1. Poetry: Community of Poets by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Mountain Dew Commercial Disguised as a Love Poem by Matthew Olzmann and Only Me by Matthew Thorburn and Rebecca by Phillip West on Rattle, Thursday by William Carlos Williams and Independence Day by Ocean Vuong and ghost ranch by Kristin Lueke on poets.org, Rain by Jennifer Grotz and Story of My Life by Jameson Fitzpatrick and Stop Thinking & End Your Problems by Elisa Gabbert on The Slowdown with Maggie Smith, A Little Hope by James Crews, and Satya Robyn’s Opening Prayer from her year of moving towards love. And in related news, the documentary Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World is now available to watch on PBS. “Celebrate the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mary Oliver. Shaped by a solitary childhood and rising literary fame, Oliver published more than 30 collections of poetry and essays on nature, beauty, and love.” I watched it last night and it was really good.
2. Pre-germ theory // New Art from Britchida and nice to know we can still be surprised // *sticker*. I love Britchida’s art. She makes my favorite stickers and I love hearing the stories behind each new creation.
3. Nothing more than more itself by Ted Box (1945 – 2026) on Writing at Red Lights.
4. London and the underworld, “On the myths that live in us” by Pádraig Ó Tuama.
5. The Moving Letter James Baldwin Received from His Childhood Teacher at the Peak of His Fame and His Heartbreak by Maria Popova on The Marginalian.
6. I’m here, just in case, “6 more days of mothering” by Ijeoma Oluo. I imagine a lot of moms are feeling this right now.
7. After Losing His Father, A Son Continues His Family’s Food Truck Legacy on Story Corps.
8. ‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in Nepal on The Guardian.
9. Art attack: five habits to help you get (back) into art. “Struggling to make time for creativity? Here are five simple ways to reconnect with your artistic side and make art a part of your everyday life.”
10. Emerging Form Podcast Episode 172: Craig Childs on Writing Worst Drafts. “‘Make this your worst draft.’ That’s what Craig Childs will often say to students when they first sit down to write. ‘We’re creating stuff out of nowhere, so we’re lucky to get a word down on a page. We’re exploring options.’ In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk with the popular creative non-fiction author about his own unusual path to a writing career.”
11. Hiding Out by Seth Godin.
12. Oh, those summer nights (and days), a cartoon from the Awkward Yeti (Nick Seluk).
13. The Dog Wasn’t the Problem, “On chronic pain, invisible math, and the stories other people tell themselves about you” by Elizabeth Kleinfeld.
14. You shine brighter than you know by Jenny Lawson (thebloggess).
15. Nothing New, “What makes art different” from Danny Gregory.
16. I Only Know Jimmy Because, “… he waves whenever I walk by” by Shuly Xóchitl Cawood on Short Reads.
17. Dolly Parton’s Neighborhood, “There’s so much you can do with a life” by Brad Montague on The Enthusiast.
18. What Makes Someone Likable? 5 Key Factors That Influence People’s Perception of You.
19. 8 Experiences People Don’t Have Anymore Because of Cell Phones.
20. Choose To Be Curious Podcast Episode #335: The Hidden Power of Questions, with Lani Watson. “We talked about aporia (confusion & bafflement), what makes a question a question, assessing our questioning strengths and how diversification helps, the extraordinary potency of therapeutic questions and their contribution to Lani’s philosophical work, the possible misuse and abuse of questioning’s power and its uneven distribution — and the legacy of unanswered or unanswerable questions.”
21. Always Say Yes to the Fleeting Thing. “Another decision-making heuristic: prioritize what’s temporary and temporal” by Karla Starr.
22. Sippin’ (and chuggin’) through the years with a party mainstay — the red Solo cup. This is part of the American Objects series on AP News, “These are among the items that have shaped the nation. Here are their stories.”
23. People’s bodies are changing in the age of Ozempic. How are we meant to talk about it? on The Guardian, “Discussing people’s bodies can be fraught. We asked eating disorder experts how to do so – or not – responsibly.”
24. The Human Costs of Environmental Extraction on Orion Magazine. “A conversation with Kate Beaton, author of Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands.”
25. On Living Collections on Orion Magazine. “What does genuine connection with wild animals look like?”
26. The Story Thus Far by Alexander Chee. “In which the author goes to the Bread Loaf Centennial, attends at least 60 readings in 10 days, and celebrates his birthday. And thinks about resilience targeting and community.”
27. Leading a yoga retreat, as a human by Izzy Martens.
28. How a Minimalist Lifestyle Allows Introverts to Thrive on Introvert, Dear.
29. Borrowed stories by Jasmine on The Tiny Joy Project. “Some of the most meaningful things in life were never ours to keep.”
30. Why An Analog Basket Is The Perfect Alternative To Scrolling. So dorky, AND I bet it would totally work.
31. Why you don’t have to fix everything all at once on The Slow Return. “What tends to happen when we change just one small thing.”
32. Masahisa Fukase; From Window, 1974. “Japanese photographer Masahisa Fukase took pictures of his wife, Yoko, leaving for work every morning from his fourth-floor window in a series titled From Window. The 32 photos from the 1974 series show Yoko posing playfully on some days and looking disinterested on others. In 1976, Yoko signed divorce papers. ‘In the ten or so years of our marriage, he has only seen me through the lens of a camera,’ Yoko said. ‘And in fact what he saw through the lens was not me, but nothing other than himself.’ Following their divorce, Fukase shot a famous series of ravens, expressing his grief and solitude.”
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 