I was invited to speak at TEDxVienna 2022. What an amazing experience—a thrill and a privilege.

The talk was called “How to Find Attention, Mindfulness, and Creativity in the Ordinary”. It was all about paying attention and “collecting with photography”, framing these activities as a way to use and grow your attention and mindfulness, and ultimately enhance your wellness and creativity.

I showed examples of my own work as well as other talented folks’ projects, and tried to help people get out and make things.

Huge thank you to Vlad, Alina, and Marcus! Every speaker, staff, volunteer, and guest I got to talk with was fantastic. A perfect event—thanks and respect to all of you!

The speaker videos aren’t online yet but I will link them up when posted.

Update January 2023: Here it is! First, watch me screw up the clicker for the first three or so slides. It kept jumping ahead two slides rather than one, but I finally got the hang of it

Then, please watch the rest of the talk. It’s probably the most detailed—both tactically and philosophically—look at my collect / curate / create / change approach to finding and fleshing out projects. But it also goes a little deeper, talking not just about the inputs and outputs, but the benefits as well.

I also show lots of examples of others’ clever and creative work. Austin Kleon just wrote a nice blog post that sums things up perfectly, and weaves his own always-sharp insights into the story. His work is included, along with Dave Gray Lisa Rienermann, Michael Pederson, Clotilde Olyff, and others, including a project by Jessica Helfand ‘s students at the Yale University School of Art (they used my found lists as inspiration for an assignment). Gratitude and respect to all of you.

And huge thanks to Diane for really helping me hone in on what was most important in this talk as I struggled with it

It runs the full 18 minute TEDx time limit, so hit play and chill for a bit.

Again, thank you to the @TEDxVienna, team, the other 2022 speakers (you’re all kind and brilliant), and of course the folks whose “everyday” creative work inspires me and so many others. I hope there’s something in this talk that can do the same for you.

The photos are by Cherie Hansson / TEDX Vienna.