March | 2025 | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. Poetry: I Let Go and How to Love the World from Julie Barton, and For When The Fall Feels Inevitable from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, and My Soul is in a Hurry by Mário Raul de Morais Andrade (shared by Patti Digh).

2. Writing prompt sources: Prompt Monster and Writing Prompts from Wikiversity (both thanks to Kari at A Grace Full Life). I also highly recommend Jena Schwartz’s new book, Fierce Encouragement: 201 Writing Prompts for Staying Grounded in Fragile Times.

3. Sorry, Your Bootstraps Won’t Save You: A Guide to Mutual Aid in the Age of Bullshit on The Progressivists. “The system isn’t failing us – it’s fucking us over exactly as planned. But we’re building something better, and we need your help to grow it.”

4. Small Bright Songs in the Dark, “An invitation to gift yourself a daily sliver of joy” from Sara Saltee.

5. The joy and the fury from Amy Marie Turner.

6. 7 Myths About Introverts.

7. Pep Talk: On Hanging in There from Maggie Smith.

8. 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action.

9. Goods Unite Us. “Corporations earn profits off of your everyday purchases. And some of those profits are then donated to politicians and causes you might not agree with.” Search for a brand and see its politics.

10. Here’s the One Thing You Can Do Right Now to Oppose Fascism on
The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz.

11. How to Step In from Patti Digh. “Resistance may take you out of your comfort zone. Be prepared to go there.”

12. America must not surrender its democratic values from Bernie Sanders.

13. Typewriter interview with Ross Gay from Austin Kleon. “10 questions for the poet, essayist, and student of joy.”

14. A break from your smartphone can reboot your mood. Here’s how long you need.

15. The Tiniest Mission.

16. Comedian Mae Martin wrote a rock album. When the world’s chaotic, ‘So much of life doesn’t have a punch line’.

17. Curious about exploring your spirituality? Ask yourself these 4 questions.

18. ‘My life expectancy is short’: America’s most vulnerable – in pictures.
“From train hoppers to addicts and prostitutes, Mark Laita’s photo series unpicks the complex life stories of those who exist on society’s fringe.”

19. Using the power of truth. “The road back to democracy begins with a recovery of what it means to be a human being.”

20. And finally, a few random things I saved this week.

1. Morning walks. It’s turning toward spring and I could really tell this week because the birds were getting rowdy in the mornings, in particular the redwing blackbirds, (they are so small but so LOUD). We saw an owl one morning who was getting blasted by the wind just like we were. Then there was a fat robin sitting on a branch next to the river, a sure sign that spring is coming.

2. Practice. No Red Sage Yoga this week (everyone was sick) and a smaller group to write with on Friday morning. Luckily, writing and meditating in the morning only requires me to find my seat, so that was the same. My practices are regular and ongoing but simultaneously shifting and changing.

3. Eric. The pictures he sends me when he goes for a run or a hike, sitting in the sun with him in the backyard, lunch at Mount Everest Café, 30+ years of shared memories, watching Iron Chef and “trading some” (i.e. massage), hugs in the kitchen, all the love and heartbreak we’ve experienced together, making each other laugh.

4. My brother, Chris. He is really taking one for the team right now caring for Mom while we wait for a definite move in date for her new “apartment.”

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I love it here, with them, so much.

Bonus joy: Pilates, getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna, good books, finally cleaning up most of the tiny piles I’d made all around the house, taco salad, sweet & savory, hot cocoa to sweeten my coffee, KIND nut clusters, crunchy and chewy, Icelandic Skyr, watching TV (just finished Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke on Hulu — I thought I already knew the full story, but WOW), listening to podcasts, my Shakti mat, down blankets and pillows, when it’s warm enough out to open all the windows, payday, being able to help from a distance, comedy, true crime, libraries and librarians, poetry and poets, art and artists, music and musicians, streaming content, vaccines, texting and sharing reels, stickers, pineapple, breakfast burritos, eggs from Shaun’s chickens, other people’s kids and dogs, twinkle lights, blackout curtains, wireless internet, my HappyLight, the sound of an owl in the still dark of morning, how good Ringo was for Dr. Foster, a deep sigh, a whole new month, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.