January | 2026 | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. Morning walks. Eric has been able to go on most of ours with us while he’s on break. It’s been fun, but Ringo gets annoyed when we talk to each other too much as opposed to paying our full attention to him. Our Monday morning walk was VERY exciting for all of us because Ringo tracked a coyote in the same spot we’ve seen one a few other times and actually found it. It made him so happy. He wanted to go back every day since that and search some more, and from now on, forever, whenever we walk that same section of trail, he’ll be looking for it, even if we never see it again.

2. Snow. It was only one day and it didn’t amount to much, but at this point, I’ll take whatever we can get.

3. Practice. I finally got to do some yoga with my Red Sage humans after taking a few weeks off for the holidays. I missed them. We also had another amazing, magical writing group on Friday morning. I haven’t been meditating much recently, so I’d like to get back to that.

4. My Oregon Family. My mom had another stroke this past week. She’s doing okay, and has clearly declined. I’m leaving in a few days to go to Oregon for two weeks, mostly to clear out her house and get it ready to sell, but after this recent episode, I think it’s good that I’m going to see her too. She’s still getting such good care and company, seems to recognize everyone, loves to eat, hasn’t stopped smiling, and seemed happy to meet Hallie, her newest grandbaby.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. Eric let me have an extra week with the Christmas tree but tonight is the last day, so I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I’m already missing the two weeks I’ll be away from here and them, and ready to come back home to them. Hopefully this will be one of the last times I have to be away for this long.

Bonus joy: dinner with Chelsey and Jon (who are moving to New Mexico, *sob*), plans to see Chloe’, the flowers Eric got me, texting with Chris, sunshine, other people’s kids and dogs, comedy, making each other laugh, poetry, libraries, movies, watching TV, scratch paper, stickers, pens with refillable ink, towels warm out of the dryer, clean sheets, a warm shower, down pillows and blankets, getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna with Eric, Flax4Life chocolate muffins, a hot cup of coffee and a warm mug of tea, finishing the laundry, spending a whole afternoon writing, listening to music and podcasts, chicken pot pie stew/soup, onion buns, pickled onions, a big glass of cold clean water, crying, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.

1. Poetry: To Begin With, the Sweetgrass by Mary Oliver, Mess Is Evidence of a Life Being Lived by Georgie Jones, A New Year; A New Pantoum by Pádraig Ó Tuama, How It Comes Out and How We Momentarily Become the Moon by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, One-Way Gate by Jenny George and Puzzle by Randall Mann and White Hot Star by W. Todd Kaneko shared by Maggie Smith on The Slowdown, This New Year and Prescription for Wonder by James Crews, The Moment I Asked Spirit by Julie Barton who is back from her break, The Death of a Migrant Worker by Gil Arzola, New Year by Carol Ann Duffy shared by Patti Digh, Happy New Year by Donna Ashworth on Heart Poems, A Different Way to Begin by Isabel Abbott, look at us, being so human by Maya Stein, I Face East (Ars Poetica) by Carlina Duan, and A Fabulous Night for … Brue Weigl.

2. Wisdom from Tracy Cochran: “Mindfulness is a movement of return to the present moment. It is an action of remembering — not a memory of the past, but a direct and wordless experience of presence. Mindfulness is not a thought, but rather attention itself. It is open and without agenda…It is that gentle tug or the wordless call we feel to be more present, to stop missing our real purpose here, which is to really be here. Mindfulness is not an answer to suffering in the sense of being an intellectual formula that will help us skip over difficult feelings and experiences. It is the energy of awareness that allows us to see and participate in reality, to be with what is arising in a way that is compassionate and open.”

3. Stay With The Gorgeous Nothings, “Emptiness as Foundations During Winter’s Waning” on The Wonder + The Haunting by Anne Marie Vivivienne.

4. The Things That Right Us, “And what has always been my medicine” by Andrea Scher.

5. I am, “I write these words all the time. They help me see what’s true” by Josie George on bimblings.

6. Hello 2026, please be kind. “Year-End Poetry Review + Photo Journaling prompts” on Earth & Verse.

7. Re-Resolution, “Make the familiar strange, appreciate what you used to want, keep up the good work, and more” on The Art of Noticing from Rob Walker.

8. More Cheese in 2026 by Jenny Lawson.

9. Against resolutions, “Suleika Jaouad on ritual, repetition, and the fantasy of starting over.”

10. What a long year this week has been, “How I’m planning for the weeks ahead” by Brad Montague.

11. 26 Ways To Simplify Your Life In 2026 by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

12. Twelve Red Grapes by Jamie Etheridge on Short Reads. “Wishes for a new year.”

13. Most Trump Supporters Aren’t Stupid, and That’s the Most Terrifying Thing on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz.

14. Writer Resolution 2026: Wield The Weapon That Is You from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

15. An Existential Guide to: Standing at the Edge of Your Own Life on The Shadowed Archive.

16. how i broke my phone addiction this year, “embracing inconvenience, delay and boredom” by Vera Hester.

17. Make This Your Year of Connection. “Connecting with others (and yourself) will pay mental health dividends” on Psychology Today.

18. Digital Detox Detour on The Art of Noticing with Rob Walker. “What I learned from my (involuntary) ‘sabbatical.'”

19. Giving Our Bodies Back to the Earth: The Rise of Natural Burial. “What if your body could nourish the land long after you’re gone? As the founder of Larkspur Conservation, a conservation burial site, John Christian Phifer is replanting our relationship to death.”

20. The secret to being happy in 2026? It’s far, far simpler than you think. “Stop stressing about self‑improvement or waiting until you’re on top of everything. This year give yourself permission to prioritise pleasure.”

21. The Secret in the Sugar Bowl. “I wasn’t saving for a rainy day; I was building a raft to escape a flood.”

22. What are you still carrying? by Patti Digh. “We arrive as continuations of ourselves, not replacements.”

23. How Grief Made Us More Creative Than Ever, “On Chaos and the Turning of the Year” from Elissa Altman.

24. 10 Nutrition Takeaways for a Healthier New Year on The New York Times. (gift link) “We have guidance on protein, full-fat dairy, breakfast and more.”

25. 7 Questions to Ask Yourself for a Happier New Year on The New York Times. (gift link)

26. The hill I will die on: Online shops, please, I beg – stop with endless post-purchase emails. “You really want me to review my buy? Yes, it was fine. But that is where I would like our relationship to end.” No kidding! Sometimes you don’t even buy anything and just because you visited their website, they put you on their mailing list.

27. Don’t stress, do less: 52 ways to make your life easier in 2026. “We asked experts in fields from homes to health to horticulture for advice on tasks we can simply stop doing and problems to take off our worry plates.”

28. The perfect way to do nothing: how to embrace the art of idling. “We are often so busy and yet when the opportunity arises to do nothing, we can find it uncomfortable. Here’s how to lean into boredom – and unlock the imagination.”

29. Cats with attitude. (YouTube short) So funny! Another short, one of my favorite current memes, That Feeling!