jillsalahub

1. Poetry: Different Kinds of Sadness by Jenny Molberg on The Slow Down, Radiance Theory and Quiet Delay by Julie Barton, Here’s To You (also) by Julie Barton shared on Heart Poems, Oh, November by Alix Klingenberg, Prescription For The Disillusioned by Rebecca del Rio, Sound Bath and Right Here by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Nourishment by James Crews, and If Adam Picked the Apple by Danielle Coffyn shared by Patti Digh. Also this collection, Mindfulness Poetry from the Mindfulness Association.

2. Tending the Small Fires: Lessons in Light from a Darkening Season from Lori at Little Truths Studio.

3. You suffer for as long as you decide to: stop touching the wound from Patti Digh.

4. 11 things one day before leaving Facebook, including a few writing lessons. “Ending my extremely online era'” from Jena Schwartz (who in part inspired my own exit).

5. What if you gave up social media? “On ignoring the online drama, algorithms, and AI to find an authentic path forward” by Dan Blank.

6 Back from the Drift. “Re-emerging from a time of shifts and drifts” from Sara Saltee.

7. 5 Everyday Habits Secretly Stealing Your Ease by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

8. Stuff worth considering on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz: Trump Supporters Are Miserable People. Let’s Not Become Like Them, and Staying Human in Inhumane Times, and Christians Who Don’t Want to Feed People—Aren’t Jesus Christians, and SNAP is What Jesus Would Be Doing Here. That’s Why MAGA Christians Are Trying to Kill It.

9. 6 Strategies to Stay Calm When Life Feels Uncertain, According to Therapists.

10. How Not to Waste Your Life by Maria Popova.

11. For a Literary Saint, Margaret Atwood Can Sure Hold a Grudge on The New York Times. (gift link) “She had to be pushed to write her new memoir, ‘Book of Lives.’ The result reveals the experiences (and a few slights) that have shaped her work.” In related news, ‘It is the scariest of times’: Margaret Atwood on defying Trump, banned books – and her score-settling memoir.

12. Woman Shocked by Neighbors’ Response After She Sets Up Día de Muertos Altar as Tribute to Beloved Dog.

13. Have We Finally Hit Peak Protein? “In 2025, protein isn’t just a macronutrient — it’s a marketing language that now defines how Americans shop, snack, and eat out.”

14. Josh Hawley: No American Should Go to Bed Hungry on The New York Times. (gift link)

15. Breaking Free From Doomscrolling: From Willpower to Redesign. “To make it easier to put down the phone, reshape your world for presence.”

16. What it takes to make. “Creating isn’t about talent or the muse. It’s a few things anyone can do. Including you” from Danny Gregory.

17. Getting Closure When the Universe Doesn’t Give It to You, a 5-day email course from Elizabeth Kleinfeld. “You’ve been waiting for an apology, an explanation, or acknowledgment that’s never coming. This 5-day course teaches you how to create closure on your own terms—so you can finally move forward without needing their permission or participation.”

18. You have to do the living yourself on The Imperfectionist, which shares this “deeply important point: building a meaningful life is much less about discovering the right set of practices or habits than it is about cultivating the willingness to step up moment after moment and just do more of the things that matter, for the projects and people and causes you care about most.”

19. Cultural Narratives and Craft Converge in the 2025 World of WearableArt Competition.

1. Morning walks. We went to a natural area we hadn’t been in a while because when we drove by it last week, there was so much color and I knew it wasn’t going to last much longer. I was sad when we got there because it was super foggy that morning, so I thought I wouldn’t get any good pictures. Instead, the first part of the walk I got some cool foggy pictures and then the sun came out and I captured the color — which is all gone now, after a really cold night early in the week that made most of the leaves die or drop. Still no chance of snow yet, which is really late for us, but I’ve also heard we are going to get a lot of it this year, so I can wait.

2. Practice. I showed up for yoga at Red Sage and it was so clear that the idea I had for class wasn’t what was needed, so I shifted to begin in shavasana with extra blankets and challenged myself to teach an entire class where if one wanted, they’d never have to take the blanket off. We had a small but vibrant group for Friday morning writing and I got to share three Leila Chatti poems from her new book. My meditation practice has been rough, but I welcome the difficulty knowing there is space for it.

3. Infinite opportunities to begin again. Especially when the new habits you are trying to cultivate are complicated, remembering that it takes time, and that you will most likely fail and have to start over a few times, is such a comfort. As long as you are still here, still breathing, you can try again.

4. Books. I’ve been reading and listening to some really good ones lately, but it also feels like that’s been true for the past few years.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I just got back to my computer after taking a break to sit in the sun in the backyard with Ringo and Eric, one of my favorite things to do. I’m going to miss getting to do that with Eric’s mom when we go to Oregon this summer.

Bonus joy: good TV, listening to podcasts, watching a movie, finishing the laundry, leftovers, a warm shower, clean sheets, down blankets and pillows, the sound of the furnace kicking on in the morning, other people’s kids and dogs, a hot cup of coffee, a warm mug of green tea, refillable ink pens, stickers, finding the last three bags of candy corn that woman at the store was so sad was all gone before she’d left the aisle and I could still catch her, snack size candy bars (although just about now, I kind of wish there weren’t so many of them at my house), slippers, libraries and librarians, poets and poetry, comedy and comedians, music and musicians, art and artists, true crime (although Eric said I may be watching and listening to too much of it considering I had a dream last night that I was wrongly accused of poisoning him), pictures of my dad as a little kid (seriously, he was so cute), pay day, warm fall days that are cool enough to wear a hoodie but still nice enough to sit outside in the sun, how the deer are so unbothered by us when we see them on our walks in the morning, how when we walk around Lincoln Jr. High if they do the morning announcements Ringo stops and listens as if they are talking to him and he needs to find out where morning study hall is being held, naps, used books, new books, gummies, changing my calendars to a new month and choosing a new desktop calendar image, cleaning off a counter or table, having the sauna all to myself, aqua aerobics, Sunday morning Pilates, cheese, pizza, texting with Chris, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.