July | 2017 | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. My garden. I love especially all the birds and bugs it attracts and feeds, and the way that every year it gets just a bit more developed and filled in.

2. A safe, fun, short trip to Oregon. It was less time than usual, what with having to work an extra month this summer, but it was good to see family, eat some good food, watch some movies, take some walks, play cards, talk, laugh, and then have a safe trip back.

Playing cards with Mom

3. Friends in real life. I got to spend a few days with my friend Mikalina while I was in Oregon. We met in a Wild Writing class and I loved her immediately, sent her an email and told her so, hoping she wouldn’t think I was weird. She’s all my favorite things — smart, creative, kind, and funny. We hang out almost every week online, but it was even better to get to hang out with her in person, and to find that I was absolutely right about her, (you always worry that maybe a person you’ve known only online will be different than you expected, but the only thing I was wrong about is I thought she’d be taller).

4. The Chinese Garden in Portland. Mikalina and I went one afternoon, and I got to take lots of pictures.

5. My tiny family. I’m so happy to be back home with them.

Bonus joy: aqua aerobics, Pilates, yoga, walking with Eric and the dogs in the morning, Catfish Season Six, air conditioning, clean sheets, Wild Writing, laughing and writing with Mikalina and Chloe’, upcoming dates with friends, good books, my Kindle, a clean car, fresh basil from our garden, strawberries, butterflies, clean water, a cool shower, being able to pay my bills, laughing with Eric, getting a massage, texting, video calls, a soft tshirt.

Colorado wildflowers, image by Eric Salahub

Next week I’m going to be in Oregon, so there won’t be a Something Good post — I’m taking a week off! As there are currently 288 of these posts, even one that has a whopping 100 items on it, maybe you could spend your time going back through the archives? Or just get off your computer altogether, go outside and stare at your toes or something. 🙂

1. Two Ears, wisdom from Rachel Cole. “This is just to say we have two ears. One for listening to our own hearts and one for listening to the hearts of others.”

2. Ways To Stay Motivated In This Shit-Shellacked Era Of Epic Stupid, wisdom from Chuck Wendig. I needed to hear this, especially this, “If you’re making the words dance or you’re snapping photos or drawing pictures, and you worry that what you’re doing is somehow shallow or insignificant, fuck that right in the banana-pipe.”

3. The Best of bell hooks: Life, Writings, Quotes, and Books on Lion’s Roar.

4. Baratunde Thurston. “Selected as Noteworthy for cutting through political noise with razor-sharp wit, Baratunde shows us how to be active citizens.”

5. Need something to read? Then this list is for you, 101 books to dive into this summer: a massive reading list.

6. My Grandmother’s Desperate Choice on The New Yorker.

If I couldn’t immediately explain to my daughter how Win died, I decided, I could at least explain why. “She needed help really badly and no one would help her so she died,” I told her. Then I added a reassurance that I’m not sure I’d feel confident offering today. “It’s not a thing that would happen to us now,” I said. “If we ever needed that kind of help, we would get it and we would be safe.”

7. Why Sexism and Homophobia in Old TV Shows Is Such a Big Problem Today. In related news, Horrible True Stories Left Out Of Biopics To Make The Person Look Better.

8. Roxane Gay: ‘My body is a cage of my own making.’

9. 14 of the Best Bundt Cake Recipes. I’ve got my eye on the coconut one.

10. Stunning Video Captures A Year In The Life Of A Very Busy Tree.

11. I Don’t Know How To Explain To You That You Should Care About Other People. “Our disagreement is not merely political, but a fundamental divide on what it means to live in a society.”

12. 5 secrets to a strong marriage by Dani Shapiro.

13. This group takes stories written by little kids and turns them into into theater. (Video)

14. This amazing library has tens of thousands of sketchbooks from around the world. (Video)

15. Save Free Speech From Trolls on The New York Times.

16. The Same MotherFlippin’ 10 Pounds on The Salty Olive.

17. Let America Be America Again.