1. Morning walks. The moon was out this week and we went early. It was so quiet and the light was gorgeous. It was also very cold and one day was so windy we stayed close to home, making loops around our neighborhood so if it got worse we could get home fast.
2. Canceled plans. I am still not fully functional, after my hospital stay and then COVID and then a colonoscopy, which means my schedule has to look a lot different than usual. Old me would push through, keep all the appointments and commitments I’d made at the expense of my health and wellbeing. I don’t do that anymore. If we had plans but I really feel like I need a nap, the nap is going to win.
3. Clean sheets. I’m going to take a shower after a few more loads of laundry and then take a nap, so I made sure to put clean sheets on the bed this morning. It’s one of the ways I take care of myself where the impact far outweighs the effort.
4. Ringo. I let him pick another toy from the box I gave him for Christmas and he was very happy. I’m happy because we’ve gotten a lot of play out of it without too much damage. Ringo can be really hard on toys so when we get something he hasn’t had before there’s no way to know if it will have staying power, but this one took a whole three days to lose its squeak and he hasn’t quite figured out how to shred it yet.
5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. I can tell from the pictures I have to share this week that I was tired, didn’t do as much, because it’s all pictures of our walk and of Ringo sleeping — two of my favorite things, no matter how I’m feeling. And Eric is my favorite always — the way he takes care of me, the way he makes me laugh, the way he loves me, the way he humors my need for many many hugs and sitting on the couch together doing nothing.
Bonus joy: Beaver’s Market, grocery fuel points, having easy access to so many things because of the internet, stickers, birds in the feeder, a warm shower, the hydromassage chair, the pool, sitting in the sauna with Eric, training with Shelby and the gang, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, watching TV, baking, eating what I bake, cooking with Eric, peanut butter, a big glass of clean cold water, green tea, matcha lemonade, naan, a new notebook, bilateral beats, having met my insurance deductible so basically everything I have to do until the end of June is covered, wool socks, clean pjs, lemon, lime, oranges, raspberries, roasted veggies, napping, down blankets and pillows, prescription glasses, vaccines and masks and prescription medication, heat when it’s cold and a/c when it’s hot, other people’s dogs and kids, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.
1. The Kō Strategies. I already shared about this a few weeks ago, but y’all, I just got the first newsletter and it was so good, I needed to tell you about it again and encourage you to sign up for it. “Kō is the Japanese name for the 72 micro-seasons that make up the solar year. Each has its own particular mood and focus. The purpose of these seasonal micro-divisions is to remind us that life is changing in every instant, and to encourage us to throw ourselves into the full experience of being alive. To make the most of each moment. It’s a higher resolution year, performed in 72 acts. The Kō Strategies are designed to help you navigate the year, to draw attention to the fact that you are here, alive, now, and how important it is to make the most of it all.”
3. 28 Days of Black History. This year’s Black History Month is more important than ever, urgent even with so many with so much power making moves to erase Black history. In related news, Blaqueer[Blacker]Stories from Robert Jones, Jr., “This Black History Month, I’m thinking about omitted Black queer histories and how uncovering and learning from them can lead to revolutionary Black action. And healing.”
7. This is 50 from Susannah Conway. “The most wonderful thing about getting older is I give so much less of a shit about the things that did not and do not matter.”
14. Wisdom from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less: “We need to keep reminding each other to slow down and enjoy our lives. Because we forget. Things like busyness, urgency, little kids, illness, grief, stress and overwhelm swoop in and whisper in our ears … you are falling behind, you need to catch up, you are lazy, no pain, no gain, you don’t deserve joy. And we respond by running in circles, feeling more stressed by comparing who we are to who we think we are supposed to be. The not so great news is that all of the things that are out of control will continue to whisper. The good news is we can change our response. Instead of responding with panic, we can notice the whispers and then choose to answer differently. We can undo our todos, slow down, be in awe of something, enjoy a simple pleasure and do what ever it takes to come back to our hearts.”
15. How to Focus Like It’s 1990 on The New York Times. “Smartphones, pings and Insta-everything have shortened our attention spans. Get some old-school concentration back with these tips.”
20. Charlie Mackesy: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and Me. (video — sadly only available to stream in the UK) “Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse has touched millions of readers around the world and is now an animated film. This is the story of the man behind the book. At the age of 56, he published his extraordinary tale, which in less than two years sold over eight million copies worldwide, sitting on the Sunday Times Bestseller List longer than any other book ever. This intimate, revealing portrait lets us into Charlie’s world, exploring how he came to write the book and following him as he embarks on turning The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse into an animated film. With insights from friends, including film-maker Richard Curtis and explorer Bear Grylls, an unexpected story unfolds of how grief and vulnerability were turned into a message of strength and compassion that has helped thousands of readers.”
21. Good stuff from Lion’s Roar: 5 Meditations to Calm Your Anxious Mind (“Five easy meditations you can do to find calm, care for yourself, and ease your anxiety in any situation”), and How to Open Your Heart Further (“Pema Khandro Rinpoche on cultivating the boundless love of a bodhisattva”), and Reimagining Safety After a Mass Shooting (“In the aftermath of the mass shooting that killed 11 people on January 21 at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California, Kathy Yep reflects on the meaning of safety and healing in her community”), and The Buddha’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness (“Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi unpacks the Buddha’s original mindfulness manual”).
23. Project Sunroof Uses Google Maps to Measure Your Roof’s Solar Income Potential. This is why we opted for an electric car instead. The way the math worked (and the same result given on this site), it would take us 20 years of use before we broke even, before the savings started to outweigh the cost, so we spent the same amount of money to trade a gas powered car for an electric one. NOT to imply that the cost or return is the only factor in choosing to go solar. This is a super useful tool to help you consider making the purchase if cost and return are an issue for you.
24. What’s WRONG with school lunch in the U.S.? (video) “School lunch in the U.S. can be awful. Compared to countries like Japan, France and Brazil — where public school students are often served scratch-cooked, appetizing meals — the U.S. is really lagging. So what’s the deal? Yara goes deep into the U.S. school lunch system to look for answers, and to see just how bad – and how good – American school lunch can get.”
25. Inside David Harbour & Lily Allen’s Brooklyn Townhouse | Open Door | Architectural Digest. (video) “Today Architectural Digest is welcomed to Brooklyn, New York by David Harbour and Lily Allen for a tour of their exuberant family townhouse. Working hand in hand with AD100 designer Billy Cotton and architect Ben Bischoff of MADE, Lily and David have created an exciting and singular home within their stately late-19th-century brownstone in Carroll Gardens. ‘Lily is someone who lives with color in a deeper way than most. Her taste is bold, silly, fun, eccentric—it’s exciting,’ says the Stranger Things actor and star of the recent blood-splattered Christmas spectacular Violent Night. ‘I’ve always been interested in interiors, and I’ve always done my own homes. But this was a big undertaking, and I needed help.’ says Allen. ‘Together, Billy and I tried to reach for something weird and wonderful.'”
31. Two Kisses We Never Talked About on The New York Times, from the Modern Love series. “Sometimes you really have to show up for your ex. This was one of those times.”
35. ‘Dear Edward’ tugs — and tugs, and tugs — at your heartstrings. “Because all art manipulates, if by that we only mean provoking a response and doing it intentionally. Breaking your heart, making you mad, keeping you on the edge of your seat, cracking you up — these are all manipulations of the artist, if that term is defined broadly enough.”
36. Kiva Gift Store, “high-quality products (think jewelry, sculptures, clothing and other art) made by Kiva borrowers, as well as Kiva-branded gear. In addition to supporting artisan borrowers, every purchase at the Kiva Store also supports Kiva’s operations.”
47. 5 Things to Know About Menopause and Hormone Therapy on The New York Times. “Rebecca Thurston, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh who studies menopause, believes that, in general, menopausal women have been underserved — an oversight that she considers one of the great blind spots of medicine. ‘It suggests that we have a high cultural tolerance for women’s suffering,’ Thurston says. ‘It’s not regarded as important.'”
49. 21-year-old with autism helps run family T-shirt business. (video) “Jordyn Moore, a 21-year-old who was born with autism and verbal apraxia, works full time at her family business — a T-shirt company her mom created for her. They sell shirts with a simple message: ‘Be Kind to Everyone.'”
51. How to Lose Everything, “an Indigenous series of animated short films that explore personal stories of loss. The five films’ stories span nations, languages, and perspectives on heartache.”
54. The Artist who Couldn’t Draw: an animated film by Danny Gregory. (video) “Roger was super-creative but he had a major secret. Until one day….. In his first animated film, best-selling author Danny Gregory tells the story of how an artist overcame his block — and changed his life forever.” Danny Gregory also has a great video series, Advice for Creatives.
56. A Message that will Change Your Life. (video) “If I could only leave one video behind me after my time on this earth, I would choose this one. Because I believe that every human on this earth can at least find one message in this video that goes right through their barriers and reaches the soul. This video contains everything that I’ve ever wished to share and give through my videos/music/art. It opens our hearts and give us space to heal. Because it makes us understand that we are not alone in this world. We are not as different from each other that we might think. Together we have the power to create a more loving, peaceful world through compassion and understanding. And watching this video at least make me feel like a wave of hope and light.” Jonna Jinton, “a Swedish artist, musician and filmmaker and I live in the beautiful woods in the North of Sweden. Here on my YouTube channel I share a mix of everything that I feel passionate about. From stories and glimpses of my everyday life to music, kulning (nordic herdingcalls), painting, ice baths, nature and inspirational films and much more,” asked her four million followers to send her a short video of themselves answering the question, “If you could say something to four million people, what would you say?”
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 