Category Archives: Elephant Journal

Something Good

image by Eric, Lory State Park coyote

image by Eric, Lory State Park coyote

1. People react to being called beautiful. “I conducted an independent project, which evidently turned into a social experiment halfway through, regarding beauty at my performing arts high school in Chicago. I want to clarify that my intentions were not to get a reaction out of people. I was simply filming beauty and this is the result. Here it is.”

2. Carrie Fisher just scorched ‘Good Morning America’ and you’re not worthy. So adorable, so funny.

3. The 5 best moments from ‘A Very Murray Christmas,’ which is now streaming on Netflix.

4. Adele has my dog feeling all types of emotions. This dog is my spirit animal.

5. Tig Notaro got married.

6. Kid President’s Path to Awesome! “They were experienced foster parents, but these were two special needs children. Were they ready for that?”

7. Here Are 2015’s Biggest Pop Songs—All Mashed Up Into a Single 4-Minute Earworm. This might be my favorite song of 2015. 🙂

8. What to leave out and what to leave in and In praise of the simple kitchen timer from Austin Kleon.

9. This was a good week on Chookooloonks. “The Rice University Gallery currently has this amazing exhibit, called Intersections. Created by Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha, the exhibit is a single, bright light suspended from the ceiling through an intricately laser-cut box made from wood, and painted black.” Karen shares her pictures of the exhibit and a video of the artist talking about and walking through it.

10. 5 Questions to Ask Yourself When You’re Feeling Stuck from Tiny Buddha. The first one alone is worth the read.

11. Wisdom from Brave Girls Club, “When we have the chance to do something kind or good…we really should just do it. Sometimes we think we have to plan elaborate occasions to show kindness and compassion, when just about every day there are opportunities that come up that allow us sprinkle some goodness in little doses that often don’t take more than a moment, but that make a world of difference to both the person we are gifting with our kindness and to ourselves.”

12. 8tracks, “Listen for free to millions of playlists, all lovingly handcrafted by people like you who know and love music. Pick a top playlist below, or explore playlists by artist, genre, or activity above.” Gift idea: make someone a mixtape.

13. How to Think About Nutrition. “When people start trying to eat normally, they almost always have to go through a phase of craving and eating things they used to think were ‘bad’, or things that are not generally considered ‘healthy’. And it freaks. them. out.”

14. A Response to the Fat Shaming on the London Subway from Dances with Fat. And another good one, Fat-Shamers Hand Out Nasty Cards on Subway, So Plus-Size Company Has Awesome Response.

15. Tips on making care packages for the homeless.

16. Painstaking Arrangements of Colorful Objects and Food by Emily Blincoe. This kind of order is very soothing to me.

17. Wisdom from Charles Orlando, “Don’t settle. Either they will wake up to the fact that you deserve more… or you will.” Oh, snap.

18. I call all of my power back to me now. I am whole and complete. (Say it with me now.) from Danielle LaPorte.

19. 11 Reasons That You Are Actually Matt Bellassai.

20. This poem from Rumi seems so appropriate right now,

Sit. Be still. And listen.
For you are drunk.
And we are at the edge of the roof.

21. In exclusive first interview, Mingyur Rinpoche reveals what happened during his four years as a wandering yogi on Lion’s Roar.

22. Fifteen Things for When the World is Shitty and Terrifying, a great list, for any time really, no need to wait until things get bad.

23. IT HAPPENED TO ME: I Was Trolled and Fat-Shamed by One of My Male College Students. I love how she handled this.

24. Chakra Salad. {Vegan Recipe} on Elephant Journal. It’s from this summer, but looks yummy.

25. Study: Dieting Increases Your Risk of Becoming Obese.

26. It’s OK, He’s Friendly. Amen, because of this, “Unsolicited interactions are a type of assault,” and this, “It’s perfectly reasonable for a person to expect to be able to use a public space without being pestered by others.”

27. BIRDY + RHODES – Let It All Go. Beautiful song, beautiful video. Gave me goosebumps.

28. Print out these 100 questions, and as Alexandra Franzen suggests, “Cut the paper into little slips with one question per slip. Put the slips in a bowl. Keep them on your kitchen table. When you’re lounging around, solo, or with your family, pull out a question at random and answer it. You might learn something fascinating about yourself — or someone else.”

29. Getting BuzzFeed Clicks by Drinking and Whining.

30. All Songs Considered: The Year In Music 2015.

31. In search of serendipity, which suggests, “The internet has become so good at meeting our desires that we spend less time discovering new ones. To update the Rolling Stones, you can always get what you want. But you may not get what you need.” I’m not sure I agree, not entirely.

32. 10 Ways Creativity Can Completely Change Your Life from Tiny Buddha. “Creativity is not just for artists or making art. Creativity is life making. It’s anything we do that turns us on, invigorates us, or offers a simple moment of pure merriment.”

33. What This Guy Creates Out Of Paper Really Needs To Be Seen To Be Believed. For real.

34. Burnout: How to deal with creative and mental exhaustion.

35. May You Be Present and Clear, great advice from Be More With Less. “If you want to break up with your busy mind, buzzing phone, and crazy to-do lists to engage in meaningful relationships, try incorporating one of the following ideas.”

36. The In-between State, “Pema Chodron points to the perfect training ground for the spiritual warrior — anxiety, heartbreak, and tenderness.”

37. Hope in the Midst of Hopelessness.

38. The simple way one American mom helped thousands of refugee children. “She’s not a politician or a community leader. She’s a mom who found an amazing way to help refugee families by sending over thousands of baby carriers.” Here’s another short video about her. This is a beautiful story of someone being touched by someone else’s suffering, and then moved to do something to ease it. We all have the opportunity to do the same, in our own way.

39. Pizza Delivery Man Overcome With Emotion After Receiving This Tip.

40. Gifts For Writers, 2015 from Terrible Minds.

41. Miley Cyrus – Silent Night (A Very Murray Christmas).

42. 20+ Simple Tips For A Happy And Healthy Life.

43. Awesome Books of 2015 (at least a few), a great list plus some bonus inspiration from Kira Elliot.

44. Hard Conversations Book Club 2016 from Patti Digh. “This monthly book club provides an avenue for reading and thinking in community about hard topics such as race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, classism, and all the ways in which we ‘other’ people. We will dive deep and have open, honest, and safe dialogue to seek greater understanding of issues with which we may have limited experience. We will emerge changed in significant, enriching ways.” Admission is by donation. I can’t do the club, but I’m making note of the reading list.

45. The Biggest Mistake Pet Owners Make at the End. Having to let two of my dogs go was the hardest decision(s) I ever had to make. This article would have been very helpful, still is.

46. Paper Life – The artist Rogan Brown cuts thousands of microorganisms in paper. Science + art = so cool.

47. Ridiculous Holiday Diet Tips from Dances with Fat.

Something Good

Lory State Park, image by Eric

Lory State Park, image by Eric

So great to be partnering with Wanderlust to share this list with a larger audience.

1. Adele’s latest album, 25. I’ve been listening to it nonstop since it was released. And this prank she pulled on a group of Adele impersonators is so sweet.

2. Wisdom from Susan Piver, “Love is the least safe thing there is. It’s fierce. You can’t domesticate it. It’s wild. When you find it you should rejoice. When you lose it you should grieve.”

3. 31 Days of Gifts You So Deserve from Be More With Less, “is like an advent calendar in your inbox designed to deliver the gifts you so deserve. The gifts are meaningful, some are magical, and all of them remind you to fully embrace the simplicity and meaning of the holidays with purpose and intention.” Added bonus? Pay what you want! This would make a great gift, for yourself or someone else.

4. NIH to retire all research chimpanzees. Fifty animals held in “reserve” by the US government will be sent to sanctuaries. This makes me so happy. Here’s one reason why, Chimp With Darkest Past Takes Comfort In Tiny Troll Doll.

5. Outlaw Willie Nelson Opens Up In Two Classic ‘Fresh Air’ Interviews. Confession: I adore Willie Nelson.

6. In ‘Just Eat It,’ Filmmakers Feast For 6 Months On Discarded Food.

7. Roasted leek and white bean galettes, a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Yum. And this Honey Maple Roasted Carrots recipe from the Cafe Sucre Farine. (I get a little obsessed with roasted veggies this time of year.)

8. Florida Teacher Starts Each Day Complimenting Students One by One.

9. Finding Your Way Back to the Practices that Serve Your Soul, Willo O’Brien on Medium. This, in particular, is brilliant, “Fully allowing and feeling the emotions. Letting them be and letting them come through. Listening to what they have to say, giving them love, compassion, and space. This is the ultimate practice at the heart of it all.”

10. The incurable creative virus from Paul Jarvis. Have I told you lately how much I adore him? (P.S. Here’s a call for stories that will be published in the book this piece will also be in).

11. 365 Collage Journal Flip Through from Jamie Ridler. This looks like a fun project.

12. “You can always just listen” from Judy Clement Wall.

13. One letter can change your life–or someone else’s, “a free digital booklet all about the art of letter writing” from Alexandra Franzen. With the holidays coming up, this is a great practice to start cultivating.

14. Good stuff from Chookooloonks’s this was a good week list: let us attempt to spill light, and Still learning lessons, and Karen’s advent of light journaling course.

15. The *new* Black Friday hosted by the amazing Sherry Richert Belul. “This Black Friday, go with the new black: Spend at least part of the day making a Love List as a holiday gift for someone you love.”

16. Good stuff from Susannah’s Something for the Weekend list: Visible Mending as an art form, and Shinning the Light on Sensitivity, and Elizabeth Gilbert on dealing with criticism.

17. A Funny Thing Happened When I Was Typing My Suicide Note…

18. Health at Every Size Lies from Dances with Fat.

19. READY ♥ SET ♥ REFLECT an online retreat being offered by the amazing Susie Stonefield Miller. This is for “anyone who is yearning to take some time to reflect on the past year, to let it inform this next year, to choose a word for the year and to make a gorgeous deck of inspiration cards,” and will include “short guided meditations with art journaling prompts, video tutorials, thoughtful worksheets, and community connection.” Good stuff.

20. Planning Day: Design Your 2016 from Jamie Ridler, a webinar to help you design the year you want.

21. Wisdom from Brave Girls Club, “…each minute we spend lending ourselves, our time or talents or energy or thoughts to something that we really want little or nothing to do with is time is stolen from the things that really do matter to us. Each minute spent with the parts of our life that we want to be free from is a minute that we are not at peace….a minute that is spent feeling miserable instead of joyful.”

22. Buddhism by the Numbers: The Four Noble Truths, a simple, clear description.

23. Ladybug take off – in slow motion. Nature is so fascinating, so amazing.

24. How our Feelings Weigh Down our Bodies on Elephant Journal.

25. 10 Things Black People Fear That White People Don’t (Or Don’t Nearly as Much).

26. 5 ways Christian fundamentalists completely misread the Bible.

27. The Gnomist: A Great Big Beautiful Act Of Kindness.

28. 20+ Cute And Funny Puns By Arseniic. Part of me feels like I’m too smart and too grown up to laugh at these, and the other part is laughing her thunderpants right off.

29. WATCH: A French Father Tries To Explain The Attacks To His Young Son. Sweet and heartbreaking. The way he smiles at his dad at the very end is worth the entire thing.

30. Three Reasons Frozen is Better.

31. Artwork is Work, Supporting the Arts Means Paying the Artists, a really great bumper sticker.

32. Nurse Writes This Heartbreaking Letter To The Parents Who Just Lost Their Daughter.

33. 48, written by Christine Mason Miller on our shared birthday, in which she says,

For now, while I’m able, I’m going to keep creating, feeling, living, crying, laughing, breathing deep breaths and being of service in whatever way I can. I will continue opening up my home to those I love. I will keep on trying to create the best I can create, whatever that means.

Today, I am turning 48 years old. Today, I am in awe of everything my first 47 years have given me. Today, I’m here to do one thing: LIVE.

34. Company is Coming. This is funny because it’s true. Anyone who is hosting Thanksgiving this year understands how it feels, the particular way you can lose your mind getting the house ready when you have people coming over.

35. Liz Kalloch’s redesigned website. LOVE it.

36. Watch Anthony Bourdain’s Mind Get Blown Eating At The Waffle House With Sean Brock. I always wonder where I’d take Anthony if he ever visited Fort Collins. Where would you take him where you live?

37. This quote from Arundhati Roy’s War Talk, which seems especially timely.

Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe.

The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.

Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them.

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

38. Horse Head Squirrel Feeder. This is the best, a great gift idea.

39. Buddhist Extremist Cell Vows To Unleash Tranquility On West on The Onion, (just in case you thought it was for real).

40. Gluttony? It’s the holiday season; don’t judge yourself.

41. Funniest Parenting Tweets: What Moms And Dads Said On Twitter This Week. You don’t have to have your own kids to see the humor here.