Author Archives: jillsalahub

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About jillsalahub

Writer & Contemplative Practice Guide holding space for people cultivating a foundation of a stable mind, embodied compassion and wisdom. CYT 500

Something Good

1. These second-graders helped shelter pups find their fur-ever homes. “Ordinarily, people might walk past these animals without taking a second look, but the letters and matching illustrations encouraged people to slow down, Peters said.”

2. “It’s just food,” a really great Instagram video from Elyse Myers, one of my current favorite content creators.

3. The oldest park ranger, who told the stories of Black women in WWII, retires at 100.

4. Grieving His Mother’s Death, Ocean Vuong Learned to Write for Himself.

5. Want to Write A Book? Here’s How I Did It Without Driving Myself Insane.

6. Recipe I want to try: Fresh Strawberry Cobbler.

7. Megan Falley’s gives writing tips on Instagram.

8. 5 tips for starting a healthy garden.

9. Vivid Environments by Yellena James Pause Natural Processes to Capture Life in Flux.

10. Cecile Davidovici on Instagram, a thread visual artist from Paris.

11. In COVID news: A New Wave of Covid-19 Is Coming. Here’s How to Prepare. on The New York Times, and I’m Tired of Judging Other People’s Covid Choices on The New York Times, and Do I really need another booster? The answer depends on age, risk and timing.

12. How to Meditate with Ease. “21 tips for a more relaxed yet alert mindfulness meditation.”

13. Women Are Calling Out ‘Medical Gaslighting’. “Studies show female patients and people of color are more likely to have their symptoms dismissed by medical providers. Experts say: Keep asking questions.”

14. To be in love with the world. “We are in relationship with the world; this is a two-way street. If we want to show up fully as our flawed, easily-rattled, sometimes-annoying selves, we should probably lend some grace toward the very inconvenient, always-changing, often-flaky, disappointing world.

15. I Hired a Real-Life Pet Detective. “I never knew there were actual Ace Venturas until my dog went missing. But with scent-trackers and canine psychological analysis in her arsenal, this pet rescuer is no joke.”

16. 42,000 Bamboo Shoots Construct an Illuminated, Latticed Welcome Center in Vietnam.

17. Clenching and opening one small hand on Rita’s Notebook, because this: “We stay because we see how it might be, how it could be, how, for brief moments, it is, and we let ourselves believe that–if only we love it carefully enough–it can be (it will be) like this all the time. That we are wrong doesn’t make the moments any less beautiful or true.”

18. I Overstressed My Body Until It Shut Me Down. “As an ultramarathon runner and a driven person, I was used to pushing my body to its limits. But then it revolted.” My burnout story is different, and yet her story felt so familiar to me.

19. How Two Best Friends Beat Amazon on The New York Times. “The company’s crackdown on a worker protest in New York backfired and led to a historic labor victory.”

20. The Burnt Toast Podcast: The Myth of Visible Abs, “Reclaiming the deep core and the pelvic floor with Anna Malty.”

21. Good stuff from Creative Nonfiction: In Lieu of Flowers and Balancing Art & Activism: An interview with Dave Eggers.

22. The Ezra Klein Show: Margaret Atwood on Stories, Deception and the Bible on The New York Times. “The acclaimed author explains how stories shape our worlds — by telling me many stories.”

23. Prompt 188 from The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad. “The Creative Contract: On discipline & a prompt to make it stick.”

24. I Spent A Year Researching The Best Option For Our Bodies After We Die. Here’s What I Found. “We have more sustainable choices for our bodies after death than just burial or cremation, and we have power to advocate for these options in our communities.”

25. Interview with Delana Close: Published at 95 Years Old. Her writing advice? “Perseverance and overcoming obstacles is my story as well as Abby’s [the main character in her first novel] story. Don’t give up, if you have a story to tell find a way to tell it.”

26. He’s walking every D.C. street while wearing a ‘Black and Brown Lives Matter’ sign. He’s also White and voted for Trump. “So far, Ken Woodward has walked more than 1,900 miles and spoken with more than 1,220 people. He’s also been thanked, ignored and threatened.”

27. Dharma for Times of Global Trauma on Lion’s Roar. “Psychologist and Buddhist teacher Tara Brach shares the importance of training mindfulness teachers and practitioners to nourish a sense of our collective belonging in our increasingly traumatized world.”

28. The physical therapy metaphor from Seth Godin.

29. Why People Are Acting So Weird? “Crime, ‘unruly passenger’ incidents, and other types of strange behavior have all soared recently. Why?”

30. Drawing a path to action: Finding your place in the fight against the climate crisis.

31. Book I want to read: American Detox: The Myth of Wellness and How We Can Truly Heal. “We are an America obsessed with self-seeking and self-perfection, driving a wellness industry that reaches more than 80 million people and fuels a market worth more than 650 billion dollars. An industry that promises to make you better, stronger, healthier and whole and meets an ever-increasing demand amongst Americans to ‘feel good’ and find meaning in a cruel and confusing world. But while wellness soars so does inequality, insecurity and isolation. We don’t need more juice fasts and yoga fads–we need to detox from the ideologies of separation, supremacy and scarcity that are holding us back from our best selves.”

32. Anaïs Nin’s Los Angeles Hideaway Still Keeps Her Secrets on The New York Times. “Shrouded by the pines of Silver Lake, the erotic writer’s minimalist, midcentury residence is a lasting monument to her life and legacy.”

33. It’s not too late to stave off the climate crisis, U.N. report finds. Here’s how. “The technology and solutions are available to rein in emissions, but the world is rapidly running out of time to deploy them, the report notes.”

34. Montydon.com “My website has been revamped and will now carry pictures of me and the garden by the great marsha_arnold as well as my own snaps. It is, of course, still packed with tips, advice and inspiration for your own April garden.” Something you may not know about me: I have a huge crush on Monty.

35. The Problem with Pema Chödrön. “‘Leaning in’ to vulnerability, or coping with abuse?” *sigh*

36. Julian Gaines Has a Question: ‘How Do I Paint Oregon Black?’ on The New York Times. “A love for Nike led him away from his home in Chicagoland to a grand artist’s studio on a weed farm outside Portland.”

37. Film Of Prince At Age 11 Discovered In Archival Footage Of 1970 Mpls. Teachers Strike.

 

Gratitude

1. Morning walks. We saw some friends last week and they were talking about a trip they just got back from, another one they were planning, and also about how they’d never be able to afford a house here (I’m not sure we would have been able to in the current market, as our house is worth about 3 times what it was when we bought it 20 years ago) but that they’d rather be renters and travel, see the world and have adventures. I get it, but for me, I’d rather know a place, see it through the seasons, the years, have adventures that are about depth rather than distance. It never gets boring to me being in one place because rather than static, things are always changing and alive, and being able to remember what was and notice what is new and be in love with a specific single place is my jam.

2. Practice. Making art with Calyx and Janice, Wild Writing with Laurie and our writing sangha, meditating in the quiet dark of the morning, sitting in front of my HappyLight with a hot cup of coffee, cocoa, and tiny marshmallows while I write in my journal.

3. Spring. The daffodils and crocus are blooming, the grass is getting green, and we’ve been able to hang out in the back yard on the nice days, which is one of Ringo’s favorite things.

4. Good neighbors. Our next door neighbors are moving to Ohio to be closer to family and they really have been the BEST neighbors, good friends for the past 14 years. As they clean out their house and pack up, we’ve been getting some good stuff — our favorite being some toys that belonged to their dog, who passed a few years ago and was so loved by us. One night this week when it was nice out, I made dinner in our “outdoor kitchen” (i.e. an electric skillet I put on our patio table) and the whole time I was cooking, our neighbor on the other side was with his dog in his backyard playing his guitar — they are super good neighbors too.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. It really is everything I ever wanted.

Bonus joy: Dinner with Chelsey and Jon, texting with Chloe’ and Mom and Chris, pay day, strawberries and raspberries, Ringo so soft after getting a bath, how much Ringo loves his physical therapist Teri, ordering pizza and watching a movie with Eric, the hydromassage chair, the pool, the sauna, small group training with Shelby, gummy supplements, a big glass of cold clean water, listening to podcasts, watching TV, sitting in the sun in the backyard with Ringo and Eric, paint, a warm shower, clean sheets, new socks, being retired/not having to work at CSU anymore, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.