Kind and gentle reader: I’m not up to doing much of anything right now, but I had things already saved for this list and to put it together feels “normal” in a way not much else does right now.
1. Poetry: The Floating Classroom by Christian Emecheta and How Can a Fire Be Political? by Eleanor Colligan on Rattle, Soul Searching and Still Learning and Untranslatable and Conditions by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Broken/Open by James Crews, Prayers for Gus by Julie Barton, Gratification to the survivors of daily damnations by Oladejo Abdullah Feranmi and Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye on The Slowdown with Maggie Smith, News by Alfred K Lamotte on Heart Poems, and I Go Back to May 1937 by Sharon Olds shared by Patti Digh. In related news, The Poetry Hotline #15 Guest: Sue Ann Gleason. “Sue Ann Gleason is a lover of words, a strong believer in the power of imagination, and a champion for women who want to lead a more delicious, fully expressed life.”
2. The Audacity to Be Ourselves: Writing What’s Real. “Join Laurie Wagner and poet Julia Fehrenbacher for a conversation and writing experience where we’ll drop the pressure of who we think we’re supposed to be as writers, and hone in on listening to what is actually moving through us when we give ourselves permission to get out of the way.”
3. How to Minimize Your Risk to Foodborne Parasite Cyclospora.
4. 9 Things Everyone Needs to Get Rid of After 70.
5. I Canceled My Streaming Services For The Summer And This Is What I’m Doing Instead.
6. Shantideva’s Dedication Prayer, “(often called the Bodhisattva’s Vow or Dedication Prayer) comes from the 8th-century Indian Buddhist text, Bodhicharyavatara (The Way of the Bodhisattva). It is a profound declaration of altruism and compassion, dedicated to alleviating the suffering of all sentient beings.”
7. Why Social Plans Feel Worse as They Get Closer on Introvert, Dear.
8. On Complimenting Strangers from Jami Attenberg on Craft Talk. “Unexpected inspiration.”
9. Giving into the threshold, “and the bolstering of familiarity” by Lisa Olivera On Human Stuff.
10. Quit One Thing! On Purpose! from Sara Kuburic on Notes From My Phone. Also from Sara, When Hope Keeps You Stuck: The Spark and The Cage.
12. The Comforting Resurgence of ‘Grandma Hobbies’ on The New York Times. (gift link) “In search of calm and community, new generations are learning centuries-old skills.”
13. Good stuff on The Marginalian from Maria Popova: 20 Ways of Surfacing from the Blues: Sydney Smith’s 200-year-old Strategies for Raising Low Spirits in a Letter of Advice to a 13-year-old Girl and How to Bear Your Sorrows: Nick Cave on Integrating the Darkness of Loss with the Bright Ongoingness of Life.
14. Piecing It Together. “Finding myself in fractions and fabric.”
15. Recipe I want to try: Roasted Sweet Potato Stacks with Chipotle Sauce. I’ve been craving roasted sweet potatoes but it’s been too darn hot to turn on the oven. Also, this one: Single Serve Peach Crumb Bar.
16. Artists are people who suffer when they’re not making art from Austin Kleon. “Another fun conversation with art coach Beth Pickens.”
17. Pressed for time? 20 brilliant books you can read in a day on The Guardian.
18. Amazing Winners of the 2026 International Aerial Photographer of the Year Competition.
19. “This is not your mother’s body.” So maybe, just maybe, it’s yours by Anna Guest-Jelley.
20. Barrier Island Bridges by Ramona Reeves On Short Reads.
21. On the One Year Anniversary of Andrea’s Alleged Death. “Did we witness a miracle together?” from Megan Falley.
22. Not a Redemption Arc. “I’m not evidence for anyone’s argument about family. I’m just a woman doing math about her own capacity” by Elizabeth Kleinfeld.
23. The worst love language by Ijeoma Oluo. “What would you do to keep the people you love with you?”
24. Writing as Spellcasting by Mandy Len Catron.
25. India’s Most Prolific Tree Planter Has a Confession: The 500-Year-Old Tree Is Worth More Than All 25 Million. “A man who has planted millions of trees is telling us that nature doesn’t need saving, that careers kill passion, that a grandmother matters more than a policy paper.”
26. Panic Attacks and Poetry from Alix on Earth & Verse. “On anxiety, art, and getting a little better over time.”
27. Bridges To Belonging. “A comic about people who accept us as we are” from Connie Sun.
28. Have You Fed the Peacocks? on The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad. “On deferred desires, the peculiar economics of sick time, and the persistence of childhood dreams.”
29. And, because I’ve been on my phone more than usual recently, here’s some random things I saved.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 