Oblique Strategies
A ritual for creative blocks⚡️
It’s 8 in the morning on a Sunday and I’m staring down the blinking cursor. I’m sipping my coffee, working through a post on ways to decorate your home, and the words just aren’t coming. They’re stopping somewhere between my brain and my hands, and I’ve mostly been staring out the window for the last 30 minutes. TURNS OUT: writing a newsletter about creativity is pretty hard to do when you’re not feeling creative.
In an attempt to invigorate, I picked up a deck of cards Ben got me last Christmas—not playing cards, but a deck of inspiration called Oblique Strategies. While shuffling the deck, I realized today’s topic was literally in my hands.
Developed in the early 70s by Brian Eno, godfather of ambient music and a subject of worship in this household, and multimedia artist Peter Schmidt, Oblique Strategies is a deck made of 103 cards, each with a different prompt, question, or aphorism to help work through creative blocks.
They’re described as encouragements for lateral thinking, aka thinking outside the box. Where vertical thinking is linear, methodical, and directional, lateral thinking welcomes novel, uneven, and multidirectional ideas. Essentially - get yourself out of your current thought patterns and into uncharted territory.
I love these cards as a resource because they can be truly useful when you’re in a rut or moment of frustration. As much of a proselytizer as I am with creativity lit (I’m sure my friends would be totally fine if I never mentioned Big Magic again), reaching for a book amid creative blockage just isn’t the move. I don’t want to revisit a chapter or interrupt my flow to read. I also don’t want to be influenced by the highlighted and underlined sections that past me was drawn to. I want something new, something now.
With the power of suggestion and placebo effect in full swing, these cards really SEEM to give exactly what I need to hear each time I draw. Accept advice, Don’t be frightened to display your talents, or, a perfectly timed one I got last week while dealing with impostor syndrome, Try faking it!
Sometimes Ben and I will each draw a card together over coffee in the morning just to set the mood or spark inspiration for the day. Certain cards work great for this open-yourself-up tactic, offering simple and universal prompts like Just carry on or Trust in the you of now. Others give a more solid action like Tidy up, Breathe more deeply, or Go outside. (Honestly those last three tend to work every single time.)
Other phrases on the cards go beyond daily inspiration and act as larger mantras for life: Listen to the quiet voice, You don’t have to be ashamed of using your own ideas, Be less critical more often.
In the same way I like pulling tarot cards to guide my day or my mindset, there’s something mystical about surrendering to whatever the universe tells you. Their directives are as if a cerebral music professor took up writing fortune cookies.
At first, they can seem vague or frustrating, but I think that’s kind of the point. They’re there to disrupt your normal thought patterns and push you to consider new angles—whether that means simplifying, shifting perspective, or completely abandoning what you were doing and starting over. (Like what I did today.) It’s a tool that doesn’t give you direct answers but nudges you toward unexpected solutions, which, honestly, is often what creativity needs.
The cards were difficult to track down for a while, but luckily now you can get the deck from Brian Eno’s shop. Or if that feels like too much, I discovered there’s an app version, which is probably way more accessible on the regular (albeit not as tactile and fun.)
Additional notes: If this is your first introduction to Brian Eno, I highly recommend his ambient album Music for Airports, which has been my top played on Spotify for a few years now based on how much I listen to it to fall asleep or when I’m traveling (no seriously it IS the perfect calming music for airports.) Also try to check out the innovative documentary Eno by Gary Hustwit, which is different every time its shown.
Have you used these cards before? Do you have a favorite piece of advice from them? Or just as interesting, one that you hate pulling? Let me know your thoughts!
So fun: luck of the draw magic! Thank you 😊 ✨️💡