1. This Twitter thread about the “six month slump” was very helpful to me and many others who shared it this week. The final tweet sums it up: “So, dear friends, do not despair of the 6 month wall. It’s not permanent, nor will it define you in this period of adversity. Trust that the magic that helped you through the first phase is still there. Take a breath & a pause. You’ll be on the other side in no time.” Don’t give up.

2. Holding Space is Not About Willful Blindness or Complacency in the Face of Injustice.

3. The Beauty of Imperfection on Lion’s Roar. “Lion’s Roar AV Producer Sandra Hannebohm looks at wabi-sabi and the perfection of imperfection.”

4. On hope from Lion’s Roar: Yes, We Can Have Hope (“Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on the idea of “wise hope” and why we should open ourselves to it”) and Ask the Teachers: What is the Buddhist view of hope? (“Oren Jay Sofer, Sister Clear Grace, and Ayya Yeshe look at the meaning of hope in Buddhism and what it means in today’s world”).

5. Richard, a chapter of Allie Brosh’s new book. If you’ve never read her blog or other book, go now.

6. It’s OK to Rest Your Voice from Jena Schwartz. Also from Jena:

May all who enter through the open gates be met with forgiveness. May old wounds heal and future wounds be wrapped in tapestries of light. May peace seep into the cracks that divide us. May the righteous be humbled and the wicked be righted. May we be held in a vast container of love. May the Days of Awe have mercy on all whose hearts are willing to return. May I be ready to walk through the doors tonight to sing and pray. May our gaze be steady and our path lined with jewels. May the travelers be watched over and the sick be comforted. May our fasting bring compassion where there was conflict and support where there was suffering, honesty where there was hiding and movement where there was stagnation. May the darkness deepen and give birth to light. May destruction only prepare us to shine more brightly. May we remember who we are and why we are here. May we ask for more than we think we deserve and receive with gratitude what comes into being. May fear be consumed by fire and bitterness dissolve in the void. May sweetness linger on our lips and coat our speech like the honey that will coat the sliced apples we’ll share. Shabbat Shalom, beautiful friends.

7. This beauty from Andrea Gibson:

What I know about living is the pain
is never just ours.
Every time I hurt I know
the wound is an echo, so I keep listening
for the moment when the grief
becomes a window,
when I can see what I couldn’t see before.
Through the glass of my most bartered dream
I watched a dandelion lose its mind
in the wind and when it did,
it scattered a thousand seeds.

8. Ms. Tanqueray Starring In 32-Part Humans Of New York Series To Raise Funds Amid Financial Hardship.

9. Because it’s fall, some recipes I want to try: Split Pea Soup with Ham (Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or Stovetop) and Apple Pull-Apart Bread. I made the bread yesterday. It was the first time I’ve ever made a bread that used yeast. I didn’t have the right size pan, so it got split in two. It’s basically a giant cinnamon roll with apples. Very yummy.

10. My Octopus Teacher, streaming on Netflix. “A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.” I watched this earlier in the week, and it’s really beautiful.

11. Surviving the Pull of the Undertow by Sherry Richert Belul, “six tiny moments that can save you when you feel pulled under into dark waters.”

12. Mom shares warning after son, 9, dies of carbon monoxide poisoning on lake trip. I had never heard about this, and neither had his parents. It’s a very sad read, but if you boat with kids, it’s so important.

13. 7 Methods for Recovering From Internalized Capitalism. “Your self-worth is not connected to your productivity.”

14. If you haven’t already, Confirm You’re Registered to Vote.

15. Spoiler, a poem by Hala Alyan. Because this, “I’m here to tell you whatever you build will be ruined, so make it beautiful.”

16. Black Women Novelists You Should Be Reading.

17. Instead of hiding rips and tears, the visible mending movement turns them into art. “Born from the Japanese art of sashiko, visible mending enables crafters to eschew fast fashion and make mistakes beautiful.”

18. Black Lives Still Matter: How We Got Here and What Must Happen Next from Jen Lemen.

19. 27 Things You Do Because You’re a Highly Sensitive Person.