Tarot-Adjacent #1
A new addition to EP!
For regular issues of the EP newsletter, I’ve always tried to keep a sharp focus on topics directly related to Tarot. And that’s still the plan going forward.
But for quite a while, I’ve wanted to share some of the tools and resources I use to create EP posts. So! Twice a month from now on, paid subscribers will receive (in addition to all three regular posts and an assortment of other benefits) the “Tarot Adjacent” newsletter.
First, here’s a look ahead at some of what I’m planning for these special posts:
Personal Knowledge Management (PKM), is an amazing tool for everyone who has lots of ideas, and anyone who gathers lots of information. I’ll be explaining what it is, reviewing some popular approaches, and describing the way I use it.
Quite a few EP posts are sparked by something I come across in a free newsletter. I’ll highlight some of my favorite subscriptions—like Subtle Maneuvers, from the author of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work.
I use a writing tool called Plottr—and I’ve discovered that it makes a perfect platform for exploring Tarot spreads in-depth. I’ll tell you how!
Interested in starting your own Substack publication? I’ll share some tips, and point you to the best resources.
We’ll take a look at tools for creating a Tarot “dashboard,” and I’ll show you what I use.
Second, here’s the very first Tarot-Adjacent story . . . .
Why I Love Walling
There are lots of apps that let you create/arrange visual elements—make mood boards or mind-maps, for example, draw on virtual whiteboards, and so on. Many of them also let you collect and organize things you come across online.
I’ve tried several popular candidates (Miro, Mural, Canva, Milanote) and didn’t like any of them!
But after a lot of auditions, I found a tool that I love and couldn’t do without. Walling lets you easily build an information infrastructure, keep it growing, and use it creatively.
Every day, Walling creates a dated page in my personal Inbox—and as I roam around online, a quick click will send any page right to the Inbox.
Here’s how I captured material for a recent EP story on the Blue Earth Tarot.
Or you can just send a selection—like the text I’ve highlighted here, from a daily newsletter that always brings wonderful (and unexpected) quotes:
Each item you send to Walling is called a “Brick”—and with those two clicks I added two Bricks on my Inbox page:
The Inbox click-trick is just the beginning, though.
Walling shines even brighter when you create your own Walls. I call my Walls “Hubs,” and divide them into sections by topic. For example:
The free plan gives you six Walls, which can be extensively customized. Add notes and tags to your Bricks, share Walls or Sections, create Kanban-style views—and much more.
Bricks sent to the Inbox are tagged as “Unsorted” until/unless you move them to a specific Wall. But there’s no need to go through the Inbox if you already know where you want to put the new Brick. Walling’s Chrome Extension lets you save any item to a specific Wall and Section:
That’s a super-quick tour—but I hope you got an idea of why I love Walling. To find out more, just take it for a spin!
Thanks so much for reading this preview edition of Tarot-Adjacent. If you enjoyed it, think about becoming a monthly subscriber when the new EP upgrades debut on September 1.
Meanwhile, look for the next Notebook Page this Tuesday. C