Today is the start of a new series on suzemuse.com. Weekends are always a great time for unwinding and reflection. Every Friday, I’ll help you wind down the week by presenting five things for you to ponder as you head into your weekend. So here you go – the inaugural edition of Five Things to Think About.

Tried and False
How can we really be sure that the tried and true methods are going to work for us? In today’s tumultuous world, that might not be the best way, says Seth Godin. I tend to agree.

Andrew Stanton – the clues to a great story
Hat tip to the lovely Dennis Van Staalduinen for this. Andrew Stanton is the creative brain behind some of the best stories around – he wrote Toy Story, Finding Nemo, WALL-E and Monsters Inc, to name a few. In his amazing TED Talk he breaks down what makes a good story – and does it wrapped in a reverse-chronological story. Super cool and have your Kleenex handy if you’re a sap like me.

Spreadsheet Artist Paints with Microsoft Excel
Prepare to have your mind blown. If you think Excel is just for boring numbers, think again. Tatsuo Horiuchi is a 73 year old artist whose canvas is everyone’s favourite spreadsheet app. I love his quote, ““Graphics software is expensive but Excel comes pre-installed in most computers,” explained Horiuchi. “And it has more functions and is easier to use than [Microsoft] Paint.” Indeed. Hat tip to Bob LeDrew for this one.

Introducing Breather
I first met Julien Smith at Podcamp Toronto in 2007. The instant he spoke to me for the first time I thought to myself, “This guy is a genius.” And for the past 6 years I’ve known him, he’s proven that time and again. His latest venture is Breather, an innovative startup that promises to bring private space back to big cities. Rolling out in major cities in the US soon, Breather gives members access to private spaces that they can use to work, meet, sleep, or think. And it’s all done through your smart phone. Genius.

Friendship and Gut instincts
I was thrilled to meet up with a bunch of friends at the Social Capital Conference in Ottawa last weekend. My good buddy Lindsay Bell-Wheeler makes some great thought provoking points about her experience at the conference in this article; meeting people in person for the first time, being an extroverted introvert (cheers to that!) and going with your gut instincts on people.

So, over to you! Have a great link to something thought-provoking that you’d like to see on next week’s list? Email it to me at murphy.sue@gmail.com !

Have a great weekend!