Prompt Foolishness

As an example of the previous post on Foolish Prompts, I pick a random number and get #23 Imagine: Misremember the Past:

What memories are getting in the way? How can I misremember them?

I list 3 memories that are getting in my way. I remember:

1. That I haven't been writing recently.
2. All the other things I could be doing instead.
3. How difficult writing this blog can be.

I imagine things being different. I misremember the past:

1. I picture myself having written everyday, all week.
2. I keep coming back to the same thing; I can blog, or I can blog, or I can blog.
3. Blogging is easy!

I focus on just one of these. I go to my To Do list and start listing all the things I have to do today. I pretend all I can remember is

• Write blog
• Write blog
• Write blog
• Write blog
• Write blog

It becomes a game. When I ask myself, “What do I do now?” the answer is, “To blog!” 

I start writing, but eventually want to procrastinate. How do I procrastinate? By writing my blog!

If I forget, I check my To Do list. I make multiple To Do lists, all with the same item repeated. I can have one on my computer; one on my phone; one in a notebook; and one on a scrap of paper. I have fun with the silliness of this seemingly pointless task.

Do I believe this all I have to do today? No, I'm just playing. Will this get me to blog everyday? No, I'm just trying something foolish for short-term gains. It got me to write about half of this entry. Then, a few days later, it got me to write the rest. For me, totally worth it.

Now what do I do?

Correction

I've made a huge mistake. Don't think foolishly, it will get you in trouble. The name of this blog has been changed to reflect the new editorial direction.

Foolish Prompt

[This week, as I resurrect this blog, I use foolish thinking to help me get back to writing again.]

Sometimes, you need a random act of foolery.

Step 1: Generate a random number between 1 and 60:


Step 2: Find your number on the list below:

RISK
#1: Look for Trouble
#2: Make Things More Difficult
#3: Don't Solve the Problem
#4: Set Yourself Up for Failure
#5: Try a Really Bad Idea
#6: Scare Yourself
#7: Make a Fool Out of Yourself
#8: Seek Rejection
#9: Trust in Dumb Luck
#10: Use Weaknesses as Strengths
#11: Fix What Ain't Broken
#12: Never Give Up
#13: Give Up
#14: Repeat Repeat Repeat
#15: Play It Safe
IMAGINE
#16: Imagine the Impossibilities
#17: Connect the Unrelated
#18: Transform Objects
#19: Borrow Ideas
#20: Exaggerate the Details
#21: Fantasize the Future
#22: Picture an Audience
#23: Misremember the Past
#24: Worry about Everything
#25: Destroy
PLAY
#26: Make Fun
#27: Do the Opposite
#28: Manipulate Time and Space
#29: Act without Reason
#30: Make and Break the Rules
#31: Compete with Yourself
#33: Use More Effort Than Necessary
#34: Use What's Handy
#35: Secretly Cooperate
#36: Fool Around
#37: Make Music
#38: Be Serious
PRETEND
#39: Change Identity
#40: Do the Wrong Thing
#41: Act Crazily
#42: Fool Others
#43: Fool Yourself
#44: Get Caught Up in the Moment
#45: Overreact
#46: Go Through the Motions
#47: Know Everything
#48: Enjoy Failure
#49: Play Yourself
OBSERVE
#50: Spy on the World
#51: Misunderstand
#52: Look for Laughs
#53: Change Your Perspective
#54: Pay Attention to the Unnoticed
#55: Follow and Trip Assumptions
#56: Listen to your Unconscious
#57: Ride the Opportunities
#58: Find the Best in the Worst
#59: Don't Think
#60: Think Like You

(from 60 Ways To Think Like a Fool)

Step 3: Apply the prompt to your problem. Or use it all day. Or all week! Or forever!

Next: Applying a random prompt to get me to write this blog.

How Long Should a Blog Post Be?

For a fool, this blog post is long enough.

[This week, as I resurrect this blog, I use foolish thinking to help me get back to writing again.]

 

Your Moment of Fool

[This week, as I resurrect this blog, I use foolish thinking to help me to write again.]

I haven't written in this blog in a long time. But here I am writing while big snowflakes fall outside. There is no time like the present they say, so I'll let these words fall like snowflakes, fill the page, get me started writing again.

How can thinking like a fool get me to write again, get me to use writing to learn again, and get me to share what I've learned to teach?

I put on my imaginary clown nose, my dunce cap, and my jester's hat, and the two hats fight it out for time and space, and the clown nose sneezes, and the video goes out. What video? The one that just went out, silly. The one I was watching to procrastinate writing.

I am a fool, and I write, right? I see the snow fall through the barely open curtains, through the window, through my brain synapsing. And the snow reminds me that the world outside, the present moments, remind me, that that's all I need, that that's all I need to start writing again, to start feeling, thinking, acting foolish again. I think, therefore, I fool, therefore I write, therefore I play. Wright? Achoo!
Makes nonsense to me.

Takeaway: A fool uses the present moment as a jumping-off point to start writing.

“What The Fool?!?” short film

15 Minutes of Foolery—Part Two

Before you read this, read Part One.

Good.

So, you just woke up. Do what you need to do. Fantastic. Let's begin:

1. Set a timer for 15 minutes.
2. Choose a simple problem. Maybe an object will inspire you. It's not so important what you pick.
3. Think foolishly to find a bunch of solutions. This is a 15 minute break from censoring yourself.
4. Set a goal for how many you will come up with in this time period. Make a list of your foolutions. I try to write down at least 10. If I have more time, I keep going.
5. Stuck? Pick a prompt from How to Think Like a Fool in 60 Ways. That's why I collected them.
6. This can be done on paper, in your head, or in action, or a combination of all three. Play around. Fool around. 10 bad ideas could lead to a great one.

Try this out, personalizing the structure as you like. Tomorrow, I'll give an example of one of my own 15 Minutes of Foolery.