Project Reverb prompt: “List it | List posts are everywhere. Top 10 Ways to be Happier Today. Three Tips for More Energy. Seven Ideas to Stay Focused. Give us a list. Of anything. Your to-do list for the day. Your grocery list. A Buzzfeed inspired list. Anything.”
2. Good Life Project. I love this whole project, but one of my favorites this year was Jonathan’s interview with Lisa Congdon.
3. Gratitude from Moving Art.
4. Kid President. I love everything he does, but this still is my favorite.
5. Draw My Life from Jenna Marbles.
6. Lose Your Little Mind, a video my friend Julia Fehrenbacher made with her friend Alia Indrawan.
7. Beloved by Amy Seeley.
8. Everything Changes from Hopeful World.
9. The ONLY diet you will ever need! from Kute Blackson.
10. Ze Frank. I love almost every video he does, but Sad Dog Diary was one of my favorites.
11. Humans of New York, the theme song, by Lois & Kat.
12. Bat Dad.
13. Louis C.K. Hates Cell Phones, in which he explains ancient Buddhist wisdom, the most fundamental dharma without probably even realizing that’s what he’s doing.
14. Tonight You Belong to Me (Cover) – Me and my 4 y.o.
15. Potty Talk! [Original] 3 year old contemplates the effects of his diet on… You knew I couldn’t make a list of my favorite videos without including this one.
6. Wisdom from Sakyong Mipham, “If we do not appreciate the sensitivity and subtlety of the human heart, how can we appreciate the sensitivity and subtlety of the natural world?”
7. Let’s Talk About Dogs and Euthanasia: When Is It Time? Should You Be Present? a good article by a vet on Dogster about an important topic if you live with and love a dog. I have made this decision twice for my dogs, determined when it was time, when their suffering had surpassed their quality of life, and needed to be there with them, was lucky enough to be, but that might not be the right decision for everyone.
12. Why I changed my mind on weed by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. I wish more people would take the time to do the research before forming an opinion, before passing judgement — but I think that about just about everything.
16. Vegan Zucchini Corn Fritters recipe. We have so much zucchini right now that I have an eye out for new ways to eat it. We are also going to try it as a pizza topping.
Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backward
after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s a cha-cha.
24. Emerging Women, October 10th-13th in Boulder Colorado. Just another thing to add to the list of amazing things happening that I won’t be doing but probably would if I had unlimited time, energy, and funding.
I think I’ve probably told you all this before, but I thought about it again this morning and so wanted to write about it again… My friend Natalie Goldberg once told me that we are always practicing something and most of us practice suffering. That really touched me. In each moment, depending on where our attention is, we are either practicing being awake, being presence, or being caught up in our stories. The past, the future. What he or she did, what I will do when, when a particular thing happens and I will finally be happy. You know the way it goes. So, in this very moment, what are you practicing?
When I remembered what Natalie said, I was practicing a familiar kind of suffering. I was believing one of my top ten stories about what’s wrong with me. And then, the moment I remembered what my friend said, I realized I had a choice. I could stop. Right now. Then I noticed that the sun came out in my body. I felt lighter. I felt free. The moment you realize you have a choice, the moment you stop being enthralled by your own fantasy, everything changes. It’s as if a bubble pops and you wake up from your own dream. So–what are you practicing right now?
29. How to Do Yoga With Your Cats, a sweet and funny video, (and P.S. most cats I’ve known would murder you if you attempted this).
30. This wisdom from Sharon Salzberg,
It is never too late to turn on the light. Your ability to break an unhealthy habit or turn off an old tape doesn’t depend on how long it has been running; a shift in perspective doesn’t depend on how long you’ve held on to the old view. When you flip the switch in that attic, it doesn’t matter whether its been dark for ten minutes, ten years or ten decades. The light still illuminates the room and banishes the murkiness, letting you see the things you couldn’t see before. It’s never too late to take a moment to look.
31. Dear Diary, from Jeff Oaks, in which he suggests, “Let it go. See what happens.”
35. Hungry for the Impossiblefrom Rachel Cole. (P.S. Her next session of Ease Hunting starts September 2nd, I took the first and highly, wholeheartedly recommend it).
37. The story of Aero on K9Runner. If our Sam had been a bit older when Animal House rescued him, this story could have been his. I am so grateful for the people at Animal House and the volunteers like Pete who commit to giving dogs without a home another chance.
38. Caught this guy playing with himself. Don’t let the title fool you, this is one of the cutest, sweetest videos ever.
We all depend on one another. For this reason, whenever we act according to self-interest, sooner or later our selfish aims are bound to clash with the aims of the people we rely upon to accomplish our own goals. When that happens, conflicts will inevitably arise. As we learn to be more balanced in valuing others’ concerns with our own, we will naturally find ourselves involved in fewer and fewer conflicts. In the meantime, it is helpful to acknowledge that conflicts are the logical outcome of this combination of self-interest and interdependence. Once we recognize this, we can see that conflicts are nothing to feel shocked or offended by. Rather, we can address them calmly and with wisdom.
40. “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being.” *sob* 10 seconds isn’t going to be nearly enough, Mr. Rogers.
Because here’s the thing — we are really slow, as a species, to catching on sometimes that the past is past. And since there is no sense of time in the human subconscious, there is part of us that doesn’t always know, when it comes to certain dark traumas: IT’S FINISHED. Sometimes you have to talk to yourself about that fact (gently, lovingly) and explain to yourself the reality of the timeline. Did it already happen to you? Yes. Did you already survive it? Yes. Then try to let yourself go forth in peace. It’s over. It sometimes takes so much convincing for us to believe this, but whatever you’re most afraid of…? Chances are, it’s over.
9. Soul Sister Special from Liv Lane, good until midnight tonight, Central Time.
10. Wisdom from Geneen Roth,
The process is the goal. And this is always true. Otherwise, you get to where you believe the goal is, and you raise the proverbial bar. You make another goal. And then, you push to get to that one, that goal. And make another one. And in the meantime, you keep missing what you call your life. And then you wonder how it all went by so fast and where you were while it was happening. That’s how people get to the end of their lives and suddenly realize, they missed the gifts. The small moments. The ordinary moments, on the way to the Big Get. The Goal.
16. Wisdom from Tulku Thondup, “The practice of mindfulness should not result in stress. If it does, it may be a sign that we are trying too hard—that we are grasping at ‘mindfulness’ itself, that we need to relax a little and be less self-conscious.”
Do you wonder what it would feel like to be healed, my love? Let me tell you, because as the part of you who is always whole, healed, and perfect at every moment, I’m on it. When you’re healed, you wake up every morning and feel free. Free of the grip of fear. Free of caring what everybody else thinks. Free of feeling like you have anything to prove. Free of worrying that you’re not enough. Free of self-beatings. Free of muddy confusion. Free to be unapologetically YOU. Free. You feel very alive, which doesn’t mean you don’t cry or feel sadness. When you’re healed, you may cry more than ever, actually. But those feelings come, flood you, and release, rather than getting stuck. You know you’re NOT alone. When you’re healed, you feel deeply connected- to me and my glorious spark, that is. You know that everything is happening in perfect harmony with a greater plan. So you feel free of anxiety, because you know you are held and safe and the world is conspiring to help you walk your path with ease. It’s that simple. Do you want to feel healed? Tap in, love.
18. Head/Heart/Feet on Painted Path, where Julia shares about a really great documentary project her brother-in-law is putting together, funding through Kickstarter.
21. An Artist Takes Bits And Pieces Of Hate And Turns Them Into Something Beautiful on Upworthy. We got a nasty note on our car and even though Eric told me I should just throw it away, I kept it because I wanted to make an art journal page with it, wanted to convert the ugliness of it into something beautiful, something that would help me generate compassion, that would cultivate healing for both me and the author. That’s what this artist did, and I love it. Let’s do more of this.
22. Easy Caramel Apple Recipe. This should come with some kind of a warning, I think, something like this — Danger: extreme yumminess ahead, eat with caution.
The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing; though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing…
29. And this wisdom from Louise Erdrich, which I like to revisit from time to time,
Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.
30. “It’s not about being tough. It’s about being tender,” guest series on Jamie Ridler’s blog. Jamie’s mom passed away the day after my sweet Dexter, and when it became clear she would need to take some time off from creating content for her blog, she asked some people to write blog posts based on a theme, something her mother had said, “It’s not about being tough. It’s about being tender.” There have been some really great posts so far. Jamie asked me to write one, and it will be up on Wednesday, July 17th. I was so happy to support her, to have the opportunity to do something, anything for her as she lived this difficult transition, this loss. It is becoming more and more clear to me that the only way any of us make it through the confusion and chaos of being human is together, helping each other, showing up, offering support, being kind, “walking each other home.”
Another Wednesday without a wishcast prompt. And yet, I’m feeling a powerful need to make wishes — big wishes, important wishes, wishes for healing and peace.
I wish good health and healing for Jamie’s mom. I wish for strength, peace, and comfort for Jamie and anyone else loving and supporting her mom right now.
I wish for Dexter not to suffer, (he was at the emergency vet three weeks ago, his nose has been bleeding more that usual — whatever “usual” even means when cancer is involved — and on Saturday, he sprained his leg — a different one, not the one he’s already in physical therapy for). I also continue to wish that he have an easy death, whenever that might come.
I wish good luck, a safe trip and a workable outcome for my friend Ann. Today she’s making another visit to a doctor in Boston who might have a new treatment option for her cancer. No matter what happens, I wish her and her partner ease, comfort, and clarity.
I wish comfort for my friend Susan, my dear friend Kelly‘s mom. This past week had to have been so rough for her, with Mother’s Day and the three year anniversary of Kelly’s passing just days apart — but I also know that the arrival of a new granddaughter is offering so much joy. I wish for comfort for all of us who love Kelly and still feel so sad, miss her so much, who will forever carry that ache.
So many are suffering. It can feel overwhelming sometimes. But just when I start to feel like it’s all too much, someone does or says or makes or shares something so beautiful, that I remember: life is tender and terrible, beautiful and brutal — keep your heart open.
Today, it was a post on Hopeful World. It included beautiful words from Jen Lemen, who has been the healing balm for my own suffering so many times I’ve stopped counting. The video in the post is one she’d shared with me back in September, at a moment when it was just what I needed, and my response to it was just what she needed, but I was sworn to secrecy. I’ve been waiting patiently for her to share it with the world, so I could share it with you, and today is the day.
Everything changes. And when we can remember that during the low times, our hearts can fill with hope. And when we can tell each other this in the good times, our hearts can fill with gratitude. No matter what, we can be gentle, we can be kind. And we can remember, that even in this, we are never, ever alone. ~Jen Lemen
Project Reverb prompt: “List it | List posts are everywhere. Top 10 Ways to be Happier Today. Three Tips for More Energy. Seven Ideas to Stay Focused. Give us a list. Of anything. Your to-do list for the day. Your grocery list. A Buzzfeed inspired list. Anything.”
