1. Morning walks. Being out as the sun is rising is magic, medicine.
2. Good food. Pecan tarts (first batch made by Eric, second one by his mom), toffee from Dana, cinnamon swirl bread, breakfast burritos, oranges, strawberries, raspberries, cheese, the buffet at Mount Everest Café, and all the good things we are going to cook for our Christmas dinner.
3. Practice. Meditation, yoga asana, and writing as practice keep me sane and soft, tender and strong.
4. Reading. The other thing that keeps me sane and soft, tender and strong.
5. My tiny family, small house, little life. The main things that keep me sane and soft, tender and strong.
Bonus joy: hanging out with Chloe’, baby Franny, doing yoga at Red Sage, aqua aerobics, sitting in the sauna, the hydromassage chair, watching Christmas movies while wrapping presents, talking about James Baldwin and eating cookies and petting big dogs, figuring out and completing things that have lingered and bothered me for far too long, a massage with Dana, true crime documentaries, listening to podcasts, comedy and comedians, libraries and librarians, poetry and poets, music and musicians, artists and their art, other people’s dogs and kids and holiday lights, writing with my Friday morning sangha, making each other laugh, twinkle lights, sunshine (even when I’m desperate for snow), cuddling with Ringo on the couch, texting with Chris, sharing reels with Kari and Shellie and Carrie, making art, blankets, down pillows, headlamps, school pictures of my dad when he was so little and heartbreakingly cute, how well Hendrix and Warren can talk now, naps, blackout shades, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.
1. Nikki Giovanni, acclaimed poet of the Black Arts Movement, dies aged 81. “The award-winning US poet and author of works like Black Feeling, Black Talk and Those Who Ride the Night Winds has died after a third cancer diagnosis.” In related news, Nikki Giovanni, Poet Who Wrote of Black Joy, Dies at 81 on The New York Times. (gift link) “As a writer, she tackled race, gender, sex, politics and love. She was also a public intellectual who appeared on television and toured the country.” Also, To Nikki Giovanni by Frederick Joseph. “A letter thanking the poet who wrote us home.” Also, James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni “A Conversation.” (video) “In 1971 James Baldwin sat down to have an honest and open conversation with Nikki Giovanni about the state of affairs between the Black men and women of the time. They discuss relationships, ‘village’ building and raising families. This conversation between James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni is still relevant today.”
2. Billie Eilish: Tiny Desk Concert. “Saudade is a Portuguese word that can be roughly defined as a feeling of melancholy, nostalgia or yearning for something that is beloved but not present. There’s no perfect translation, but one of the closest English expressions of the word I’ve ever seen is Billie Eilish’s Tiny Desk performance.”
7. Dharma wisdom from Thubten Chodron: “We like to think we’re broad-minded, caring people and realizing anything contrary to that may be difficult. Our self-centered attitude prefers to think, “I’m a really good person. I’m unhappy because the rest of the world is ignorant and hostile.” As long as we hold that idea, spiritual progress will be difficult. As long as we keep blaming our problems on others and seek a “feel-good hit,” we are not doing actual Dharma practice.”
8. ‘You have to just draw something that you hope is funny’: How Charles M Schulz created Charlie Brown and Snoopy. “Back in 1977, Schulz insisted that the cartoonist’s role was mostly to point out problems rather than trying to solve them, but there was one lesson that people could take from his work. He said: ‘I suppose one of the solutions is, as Charlie Brown, just to keep on trying. He never gives up. And if anybody should give up, he should.'”
9. 5 Tips for Mindful Journaling on Lion’s Roar. “James C. Hopkins on how—through writing—you can find the flow of awareness, free of judgment.”
11. It’s Tiiiiiime from Frederick Joseph. “For me, there’s always been something about the winter air, sharp and biting, that compels me to take stock of the warmth I can offer. Which is why for five years in a row, I’ve used my mutual aid non-profit, We Have Stories, to gather us as a community, pool our resources, channel our compassion, and deliver joy. On Christmas Eve morning we take a rental truck filled with toys, clothes, and food we’ve shopped for over the previous days and gift them to over 300 families needing a helping hand. This year, I’m setting a goal: $30,000 to help over 350 families have a holiday that feels like home. These hundreds of families look to us for something that feels so simple, so fundamental—joy, dignity, and the assurance that they are not forgotten.”
17. The Man Who Feeds Gaza’s Children. (video) “Before the war, Hamada Shaqoura was a food blogger. Now, he spends his days cooking to feed children and displaced people in Gaza. And he figured out a way to reach millions on social media without saying a word. His intense stare at the camera as he cooks various dishes has been easy for many to understand. Hamada finally opens up and shares his story in detail with Business Insider. He told us why he sees food as a symbol of resistance and why it’s important for him to cook food people had before the war, like chicken wings, tacos, croissants, and popsicles.”
18. How to see the humanity in anyone. “Practising a form of ‘deep curiosity’ can help you connect with yourself and others, even if they’re on the ‘other side’.”
19. In pictures: The famous Sycamore Gap tree. “The lone tree at Northumberland’s Sycamore Gap was one of the most photographed in the country before it was deliberately cut down.”
24. Oregon Prison Limits Solitary to 90 Days. This BLM Protester Has Been in the Hole for 250. “Malik Muhammad, a disabled Army veteran with PTSD, received the harshest federal sentence for the George Floyd protests.” His solitary confinement followed an incident where Muhammad asked to speak to a supervisor, and instead guards tased and beat him, then threw him in the hole.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 