1. Unravelling the Year Ahead 2013, a beautiful workbook from Susannah Conway. I adore the way she frames the practice, did it with her last year, and am doing it again.
2. Tiny Home from Kate Conner. As someone who also lives in a tiny home and loves it, I appreciated this post.
3. Somewhere Else from Stacy Morrison’s blog, Filling In the Blanks.
4. Ira Glass on Rescuing a Pit Bull Dog with a Ridiculous Diet. I’ve heard Ira talk about his dog in his live This American Life show, and it only made me love him more.
5. A Buddhist Prayer of Forgiveness, via Cigdem Kobu.
If I have harmed anyone in any way
either knowingly or unknowingly
through my own confusions
I ask their forgiveness.
If anyone has harmed me in any way
either knowingly or unknowingly
through their own confusions
I forgive them.
And if there is a situation
I am not yet ready to forgive
I forgive myself for that.
For all the ways that I harm myself,
negate, doubt, belittle myself,
judge or be unkind to myself
through my own confusions
I forgive myself.
6. Instagram Parody video from College Humor, (it’s funny because it’s true). A few of my students were watching it in class the other day, laughing and laughing, and then one of them said, “Shhh, don’t laugh so loud, Jill likes Instagram and we might make her feel bad.”
7. The Secret to Living to 90 from Rachel Cole, or more specifically, from her grandfather, who just turned 90.
8. Christine Hassler’s Words Of Encouragement.
9. The Myth of Ownership by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less. I know you have heard it a hundred times already, but she is so wicked smart!
10. David Whyte reading his poem, Sweet Darkness, after he talks a bit about learning to say no. From the end of the poem, my favorite lines:
You must learn one thing:
the world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
11. On Being a Late Bloomer on Rookie, “Success doesn’t happen overnight.” Amen.
12. Do Idols and Role Models Limit Our Potential? on Scoutie Girl. An interesting idea, something worth considering.
13. Poet Breathe Now, a video of a 17 year old poet performing one of the most beautiful poems ever, shared by Julia on Painted Path. I left Julia a comment after I watched it “Holy wow. Holy crap. This is what happens when voices are encouraged and heard instead of suppressed and silenced.”
14. Finding Momo. I share this with you along with a serious cuteness warning. You will waste a lot of time finding Momo, you won’t be able to stop or to help it.
15. White Space Enhances Productivity on Pick the Brain.
16. 5 Tips to Avoid Overextending Yourself on Think Simple Now.
17. 7 Videos That’ll Stop You From Ever Saying “I Can’t” from Jonathan Fields.
18. The Work You Love is Waiting For You from Zen Habits.
19. This picture on Instagram from Kind Over Matter, for small creatures such as we.
20. Open Heart Retreat with Susan Piver, Shambhala Mountain Center, April 5-8th. I am all in.
21. The Wild Unknown Tarot Deck. I want this.
22. 9 Reasons You’re Stuck Where You Are on Marc and Angel Hack Life. Oh, #3…I hear you. Also from Marc and Angel, 12 Things to Stop Doing in the Next 12 Months.
23. Just to be clear, I have permission.
If you frequently give yourself permission to doodle, wander, and be
totally unproductive, Jill, and you actually relish such interludes, I
can guarantee that your genius, creativity, and productivity will
increase exponentially.
I’ve seen it happen a billion times.
Through the roof,
The Universe
24. Changing Corners on SouleMama. I’ve said it before, if I were a mom, this blog would most likely make me feel bad about myself. But, I’m not, so this blog makes me want this family to adopt me, pretty please.
25. Finding Your Voice from Jen Lee. I can’t buy any new stuff, any more things, especially ones that require me to do something, but this always calls to me, and “For 2 Days Only: Enjoy 20% off everything in our store (enter code 2DAYSTOSAVE at checkout before Wednesday, 12/13/12).” She has some really awesome tshirts too, that say things like “Love makes us brave” and “It’s your story. Tell it.”
26. E-Interview with Writer and Poet, Laurie Marks Wagner at Giving Voice to the Voiceless.
27. This quote: “Anything becomes interesting if you look at it for long enough.” ~Gustave Flaubert
28. This quote: “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the big things.” ~Robert Brault
29. Peace on Earth from Kristin Noelle.
30. Why I Gave Up Chasing Goals from Danielle LaPorte. Also from Danielle, Cosmic Radio: an audio contemplation for total encouragement.
31. Colored Owl Drawings by John Pusateri on Colossal.
32. The Prayer, gorgeousness from Hannah Marcotti.
33. This quote: “If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?” Dōgen Zenji
34. And this quote: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
~Dalai Lama
35. And this one: “A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”- Mahatma Gandhi
36. And finally, this one:
Sooner or later we admit that we cannot do it all, that whatever our contribution, the story is much larger and longer than our own, and we are all in the gift of older stories that we are only now joining. Whatever our success, we are all looked after by other eyes, and we are only preparing ourselves for an invitation to something larger. ~David Whyte
37. The cutest thing you will see all year, and the best dog ever. Eric and I had this conversation about it:
Eric: I love how the dog is clearly thinking, “what the heck is he doing? Should I stop him? Shouldn’t you (the person with the camera) stop him? Am I missing something here? Humans are strange…”
Me: I love how he just waits until the kid comes back for him.
