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1. Andrea Gibson embodies LOVE. For example: A Stranger Asks If She Can Pray For Me and The Worst Lines I’ve Ever Written (video).

2. Good stuff from Lion’s Roar: How to Make a Spectacular Mistake, (“You’re going to make one anyway, says Anita Feng. So why not go big? You might end up with something more beautiful than perfection”), and 10 Tips for a Mindful Home, (“Karen Maezen Miller offers 10 simple tips for keeping a mindful home. How simple? Well, as Karen says, ‘If you can do the first one, the next nine take care of themselves'”).

3. Social Media Rx from J Clement Wall’s most recent newsletter.

4. The Secret Gratitude List, “New Yorkers reveal what they’re privately thankful for this Thanksgiving.”

5. Single All The Way | Official Trailer | Netflix. (video) I very much recommend this sweet, funny Christmas love story. Elf is also now streaming on Netflix.

6. Recipe I want to try: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Our local Whole Foods used to make a lemon poppy seed scone that was SO good, and this looks like it may be similar, only in muffin form.

7. Remembering the Sand Creek Massacre. “Studying American history means confronting dark, shameful chapters. The Sand Creek Massacre is one such event. Learn more about the circumstances leading up to that tragic day and the aftermath here.”

8. Food Insecurity on Native Reservations Is Part of a History of Discrimination.

9. In Denver, Suicide Among Black Men is Soaring. “Halim Ali is helping young Black men in Denver address the trauma and anger that can turn into violence and suicide.”

10. One person has crowdsourced the very best life advice from over 20 million people online.

11. Meet an Ecologist Who Works for God (and Against Lawns) on The New York Times. “A Long Island couple say fighting climate change and protecting biodiversity starts at home. Or rather, right outside their suburban house.” The picture of their yard next to their neighbors lawn is really amazing, and one so clearly looks better than the other, IMHO.

12. These Wonderful Winter Snow Drawings Will Leave You In Awe.

13. The life and tragic death of John Eyers – a fitness fanatic who refused the vaccine. “He did triathlons, bodybuilding and mountain climbing and became skeptical of the Covid jab. Then, at 42, he contracted the virus.”

14. What’s It Like To Write A Book? by Ijeoma Oluo.

15. How ‘The 1619 Project’ underscores connection between slavery and modern America. (video)

16. Dozens of online Indigenous gift ideas. “The holiday season is here, and here’s a collection to help make the busy season that much easier while at the same time supporting Indigenous creators.”

17. How Watching British Reality TV Helped Me Finish My Novel. “Kirthana Ramisetti on Adapting to a New Set of Working Conditions in the Pandemic.”

18. The 50 Best Albums of 2021. “If the year presently coming to a close was a dance, it’d be a hesitant shuffle, tentative steps toward — or heyyyy, maybe away from? — an uncertain future. So maybe that’s why, when we sat down together to discuss which albums we loved the most over the course of 2021, NPR Music’s staff and contributors found ourselves drawn to albums by artists making breakthroughs, moving forward with clarity, without balking at the obstacles falling in their way.” They also compiled a list of the 100 Best Songs of 2021. And for both lists, they made playlists on various music streaming services so you can listen.

1. Morning walks. It’s been a bit colder and darker but the sunrise…

2. Photogenic Mr. Ringo Blue. So handsome, so patient.

3. All the helpers. People in the medical profession helping animals and people, first responders, grocery store employees, pharmacists, scientists, trash collectors, teachers, all the various people making sure our spaces are clean and functional, those who come to our homes and fix our stuff, therapists, those who harvest and process and transport our food. That’s a short incomplete list, but my gratitude is without end.

4. Practice. Writing with my Friday morning sangha, sitting in meditation in my practice room, making art with Calyx.

5. My tiny family, my tiny home, my tiny life. To be loved and cared for and kept company and made to laugh like this is all I ever wanted.

Bonus joy: cancelling plans when I don’t feel up to it, green grapes, clean laundry, clean sheets, down blankets and pillows, texting with Chloe’ and Chris and Mom, sharing food that I cooked, getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna, the hydromassage chair, the loaf of bread Dana gave me, my nutritionist, my therapist and the therapy dog at her office, my HappyLight, the birds feeding from the apple tree in our neighbors yard, the squirrel eating pineapple from our compost pile, early morning walkers, taking the side trails just to see where they go, napping, listening to podcasts, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.