Something Good

Lory State Park, by Eric

1. Building a Mindful New Year, another of my favorite holiday traditions. “An online program Dec 26 – Dec 31 6 Days / 6 Transcendent Themes / 6 Buddhist Teachers / 6 Meditations to Guide You into 2018.”

2. Disney Illustrator Combines Star Wars And Calvin & Hobbes, And The Result Is Adorable. Two of my favorite things, combined.

3. I was invited to give a TED talk — then asked to “cut Black Lives Matter” from it.

4. We Just Lost The Battle Over The GOP Tax Bill. Where Do We Go From Here?

5. Uranium firm urged Trump officials to shrink Bears Ears. It was so obvious this is what it was about, but that doesn’t make me any less upset. In related news, War On Our Kids Future: Bears Ears National Monument (video), and Trump argued for keeping Confederate monuments. Then he scaled back those of Native Americans.

6. White Supremacy (Overt & Covert), a really helpful infographic.

7. Humans of New York Instagram post, on the power of a dog. This gave me all the feels.

8. This Food Photographer Sees You Stealing Her Photographs. “Brittany Wright is known for her mesmerizing photographs of fruit, vegetables, and bread. But she hasn’t gotten the credit for her work.”

9. The 16 Best Books of the Year by Black Authors.

10. The Real Woman Behind “Me Too.” (video) “‘Silence Breakers’ were chosen as TIME’s Person of the Year. Get to know Tarana Burke, the real woman behind the #MeToo movement which she started over a decade ago.”

11. The Best of How to DAD. (video) So cute.

12. We spoke to the anti-feminist Tinder guy who thinks women enjoy being raped. Just as gross as it sounds.

13. Philippine’s Environmental Crusaders. (video) “These activists are on an environmental crusade, hunting down illegal loggers.”

14. Just because you don’t call it a diet doesn’t mean it isn’t one, wisdom from Melissa Toler.

15. Beyoncé Makes Surprise Appearance to Present Colin Kaepernick With Muhammad Ali Legacy Award.

16. Someone Asked Twitter To Name A Badder B*tch Than Taylor Swift, Probably Did Not Expect A Reaction Like This. This is an easy game.

17. If You Are Wondering Why Black Women May Not Report Sexual Assault, Consider What Happened After Recy Taylor Was Raped By Six White Men.

18. A Wrinkle In Time is repping girls of color HARD, thanks to director Ava DuVernay. (video)

19. Recipe I want to try: chicken wonton soup.

20. She knew hunger was an issue, but when she realized that even some of her close friends were struggling with it, she took action. (video)

21. ‘Who is the queen?’ And other ways to get talking to strangers. “Introvert Jessica Pan was advised to overcome her fear of talking to strangers by asking stupid questions. But would it work?”

22. 10 Time Capsule Rooms Left Untouched for Decades.

23. Just Room Enough Island. “This tiny little island has, as the name says, just enough room for its single house.” There are two pictures of the house here, and in one, the roof is different, and I can’t stop thinking about how hard it would be to reroof this house, get the materials out to it and such.

24. Making magic in 2018 from Susannah Conway, which includes her Unravel Your Year workbook and a link to her Find Your Word free email course.

25. Dear Al Franken: I’ll Miss You, But You Can’t Matter Anymore from Ijeoma Oluo.

26. Truth Matters wisdom from Roxane Gay.

27. A room of one’s own (and money) from Austin Kleon.

28. You’re Going to Survive, “Selected stories from YOU’RE GOING TO SURVIVE: True stories from people who’ve endured soul-crushing moments in their careers—failure, rejection, disappointment, public humiliation—and how they got through it, and how you will too. Read by the author, Alexandra Franzen” on SoundCloud.

29. 14 Reasons Being Married to Another Introvert Is Awesome.

30. Wisdom from Pema Chödrön,

Others will always show you exactly where you are stuck. They say or do something and you automatically get hooked into a familiar way of reacting—shutting down, speeding up, or getting all worked up. When you react in the habitual way, with anger, greed, and so forth, it gives you a chance to see your patterns and work with them honestly and compassionately. Without others provoking you, you remain ignorant of your painful habits and cannot train in transforming them into the path of awakening.

31. Brothers and Sisters from Karen Walrond. “Despite all of our differences — cultural, religious, racial, gender — we’re all riding this little planet together. We’re all brothers and sisters.” Amen.

I'd love to hear what you think, kind and gentle reader.