jillsalahub

1. Playing the Odds from Rachel Cole. If this seems confusing when you first read it, I beg you to keep reading it, over and over, until it starts to make sense. It’s such an important shift, revolutionary.

2. Square One from Susan Piver, her message for the Open Heart Project in which she talks about basic goodness, saying it is, “Something real, something gentle, something fierce.”

3. Wisdom from Alexandra Franzen, from her most recent newsletter, “If you can help even just one human being to feel stronger, braver, safer, more connected, more hopeful, more informed, more inspired, or more loved through your words… you have done a great service.”

4. Fuji in a Trash Bag: A non-hiker’s guide on how not to climb a mountain on Medium.

5. Technology hasn’t Changed Us. Things haven’t changed as much as you might think. on Medium.

6. So much wisdom from Pema Chödrön, a list of links to various articles she’s written.

7. These Ladies Stood In Front Of An Interactive Mirror Without Knowing What To Expect. So sweet.

8. Wisdom from Isabel Foxen Duke, “Why would you choose the perception of reality that makes you feel bad, when you could just as easily choose what makes you feel good?”

9. How to Get Unstuck, wisdom from Andrea Scher.

10. What Keeps Me Awake at Night, a list from Laurie Wagner.

11. Wisdom from Don Miguel Ruiz, “Death is not the biggest fear we have. Our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive—the risk to be alive and express what we really are.” (Thanks to Sandra for sharing).

12. Truthbomb #630 from Danielle LaPorte, “Stillness requires courage.” And, Truthbomb #631, “Have a conversation with the aching.”

13. The Path of Pausing, more wisdom from Pema Chödrön,

The primary focus of this path of choosing wisely, of this training to de-escalate aggression, is learning to stay present. Pausing very briefly, frequently throughout the day, is an almost effortless way to do this. For just a few seconds we can be right here. Meditation is another way to train in learning to stay, or, as one student put it more accurately, learning to come back, to return to being present over and over again. The truth is, anyone who’s ever tried meditation learns really quickly that we are almost never fully present. I remember when I was first given meditation instruction. It sounds so simple: Just sit down, get comfortable, and bring light awareness to your breath. When your mind wanders, gently come back and stay present with your breath. I thought, “This will be easy.” Then someone hit a gong to begin and I tried it. What I found was that I wasn’t present with a single breath until they hit the gong again to end the session. I had spent the whole time lost in thought.

Back then I believed this was because of some failing of mine, and that if I stuck with meditation, soon I’d be perfect at it, attending to each and every breath. Maybe occasionally I’d be distracted by something, but mostly I would just stay present. Now it’s about thirty years later. Sometimes my mind is busy. Sometimes it’s still. Sometimes the energy is agitated. Sometimes calm. All kinds of things happen when we meditate—everything from thoughts to shortness of breath to visual images, from physical discomfort to mental distress to peak experiences. All of that happens, and the basic attitude is, “No big deal.” The key point is that, through it all, we train in being open and receptive to whatever arises.

14. You are Imperfect and Needy. I Love That About You. wisdom from Mara Glatzel.

15. Holy wow, this Note from the Universe, “Jill, do you know what’s a 1,000,000 times better than getting to the top the mountain? Getting there, after having been lost.”

16. The Koshas: 5 Layers of Being from Yoga International.

17. Wisdom from Gloria Steinem, “In depression you care about nothing. In sadness you care about everything.” (Thanks for sharing, Susan).

18. Mary Lambert “Secrets” (Stank Remix) // Hits 1 // SiriusXM. “Seriously, guys. I told you I don’t hold anything back.”

19. Street Art Spotter: Dallas Clayton Spreads Good Vibrations Across L.A.

20. The World’s Simplest Learn to Run Program.

21. Wisdom from Rumi, “Oh my friend, all that you see of me is just a shell, and the rest belongs to love.”

22. Wisdom from Lodro Rinzler, “In the Buddhist context, giving up means that you are surrendering everything that is holding you back from experiencing reality in a direct and pure manner.”

23. Shared on Chookoloonks’ This Was a Good Week: Slow & Steady, and My Jam.

24. Sam Pepper Exposed. This makes me so angry, but I’m so happy people like her are making videos like this.

25. Breaking the Pattern of Feeling Unworthy and KEY to Self-Esteem from Kute Blackson.

26. Wisdom from Galway Kinnell, (shared before, but so worth doing so again),

We’re all seeking that special person who is right for us. But if you’ve been through enough relationships, you begin to suspect there’s no right person, just different flavors of wrong. Why is this? Because you yourself are wrong in some way, and you seek out partners who are wrong in some complementary way. But it takes a lot of living to grow fully into your own wrongness. And it isn’t until you finally run up against your deepest demons, your unsolvable problems–the ones that make you truly who you are–that we’re ready to find a lifelong mate. Only then do you finally know what you’re looking for. You’re looking for the wrong person. But not just any wrong person: the right wrong person–someone you lovingly gaze upon and think, “This is the problem I want to have.”

27. This Converted Cave in France Cost $1.35. I want to go to there.

28. Wisdom from Buddha, “Three things cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” (Thanks to Positively Present for sharing).

29. Shared on Susannah’s Something for the Weekend list: Mary Oliver on the Magic of Punctuation and a Reading of Her Soul-Stretching Poem “Seven White Butterflies” and Lena Dunham gives great advice.

30. Shared on Susannah’s Something for the Weekend list last week: 10 of the best first date questions…possibly ever (Alexandra Franzen is the queen of prompts), and Lisa Congdon on Creative Evolution (Episode 3 of Tiffany Han’s new podcast, “Raise Your Hand. Say Yes.”), and Thai Chicken Chopped Kale Salad recipe.

31. Wisdom from Nayyirah Waheed,

the becoming | wing
be easy.
take your time.
you are coming
home
to yourself.

32. Wisdom from Clementine Paddleford, “Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.” (Thanks to Amanda for sharing).

33. A Sweet List of Things to Remember on Rebelle Society.

34. How Neil Gaiman Stays Creative In An Age Of Constant Distraction.

35. “You Don’t Get What You Wish For; You Get What You Believe,” wisdom from Elizabeth Gilbert on Facebook.

36. Freedom in 704 Square Feet. *swoon*

37. Mod Kitchen Furniture DIY from This (sorta) Old Life. I love this kitchen, the space and the light.

This morning, Eric and Sam and Ringo and I hiked some of the North Lone Pine Trail. Eric had been bringing home such amazing pictures of the aspen trees turning color from his recent hikes, saying the other day “they look like they are plugged in, they are so bright,” I wanted to see for myself.

On the trail itself, there wasn’t much color, at least not the gold I was hoping for. In fact I only really saw this one tree, and it wasn’t even an aspen.

But I did see a moose! This is kind of a big deal for me. Eric has seen lots as he’s hiked over the years. The road to North Lone Pine Trail, Dead Man’s Road, is where he saw a mom and two babies just last year. I have been looking for a moose for years, expect to see one every time I go to Shambhala Mountain Center, but it’s only sort of happened once. We were up near Red Feather Lakes and in the distance on the side of a hill, I saw what I thought was a huge horse and just seconds before it was out of sight, I realized it was a moose — which felt like it didn’t really count as seeing one.

As we were driving up this morning, Eric said “look for moose because this is where I saw the mom and babies, although that was in spring.” I started looking, and not even five minutes later, there it was! Eating breakfast in what was essentially the backyard of someone’s camping spot. Eric started cracking up laughing because as soon as I saw it, I yelled, “A moose! I saw a fucking moose! Right there, right there!”

The fact that all four of us went on the hike is yet another sign that Ringo is growing up. On Friday at daycare, he went his first whole day without a single timeout, (he can get a bit pushy when someone isn’t paying attention to him, grabbing other dogs’ collars or barking).

The weather today was unexpected. When we pulled into the trailhead parking lot, it was sunny and nice. Just a few minutes into our hike, I realized I’d left my sunglasses in the car, and Eric was so sure I’d need them, we went back. Almost immediately clouds started rolling in and we ended up hiking in fog that made it seem like we were back on the Oregon Coast.

The view when we first arrived.

The same view when we got back to our car after our hike.

One of my favorite things about hiking is the opportunity for contemplation. It’s so quiet and peaceful, spacious inside and out. At one point today I started noticing how even though the trail is wide and there are many possible paths, various ways to go, many options for where to place your feet, there’s always one that is clearly the best. As I scan the ground, I can see the line I’ll take, it stands out against all the other possibilities. I feel like this is true about my life as well, that as I walk my path the right way to go is clear.

Hiking with Eric and the dogs also allows for conversation and connection. Eric and I talked about plans for the future, a few things we were struggling with, and how happy we both are right now, how satisfied we are with our life together. Eric said at one point, “if I lived my life over 10 more times, I couldn’t find a way to be happier than I am right now.”

At another point on the trail, when I was struggling to keep going but remembering how I’d done three hours of yoga the day before, Eric mentioned how my strength was yoga and his was hiking, and said, “What you practice is what you get good at.” So right.

Along the trail, someone had built a fairy house, a tiny log cabin next to Killpecker Creek.

Someone had also built a shrine on a tree stump. Somehow we hiked right past it on the way in, but noticed it on the way out. Eric asked if I had anything to leave, but all I had was a spare battery for my camera, dog treats and poop bags.

On the way back to town, we met up with a cattle drive. I told Eric, “you know you live in Colorado when you see a moose and a cattle drive on the same morning.” The Cattle Dog mix riding on the back of the horse with his person was just about one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. Do you see how he’s smiling?