1. Ringo’s health, and all the support we have to maintain it. This picture showed up in my Facebook memories, from a year ago today, and I noticed Ringo was wearing his shortwave therapy loop because at the time he was having trouble with his arthritis. I’m so grateful he’s been doing so much better in that regard, is able to take longer walks and even run a little, with no more pain and no more limp.
And today, I am grateful for so many, probably including you reading this now, for supporting us and Ringo through his most recent “emergency.” We got his more extensive bloodwork back and there was no evidence of anything big bad, anything that got missed, and his current updated treatment plan for hemorrhagic gastroenteritis is working. He’s eating and feeling so much better, which means Eric and I are also finally eating and feeling better.
2. The Colorado winter sky. We got two or three inches of snow last night, which is almost all melted now because it’s been sunny most of the day, so we are officially in that strange season that is one part winter, one part autumn, and both are equally possible on any given day. My favorite thing about this time of year is the sky, and on one of the mornings I didn’t get to walk this week, I still got to see the sun rise and show off over our house.
3. Morning walks. With Ringo not feeling good and all the stress that went with that, these were much shorter this week when they happened, but when they did, I was so grateful to get out of the house and move around.
3. Good friends. In particular, when I’m stressed out or sad, one thing that always helps is to do something with or for my friends. It always makes me feel better.
4. Clean sheets and a shower. When I’m stressed out or sad, it’s also hard to take care of myself, but these are two things I did for myself today that made me feel so much better.
5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. I couldn’t do life, especially the hardest parts, without them.
Bonus joy: realizing Ringo’s veterinarian is also our neighbor — while there’s no actual benefit to that (I’m not going to show up at her house asking for help for Ringo, I’m not a complete wacko) there’s still something sweet about it that makes me happy like we live in a small town even though we really don’t, clean laundry, Lofi Fruits music, a warm casserole after not really eating for days, english muffin bread toasted with butter and marionberry jam my aunt made, a good night’s sleep, spices, birds in the feeder, texting with Chloe’ and Chris, getting to visit with Chloe’ and her cute boy and her dogs, having the money to be able to pay for the healthcare we need, 24/7 vets, Wild Writing, reading, gummies of all kinds, sitting with Eric on the couch, hugging him in the kitchen, cooking with him, when he told me this week “you are so strong”, training with Shelby, getting in the pool, the hydromassage chair, the sauna, my infrared heating pad, grapefruit bubbly water, the option to email and text rather than make a phone call, the sound of the owls in the early morning, the murder of crows chasing the two hawks in the sky over our yard, other people’s dogs, Friday, the weekend, purple highlighters, glue stick, gingerbread muffins, good TV, listening to podcasts, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.
2. OuiSi game sets, “award-winning sets of visually-connecting (‘this looks like that’) Photo Cards, with games and activities that ignite creativity and curiosity, regardless of age.” These look fun.
5. What To Do About Twitter?from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds. “Most of our avenues of information — again, The Media, writ large — are gripped tightly by the hands of right-wing capitalist assholes who view and treat media less like it’s a vehicle for truth and more like it’s a vehicle ultimately for money. Yes, also a vehicle to further agenda, but ultimately, that agenda is to cycle more money. It’s always money. Making it. Laundering it. Occasionally setting it on fire.” In related news, Shonda Rhimes Says Bye-Bye to Twitter After Elon Musk Takeover, “‘Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye,’ she wrote curtly.”
7. Rogan Brown – Paper Sculptures. “My work comes into being in the space where science fact and science fiction meet and merge…Paper, my chosen material, embodies the paradoxical qualities that we see in nature: its fragility and durability, its strength and delicacy; there is a pleasing poetic symmetry in taking this material that was cut from the forest and by cutting and transforming it once again returning it to its origins.” These are amazing.
12. Wisdom from Priscilla Long by way of Jena Schwartz: “Sustaining creative work requires respecting yourself, honoring your life, and the humility and faith to keep going despite the ambiguity of creative work and the lack of guarantees regarding either artistic outcome or recognition. Honor yourself and your work as if the world depended on it. The world does depend on it.”
13. How 3 Buddhist Teachers Work with Difficult Emotionson Lion’s Roar. “Working with difficult emotions is a lifelong practice. Three Buddhist teachers [Susan Piver, Karen Maezen Miller, and Norman Fischer] open up about their own struggles.”
17. Prepping for the Apocalypse Means Building CommunityOn Movement Memos, a Truthout Podcast. “‘Our mutual investment in one another’s survival is our greatest resource, and our greatest hope,’ says Kelly Hayes. In this episode of ‘Movement Memos,’ Hayes talks with anthropologist and survivalist instructor Chris Begley about the lessons of his book The Next Apocalypse: The Art and Science of Survival, and why many of us might be preparing for the wrong apocalypse.”
21. 50 Worst Things That Waste Your Time – Guilty or Nah? “Whether you use or waste the moments you have, you always face the consequences and results accordingly. In this blog post, we’ll discuss 50 of the most common things that waste time and how to avoid them.”
22. In a poetic mood. “Poetry ruminates and reflects, explores thoughts and emotions, or a snapshot in time, without necessarily being linear.”
23. The Art of Dyingby Peter Schjeldahl. “I always said that when my time came I’d want to go fast. But where’s the fun in that?”
29. 10 ways not getting enough sleep is killing you. This “‘unrecognized epidemic’ is about more than just feeling tired — it can actually lead to a number of entirely unnecessary, chronic conditions. Here are 10 things sleep deprivation can do to you.”
30. Landed, “is not a dating app or friend finder, but a one-time, meaningful interaction with a different person each week. It is social media that supports your life, not the other way around.” This looks really interesting.
33. Feast of Losses: A Communion of Grief and Gratitude. “Jami Sieber (composer, cellist) and Kim Rosen (spoken word artist) have created a transformative convergence of music and poems that emerge from the heartbreak, gratitude and wake-up call of this moment in our lives and in the life of our world. The words of Langston Hughes, Stanley Kunitz, Marie Howe, Ellen Bass, Lucille Clifton, W.S. Merwin, Deena Metzger, Mark Nepo, Yehuda Amichai, and Mary Oliver, spoken by Kim, rise and fall in the evocative waves of Jami’s original music.” I just downloaded this. I feel like I need a little nudge to fully open up to my grief and after listening to the “Adrift by Mark Nepo” track, I think it’s just the thing for it.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 