Category Archives: Create as Folk

Something Good

8 Replies

narrowleafbare

1. Sas Petherick’s “Down To Basics” Pinterest board. I want this, all of it.

2. Do You Conspire Against Yourself? A hard truth from Jennifer Boykin on Life After Tampons,”YOU are at the heart of everything that happens in your life.”

3. A heartbreaking and beautiful post, written by Neil Gaiman about his beloved Shepherd, The Power of the Dog. Cabal (2003-2013).

4. This quote: “There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by my self.” ~Brian Andreas

5. From Pema Chödrön:

Here, Now, Always: This is a work in progress, a process of uncovering our natural openness, uncovering our natural intelligence and warmth. I have discovered, just as my teachers always told me, that we already have what we need. The wisdom, the strength, the confidence, the awakened heart and mind are always accessible, here, now, always. We are just uncovering them. We are rediscovering them. We’re not inventing them or importing them from somewhere else. They’re here. That’s why when we feel caught in darkness, suddenly the clouds can part. Out of nowhere we cheer up or relax or experience the vastness of our minds. No one else gives this to you. People will support you and help you with teachings and practices, as they have supported and helped me, but you yourself experience your unlimited potential.

6. This quote:

The experience of joy is not
necessarily religious in any conventional way.
But a distinguishing characteristic of joy
is the feeling people have that they have touched
the hem of something far beyond themselves.
~Ardis Whitman

7. A note to me from the Universe: “It was perhaps one of your greatest acts of love, Jill. Choosing to be alive at a time when so many live so deeply in the dark. And already things are looking brighter.”

And this one, “Sometimes the people who know, Jill, don’t know they know. And sometimes the people who don’t know, think they do know. But you can always tell who is who, because, of course, with knowing comes tolerance, and patience, and love.”

And this one, “Believe it or not, Jill, if it weren’t for your so-called issues, problems, and challenges, there’d be no other way you could become even happier, cooler, and more enlightened than you have ever been before.”

8. This one makes me laugh, “For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe.” ~Larry Eisenberg

9. The Challenge in Beginning, on Kind Over Matter by Jo Anna Rothman.

10. On Turning 45 by Lisa Congdon. I think I want to trade 45s with Lisa.

11. This quote from Mark Nepo:

We waste so much energy trying to cover up who we are when beneath every attitude is the want to be loved, and beneath every anger is a wound to be healed and beneath every sadness is the fear that there will not be enough time. Our challenge each day is not to get dressed to face the world but to unglove ourselves so that the doorknob feels cold and the car handle feels wet and the kiss goodbye feels like the lips of another being, soft and unrepeatable.

12. This is making me so happy right now, music from the band Washed Out. It’s categorized as “Dream Pop” on Rhapsody, one of my favorite genres. You might recognize this from Portlandia.

13. Inspiration Procrastination — are you a self-help junkie? on Simply Woz. Why yes, yes I am.

14. This video is so sweet: Lazaro Arbos, American Idol Auditions Chicago ~ American Idol.

15. The Surprise That Left Steve Harvey [and me] In Tears.

16. This quote from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche:

By connecting with basic goodness in this moment, we can live in an open, free, and unconditioned way. Without comparison, there is no jealousy or pride. There is simply a feeling of delight and brilliance. When we cower from this possibility, comparisons immediately arise and we are thrown into a whirlwind of insecurity and doubt.

17. 25 free romantic fonts from A Subtle Revelry.

18. By way of Susannah Conway’s Something for the Weekend list, Eight Healthy Comfort Foods (I am going to make some Amazeballs), and this video, which makes me so happy, (by way of Swiss Miss–check out the rest of their site, there’s some really cool stuff there–amazeballs!):

19. From From Positively Present Picks list: On Dog Hair from Bobulate, and from Huffington Post, Tina Fey: ’30 Rock’ Star’s Success Secret: ‘Say Yes’.

20. Moving Art channel on You Tube. Some really beautiful videos.

21. Some of my favorite women in conversation, connecting: Story Whispers, Sas Petherick with Hannah Marcotti, and The Illuminated Purposepreneur: Hannah Marcotti on Create as Folk with Laura Simms.

22. Scattered by Sas Petherick. (I’m apparently crushing hard on Sas, because she’s on my list three times this week).

23. From Brain Pickings: How to Write with Style: Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Keys to the Power of the Written Word and Can Money Buy Happiness? The Science of Materialism, Animated.

24. This quote: “Our way to practice is one step at a time, one breath at a time.” ~Shunryu Suzuki

25. This quote from Rumi:

Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.

26. Daily Rocks from Patti Digh, Say “Wow” and Be Open to Change.

27. Living Things on SF Girl by Bay.

28. From Patti Digh’s Thinking Thursday list, this quote: “Yoga is the practice of tolerating the consequences of being yourself.” -Bhagavad Gita (so true…)

29. Judgement vs. Empathy by Alexis Yael on Kind Over Matter.

30. Some Days, a blessing from Erica Staab (and John O’Donohue).

31. Salon’s guide to writing a memoir.

Something Good

8 Replies

bunny cloud over lory state park, and yes, it’s real.

1. Epic and Ordinary on Doorways Traveler. So beautiful, her raw voice and open heart.

2. A Thousand Mornings with Poet Mary Oliver on NPR. Oh how I love her. I immediately teared up hearing her read her work.

3. From Fiona of Writing Our Way Home:

In this life, with its impermanence and unpredictability and difficult-things-happening, we need all the help we can get. We need to develop habits that steady us, that provide us with nourishment, that remind us of the beauty around us even in the midst of chaos & loss.

And she also shared this:

Since my house burned down
I now own a better view
of the rising moon.
~ Mizuta Masahide, poet and samurai (1657-1723)

4. From Alex Franzen of Unicorns for Socialism: “If I were you, I’d jot down a series of stories I’ve been aching to tell. True stories that happened to me. Nobody else.”

5. A three step practice from Pema Chödrön:

First, come into the present. Flash on what’s happening with you right now. Be fully aware of your body, its energetic quality. Be aware of your thoughts and emotions.

Next, feel your heart, literally placing your hand on your chest if you find that helpful. This is a way of accepting yourself just as you are in that moment, a way of saying, “This is my experience right now, and it’s okay.”

Then go into the next moment without any agenda.

This practice can open us to others at times when we tend to close down. It gives us a way to be awake rather than asleep, a way to look outward rather than withdraw.

6. Half Eaten from Rachel Cole. She’s on fire right now, creating some really juicy stuff. I am so grateful for her honestly in this particular post. I have been in the moment she describes, and to have her share it is medicine to me.

7. Talk by His Holiness the Dalai Lama entitled “Human Compassion” given at the College of William & Mary’s Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, on October 10, 2012.

Dalai Lama for president!

8. This video broke my heart, but also filled me up with the love, the beauty that is possible in life. Amy McCracken (who has the biggest heart) shared it in a post on a blog she cowrites, 3x3x365.

9. For Those in the Darkness on Create as Folk.

10. Book Offers Guidance to the Gentle Art of Compassionate Euthanasia, an article about Dr. Cooney of Home to Heaven and her work. Dr. Cooney helped us to let our Obi go, and if we are “lucky” she or one of her kind colleagues will help us let Dexter go. I am so grateful to have such compassionate care so close. It brings me so much comfort.

11. Just One Thing from Susannah Conway. P.S. I am loving her blog redesign.

12. Impermanent art: Motoi Yamamoto’s “Return to the Sea: Saltworks.”

13. 2012, Y2K, and Other Scary End Is Near Predictions.

My advice: rather than worry about some “doomsday prophecy”, why not live your life today like it matters? Why not be present in the NOW? Instead of flipping out over the possibility of dying in some fiery comet (or other fantastical ending) why not just LIVE WELL? And rather than waiting for some random date on a calendar to become enlightened, why not strive to be a better person TODAY?

14. Justine Musk shared a quote from Robert McKee: “A story is the expression of how + why life changes. A story begins with balance, then something throws life out of balance, then a story goes on to describe how balance is restored.”

15.This quote from Tara Brach:

We’ve all felt the power of someone’s care to melt our armor. When we feel upset, often not until someone cares enough to listen or give us a hug are we able to melt down and cry. When someone says to us, as Thich Nhat Hanh suggests, “Darling, I care about your suffering,” a deep healing begins.

16. Why the pursuit of your dream is your sacred obligation by Justine Musk, in which she says:

Your gift might not cure cancer, but somewhere, in some way, it eases a pain, or solves a problem, or brings light to darkness, or cracks open a false self, or exposes a lie, or generates hope.

17. I’ve shared this before, but it’s worth mentioning again: calm.com

baby chicken cloud over lory state park: yes, it’s real too.

18. Self-Compassion: Learning to Be Nicer to Ourselves on Tiny Buddha.

19. Quote from the Dalai Lama:

Because it is a reality that we are by nature social animals, bound to depend on each other, we need to cultivate affection and concern for other people if we really desire peace and happiness. Look at wild animals and birds. Even they travel together, flock together, and help
each other. Bees do not have a particular legal system, they do not follow any spiritual practice, but for their livelihood and survival they depend on each other—that is their natural way of existence. Even
though we intelligent human beings must also depend on each other, we sometimes misuse our intelligence and try to exploit each other. That goes against human nature. For those of us who profess to believe in a particular religious practice, it is extremely important that we try to help each other and cultivate a feeling of affection for each other. That is the source of happiness in our life.

20. On the leaving on Carry It Forward. I’m so grateful to author Christa Gallopoulos for this, such a beautiful post.

21. So You Want To Be a Writer: Bukowski Debunks the “Tortured Genius”
Myth of Creativity on Brain Pickings.

22. My Inner Delete Button – 7 Things I’m Trashing from My Life on Ken and Paper.

23. Real Life Minimalists: Courtney Carver. The story behind her badassery.

24. Three minutes towards helping you feel better on Writing Our Way Home. My response to this post, this practice this morning was: Looking out my window into the dark all I can see is the reflection of my own face.

25. What is freedom from Chris Guillebeau.

26. This quote from Cheri Huber: “Perhaps doing in order to be good is what keeps you from realizing that you are already good.”

27. Another quote from the Dalai Lama: “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.”

28. Everything Is Going To Be OK: Aesthetic Anesthesia for the Soul on Brain Pickings.

humpback whale cloud over salyer natural area.

29. Book Shelf Porn. Yes, please.

30. The power of unconditional acceptance from Kris Carr.

P.S. There are three other lists, similar to my Something Good post, where I get weekly inspiration. Usually a few items from these lists make it onto mine. They are: