Low-cost experiments you can try this month

Here are seven “What Happens Next” style experiments simple, cheap, and designed to create data about what fits you.  The 4-Week Creative Sampler Week 1: drawing. Week 2: writing. Week 3: music. Week 4: photography. At the end, rate each out of 10 for enjoyment and wanting to do it again.  The “Bad Art” Challenge Make something deliberatelydays. This is exposure therapy for perfectionism.  The […]

Wellbeing stacking: why creative pursuits punch above their weight

In What Happens Next terms, the best habits are the ones that improve multiple wellbeing domains at once.  Creativity is a classic “stacker” because it can support:  Intellectual wellbeing: learning, attention, memory, novelty   Social wellbeing: clubs, groups, shared practice wellbeing: contribution, volunteering, shared culture  Mental wellbeing: stress reduction, emotional processing, flow” Purpose and values: identity beyond work; “reason to get […]

The art of the ‘golden mean’ and why this might be the key to what happens next.

If you’re in your 50’s and 60’s  and been thinking about, reading about and doing research on , you’ve probably noticed an annoying truth:  Most advice and perspectives, particularly online, comes in extremes…  “Go all in.”  “Quit your job.”  “Move to Portugal.”  “Sell everything you own and start again in Malaysia.”  “Hustle harder.”  “Stop doing everything completely today.”  But real life, especially something as important as the next chapter of life, is rarely solved by swinging from one […]