Things I have done and what I learned from them.

Algebra
If a question is asked correctly, it answers itself. (Richard Bach)
The "equals" sign is like the pivot of a scale, always remaining balanced.  You can do ANYTHING to one side of the "equals" sign in your pursuit of the question answering itself, just so you do the same thing to the other side.
Life questions often contain some elements that are fixed and some that are variable. It's important to identify these as clearly as possible in your head.
Algebra provides a model of how you can shift fixed and variable terms (elements) of a situation around in your head until they make some kind of sense, or a pattern emerges, or you become _absolutely_ convinced there is NO way to make sense of the situation under ANY circumstances, which usually means there's some piece of information you are missing.
 

Geometry:
Euclidian Space

History:
linear/cyclical/spiral

Philosophy:
You can't Really Know anything.

Politics:
Politics makes no sense until you realize that it's a drama.

Drama
All the world's a stage, and we're all playing roles.  We almost never get the role we really want, but our performance will be judged by how we do with what we get.  We make up our lines as we go along, slap together our props, improving, thinking any Minute now, someone is going to arrive with a script ... but it never happens. Gotta get past that and realize that we ARE the script, and that the magic of our real improv, making it all up as we go along, is immensely more dramatic and beautiful than any "made up" drama.  Scripted drama is like a stuffed animal: it can be stuffed well or stuffed poorly, but there's no chance it's coming alive.  Real life, unscripted drama, is alive but usually unaware. Part of our task is to increase that awareness in ourselves and to help nurture it in others.
I cannot fully articulate what I mean by drama (scripted or not), but it contains elements of religion, of acting out ... it's like taking something that is happening inside everyone's head and having it suddenly materialize and begin happening in real life, and in a way that both releases the tangle or knot or problem from the person's mind, externalizes it, and serves both as a vehicle for instruction by the "elders of the tribe" or their equivalent, and also as a place to experiment with approaches and outcomes to that knot, problem, concept.  Some concepts are so big they require several people playing different roles to put across effectively.
 

Stone Masonry

Carpentry

A "proud" board is one that is sticking out of the line.  Usually it gets hit with a hammer or cut with a saw.

When two boards are "married" they are joined permanently lengthwise. This is only done when one board is not long enough or strong enough to do the job. Sometimes eight or more boards are "married" to become a fairly large structural member.  For ordinary purposes, sixteen penny nails will suffice for this purpose, but in assembling large structures it's best if it's "Glued and Screwed."
 

Metaphysics

The Mandelbrot Fractal:  as above so below.
The "Universe" is alive.  It's a dance.  The Lord of the Dance Calls the Tune.  You go with the flow, or you go against the flow, and either way, you go with the flow.

God is laughing.
We laugh when we are surprised. Surprise means learning, since it's not a surprise anymore once the new pattern is assimilated. Laughter is the sound of learning taking place.
So is crying.

Therion says "Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy weeps." I think that's true for adults, but not for children, and maybe not for very simple adults.

There is only One Mind. Each of us posesses a piece of It. The piece each of us posesses is like a piece of holo-fiche, in that each piece contains a perfect picture of the whole, but only from one point of view. Each of our minds contains a perfect, but somewhat limited, model of the original mind.  In a huge oak tree, each acorn carries the potentiality to become a whole new tree.  Each of us carries limitless potential, usually beaten and hammered to junk by a culture that is frightened of rapid change ... hey that's not so bad, they used to just kill anyone who seemed to be evolving ahead of the herd, but now they just smack you around a little.  That's progress.  Don't knock it.  There isn't much, and it breaks many people's hearts to suddenly realize how little there really is... But let's cherish the little that there is: professional soldiers can no longer kill peasants in order to "test their blades."  Church authorities no longer encourage men to beat their wives, except maybe in the Third World and parts of the Deep South, and THEN not out loud where outsiders might hear.