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

1. Morning walks. It’s getting darker and colder, but we still get to see the sunrise. This morning we heard two owls but didn’t see them. We also got to see the trail Christmas trees, which are always decorated right after Thanksgiving.

Look at me. Ringo, look over here. Ringo. Ringo. Hey, bub, look at me. Oh, never mind…

2. Wild Writing. I practice with Mikalina every Tuesday and write with a group of women led by my dear friend and beloved teacher Laurie on Fridays. The practice is such a gift, to my writing and my heart.

3. Meditation. I’ve been practicing for close to 13 years now, teaching for three, and I love the way I come to it every time and it’s both the same and different. The repetition, coming back to practice again and again, teaches me so much about myself, the spaces where I’m resisting, the places where I’m at ease. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to sit with my discomfort and open to what is, that I have the courage to keep coming back, to be honest, to not abandon myself, to not give up.

4. Yoga. I can’t wait until I get to teach again, be in a the same place with other humans, hold space and support them as they practice. In the meantime, I’m happy to have my practice all to myself.

5. Bird bath and feeder. This week, we had to move the feeder up higher (as we suspected we would) because there was a fat squirrel getting at it — but when it did, two of our crow friends showed up and shooed him off! There was also a pair of woodpeckers who showed up one morning for a drink but the water was frozen, so they pecked away at it like the trunk of a tree and gobbled up the ice cubes they made. The chickadees are the cutest, so timid that they fly over and take just one seed or nut, and then fly over into the lilac bushes to eat it.

6. My tiny family. Seriously, Ringo is so cute sometimes I can hardly stand it. Eric has been working SO much this week. I’ll be glad when he gets to take a break. I miss him, even though he’s just in the other room.

Bonus joy: my new favorite coffee mug from Chloe’, books, podcasts, the box of candy Carrie gave me that I forgot I had until I JUST this minute when I noticed sitting next to my computer, hanging out with Mikalina, all the Christmas lights people in our neighborhood have put up, decorating for Christmas, being able to find good presents I can order and ship to my family (so I don’t have to go into stores to shop or stand in line at the post office), the greenest freshest spinach I’ve had in a while, a warm shower when I’m cold, a big glass of clean cold water, napping, watching Guy’s Grocery Games with Eric, masks, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” ~Desmond Tutu (from our walk this morning)

1. Giving Back During the Holidays Is *So* Important — Here’s How To Do It During a Pandemic.

2. The Birds Are Outside on The New York Times. “One bird feeder became two, then three. Months passed.”

3. Social Reproduction and the Pandemic. “The coronavirus crisis has made clear that care and life-making work are the essential work of society.”

4. The pandemic is starving us. Communities — not the government — are stepping up. “26 million Americans now report not having enough to eat; 16 percent of households with children report not having enough to eat.”

5. Turns Out It’s Pretty Good: Fall. “Why are we so skeptical of the things right in front of us? ‘Turns Out It’s Pretty Good’ is a series that examines the path from resisting the well-known to wholeheartedly endorsing it.”

6. New York Bodega Worker Gives Free Snacks To Customers Who Solve His Math Problems. Love these videos, happy to know the back story.

7. Sorting Through a Hoarder’s Lifetime of Clutter, We Learned the Meaning of Love. “When my boyfriend took a job helping a widow clean out her house, among the urine-soaked rugs and years-old piles of laundry, I saw our relationship in a new light.”

8. President-elect Biden Adds Navajo Nation Health Director, Dr. Jill Jim, to His Transition Team’s Coronavirus Task Force.

9. Wisdom from Krishna Das: “Our lives are the path. There is no ordinary life and spiritual life.”

10. The Thanksgiving Myth Gets a Deeper Look This Year on The New York Times. “For many Native Americans, the Covid-19 toll and the struggle over racial inequity make this high time to re-examine the holiday, and a cruel history.” In related news, 6 Native American and Indigenous Charities to Donate to for Indigenous Peoples’ Day & Thanksgiving.

11. Less Than A Year To Develop A COVID Vaccine – Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Be Alarmed. This is a case where “fast” doesn’t mean lazy or sloppy or careless, it means “this is urgent because people are dying so we have to work really hard and get this done asap.” In related news, Moderna released more Covid-19 vaccine results. They’re very encouraging.

12. Chef David Chang On Depression, Being A Dad And The Burden Of ‘Authenticity’.

13. 7 Great ‘This American Life’ Episodes for Thanksgiving on The New York Times. “From family mysteries and Native American history to stories that delight, here’s what the show’s host, Ira Glass, recommends to get you through the week.”

14. The Losses We Share on The New York Times. “Perhaps the path to healing begins with three simple words: Are you OK?”

15. The Dog Journal That Became a Diary of the Sky.

16. TikToker finds her 2020 goal list from January and well… It’s hilarious.

17. ‘In My Room’ With Aimee Mann. “Aimee Mann celebrated the 20th anniversary of Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo by playing tracks for Rolling Stone’s In My Room.”

18. Wisdom from David R. Hawkins: “Love is misunderstood to be an emotion; actually, it is a state of awareness, a way of being in the world, a way of seeing oneself and others.”

19. Mary Lambert Debuts Breathtaking Holiday Song ‘Seasonal Depression’. Her cover of Joni Mitchell’s “River” is also gorgeous.

20. Normal People Official Playlist on Spotify. As much as I’m enjoying the story, the acting, the visual mood; I’m loving the music.

21. You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes: Hannah Gadsby on Spotify, (podcast).

22. December Reflections with Susannah Conway. “The idea is simply to take a photograph (and share it if you wish) every day in December while reflecting back over the year. I’ve provided a list of daily prompts with a mix of things to photograph — for example: star, red, ornament — and things to ponder.”

23. Charlie Mackesy’s lessons in kindness. If you don’t already know his work, go find out (links are included in the article), it will be SO worth your time.

24. Solitude Is a Life’s Work, a poem by Belén Atienza.