Last night my buddy told me about a sort of “negative meditation” he does to get himself out of a bad mood. It seems pretty straightforward and def worth a try:

1. find some privacy

2. set an alarm (1hr)

3. force yourself to be as negative as you can be until the alarm goes off or the clouds pass, whichever comes first

Apparently, my buddy can make it about 45 min before he’s unable to be negative anymore. That’s a 45 minute cure for depression!

And Josh had the brilliant idea of incorporating this technique into creative work. What if every brainstorm began with a meditation on impossibility, failure, stupidity, shame, etc? It might do wonders to get all that stuff over with before the brainstorming begins.