The Noticing Notebook

Plus, notes on ChatGPT, journaling prompts, letter writing, and more.

Hi friends,

I’m in love with my new pocket journal. It’s bright yellow and fits into my purse perfectly! I bought the journal on a recent trip because journals are the best souvenirs.

I’m calling the journal my “Noticing Notebook.” My goal is to record three things that I notice daily in the notebook. Usually, my list is much longer! So far, the project has helped me get out of my head and pay attention to my surroundings.

With that, here’s a list of links that sparked my creativity and curiosity recently:

1.) Lately, ChatGPT has been in the news, and it’s come up in conversations with my friends. I was curious about ChatGPT, so I signed up for an account to learn how it works.

I can see myself using ChatGPT for brainstorming things like journaling prompts. For example, I asked the chatbot:

Can you give me a few journaling prompts about delight?

ChatGPT generated 10 prompts in under 30 seconds! It was amazing. Here are a few examples:

1.) Imagine a perfect day filled with nothing but delight. What would it look like?

2.) Write about a person in your life who brings you constant delight.

3.) Write about a hobby or interest that brings you unbridled joy and delight.

If you want to learn about ChatGPT, listen to Ezra Klein’s conversation with A.I. expert Gary Marcus—A Skeptical Take on the A.I. Revolution. It’s a deep and thoughtful conversation.

2.) Jillian Hess’s article about Jane Ratcliffe’s note taking process was interesting and helpful. I might adopt Ratcliffe’s check mark system. I also enjoyed reading Hess’s article about Octavia Butler. She recently visited the Huntington Library and read Octavia Butler’s papers. Now I want to visit the library! It looks like an amazing place.

3.) Scratch: Writers, Money and the Art of Making a Living by Manjula Martin is excellent. I read Martin’s book when it was released in 2017. The following essay was in Martin’s book, and I enjoyed reading it again — Cheryl Strayed Was $85,000 in Debt When Her Memoir Wild Got Published.

4.) Letters Against Isolation is a cool project. I signed up to be a letter writer!

5.) The following interview and articles helped me understand the tech layoffs that have been happening. Plus, the articles reminded me that “work won’t love you back.”

• Why are there so many tech layoffs, and why should we be worried? Stanford scholar explains:

As layoffs in the tech sector mount, Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer is worried. Research – by him, and others – has shown that the stress layoffs create takes a devastating toll on behavioral and physical health and increases mortality and morbidity substantially. Layoffs literally kill people, he said.

• Layoffs by Email Show What Employers Really Think of Their Workers

• Layoff Brain: Dispatches from a defensive crouch

• 25 Ways to Help Someone Who's Been Laid Off

6.) The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is a beautiful, animated film. Charlie Mackey’s book, by the same name, is similarly exquisite. The film and book are deeply moving. I also watched a documentary about Mackey. Learning about his creative process was interesting and inspiring!

7.) NPR has the best animal stories:

• How an Alaskan 'puppy bus' went viral on TikTok

• A curious Colorado bear strikes a pose for 400 selfies on a wildlife camera

My Queen strikes a pose.

8.) For my fellow cat lovers: Dr. Delgado’s blog — What Your Cat Wants — is helpful. Also, How to Interact with Your Cat is full of good tips:

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With gratitude,

Tammy Strobel