~This week’s list of things worth reading, watching, listening to, contemplating, and sharing.

1. In Praise of the Dark and Following the Dog, poems from Julie Barton.

2. To Hell With Despair. This is the Darkness We Were Made For on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz. “Right now, the hateful people are trying to overwhelm us into despair and resignation, and so resolute joy will be our resistance.”

3. Wind and Flame: Dispatches from the Eaton Fire, a daily diary of one woman’s experience.

4. Creative Ease – One Prompt at a Time from Jena Schwartz. “The reason I started writing prompts in the first place was to offer a way to start, since so often, starting is the hardest part. I also realized I wanted to encourage people to keep going, so that is an inherent part of how I suggest using the prompts in this book. Finally, it really helps to be good to yourself – with writing as with all things – so bringing more self-compassion to yourself is a core part of everything I teach.”

5. days & years: pace yourself, friends from Karen Walrond on Chookooloonks.

6. What I’ve Learned About Making Friends Online on Introvert, Dear. “Online friendships might suit introverts because we’d rather write out our thoughts than say them on the spot.”

7. KNOW WORRIES #11 – “Lights, Camera, Whatever”: On my current movie funk from Jonathan Edward Durham.

8. Christopher Walken Has Never Owned a Cellphone. “‘I don’t have technology,’ says the 81-year-old actor, who stars in the sci-fi series ‘Severance’.” An interview on The Wall Street Journal.

9. I Tried TikTok’s “Floor Time” Trend and Now I’m Never Going Back.

10. 7 Keys to Becoming More Creative than Reactive. “How becoming more creative can empower you to live more effectively.”

11. Unplug to Recharge—Why a Digital Detox is the Ultimate Act of Self-Care.

12. The Imperfectionist: Seventy per cent. “The 70% rule: If you’re roughly 70% happy with a piece of writing you’ve produced, you should publish it. If you’re 70% satisfied with a product you’ve created, launch it. If you’re 70% sure a decision is the right one, implement it. And if you’re 70% confident you’ve got what it takes to do something that might make a positive difference to the increasingly alarming era we seem to inhabit? Go ahead and do that thing. (Please!)”

13. In a chronically online world, people are finding respite in ‘junk journaling’.

14. We all get to choose our type, “But we have to do something” from Patti Digh.

15. Recipe I want to try: French Onion Meatballs.

16. The Winners of This Annual Competition Show Nature Is Ready for Its Close-Up. In related news, Striking Winners of the 2024 Travel Photographer of the Year Contest.

17. Egg prices are likely to shoot up even more in 2025. Here’s what to know. This also might help:

18. January Thoughts: Focus, Focus, Focus. Omkari Williams’ Microactivism newsletter for January. Which includes this:

“Now, more than ever is a time when we need to commit to what is sustainable for us. Not for our best friend or our next-door neighbor, but for us. Not only what you can do regularly but what you will do. Focus. What’s the thing that is most important to you? Focus on that. This doesn’t mean that you won’t be aware of other things that are going on, it means that you are one person, and there are limits to your capacity, just like the rest of us.

Focus on the one or two things you care most about, not on the chaos coming out of the White House. And, whatever you do, do not focus on him, the source of the chaos. He is just a mouthpiece for a dangerous ideology, and focusing on him is taking energy from where you can actually make a difference. We are fighting policies, not one person.”

19. Have You Checked in With Yourself Lately? “Recognizing the importance of your voice is never a waste of time,” from Jamie Attenberg.

20. On Doom and Joy from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

21. Black Farmer’s Index. “Black Farmers Index (The Index), addresses food insecurity, food system failures and inequities in agricultural in our commitment to ensure that Black farmers and growers thrive. This is done by providing a more successful consumer-to-Black farmer pipeline, as well as, connecting agriculturalists to agencies, institutions, and salient resources that build their overall business through creative marketing, educational services, outreach and intentional community building.”

22. Another recipe: Homemade Maple Donut Bars. My mom used to make these. SO good.

23. Sara Bareilles Debuts World Premiere of Song Co-Written by Brandi Carlile [and Andrea Gibson] at Sundance. “During a Sundance gala, Bareilles delivered a two song set that featured ‘Salt Then Sour Then Sweet’ from Ryan White’s doc ‘Come See Me in the Good Light,’ and ‘She Used to Be Mine’ from ‘Waitress.'”

24. Luther: Never Too Much review – the mystery and brilliance of ‘love doctor’ Vandross. “A feature-length documentary about the multi-platinum R&B singer does justice to his talents and tactfully handles the issue of his sexuality.”

25. And finally, this collection of things I saved to my phone this week.