1. How the Pandemic Made Me Lose My Ambition. “There’s an illusion with work that everything you give up now, all the stolen time commuting, working overtime, checking your email and Slack notifications after hours, will somehow earn you freedom and capital in your later years. But the farce of “work hard now, play later” has been exposed for millennials and Gen-Zers; most of us will be working until we die. It’s hard to maintain your ambition in the face of that reality.”
2. Don’t insist on being positive – allowing negative emotions has much to teach us. “Leaning into difficult feelings can help you find the way forward, according to a refreshing new wave of books, says Jamie Waters.”
3. One Good Thing: Conversations with strangers, which I missed so much. “But the camaraderie that comes from just being alive at this moment — having survived to this point, to be able to sit in a snowy bistro on 10th Avenue and bask in the kindness of strangers. To celebrate that we are here, both human, and to be alive together in this moment is a little bit of a miracle.”
4. “Let me tell you a secret.” (video) I have this one saved so I can rewatch it whenever I want and as many times as I need.
5. For the first time in 4 years, a litter of red wolf pups was born in the wild. “U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff in North Carolina welcomed a litter of six red wolf pups into the world earlier this week. It’s the first time in four years that a pair of wild red wolves — a species teetering on the brink of extinction — gave birth to a litter in the wild.”
6. Moonlit Forests, Fish, and Branches Populate Kirie Silhouettes Cut from a Single Sheet of Paper.
8. Alice Walker Has ‘No Regrets’ on The New York Times. “Walker has grappled with some of the thorniest issues of 20th-century America. She’s also taken troubling stances. She has now opened up and shared her diaries, giving readers a window into her life.”
9. How planting trees fostered a sense of belonging and changed this filmmaker’s life.
10. Scientists Find No Benefit to Time-Restricted Eating on The New York Times. “In a yearlong study, participants who confined meals to certain hours lost no more weight than those who ate at any time.”
11. The Way Out Is In / Kaira Jewel Lingo on White Supremacy and Racial Healing. (podcast)
12. People Are Sharing What They Miss Most About Life Before Cell Phones.
13. How Long Does Menopause Last? on The New York Times. “And how will I know when it’s over?”
14. Trans comedian shares her transition journey on TikTok in an uplifting and funny way.
15. How will I meet this? “When the world around us feels chaotic and out of control, we can feel as if we are walking in the wilderness, lost and alone. Where can we turn, what can we do to return to calm, peace & acceptance?”
16. I Lived the #VanLife. It Wasn’t Pretty. on The New York Times. “The writer Caity Weaver’s pursuit of the manifest destiny of the millennial generation ended up looking better in the photos.”
17. When Meditation Turns Toxic: The Woman Exposing Spiritual Sexism. “Since suffering a miscarriage at a women’s retreat, Tara Brach has tried to reform the world of meditation by arming its practitioners with a single weapon: self-compassion.”
18. Touching short film shows how the smallest act of kindness can help someone with depression.
19. Arundhati Roy on Religious Nationalism, Dissent, and the Battle Between Myth and History.
21. Good stuff from Seth Godin: Words that matter and Cooperative enthusiasm.
22. Famous Last Words from Andrea Gibson.
23. “You Can’t Separate People From the Planet”, activist and author Leah Thomas lays out her vision for a more just environmental movement.
24. Recipe I want to try: Sesame Garlic Ramen Noodles.
25. 6 Ways to Incorporate Sweden’s Concept of “Plogging” Into All of Your Outdoor Activities.
26. A Gentler, Better Way to Change Minds. “Stop wielding your values as a weapon and start offering them as a gift.”
27. It’s a myth that suffering makes you stronger. “Suffering is not beautiful, nor is it a state of grace. But you can swim to the wreckage at the bottom and bring something back to the surface that can help others, says writer Lidia Yuknavitch.”
28. Closing Up Shop on a Marriage, from the Modern Love series on The New York Times. “When the last thing you share is your pharmacy rewards account.”
29. Statistics on Clutter That Will Blow Your Mind. “If you didn’t realize that there is a clutter problem, these statistics on clutter will help you see its pervasiveness. The statistics on clutter are shocking, but being informed can help us make better choices going forward.”
30. The unmasking of a selfish nation. “COVID-19 didn’t change America. It revealed our cruelties and churlishness in a time of unprecedented crisis.”
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 