Monthly Archives: September 2025

Something Good

1. Poetry: Sit with the Pain in Your Heart, he said by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Wherever You Are by Maya Stein shared by Heart Poems, Lonely Young Mother’s Refrain and Text to My Friend from Julie Barton, Writing From Home from Jena Schwartz, Background Hum on The Weekly Pause by James Crews, and For You Who Have Loved Old Dogs by Silas House shared by Maggie Smith on The Slowdown.

2. Death and Her Compass(video) “Andrews, a ‘death doula’ and lover of the woods, works with clients nearing the end of their lives to confront the fear, anxiety, and hope surrounding death. As Andrews inspires those around her to be more open about their mortality, she reflects on her own relationship with loss.”

3. From The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz: I Am (not) Charlie Kirk and What Exactly Do MAGAs Love, Anyway? 

4. How can we enjoy fall when democracy hangs by a thread? from Alix Klingenberg, “cozy sweaters and rage – Letter Two {Falling Gently}.”

5. Act now! from Seth Godin.

6. From problem to possibility: how your attention can improve your life. “In a world of constant digital noise, by reclaiming our attention we can improve the quality of our lives. Jodie Jackson, a specialist in the way the brain forms habits, explains how.”

7. The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job. “From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order.”

8. Sherwin-Williams’ 2026 Color of the Year. I can’t decide if this is utterly depressing or just right. Maybe both?

9. 8 Gentle Practices That Add Ease (When Pushing Through Isn’t Working) by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

10. Open Source Anxiety Toolkit. “Free tools to help when you’re feeling anxious. These exercises are simple to follow and don’t require any special equipment – use them whenever your mind feels too busy or when you need a moment of calm.”

11. The Permission Workbook: Writing About the Dead. “Is it ever okay? Also, some craft thoughts on Elizabeth Gilbert’s All the Way to the River” from Elissa Altman.

12. Resilience Fatigue. “A comic for when you feel overwhelmed” from Connie Sun.

13. Bryan Andrews Music on gun violence. (Facebook reel) “You can pray AND advocate for doing SOMETHING.”

14. ‘My wife is an exquisite goddess’: Nick Offerman on love, woodwork and storing gravy in his beard. “The Parks and Recreation actor answers your questions on being married to Megan Mullally, visiting Manchester and preparing for the apocalypse.”

15. They were right [that college makes you liberal]… but not for the reason they are angry. (Facebook reel)

16. Buck helps with everything on the farm(Facebook reel) Good boy, Buck!

17. Rudy Francisco reads his poem A Series of Gentle Reminders. (Facebook reel)

18. Simple Hack for Living in the Present Moment from Dan Harris. (Facebook reel)

19. Here’s a handy guide to help you spot AI writing.

20. This is How Bill Hader Relates to His Neuroses from Dan Harris. (Facebook reel)

21. And finally, this random collection of things I saved to my phone last week.

Gratitude

1. Morning walks. I love spending the time with Ringo, getting the exercise, seeing the sun rise, hearing the birds sing. 

2. Practice. At Red Sage this week, there was a puppy, lots of laughter, moments of both calm and chaos — I loved it. My Friday morning writing sangha was magical, as usual. I’m currently reading Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness by Jon Kabat-Zinn and it’s making me appreciate my meditation practice in a whole new way.

3. Cooking. I find it so empowering and lucky to be able to cook for myself the things I like to eat, to be able to modify recipes to my particular needs and tastes, and 90% of the time whatever gets cooked at home is so much better than anything you might buy. I also love feeding other people. Eric is always so appreciative of what I cook. Yesterday, I made mini zucchini breads and gingerbread muffins and shared them with our book club and another friend whose birthday had just passed. 

4. Streaming and on demand content. TV, films, music, podcasts, videos, articles, books, readings, classes, lectures, etc. It can get overwhelming sometimes and I don’t always make the healthiest choices, but I love being able to access pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want — without having to leave my house.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. Home.

Bonus joy: being able to schedule things online (including rescheduling and even cancelling), Sunday morning Pilates, clean sheets, a warm shower, sitting in the backyard with Ringo, napping in the living room with Ringo, hanging out with Ringo doing just about anything, that his belly is doing better, that my brother and I are able to support each other and make good decisions regarding our parents and the care they’ve needed over the past few years to assist in their aging and dying and taking care of what is left behind after those tasks, toasted walnuts in quick breads and cookies, gummies, stickers, books, libraries and librarians, poetry and poets, comedy, true crime, Rom-Coms, crime dramas, documentaries, strawberries, fall turning everything into gold but the grass is still green, cute animal videos, the way the top of Ringo’s head smells after he’s been laying out in the sun, the chance to start over, writing in the morning in front of my HappyLight with a mug of hot green tea with matcha, dreams, pjs as daywear, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.