2. 12 Reasons To Ditch The Diet Mentality. “Restricting yourself ultimately doesn’t work. Here’s why.”
3. Pitties People Watch From Their Window Perch All Day. (video)
4. This tiny NYC apartment goes for $687 a month! (video) “New York City comes in all shapes and sizes. In this new series, I explore interesting spaces and apartments. Today we tour $687 tiny NYC apartment and tour the famous 368 started by Casey Neistat.” What I found so interesting about this video isn’t so much the apartment or its size but what the person who lived there had to say about what is important to him, and in life. I have to say, however, I had anxiety the whole time about the possibility of his cat falling out the window.
5. Embracing the Dark Pleasures of Dystopian Literature: 10 Novels That Inspired Me To Write My Own. One of my favorite genres, although in the past few years they’ve all seemed less and less fictional.
6. Writers, Ink Podcast: Author Jami Attenberg Helps You Hit Word-Count Goals and Get Your Book to the Finish Line. I started following Jami on her Substack, Craft Talk, a few years ago, and have learned so much from her.
7. ‘Sort Of’ Review: The Max Show Is Back For Its Final Season. This show is SO GOOD.
8. Lauren Groff on Opening a Bookstore in Florida. “The Lynx, which Groff aims to open this spring, will feature banned books, an act of resistance in a state where more than half of school districts have seen book banning activity over the past two years.” In related news, here’s a link to their fundraiser, The Lynx, A Bookstore in Gainesville, FL.
9. Homeless man rescues puppies, leaves them at shelter with touching note.
10. A Simple Sacred Pilgrimage from Gretchen Schmelzer. “A pilgrimage, practiced, no matter how small, is a chance to see the sacred in the ordinary— to see the newest growth in yourself and a chance to greet yourself as a long lost friend.” Also from Gretchen, The bitter and the sweet in transitions.
11. Manjula Martin Tells Us: About Trying Slow from Cheryl Strayed’s series “in which I invite an author to tell us five things—not only about their most recent book, but about their life too.”
12. For the introverts: 5 Signs You’re a People-Pleasing Introvert and How Introverts Can Show Themselves Love on Their Toughest Days.
13. Failing into the New Year, “on things dead and not dead.”
14. From Lion’s Roar: Lessons on the Three Poisons from Barbie and Ken (“Following the Barbie film’s win for best song with ‘I’m Just Ken’ at the 2024 Critics’ Choice Awards, associate editor Mihiri Tillakaratne explores what Ken’s journey teaches us about Buddhism’s three poisons: craving, anger, and ignorance”) and What Do You Really Want? (“Take time to discover your deepest desires, says Brother Phap Linh. By shining the light of mindfulness on your volition, you’ll find more freedom”).
15. The Sound of a Thing Carrying Doom on Short Reads.
16. A Few Good Questions, “On the value of our time and energy and more” from Jami Attenberg.
17. This pay phone is free, but you can’t make a call. It only plays birdsongs.
18. Gezellig: How to be cozy like the Dutch.
19. Close-Up Photographer of the Year Showcases Mindboggling Macro Images of the Natural World.
20. 365 grateful days on A Grace Full Life.
21. The Guilt of Feeling Joy, “On allowing yourself to be happy.”
22. Incredible Vegan Dinner Recipes to Put on Your Menu ASAP.
23. The Ezra Klein Show: How to Discover Your Own Taste. “Kyle Chayka, a staff writer at The New Yorker, has written a whole book on it, the forthcoming “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture.” We talk about how today’s internet encourages everything to look more the same and is even dulling our ability to know what we like. And we discuss what we can do to strengthen our sense of personal taste in order to live a richer, more beautiful life.”
25. 10 surprising psychological and physical perks associated with regular reading.
26. This Is What Happened When I Didn’t Buy Any New Clothes for a Year.
27. Feeling Stuck on a Task or Problem? Tons of Science Says You Should Take a Walk.
28. I deeply loved my time in Nebraska, “Until I didn’t. Life bends in unreliable directions like that, and then something breaks” from Patti Digh. Also from Patti, You are Beautiful.
29. ‘It will be the end of democracy’: Bernie Sanders on what happens if Trump wins – and how to stop him. “He’s the leftwing outsider who nearly became the Democrats’ candidate for president – twice. As his position on the Israel-Gaza war threatens to upset his support, the veteran senator says he’s tired but determined to fight the return of that ‘ bitter, humiliated man’.”
30. Not the end of the world: nine data-driven reasons to look beyond doomsday headlines. We need good news too, if for no other reason than it might keep us from giving up.
31. Let Go Of These 8 Things For A Happier Life from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.
32. Let’s go small together, “An invitation wrapped in an origin story” from Rita Ott Ramstad. “It can mean that we don’t have to find or live out a great purpose. We can simply live our small lives the best we can alongside other, similar beings. It doesn’t mean we don’t or can’t or won’t or shouldn’t care for others and the places we live, but it means we don’t have to do that caring in big, unique, changing-the-world ways. It means we can recognize and be OK with the idea that we are all just passing through, and the things we do and make and love will pass with us when we’re gone.” And this line really got me, “as it turns out, I want a lot less than I thought I did.” Amen, Rita. ❤
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 