September | 2024 | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

Kind and gentle reader: Just a reminder that there won’t be a list next week, as I’ll be in Oregon. There’s an archive of close to 650 Something Good lists if you need something to do next Monday. 🙂

1. Stress Less Today: 10 Must-Try Strategies for a Calmer Life from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less. In related news, 8 Proven Methods to Stop Pushing and Start Easing Through Life, also from Courtney.

2. Three Big Questions. Jami Attenberg did a series where she answered three questions submitted by fellow Substack writers, and then shared the results here. In related news, This Family Is Miserable. You Should Meet Them Anyway on The New York Times. (gift link) “The domestic drama runs high in ‘A Reason to See You Again,’ Jami Attenberg’s latest novel.”

3. Cat lost in Yellowstone travels 800 miles to reunite with owners after two months.

4. ‘I shouldn’t have listened to those around me’: Janet Jackson on Michael, motherhood and how she’s taking back control. “After five decades in the public eye, three marriages and the ‘wardrobe malfunction’ that torpedoed her career, the pop megastar is back. She opens up about family, fame and her fears of mayhem after the US election.”

5. Hillary Waters Fayle’s Intricate Botanical Art. “It all starts with real leaves and harnesses the power of the sun.”

6. The Life-Changing Magic of Forgetting Your Phone at Home. “For a vast majority of human history, it was acceptable for a mother to sometimes be unreachable.”

7. Please don’t say “Sorry for your loss.” “A complicated relationship with my dad has led to complicated grief.”

8. Where or how do you find joy? Nick Cave asked his Red Hand Files readers, and he got so many good answers, he’s created an archive.

9. A next frontier for spam and scams from Seth Godin.

10. Reflections of a childless cat man from Hugh Hollowell. “Micro-adventures, kittens, and embedded memories.”

11. Toy Hall of Fame 2024 Finalists.

12. 11 Habits Good Sleepers Have in Common.

13. Three pages a day. “Of all the self-help tools I’ve tested through the years, one has proved more enduring than the rest: Morning Pages.”

14. The 7 Types Of Rest You Need To Feel Your Best.

15. ‘South Park’ creators renovate a beloved restaurant, and find nostalgia is pricey.

16. Legendary writer Kurt Vonnegut cleverly explains how to write the 3 stories everyone loves.

17. 126 Poetry Prompts for Writers.

18. ‘I Don’t Want to Die.’ He needed mental health care. He found a ghost network.

19. The ‘Body Roundness Index’ Is Touted As The New BMI — And It’s Got A Big Problem. “According to doctors and dietitians, BRI may essentially be the same inaccurate measure in different clothing.”

20. Artwork by Patrick Cabral. “Layer by layer, tiny cut by tiny cut, Filipino artist Patrick Cabral crafts intricate paper sculptures of the world’s most threatened species. Cabral shares his work on social media to increase public awareness of conservation issues.”

21. Integrity as Craft: Willing Oneself Toward a Total, Messy Wholeness. “It is no easy feat to convey oneself, to try to do so fully. To leave the reader feeling resonant—more full in return. I see the foundation of this craft, of writing creative nonfiction, as its entry point: To be willing to catch oneself hiding between the lines, to catch oneself avoiding parts of our own story.”

22. David Moreno’s Anthropomorphic Foundations Support Cascading Villages. “From thin rods of steel, Barcelona-based artist David Moreno (previously) constructs towering houses and cascading villages that reflect the architecture of our lives. He often incorporates anthropomorphic, anatomical elements, suggesting skeletons or beating hearts.”

23. Josh Johnson Has Become the Funniest Guy on the Internet. That Is Not a Joke. “The Daily Show correspondent and TikTok phenom once said the web was a bad idea. Now it’s the reason he’s famous.”

24. Hunched over my smartphone while my family slept, I knew I had to break my addiction. But how? “The modern world just isn’t set up for non-smartphone users, but after a few faltering steps away from mine, my life changed.”

25. The 50 Best NPR Tiny Desk Concerts.

26. Community from A Grace Full Life. Lots of links to good blogs and some interesting questions in this post.

27. And finally, this random collection of things I saved last week.

1. Morning walks. Only one left before I head to Oregon. I suspect I may end up missing prime fall, its peak color, by leaving just now. But maybe, like my peonies did over the summer, the last bit of color might still be here when I get back.

2. Practice. We tried our first short class at Red Sage, just a half an hour during the lunch break, and even though time management isn’t my best skill and I always plan way more than I’ll ever be able to get through, more people (and one dog) were able to come, and it was a fun midday break.

3. Knowing that while I can help, I don’t have to fix it. Not that I don’t struggle with my desire to fix it, just that I don’t beat myself up about it when I can’t, that I’m more realistic about what I’m able to give, to do, to be for other people, and about when I need to take a break. I’ve spent the last two weeks vetting assisted living/memory care facilities, have narrowed it down to a few we can tour, scheduled those visits, and shared the necessary information with those involved. It was a lot that sometimes didn’t feel like enough, but I know that I’m going there to help. I don’t have to fix it.

4. Tony time. As much as I love my friends, I love their dogs too. This past week, I got to hang out with Carrie and her dog Tony (the Tiger). Carrie and I went out for brunch and then back to her house to see Tony, spent some time in the yard picking tomatoes and chewing sticks. It was good for the soul.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I wish I didn’t have to be away from them, and can’t wait until I’m able to come back, to come home to them. With all the hard things, it’s such a gift to be able to have a soft place to land.

Bonus joy: the picture Chloe’ sent me of me and tiny baby H. (he was so little!), breakfast burritos, peaches, green tea, Mary’s Mountain Cookies chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, cuddling on the couch with Eric, naps, listening to podcasts, watching TV, eBooks from the library, texting with Chloe’ and Chris, baby zoo animals, rain, clean sheets, a warm shower, an extra massage, cooler temperatures during the day, the smell of rabbitbrush, feeding other people, friends who share their harvest, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.