October | 2019 | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

From our walk

1. Adding the wrong words from Austin Kleon. “My 4-year-old leaves so many drawings lying around that sometimes I steal them and add my own captions.”

2. This remix of Ellen’s pathetic defense of George W. Bush is devastating.

3. Initiative from Seth Godin.

4. Victoria’s Secret Hires Anti-Fat Plus-Size Model from Dances with Fat.

5. 5 No-Fuss Self-Care Ideas For Introverts.

6. hilariously, clumsily, grossly visible, a really great post about patiarchy from The Collected AHP (Anne Helen Petersen).

7. Wisdom from Ronna Detrick’s Notes From Her: “I kept myself busy with so many responsibilities. I took them on because they needed to be done, but more, because they seemed like the best way to keep from feeling crazy. When I slowed down, when I rested, when I stopped, my mind fought against the silence, the space, the calm. But, in truth, silence, space, and calm was what my heart wanted most; what I needed most. It took time, but I learned that it’s not in working harder, faster, or smarter; but in sitting, resting, and leaning that feeling crazy eventually vanishes, that transformation comes, that love shows up.”

8. Yoga For Writers | Yoga With Adriene (video)

9. This Daily Truth from Melody Ross about choosing the path that’s right for you, making your own decisions. “The messages are often conflicting, confusing, frustrating, and they can make us feel small and inadequate. Sometimes we feel so confused that we are just paralyzed and instead of making decisions, we just stop doing anything at all.”

10. Imagine a Pine Tree on Lion’s Roar, “Thich Nhat Hanh answers a retreatant’s question on what to do in the face of suffering.” My favorite line of this piece is, “The basic thing we can do to help the world is to be healthy, solid, loving, and gentle to ourselves.”

11. 10 Easy Ways to Cut Down on Your Plastic Use Right Now from Sandra Pawula.

12. Fort Worth Officer Kills Woman In Her Bedroom In Response To ‘Open Structure Call.’ In related news, Where Are the Good Cops?

13. Honey Bees Complete Mixed Media Artworks by Building Comb Around Embroidery Hoops.

14. Prince’s Estate Condemns Trump’s Use Of ‘Purple Rain’ At Campaign Rally.

15. How Mainstream Body Positivity Has Failed Us.

16. Florida Man Who Killed Black Father Over Parking Space Will Stand His Ground in Prison for 20 Years.

17. Power Is Gradually Restored To Thousands Of Californians After 2nd Day Of Outages.

18. ‘If you can’t make jokes without hurting people, maybe you’re no good at it’, “Marc Maron reacts to claims ‘woke culture’ is killing comedy.”

19. White Women doing White Supremacy in Nonprofit Culture.

20. Wisconsin Spice Company Spends More Than $100K On Pro-Impeachment Ads. “Wauwatosa-Based Penzeys Spices Behind Only Trump Campaign In National Spending.” This company makes a good product, then takes some of the money they make from that and does good things in the world.

21. Get a Dog, Live Longer? on The New York Times. “Benefits of dog ownership may be particularly pronounced in those who have already had a heart attack.”

22. Forty-three new women came forward to describe assault and harassment by Trump. Newspapers ignored them.

23. Matt Lauer Issues Victim-Blaming Letter In Response To Brooke Nevils Rape Allegations.

24. Why Veggies Won’t Save Healthcare in Real Life. “Is maintaining a healthy lifestyle one’s responsibility, or a privilege? It’s time to start asking the harder questions, and recognize the health care disparity that exists in real life.”

25. Meatless meat is becoming mainstream — and it’s sparking a backlash.

26. What It’s Like Growing Up as a Highly Sensitive Child in a Chaotic Home.

27. I threw out 10 years of journals. Just to be clear, I’m sharing this because I want to reinforce the fact that if we aren’t ready to let go, even if we never are, that’s okay too.

28. With Abortion Rights On The Line, Planned Parenthood Announces 2020 Push.

29. Trump Administration Says It Won’t Comply With Impeachment Inquiry.

30. 15 Ways White Women Avoid Accountability On The Internet.

31. On Finding the Freedom to Rage Against Our Fathers, “Minda Honey Tells the Story of a Daughter Who Refused to Walk on Eggshells.”

32. Columbus Day Or Indigenous Peoples’ Day? In related news, I’m Dreaming About a Modern World That Doesn’t Erase Its Indigenous Intelligence.

1. Kitchen counter love notes. The ones Eric tucked in the card he made me for our anniversary took up so much space I had to stand on a chair to get them all in the picture. He said when he started making them, he underestimated how long it was going to take. I remember when it was our 6th anniversary and I thought that was so amazing because I had never been in a relationship that long. That was 20 years ago.

2. Feeling just a little better. Coming here and telling you all that I was feeling confused started to shift things just a bit for me. I also finally found a therapist who is taking new patients and works from the perspective I was looking for and on the issues I have. I’m meeting with her on Tuesday to see if it’s a good fit. Wish me luck!

3. Yup, it snowed. It dropped 20 degrees overnight, bringing lightening, hail, and the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard before the snow came. I am sad the garden is officially done and some of the trees that were just starting to turn gold lost most of their leaves in the storm, but the sky the morning before was amazing and I made sure to savor the gold before it was all gone.

4. Comfort, in all the various ways I find it: good friends, laughter, good TV, texting with my brother, cooking, getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna, meditation, writing, teaching yoga, reading in bed at night while Eric and the dogs sleep, feeding myself what I want for no other reason than that’s what I want, a big glass of water, a warm shower, cuddling with my dogs, sitting on the couch under my infrared heating pad and favorite blanket my niece made me.

5. My tiny family. They are my favorite.

He’s a tough guy, but he hides under the chairs at the vet

Bonus joy: trying a new restaurant, going to a show where I know I’m going to laugh my face off, spending time with good people, having access to the care and services that keep things running smoothly, setting up my new printer and having it be easy, new shoes that feel good on my feet and my feet feel good in, morning walks with the dogs, the magic weirdness of having such an intimate relationship with a whole other species (seriously, sometimes I look at our dogs and say to Eric, “isn’t it weird that there are animals inside our house right now, just hanging out like it’s totally normal?).