1. Truth: I am my biggest obstacle. If I could just get out of my own way, there’d be more ease in my life. I don’t mean it would suddenly be easy, but rather that I wouldn’t struggle and suffer so much. If instead of resisting what is I could relax with it, things would shift, settle, soften — and I would too.
2. Truth: Sometimes I can’t help. I want to. I want to more than anything, to fix whatever is wrong, but sometimes I can’t. All I can do is be a witness. All I can do is love you. I can’t save you, but I can love you. And even if I give up hope, I won’t give up.
3. Truth: Then there are times when I am helping, and that’s magic. I can feel it when the tension relaxes, when a little bit of joy peaks in and I surrender to it. And it seems to happen without me having to make anything new. It seems to be more about allowing what already exists, sharing what’s already there.
One wish: May we get out of our own way, find more ease, help where we can and love where we can’t, and never ever ever give up.
1. Reuniting a War Veteran with His Beloved Dogs. I’m a total sucker for those videos where a person serving in the military comes home and surprises someone who loves and misses them, (mostly because I wish they never had to go in the first place). I’m a complete mush for stories about people and pets reunited after time apart. And I absolutely adore stories of animals helping people with physical disabilities or things like PTSD or anxiety, whether they are certified service dogs or not. This video is a combination of all three and I love everything about it.
2. “The Day Beyoncé Turned Black” – SNL, so funny, because it’s true.
4. This 21-Year Old is Cleaning Up Our Oceans. “21-year-old Boyan Slat found a way to actually clean up our planet’s oceans. The largest ocean cleanup in history will begin by 2020.” Yes, please.
5. Give a Girl a Journal, an amazing project from the equally amazing Jamie Ridler. “With a journal, every girl has the opportunity to discover her own way of expressing herself. She has the chance to hear her own voice, to have an open and honest conversation with her own heart. In her journal, a girl can discover who she is. The ‘Give a Girl a Journal’ movement is about giving all girls a chance to be who they are, to be creative and to express themselves, all in their very own journal. You can help.”
10. How Sharon Salzberg Found Real Happiness on Lion’s Roar. “Facing her suffering head-on has made Sharon Salzberg one of today’s most relatable Buddhist teachers. Lindsay Kyte talks to Salzberg about her difficult life’s journey, establishing loving-kindness as a key practice in American Buddhism, and how we can all find real happiness.” Such a great interview.
17. How to Find Your Voice, from Laura Simms, in which she says, “You gain nothing—we gain nothing—when people who are compelled to speak stay mute. We don’t need noise, but we do need caring people to speak up about the things they care about.”
