A 2019 Gift Guide for Documentarians + Creatives (068) - Dangerously Good Stories

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A 2019 Gift Guide for Documentarians + Creatives (068)

November 19, 2019

I love hearing about products and services other people love, so I thought I’d put together a slim little gift guide for documentarians, storytellers and those of us who want to live life wide awake…. 

1. MadTree Woodcrafts — Legacy Box

MadTree Woodcrafts is an Etsy Shop. 

Dimensions of my boxes: 12″ x 16″ x 10″

I ordered one for each kid and have been filling it slowly. They live on a shelf in my closet (I have a huge closet) and bring me so much joy when I see them! 

Who could you start a box for? Or, instead of a Legacy Box, could you create a memory box for yourself?

2. Chatbooks — Prints, Books and Photo String Clip

I use the app on my phone. I’m almost embarrassed to say (to my photographer audience) that I’ve rarely pulled out my DSLR this year. I don’t know how I used to carry it with me with a toddler, a baby and all their luggage in tow, because today as my kids can handle themselves and don’t have the luggage we used to carry, it feels so dang heavy. I’ve been using my phone. 

I love their books! Go back to episode 016 where I talk about what I put in them beyond the obvious photos of moments and tiny stories. 

Recently, I ordered their prints. They’re not on photo paper, it’s more like card stock. I’m not sure how I feel about that — I do thing the quality of the images is lost a bit (which could also be the iPhone or bad lighting), but I love the ease of ordering from my phone. They’re cheap too, so I let my kids pick a few every time I order. I made a collage out of the photos to hang in the my husband’s garage workshop and it looks fantastic! 

And I just ordered the string with clips and LOVE it. I wish they had it in silver, but the bronzy copper colored clips are fine. 

Use FEARLESSANDFRAMED at checkout for $10 off your order

Photo books and prints are always a reliably successful gift! The photo clips would be a great stocking stuffer… wish I’d thought of that BEFORE I hung the one in my daughter’s room. 

3. The Story of My Life book from Target

Have you done any historic documenting? I’m not talking about ancestry stuff or events in history…. 

When you sign up with my bookkeeping service (more on them a little later), they ask if you need help with historic bookkeeping. Meaning, do you need help with past months you haven’t done the bookkeeping work on? 

The phrase inspired me to dub going back to record our own past stories as historic documenting. A whole world of documenting was opened up to me a few years back when I realized I can go back and record my own stories and history.

For so long, I’d been documenting all the moments happening in real time, but the reality is that we can still document stories of the past.

Maybe not in the way you would have if you were IN the moment (i.e. my grandparents property was sold, but I can still record the story by telling it in audio… like with StoryBox from episode 067 or in writing).

So, awhile back, I found this book at Target called The Story of My Life. 

I’ve really enjoyed sitting down for even 10 minutes a week and filling out a single page. It’s been a really light, long(ish) term project… meaning, I’m not sitting down and devouring the questions. 

This would make a fantastic gift for you to fill out for yourself, to give to your kids or to purchase for loved ones to fill out, so that you can read their stories later and have their handwriting. 

4. The Photo Organizers

I interviewed Cathy Nielsen of Association of Professional Photo Organizers in episode 040. 

I didn’t do their classes, but I had temporary access to them. I’m kicking myself now for not completing them, but omgoodness the content looked so helpful. You can even become a member of APPO and become a certified professional photo organizer. 

What if, you get certified for yourself, and gift services to your closest family members or even friends? It may be a big job, depending on their collection, but I think this would be a gift of service where you’d also strengthen your relationship through the connection that sparks from learning their stories. 

5.  Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte

I told myself not to buy any more education in 2019…. and then I saw that Building a Second Brain was open in early October and I couldn’t resist. 

Ever heard of personal knowledge management?

Yeah, I didn’t think so. 

So, I heard Tiago on Alex Beadon’s podcast. He was talking about all the knowledge consumption happening today and how most people don’t have a system to filter the knowledge and inspiration into personal notes that can be used later to fuel creativity and enhance productivity. 

All I knew was that I have posts saved in Facebook, on Instagram, a ton of screenshots on all of my devices, things I’ve emailed to myself and it’s all essentially a knowledge graveyard. Rarely to do I re-look at things and when I do, I find it was usually something somewhat recent that just by chance came up in my head again at a useful time. 

So the idea of building a system to manage all of that in a way I can actually USE the things I’m saving spoke to my soul. 

Listen… I know what some of you might be thinking. I’m NOT talking about just throwing all the things into an app like Evernote, Notion, OneNote, etc. This is a SYSTEM. 

I DEVOURED this course. I loved that on the first call, there was a man almost 80 who was in it for the second time. 

I read so many books, watch TV and movies, listen to podcasts, see posts, read articles, you name it that fuel my creativity… but without collecting it AND having a system so that it can serve me later… the consumption is literally a waste of time. Much of it gets forgotten. 

So, I’ve absolutely loved this course. I’ve just finished Unit 4 (2 more to go). 

This would be a great gift for people you know with a zillllllion ideas or who do a ton of research and personal knowledge management is LIFE (or… it will be once they do BASB).

6. Unleash Your Inner Boss Babe

I don’t have the best relationship with my money YET. I’m working on it. 

I heard about this workbook from a podcast, can’t remember which one, and it was only $20 on Amazon. 

It’s 21 days of simple activities that give your money mindset an overhaul. A lot of the exercises are things I’ve learned and done before, but have gotten away from… needless to say, I loved it! 

I have a tendency to worry about money (even when my bank situation is fine) and to choose projects and tasks based on their monetary potential… some might call that being a smart, profitable business owner, but it leaves you restless when you’re not cultivating your curiosity, creativity and play for the sake of it. Not EVERYTHING needs to have an outcome and this book is helping me have the permission slip I’ve needed to just BE… not always working towards a specific result. 

This gift would be good for anyone who has been struggling with money, or who you know has felt like a slave to doing the “should-dos” and “have-tos,” or who has had a bit of a negative outlook on things lately (raising my hand). 

7. Hire Aubrey Vejvoda of Whole Woman Healing for a Hypnosis

Google “Future Me meditations” and other themed guided meditations for a little preview. If you genuinely give a few a try and love how you feel after, then upgrade to a 1:1 meditation… seriously. 

Aubrey and I recently recorded an episode for Intentional Documentary which will come out in 2020. She did a quick meditation for us right in the episode… yeah, so cool! I felt so relaxed on the other side of it. In my life (at the end of September 2019) was feeling incredibly stressed and overwhelmed, so I ended up booking 6 sessions with her. 

I’ve had 2 now and have had homework in-between. 

I’ve been doing other energy work alongside this (like the Unleash Your Inner Boss Babe book) too, but am really loving the effects of conducting my own mini self-hypnosises in-between my sessions that were crafted by Aubrey.

I’ll have to report back after I’m done with my 6 sessions, but so far, LOVE. 

This would be a fantastic gift, again, for yourself or for anyone open to reduce stress and to feel more free in their day-to-day. Friends and family into journaling, self-awareness work, visualization techniques will eat this up. 

8. The Last Word movie

If you’re cool with colorful language and you vibe with me and this podcast, you’ll probably love this movie. 

Shirley plays Harriet who’s lived her life as a raging control freak and not a very nice person. 

Long story short, she wants her obituary written before her death and when she reads what it’ll say, she decides to make some big life changes. 

I love this movie, because it has a purposeful story… especially if you start thinking about what your story would look like if you were in Harriet. At the same time, it’s got a light, rom com vibe. 

9. The PowerSheets by Cultivate What Matters

This is my 3rd year using the PowerSheets. This isn’t a day planner, it’s a goal planner. I love this time of year… I love the nesting in preparation for the new year. I love the reflection. I love the feeling of possibility in the air. 

If you’ve never been great with goal-setting or you tend to give up on your goals, this would be worth a try. It’s expertly guided. It’s colorful and energetic. And it’s a dedicated space in your life for the future stories you want to write for yourself… it’s decluttered from the day-to-day other noise. 

This year, they’ve added a calendar in each month. I’m SO excited about this, because part of my own practice f/k/a The Preservation Project to manage our tiny stories, in Cultivation I dole out an exercise to put story opportunities on a calendar. 

Meaning… stories to look for. Stories you want to notice. Stories you want to record. Stories you want to experience. 

Well… I’ve not exactly wanted that blended in with my business or family calendars… so I feel like this will be the perfect place…. at least until my own Playbook for our Tiny Stories is printed…. which will come into fruition, it’s just not quite there yet. 

So, because the PowerSheets is our most high-level, meaningful things to focus on in terms of goals, it’s the perfect companion for our high-level stories to pay attention to. 

10. FitBit Charge 2

I could go all day behind my laptop, because I what I do so much! I have to remember to MOVE my body.

I don’t wear jewelry and thought I didn’t need this, because I have the Health app on my iPhone…. but I’m so glad I my FitBit Charge 2!

What gets tracked grows and that’s exactly what’s happened with my body movement. Plus, I’ve been monitoring my sleep and testify that this thing has improved my discipline for lights out by 9:30 p.m.

This is a great gift for anyone who gets lost in flow for hours on end behind the laptop. Plus, it’s fun to do step challenges with your friends!

11. iRobot Roomba

It’s really hard for me to fully dive into my creative state when there’s clutter on the counters or the floors are messy. I don’t need a *deep clean* to function well, but things need to be decluttered.

We don’t even have WIFI, so I can’t use the fancy auto schedules or turn “Robby” (our Roomba) on when I’m not home. Still, I LOVE this thing. I love doing a quick pick up and turning it on when we leave the house. We come home to a cleaner feeling for sure!

A Roomba would be a fabulous gift for any Creative who loses time, because he/she can’t NOT clean before diving in. This will give him/her some time back.

12. The Tiny Story Society

I couldn’t wrap this up without adding one of my creations to the mix!

The Tiny Story Society is a brand new program to help busy, AMBITIOUS, family-centric Creatives live 2020 with less noise and more purpose using tiny story magic.

This is a full year with me of light, invigorating activities for the stories in your life. These activities will heighten your awareness and you’ll find yourself with more moments of opportunity to respond to your tiny stories in meaningful ways.

Alongside business planning, I’ll host monthly Slow Down Sessions where we turn back to the things we want to notice more of as a way to experience more joy, love and intentional serendipity in our lives.

In short, the Tiny Story Society will help you drown out the noise in 2020 and keep what matters front of mind… while you keep slaying goals.

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