Let this be the space where you embrace the beautiful reality that all around, there are slower rhythms that are calling your name. Even if it’s nothing more than a few trees outside your window, or the sky above, you are surrounded by beautiful, natural rhythms in the world that remind you that there is no need to rush.

~Morgan Harper Nichols

1. Still Life from Summer Brennan. “I went to an exhibit at the Louvre yesterday, about still life art throughout the ages. All those flowers and fruits and vegetables and dead birds. A still life painting from Pompeii, from 50 A.D., of a loaf of bread and two figs. The figs, exactly as they might be now, set in the light on the windowsill. The bread, like you or I might eat, sectioned, like a Roman tear-and-share. We have been ourselves for so much longer than we realize. Bread, and figs on the ledge of a window, and the Neapolitan sun beating down, and the sounds of the ocean not far away. In the distance, for all of us, the sound of the volcano.”

2. What Are The 7 Types Of Rest? (Plus, The Best One For You).

3. Practice Makes Purpose from Mindy Tsonas Choi. “I can feel myself trying to reach back for a certain kind of joy that was scattered and lost along the way. Complexity and truth are absolutely important and necessary, but I desperately could use more levity and light in my life — not the kind that bypasses and erases the difficult things happening in the world, but perhaps as a way to help hold it all in my heart.”

4. After Peeling the Beets, a poem from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

5. How it started; how it’s going on At The Wild Edges. I read these posts from people who have restricted or even quit their use of various social media and the impact it’s had on them with great interest.

6. There are no stupid mistakes from Seth Godin. This is a great reframe.

7. New Thich Nhat Hanh documentary “I Have Arrived, I Am Home” premieres January 21.

8. How to Stay Calm In the Midst of Chaos on Lion’s Roar. “Sharon Salzberg on the power of equanimity.”

9. Culture Study Challenge: One Small Community Thing.

10. 8 Things Introverts Do That May Seem Weird to Others (But Are Not).

11. Crows and Other Sentient Beings, art and wisdom from P Jean Oliver.

12. Four Types of Attention.

13. Wisdom from Kerri Kelly: “I realized I have been running away from the fatigue, from the fear that nothing will change, and from the truth that the systems we are trying to save are, in fact, not salvageable. This may sound depressing, but in fact, arriving at this conclusion – that there is no fixing this mess – has given me renewed hope. By accepting the conditions of our present reality, we become clear in purpose. That our assignment is to care for each other during the collapse of old systems, to reduce harm wherever possible, and to unleash our joy and art and imagination towards new pathways and practices of being.”

14. We Need Comrades. “For too long, the individualist rhetoric of ‘self-care’ has crowded out our sense of working collectively for shared goals. Comradeship is about our responsibility to each other — a responsibility that makes us better and stronger than we could ever be alone.”

15. What happened when we made space for harvest.

16. The disappointment of copy cats from Susannah Conway.

17. How To Stop Crying from Andrea Gibson.

18. Fear, a poem from Kahlil Gibran.

19. Why is Everyone Online Autistic Now?

20. What’s the #1 thing to change to be happier? A top happiness researcher weighs in.

21. Letters Against Isolation. “We fight senior loneliness one letter at a time. Through handwritten messages of love, hope, and joy, our volunteer community brings seniors connection and improves their mental and physical health.” You can volunteer to write letters: “Sign up to become a Letters Against Isolation volunteer and send seniors around the world handwritten letters filled with joy! Once you submit the form, you’ll receive an email from us with further instructions!”

22. Artists sue AI company for billions, alleging “parasite” app used their work for free. In related news, Art created by artificial intelligence: “Frightening and fascinating all at the same time” and Nuclear explosión gender reveal party from Weird AI Generations on Twitter.

23. The truth behind 10 of the biggest health beliefs. “Should we really be aiming to walk 10,000 steps a day, or drink two litres of water? Time to sift fact from fiction.” In related news, 10 Nutrition Myths Experts Wish Would Die on The New York Times. “We surveyed some of the country’s leading authorities to reveal the truth about fat, dairy, soy and more.”

24. How to Make a Caregiving Plan (So It’s Ready When You Need It) on The New York Times. In related news, Why writing a will and planning for your death is a ‘lifetime gift’ to loved ones.

25. I Lost My Dad. These Are The 7 Words I Wish I’d Never Been Told At His Funeral. “The loss was a part of my heartbeat, my everyday, and not to talk about it felt like withholding some essential context from whomever I was speaking to: family, friends, co-workers, strangers. My dad just died. Please act like it.”

26. Small Changes Introverts Can Make to Improve Their Lives.

27. Leslie Jones Set the Bar Incredibly High for Future Guest Hosts During her Run on “The Daily Show.” 

28. Artist creates stunning—but temporary—wildlife portraits with natural, foraged materials.

29. People Are Sharing The Adult Advice That Made A Real Difference For Them.

30. People Share Their All-Time Favorite Words In A Foreign Language. In seemingly related news, 35 Times Kids’ “Alternative” Names For Things Were Much Better Than The Real Names.

31. Precise Details and Architectural Contrasts Highlight Layla May Arthur’s Narrative Paper Sculptures.

32. Leaves, Insects, and Human Anatomy Converge in Delicate Pencil Drawings by Amahi Mori.

33. What Is Intuitive Eating? Meet The Duo Behind The Method on The New York Times. “Once considered radical, Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole’s method of intuitive eating has become the cornerstone of the modern anti-diet movement.”

34. The parallels between the messaging of diet culture and hustle culture, a Twitter thread from Amy Porto.

35. How To Slow Down In Life by Tammy Strobel on Be More With Less.

36. Beautiful art from Wole Langunju on Instagram. “Painter and installation artist interested in challenging and critiquing notions of imperialistic cultural idioms.”

37. Aja Monet – What I’ve Learned, a gorgeous poem and video.

38. Nakhane – New Brighton feat. ANOHNI (Official Music Video).

39. How to Avoid Being an Accidental Racist, a video series from Iyabo Onipede.

40. Recipes I want to try: Best Chocolate Cake Recipe, and Coconut Pound Cake, and Giant Molasses Cookies.

41. COVID PSA: (because I clearly didn’t understand the unpredictability of test results, etc.) Did you test negative when sick or exposed to COVID? Here’s what it means, and Is it time for a reality check on rapid COVID tests?, and Still testing positive after day 10? How to decide when to end your COVID isolation.

42. Dan Swygart called a ‘creep’ for dating Shauna Rae the 23-year-old stuck in 8-year-old body. I get why at first glance this might feel weird or creepy, and yet just because she had her physical growth altered in childhood and people mistake her for a child on sight doesn’t mean she doesn’t have the right to have a consensual relationship with an adult human — because SHE’S an adult human. She certainly has to more carefully vet her partners because of it to protect herself. Really, if you think this relationship is wrong, you must think all relationships between differently abled, shaped, and sized bodies isn’t either, and frankly that’s weird and creepy.

43. Is it enough? from Laurie Wagner.

44. Me and My Grandmother Play Truth or Drink. (video) This is so sweet. In related news, Cut (the creators of the video and game) makes a whole series of really fun videos: “Small questions have powerful effects when they go viral. Cut spreads stories for fun, for serious, and for real – bringing the internet together one awkward moment at a time.”

45. Why fans are horrified over Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘detox’ salad.

46. Aimee Mann Explores the ‘Therapy’ of Music on New Audible Podcast ‘Straw Into Gold’.

47. This Dystopian Sci-Fi Novel Puts a Queer Twist on 1984 and The Scarlet Letter.

48. Beyond BMI: A New Book Embodies Fat Liberation. “In her new book Weightless: Making Space for My Resilient Body and Soul, Dionne takes readers on a personal and political journey that begins with her own health issues and her resultant encounters with fatphobia in the medical establishment.”

49. Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space, (video) “an in-depth biography of the influential author whose groundbreaking anthropological work would challenge assumptions about race, gender and cultural superiority that had long defined the field in the 19th century.”

50. Get A Bowl Of World Famous Clam Chowder At This Newport, Oregon Restaurant. “Serving locals, visitors, and celebrities alike for the past 77 years, Mo’s and the world famous clam chowder served there have become a Newport, Oregon institution. It’s not a real trip to Newport unless you stop in at Mo’s for fresh mouthwatering seafood!” I’ve loved this place since I was a kid.