy-speed-levitch/

“Comic Mike Birbiglia On His Best Failure And The 3 Rules Of Improv,” July 19, 2016, Fresh Air transcript http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=486560427

“Letters from The Artist’s Way,” Diana Kimball Berlin, August 21, 2016 https://medium.dianakimball.com/letters-from-the-artists-way-9f5f7b9e442

http://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/artists-dates/ Accessed October 9, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/2017/10/09/smarter-living?nlid=70950101

“Reclaim Your Commute,” by Francesca Gino, Bradley Staats, Jon M. Jachimowicz, Julia Lee, Jochen I. Menges, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2017 https://hbr.org/2017/05/reclaim-your-commute

Correspondence and/or conversation with Nicola Twilley, Paul Lukas, Faythe Levine, Rick Prelinger, and Speed Levitch