Archive for the 'MuseCubes' Category

Page 2 of 2

Oct 15 2009

The MuseCube Team Expands

MuseCubeManufacture1

The holiday season is right around the corner, and I have a goal to sell 500 sets of MuseCubes — 5 times the amount sold last year!

Problem is, I don’t have enough time, hands, or patience to make that many sets myself. I need help, and I need it soon!

Enter: Charles and Mariah. They are freshman at West County Community High School (WCCHS), a unique charter school in Richmond, CA of which I am a founder (and to whom I donate a percentage of the MuseCubes profits).

When I advertised for MuseCubes Assistants at WCCHS, Charles and Mariah were the first to send in resumes. I couldn’t be happier! They are bright, eager and thoughtful 14-year-olds. Charles is a boy scout and mows lawns; Mariah has made crafts at home with her mom. For both of them, it’s their first real job.

Yesterday we got together for our first work session. I told them that I’m depending on their creativity and problem solving to design more efficient manufacturing processes. They accepted this assignment with gusto!

As we rocked out to Green Day and Aerosmith (from Charles’ iPod), we painted Mod Podge and experimented. Forever the teacher, I talked to them about Henry Ford’s assembly line process, and we discussed whether it makes more sense to break up our tasks into parts, or have each person make an entire cube.

Here are a few things we learned:

For training purposes, it makes sense to make the whole Cube, so each person understands the entire process.
Charles likes making 3-at-a-time, and seems to be slightly faster than Gretchen’s 18-at-a-time process.
The hot setting on the hairdryer works better than the cold setting.
We’ll try the cottage industry approach, whereby each Assistant takes home a kit and gets paid for the Cube.
As excited as they are to work at their own pace at home, we had such a good time working together! Maybe when I drop by the school to pick up finished Cubes and drop off new kits, we’ll work for two hours together.
Charles & Mariah agree that if we had two more Assistants, we could be really efficient with an assembly line process. They’re going to encourage their friends to apply.

They’re going to see if they can drum up more assistants. In the meantime, I’m grateful to have a growing team of Assistants, so I can focus on marketing while they expand my inventory.

Get ready, folks! MuseCubes make great, inexpensive stocking stuffers at only $15 plus tax, and soon we’ll have plenty to go around.

Filed Under MuseCubes | no comments

Aug 28 2009

MuseCubes in the Blogosphere

The Making of the MuseCubes MuseCubes are popping up everywhere! I’m especially grateful to a group of creative women bloggers who have spread the word this month.

As Jenn, Jamie, Leah and Cynthia share their impressions of the MuseCubes, I’m learning oodles about the power of whimsy to embolden people’s lives.

Thank you, ladies, for your kind words, generous spirit, and astute observations. Read on:

MuseCubes Stir Up Creativity Thinking

One way to stir creative thinking is to bring together concepts or ideas and see what happens when they hang out. Gretchen Wegner has done that in a delicious and beautiful way with MuseCubes. … Whenever you need to shake things up a bit, just toss and play. Every roll gets your body involved and shifts your energy. Here’s what happened when I rolled Sigh & Dance: (Watch the short video of Jamie’s Sigh Dance here).

~ Jamie Ridler, Creative Self Development Coach

MuseCubes Cure Writer’s Block

Often when I have writer’s block, it’s because I’m stuck in my head. I have all that inner critic stuff going on, and it’s really not helpful. … My friend and blogger Gretchen Wegner created a tool called the MuseCubes. You roll them, do what they say, and that really helps get you into your body and into the flow. (Watch the entire interview on Blogher).

~ Jennifer Lee, Artizen Coaching

MuseCubes Ease You From Constriction to Spaciousness

The way we are in our bodies moves us from constriction to openness and spaciousness. If I want to have an open mind, it is helpful to start from a place of movement. It’s the fastest way to do it. … This is one of the reasons I love Gretchen’s MuseCubes. I find that I have to roll the dice three times to get myself over the hump of being self conscious about it. That self consciousness is a constricted, narrow, self evaluating (and other evaluating) way of being. (Listen to the whole interview with Leah Piken Kolidas here).

~ Cynthia Winton Henry, co-founder of InterPlay

Filed Under MuseCubes | 3 Comments

Aug 10 2009

You Got Skills? MuseCubes Photographers Needed.

Nature MuseCubes

MuseCubes Non-Natural Environments

I’ll cut to the chase — MuseCubes need help! Of the photographic variety.

I’ve done a fairly good job with my point-and-shoot Canon, taking pictures of the MuseCubes in outdoor settings (click on the photos above to see an album of my pics).

But now that I’m about to publish a how-to booklet and a new website, I need photographs of MuseCubes in a more practical context (at the computer, for example). I’ve tried, but I just can’t get the light right. See what I mean?:

Might you (or someone you know) be willing to:

Take some photographs of the MuseCubes? ~and/or~
Teach me about indoor lighting and help me take my own pics?

In return I will:

Send you a couple sets of MuseCubes to use & then keep,
Give you credit on my website and on promo material where I use your pics
Refer you like crazy and write a kick butt testimonial, if you want one.

One of the reasons I need help is that I’m not just looking for a standard product shot against a while or colored background. The photographs I imagine are artful, kinda funky, and tell a story about where and how people use the MuseCubes:

On a laptop keyboard. Next to writing pad/pen. Amidst paintbrushes & art supplies.
Falling out of a purse, briefcase, backpack, or diaper bag. On a conference table.

If you’re interested in helping, please email me at themusemonkey [at] gmail [dot] com. For more info about the MuseCubes, check out www.musecubes.com.

And finally — a huge thank you! MuseCubes are, through and through, a community-supported creation. On my birthday last year, over 20 folks stopped by to cut and glue. Artists across the country have submitted gorgeous art for new MuseCube products (that I’ll launch this holiday season). Folks have offered legal and financial advice.

The support has been both humbling and inspiring, and I intend the circle-of-giving to extend much further — eventually, by starting a MuseCubes foundation to support innovation in public education (in fact, in January I donated 2008 profits to support West County Community High School).

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Filed Under MuseCubes | 1 Comment

Jul 08 2009

Call for Art Submissions

A year ago, MuseCubes started as a wacky and artful tool to help folks get more into their bodies. This summer & fall I’m launching the new-and-improved Cubes as well as three new products.

And I need some help. More specifically, I need art!

The Background

When I first created the MuseCubes, I cut sections of art images out of magazines and glued them onto wooden blocks.

Much as I loved recycling old magazines, there was concern that I wasn’t giving the artists credit for their oh-so-important contribution. And that didn’t feel right.

The Request

So, in preparation for the launch of the newest line of MuseCubes, I’m looking for artists who are enthusiastic about sharing a digital copy of their artwork for the MuseCube cause. Here’s what I’m looking for:

A digital image in a .jpg or .png format, resolution: 300 dpi , image size: between 3 x 5 in – 8.5 x 11 in
Lots of detail, texture and/or color
Original can be any medium — paint, sculpture, photograph, architecture, fabric, etc. The more diverse, the better.
I’ll review the first round of submissions by August 3rd (but feel free to send more after that date)
Email submissions to themusemonkey [at] gmail [dot] com

Please note: the cubes are very small (1″ x 1″). If I use your piece, I will crop it such that a different section will appear on each of the 6 sides of the cubes. That’s why I’m asking for pieces with a fair amount of detail, color, and texture. You can view pictures of the actual cubes on the website. Here’s an example of what the newer template looks like:

In Return

I’m so grateful for your generosity in sharing a piece of your creative spirit with me. If I decide to use your artwork on the newest MuseCubes, here’s what I’m thrilled to provide in return:

A link to your website featured on www.MuseCubes.com, and
Two complimentary sets of the MuseCubes

A final note: a percentage of all profits of MuseCubes goes to support public education. My ultimate vision is to start a foundation that helps kids, families, and communities create bold and innovative solutions to helping kids create the education of their dreams. Your artwork contributes to this cause.

Please comment if you have any questions (the link is up under the heading of the post). Email works too. Again, that’s themusemonkey [at] gmail [dot] com.

Filed Under MuseCubes | 2 Comments

Jul 04 2009

The Hoopla: Playful Ritual at Its Best

The Hoopla Hoop that was decorated at our housewarming party a year ago.

My roommate Katherine just left on a potentially life-altering trip to Germany. Since we’re both play-and-ritual junkies, this morning we had fun acknowledging her big transition in style.

Breakfast

First, I made a delicious french toast breakfast.

Then for a blessing, we rolled a large wooden die with German meal prayers on each side. (Little known fact: this was the original inspiration for the MuseCubes). Because Katherine had bought the die on a previous trip to Germany, this blessing was especially meaningful today.

Instead of an “Amen,” we shared a MuseCube moment which consisted of jumping and giggling in the middle of the kitchen. It turns out MuseCubes are a highly flexible tool for creative living (not just for stuckness). Thus inspired, we ate our breakfast while discussing theology, romance, and travel tips.

Hoopla

A hoopla is a playful ritual designed to celebrate and affirm the hoops that we jump through in our lives. Click here to see Cynthia Winton Henry describe the first hoopla.

Last year at our housewarming party, we invited fellow revelers to decorate our hoola hoop (pictured above). Whenever there is an occasion worthy of marking, my housemates and I improvise a hoopla.

Today in honor of Katherine’s big trip, I held the hoop at the threshold of our front door. She left the house by leaping through the hoop head first. We hugged, and she drove off!

Gratitude

The Hoopla is brilliant partially because it’s so ridiculous. I mean, it’s a hoola hoop, for goodness sakes! It’s playful, unpretentious, and ultimately profound. In our household, most of our hooplas take less than 2 minutes. Each is unique. They often occur in the kitchen (where we share stories about our day while we cook).

Gosh, I love living with women who co-create such depth, richness, and proFUNdity. Thank you, Kelly and Katherine. On this, the one year anniversary of our housewarming, I’m so grateful to be living with you! (By the way, Kelly did not get to participate in this particular hoopla because she was off to Napa Valley for wine tasting, lucky gal. But she was definitely here in spirit).

Filed Under MuseCubes | 3 Comments

Jul 02 2009

The Inspiring Science of Fitness & the Brain

I think I’m in love with Dr. John J. Ratey. What’s not to love about this declaration:

What I aim to do here is to deliver in plain English the inspiring science connecting exercise and the brain and to demonstrate how it plays out in the lives of people.” p. 7, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

Amen!! Now that I’ve just outted myself as an ecstatic nerd, let me explain.

Lately I’ve been on a crusade to get more people “using the brains in their whole body.” This is a deeply personal crusade, as well as a professional one.

PE Classes That Teach Kids to Think!?

As an educator, I got especially excited about Ratey’s case study of a revolutionary approach to PE classes. Imagine– heart rate monitors replacing dodge ball:

The essence of physical education in Naperville 203 is teaching fitness instead of sports. The underlying philosophy is that if physical education class can be used to instruct kids how to monitor and maintain their own health and fitness, then the lessons they learn will serve them for life. And probably a longer and happier life at that. Spark, p. 12

Ratey presents study after study that proves that fitness is essential to maximizing not only people’s health & happiness — but also their smarts. Turns out we think especially clearly and effectively after we engage in:

30 minutes of aerobic activity, and
complex physical tasks.

This kind of fitness literally builds new neuropathways in our brains, as well as strengthens old ones. As the coaches in Naperville 203 are fond of saying, “in [the PE] department, we create the brain cells. It’s up to the other teachers to fill them” (Spark, p. 19).

MuseCubes Help Us Remember to Move

I’ve known through experience that movement effects my thinking. In fact, the more I move, the more I experience freedom, passion, balance, and productivity.

What’s amazing to me, though, is how often I forget to move! Yesterday I spent over 6 hours on the computer. I woke up this morning in physical pain, emotionally drained, and without an ounce of alertness.

As a heady intellectual, I’m constantly looking for ways to be more embodied. That’s where MuseCubes come in.

Now, a MuseCubes break takes 30 seconds, not the recommended 30 minutes. However, I notice this: the more I remember to roll the MuseCubes, the more I choose to move in other aspects of my life, too.

For example, on days that I wiggle and howl with the MuseCubes, I’m more likely to take a 10 minute dance break, and then ALSO go on a longer walk. Movement inspires more movement, which eventually builds up to fitness! Ahhh, I love incrementality.

Ratey himself says that “the most important thing is to do something” (Spark, p. 250). And if that something ultimately adds up to six hours a week of exercise on behalf of your brain — well, that sure is smart!

OK, speaking of moving, I’m gonna finish this blog post and walk to the library to return Ratey’s book. What are you going to do to exercise today?

Filed Under MuseCubes | 4 Comments

Jun 09 2009

“Relax Your Brain” with MuseCubes

Last August I invented an office toy called the MuseCubes. It’s designed to liberate people who think too much.

Although I originally intended the MuseCubes for grown-ups, teachers have been buying them right and left. They recognize the MuseCubes as the perfect, short break for stressed out students.

This afternoon, a geography teacher from a high school in Texas sent me the most amazing email. She’d just read through all her course evaluations and couldn’t help but notice all the references to MuseCubes. Dedicated customer that she is, she typed up her teenagers’ words for me to read:

You should keep the muse cubes. They’re really fun and when you do what they tell you to do, it’s funny and it gets our hopes up. –Jose M.

I think you should keep the fun little cube game for next year because it relaxes our brain by making us laugh and, in that way, we think better. –Maria S

You should keep the muze cubes because they are a lot of fun and they are a great way of giving us a well needed break but not losing our focus at the same time. -Cesar M.

You should keep the little dice thing because that’s funny. –Irving A.

I think the cubes you used at the end of the semester were awesome and it lightened up the classroom when it was dead. -Lizeth C.

You should keep the silly dances you would do when we were tired. -Mariza S. [Note: Mariza is referring to the fact that, sometimes the kids would watch Susan while she, alone, did what the MuseCubes said to do. It must be refreshing for students to watch an adult be such a goofball. At least, Mariza thought so!]

Wow! This is such great feedback. I’m thrilled that Susan’s students realize how important movement and laughter is for their brains.

We humans were not designed to sit and think for hours on end. We were designed to move and think.

Thank you, Susan, for taking the time to share your students’ words!

Filed Under MuseCubes | 1 Comment

May 14 2009

Move Your Body, Solve Your Problem!

Anyone who knows me is aware that I’m crazy about the links between movement and cognition (“embodied cognition” is the fancy term for it, I’ve recently learned).

So imagine my thrill when the following headline came across my email today:

Body Movements Can Influence Problem Solving, Researchers Report

In a recent study subjects were asked to solve a problem while taking occasional movement breaks. The problem involved strings that swung from the ceiling. Researchers discovered that the subjects who swung their arms during breaks were 40% more likely to solve the problem than people who simply stretched. Evidently, the subjects’ unconscious kinesthetic identification with the swinging motion helped them solve the problem!

You can read the whole article here if you want to, or just check out these excerpts by University of Illiois Professor Alejandro Lleras:

“This emerging research is fascinating because it is demonstrating how your body is a part of your mind in a powerful way. The way you think is affected by your body and, in fact, we can use our bodies to help us think.”

He continues with this practical take-home message (which makes me very, very happy):

If you are stuck trying to solve a problem, take a break. Go do something else. This will ensure that the next time you think about that problem, you will literally approach it with a different mind.

I’m crazy about this advice because my invention — the MuseCubes — are based on the idea that we can use our bodies to help us think.

The MuseCubes are a set of dice designed to — quite literally! — shake you free when you’re feeing stuck. The picture at the beginning of the post shows you one of the original sets.

Recently my InterPlay colleague Dorothy tried out the MuseCubes with some stressed out students at Yale University:

MuseCubes were SUCH A HIT on campus at Yale last week! SUCH A HIT! There were so many twisting-moaning, shaking-yelling, bending-howling moments. People letting loose and feeling more ready than ever to tackle their end of year classwork! PEOPLE LOVED THEM! I LOVED THEM MORE THAN EVER!

I’m so glad that my product could help bring stressed out students relief!

(Side Note: There are shocking statistics about mental health on college campuses, and I believe that is partially because of the unbalanced and unembodied ways we are expected to learn. But more about that in future blog posts).

What about you? What can YOU do to act on this research?

If you’re curious about MuseCubes, please check out the website. I’m happy to send you a set or two.
If you’re jazzed about this topic, and would like to read about how I used movement to help graduate students unpack heady concepts, check out this blog post about using the brains in our whole body.
Maybe you need to go take a break right now?!
But first, please comment below: how have you noticed movement influencing the way you think?