LA fire aid + the moon lists' leigh patterson on how to reorient yourself
monthly recs #46
Each month, we ask a writer to share what’s on their minds and in their open tabs for our monthly recommendations. This January’s guest curator is writer, editorial strategist, and founder of LUCCA Studio, Leigh Patterson. At , Leigh creates prompts for thinking differently. The prompts, for journaling or conversation, can help you reflect, refine your perspective, and reshape the present. Recent prompts include prompts for thick air and thin ice and prompts for curating your own chaos.
Please note that the below was written prior to the LA fires. For the foreseeable future, Leigh is donating all paid subscriptions to her newsletter to fire relief and she shared her thoughts here.
At the start of a new year, I always seem to come back to the basics: aspiring to dive deeper, to make the routes to myself less mysterious, more readily available.
Professionally, I run a creative studio where I help artists, brands, and organizations refine, deepen, and tell unexpected stories that bypass their usual narratives. I also have a project called
that essentially does the same thing but on a personal scale — creating workbooks and sharing prompts for noticing one's life with fresh eyes.I've always been drawn to finding insights in less expected places — that remind me how strange and clever people can be, that reveal themselves through archives, research, and hidden details.
I suspect I'm not alone here in making a living as an extension of my perspective and taste, and that others know this double-edged sword well. I tend to swing between intense periods of focus — disappearing into research and ideas — and then retreating through distance, often literally, by going off-grid somewhere very far away. This has been my rhythm for the past decade... though I'm not necessarily endorsing it as a coping mechanism.
Over time, I've developed a collection of systems and tools that help maintain my clarity. They serve as anchors: small practices and tangible reminders that keep me grounded when my mind gets too full. (I literally have a file called Personal Reset Button on my computer — sometimes the obvious solutions are the best ones.)
I've always believed in the power of specific obsessions: that breakthrough comes not from endless scrolling, but through deep attention to detail and the systematic pursuit of what genuinely fascinates you.
The recommendations that follow are likeminded waypoints: tools for reorienting yourself and your work when the familiar paths feel worn out, when ideas run dry, or when you need to remember why you started in the first place.
1. Moon “In Situ”: I just released 2 new volumes in the Moon Lists universe called the “In Situ” editions — essentially, smaller and more focused sets of prompts centered around a single theme. They’re meant as something more substantial than abstract inspiration, more casual than a dedicated journal. Volume 01 explores finding the profound in the everyday (like excavating meaning from gas station snacks or hotel lobby encounters), while Volume 02 flips the script to locate the everyday in life's abstract milestones.
2. Museum Filing Systems: In a former life I wanted to be an archivist, and I still find myself drawn to the systematization of it all: the filing systems, the devotion to preserving the ephemeral. Recently I fell into a rabbit hole researching museum-grade archival boxes and spent hours obsessing over folders with reinforced end tabs and pristine handmade boxes lacquered in materials meant to outlast us all. It's absurd that I'm using these professional-grade tools to preserve my personal B.S. — menus from Florentine cafes, back issues of art magazines, and worthless merch from basement shows I went to in 2007 — but these things matter to me! Currently into these folders in a shade they call "goldenrod" but I call "miso soup."
3. Wisdom Out Of Context: The best source material is usually hidden in plain sight. I have a giant stack of materials I hoard and treat as secret research sources: Sotheby's auction catalogs, 1960’s National Park guidebooks, vintage stamp collecting auctioneers, graphic design guidelines from the ‘70s — all windows into ways of thinking and seeing. Estate sales tend to have the best treasures but there’s a ton to be had online (eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, etc). Latest find: a stack of old Holiday magazines from FB Marketplace that feel like time capsules of Mid-century optimism. For example: here, here, here, here, here, here.
4. Word Lovers’ Lists: Wordnik, ostensibly just an online thesaurus, also has a function where users can create and comment on lists of their favorite/unusual/thematic words. The results are…genius? Start with: “Metaphysical metaphorical places," “A great ferment," “Words invented by bored Victorians."
5. Rob Brezny's “Free Will” Astrology: Rob Brezny's horoscope emails are the highlight of my week. Less celestial predictions, more like getting poetry from your most earnest friend who plays the lyre and runs a cooperative vegetarian restaurant in a pre-Tesla version of Austin, TX. His writing is a perfect blend of refreshing insight and (beautifully) weird tough love: “If you're not pretty much always half-confused, most likely you're not thinking deeply enough.” Or "Your assignment: Pray to be granted a healing sample of comedic genius." I have a few favorites printed out and taped to my wall.
paid subscribers can scroll down for more recs from leigh, including the in-house tea line a kyoto tea house developed with a renowned french tea maker, the pillow she can’t go a night without, and the playlists her husband makes for her.
more from us
6. We're devastated by the fires in LA and our thoughts are with everyone dealing with the fallout. If you were affected by the fires, some resources: U-Haul is offering free 30-day storage for displaced families; here is a list of restaurants offering food and support; Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb are offering support; FireAid has a map of more mutual aid resources; here is some info on tenants' rights; and here is info on dealing with the bad air quality. If you're able to help, a few places to start: this spreadsheet collects GoFundMes for displaced Black families, this one collects GoFundMes for local families, businesses, and organizations, and this one has more GoFundMes in need of help; you can donate here to support impacted immigrant workers; and here is a list of in-person volunteer opportunities.
7. If you’re trying to switch up your social media to something less toxic, The Minutiae App is a more meditative alternative to Instagram. It’s an anonymous, anti-social media app that allows you to document your life and peer into the lives of strangers without the performativity that can come from likes, follows, and comments.
8. If working out is one of your New Year's resolutions, but you’re not ready to face the cold, we have a great list of online sources. For Pilates, The Way, Alice Pilates, and b the Method (partner-level passerby club members get 20% off a yearly membership). For yoga, we like Sky Ting (partner-level passerby club members get 15% off in-studio classes). Every Mother’s workouts are great for anyone looking for pre-and post-natal physical therapy-inspired workouts. For something higher-intensity, try Kirsty Godso. Our Discord community discussed their recs recently as well, so find more suggestions, like Caroline Girvan, by joining the club. And to go along with your chosen activity, Nu Swim makes a great organic cotton sports bra and leggings.
9. Preordering books is a great way to support authors and feels like giving a gift to your future self. We’re preordering past guest editor Sophie Lewis’s new book Enemy Feminisms, a guide to enemy feminisms from 19th-century imperial feminists to TERFS and a call for a bold, liberatory feminist politics and Haley Mlotek’s No Fault, a social history-slash-memoir about 21st-century divorce.
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