THE MOON IS A METAPHOR:
We make workbooks, ask questions, share prompts, and create tools to inspire different ways of thinking.
What's the point?
Observing inner life in this format can be useful for both addressing the specific (ie: starting a new project or addressing an emotional block) or more generally distilling the magnitude of ongoingness into tangible examples.
Perhaps the prompts can just be a “better” way to waste time than idle scrolling...
WHY JOURNALING?
Journaling can synthesize our idea of who we appear to be and who we actually are, serving as a hinge between our abstract ideas of personhood versus the tangible details of our days.
In other words, the things you pay attention to are what you become.
“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don't bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”
— R. Buckminster Fuller
How to use the Moon Lists:
“Artists, poets, whatever you want to call those people whose job is “making” take in the commonplace and are forever recognizing it as worthwhile.
I think I am always collecting in a way, walking down a street with my eyes open, looking through a magazine, viewing a movie, visiting a museum or grocery store.
Some of the things I collect are tangible and mount into piles of many layers and when the time comes to use those saved images I dig like an archaeologist and sometimes find what I want and sometimes don’t.”
— Sister Corita Kent
Example Prompts:
- Mystery
What happened that doesn't have an explanation?
- Proud
What were you proud of?
- Theme
Any themes?
- Nostalgia
What was felt more deeply because it took you back to your past?
- Detail
James Salter wrote: "Life is weather, life is meals."
Describe a meaningful moment involving each in the last month.
- Adjust
What are you amid that is almost (but not quite) right? A draft, a relationship, an injury—what needs refinement and attention?
Sensory Inventory
A TASTE:
Passion fruit pavlova
Image: Via Rochelle Canteen
A SOUND:
Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” played loud with the windows open.
A SCENT:
Gjusta Bakery’s sprouted rye bread picked up in Venice; a loaf that satisfyingly weighs a pound and is dense as a rock.
A FEELING:
Crossing stuff off
A SIGHT:
Bird watching with new binoculars
Recommendation from "The Best Binoculars for Birding," via worldbirds.org
PRE-ORDER Moon Workbook 03 - Limited Edition
Note: currently accepting pre-orders for a small second run of journals, shipping approximately 3.1.23. Pre-orders will receive confirmation upon shipment.
A beautiful supplement to the act of thinking deliberately.
A highly finite edition of The Moon Lists, Volume III — a hand-sewn, hardbound guided workbook that takes design cues from collegiate textbooks and dusty library tomes.
Details:
Note: click the image(s) to view in detail.
Encompassing 12 months of prompts (plus space for writing), it’s slightly more petite in proportions than our previous journals and specifically designed to slip into a bag and/or rest on a bookshelf; a tool for reflection and a refined keepsake.
Each copy is hand-sewn with an exposed spine, Smyth-sewn signature binding, and dove grey-blue book cloth covers with a tipped-in label and foil stamping. Interior pages are printed on soft white 80T Mohawk Eggshell stock.
Each issue in this limited edition run arrives hand-numbered.
All interior copy and concept by Leigh Patterson. Design by Natasha Mead. Printed & hand-bound by Sorella Studios in Los Angeles, CA.
Digital Workbook 03
A guided journal for the non-journaler, with a year’s worth of prompts designed into a digital workbook.
The Moon Lists method is for:
• Breaking out of a creative rut
• Thinking specifically rather than in vague broadstrokes
• Updating stale self-narratives
• Tracking progress
• Questioning ways of being
• Reshaping life more imaginative & interesting ways
With:
- 12 sets of undated monthly journaling prompts (one set for looking back each month)
- 12 shorter, quick list-making exercises for thinking in new ways about the present
2 Files Included:
- One in US letter that can be printed or edited/saved directly on desktop
- A condensed, iPhone version with prompts lists only for using while traveling, in conversation, or pairing with a notebook of your choosing
- Files and instructions for download are delivered via email
Digital Workbook 01
Our original digital workbook, including 6 months of journaling prompts, list-making activities, and exercises that invite you to think differently about the present.
A translation of our printed workbooks into a print-friendly format, intended to be either printed out and filled in directly; or paired with a favorite blank notebook.
HOW TO USE
- After purchasing, you'll receive a link via email to download in either US Letter or A4 formats.
- The Original Digital Workbook can either be printed out and directly written on (there is plenty of space to record responses and take notes); or paired with a blank notebook of your choosing.
- The journal is undated and meant for starting whenever you'd like.
- Every month includes four sections — or one "activity" per week, broken into both short list-making ideas and one longer list of prompts for reflecting on the last month as a whole.
- Please note that unlike the Digital Workbook 03 (above), this format cannot be edited and saved digitally, nor does it contain a version for iPhone.
Workbook 02
The Moon Lists, Volume 2 — the second installment in our bestselling series of guided analog journals.
A 12-month analog workbook, The Moon Lists uses prompts, list-making, and specific observations as a way to reflect, creatively expand, and see the present with refined perspective.
The routine practice of asking yourself these questions is an exercise in drawing the connection between memory and experience, a reminder that daily choices matter, habits are defining, and objects can hold layers of meaning.
The Moon Lists Workbook 2 includes:
- 12 months of undated journaling prompts and weekly list-making activities.
- Softcover, rich navy journal perfect bound with taped linen spine; visually inspired by artist’s folios and well- worn scrapbooks, considering lists, ephemera, and journal pages as an archivist might.
- A textbook of your own making that doesn’t call attention to itself, but is designed to go with you anywhere, to get messy, to use.
- A journal for the non-journaler; rather than heavy-handed or dumbed-down, our approach creates the framework for you to find your own meaning.
Moon Tee
A mantra in wearable form — our limited edition tee, made in Los Angeles from 100% raw, unbleached, recycled cotton (sourced from repurposed manufacturing and industrial waste).
Cream toned with earth-hued speckles and a super-comfortable texture. Blue hand-screenprinted text on front with "Moon" and "Lists" printed on sleeves.
Note: tees run oversized!
Emotion Wheel Tee
A wearable word bank — expand your emotional vocabulary (and develop a better response than "crazy" after someone asks you how your last year was).
Our highly limited "wheel of emotions" tee is made in Los Angeles from 100% raw, unbleached, recycled cotton (sourced from repurposed manufacturing and industrial waste).
Cream toned with earth-hued speckles and a super-comfortable texture. Gray/black hand screenprinted text on front with "Moon" and "Lists" printed on sleeves.
Note: Tees are oversized! Please size down. No returns.
The Moon Wheel
A limited edition, analog tool for self reflection. Inspired by finding unexpected inspiration in everyday objects, the wheel is a simple DIY distillation of themes and ideas for reflecting.
7x7 inches, two thick paper cardstock wheels connected by a metal brad
Comes in glassine envelope
* The moon wheel is only available for shipping within the US.
How to use
- Choose a word on the outer edge of the wheel to inspire you, then slide the outer circle to reveal a brief explanation in the hidden window.
- Pair it with a blank journal, put it on the coffee table, pin it on the wall — use it alone or with a partner or friend.
Moon Lists x Sonhab Reflective Advent Calendar
Reinventing tradition through perception & palette
To inspire thoughtful self-reflection, conversation, and contemplation as the year concludes — a limited edition offering from Moon Lists and Sonhab. Taking cues from (while reconsidering) traditional advent calendars, the box set includes 12 handmade truffles in flavors developed specifically to pair with a booklet of prompts written for the holiday season. The box set is available exclusively for pre-order from Sonhab and Moon Lists, and is designed to be enjoyed on 12 consecutive days of your choosing this holiday season. Pre-orders will ship the first week of December 2021.
Sonhab is a bean-to-bar chocolate company based in Sonoran Desert. All handmade chocolate is thoughtfully sourced and traced to origin, and contains no soy, refined sugar, synthetic food coloring, gluten, dairy, or fillers.
(C) Copyright The Moon Lists
by LEIGH PATTERSON, 2023