I’m weird in that I can’t usually get into traditional card games, but I can totally get behind Reflection Cards from Holstee. Aimed at sparking more meaningful conversation between family, friends, or strangers, I love that it encourages moving past small talk and avoiding eye contact. It’s now more than ever that we need to be humans that empathize and have conversations that 280 characters can’t capture.

Pick up a deck or two on the Kickstarter campaign by Wed, August 15.

You may already be familiar with this wild gem, or his rendition of the national anthem. But I recently discovered another Carl Lewis music video, complete with a Texan tuxedo and the 80s taken to its limits. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I didn’t go to his “Sexy Sports Night” 45th birthday party in Atlantic City back in 2006. I had an invite and my dumb ass decided not to go.

Quick story: I’ve been developing my voiceover skills and since I don’t have many samples, I decided to record some of the types of things I’d like to read. I decided the Creative Mornings manifesto could be cool. It needed a little music though, so I reached out to our friends Shawn and Yoshimi (Lullatone) in Japan for permission to use one of their tracks. After I made the recording, I shared it with them. They liked the track, but what was even cooler was that they told me they were in the process of recording piano versions of their music and the track I chose reminded them of this old tune.

They ended up re-recording that track too.

It’s just a nice example of how every little thing you do or share can have an impact, or in this case as Shawn described it, “symbiotic creativity.” Whatever you do, don’t stop making. You can’t expect anything will come of it, but when it does, it’s a beautiful thing.

At the risk of turning into a character from Ingrid Goes West, I’m digging these hats from Parks Project celebrating Joshua Tree, Big Sur, and Zion. They’re a little pricey, but each purchase helps support an organization in that area that is committed to doing good.

Check out all the hats and learn more about the partner organizations here.

Set aside three minutes of your day (like a couple million others have) to watch this delightful clip of Yoyoka Soma, an 8 year old Japanese drummer. Not only are her skills impressive, but she’s clearly having an amazing time. You can’t fake that.

And yes, Robert Plant approves.