1. Poetry: Sit with the Pain in Your Heart, he said by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Wherever You Are by Maya Stein shared by Heart Poems, Lonely Young Mother’s Refrain and Text to My Friend from Julie Barton, Writing From Home from Jena Schwartz, Background Hum on The Weekly Pause by James Crews, and For You Who Have Loved Old Dogs by Silas House shared by Maggie Smith on The Slowdown.

2. Death and Her Compass. (video) “Andrews, a ‘death doula’ and lover of the woods, works with clients nearing the end of their lives to confront the fear, anxiety, and hope surrounding death. As Andrews inspires those around her to be more open about their mortality, she reflects on her own relationship with loss.”

3. From The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz: I Am (not) Charlie Kirk and What Exactly Do MAGAs Love, Anyway? 

4. How can we enjoy fall when democracy hangs by a thread? from Alix Klingenberg, “cozy sweaters and rage – Letter Two {Falling Gently}.”

5. Act now! from Seth Godin.

6. From problem to possibility: how your attention can improve your life. “In a world of constant digital noise, by reclaiming our attention we can improve the quality of our lives. Jodie Jackson, a specialist in the way the brain forms habits, explains how.”

7. The human stain remover: what Britain’s greatest extreme cleaner learned from 25 years on the job. “From murder scenes to whale blubber, Ben Giles has seen it – and cleaned it – all. In their stickiest hours, people rely on him to restore order.”

8. Sherwin-Williams’ 2026 Color of the Year. I can’t decide if this is utterly depressing or just right. Maybe both?

9. 8 Gentle Practices That Add Ease (When Pushing Through Isn’t Working) by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

10. Open Source Anxiety Toolkit. “Free tools to help when you’re feeling anxious. These exercises are simple to follow and don’t require any special equipment – use them whenever your mind feels too busy or when you need a moment of calm.”

11. The Permission Workbook: Writing About the Dead. “Is it ever okay? Also, some craft thoughts on Elizabeth Gilbert’s All the Way to the River” from Elissa Altman.

12. Resilience Fatigue. “A comic for when you feel overwhelmed” from Connie Sun.

13. Bryan Andrews Music on gun violence. (Facebook reel) “You can pray AND advocate for doing SOMETHING.”

14. ‘My wife is an exquisite goddess’: Nick Offerman on love, woodwork and storing gravy in his beard. “The Parks and Recreation actor answers your questions on being married to Megan Mullally, visiting Manchester and preparing for the apocalypse.”

15. They were right [that college makes you liberal]… but not for the reason they are angry. (Facebook reel)

16. Buck helps with everything on the farm. (Facebook reel) Good boy, Buck!

17. Rudy Francisco reads his poem A Series of Gentle Reminders. (Facebook reel)

18. Simple Hack for Living in the Present Moment from Dan Harris. (Facebook reel)

19. Here’s a handy guide to help you spot AI writing.

20. This is How Bill Hader Relates to His Neuroses from Dan Harris. (Facebook reel)

21. And finally, this random collection of things I saved to my phone last week.

1. Poetry: Gloria Mundi written by Michael Kleber-Diggs and read by Pádraig Ó Tuama, No Small Thing from The Weekly Pause from James Crews, American Spin and She Wanted To See The Good and Becoming Light and Where I Am from Julie Barton, The Negative by newly appointed U.S. poet laureate Arthur Sze shared by Patti Digh and Back-Lit by Arthur Sze, Because the World Is in Need of Mercy by M.K.Creel, We could say it took me my whole life and At last and Hope from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Thruway by Gretchen Schmelzer, Ode to a Good Pen: Or, How to Write the Book of Love by Maria Popova, Migration by Plane Wings and Migrator, Back Again by Michelle Latvala, and Yes, We Can Talk by Mark Nepo.

2. I’m exhausted but am surviving. How can I heal from burnout without expensive time off? “Lots of us are desperate to come off the watch, advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes. One strategy might be to cut the corners you can.”

3. How to train your dog – and not lose your mind. “It doesn’t have to be miserable. We asked experts how best to start training your new (or old) best friend.”

4. Field Note: Those Aren’t Pine Siskins They’re House Sparrows by Michael Kleber-Diggs.

5. ‘The Christian Left’ Conversation With Anti-MAGA Comedian Cliff Cash. (video)

6. Wanted: An All-American Family. “I thought I had found the picture-perfect family that I so desperately craved but never had.”

7. I already don’t care by Patti Digh.

8. A Back-to-School Crisis. “Last year we gave book bags, this year the urgent need is food,” a request from Frederick Joseph.

9. California bans most law enforcement officers from wearing masks during operations. I wish more of those in positions of political power would resist in similar ways.

10. From The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz: Conservative White Christians Will Worship Anyone But Jesus and The Christians Who Live By The Sword.

11. It will be okay, a doodle from Jenny Lawson.

12. The Brilliant Agony of Almost: Letter One of Falling Gently “6 weeks of creative prompts, seasonal rituals, and warm community” from Alix Klingenberg.

13. Why I Refuse to Panic (and what I’m choosing to do instead) from Gina Luker.

14. The Heart of the Andes and the Invention of Virtual Reality: Frederic Edwin Church’s Immersive 19th-century Paintings of Natural Wonders. The light! *swoon*

15. Stay in It, Always. “On the Elizabeth Catlett show and restoration for my nervous system” from Jami Attenberg.

16. What the season of fall – and science – teaches us about life and death by Samer Zaky.

17. The language of care (and open-faced quesadillas) & Samin Nosrat on recipes, love, and the magic of improvising on The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad.

18. Whatever you can still do, you can still do. “On what despots want you to forget” by Garrett Bucks on The White Pages. Also from Garrett, The Internet is killing us, “But the bigger problem isn’t what we (and our kids) are doing on our screens, it’s what we’re not doing off of them.”

19. You Don’t Need Closure, You Need Space from Nikki the Death Doula.

20. Harmen Hoek on YouTube, “an adventurous YouTube filmmaker, known for silent hiking films that transport viewers into nature through stunning visuals, ambient sounds, and evocative music.”

21. Questions to ask yourself this fall, “For a better winter and spring ahead” from Kelton Wright.

22. I Used the 90/90 Rule to Declutter My Sentimental Items, and It Was Surprisingly Liberating.

23. How to Set Boundaries With Your Smartphone. “Excess screen time can negatively impact your mood, memory, and overall health.”

24. A beautiful and annoying thing about being a person, “a true story” from Brad Montague.

25. Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds. And no one who cares, who has been paying attention is surprised.

26. Blowing on the Embers of What Matters, “Deep inside you there is…” from Erin Geesaman Rabke.

27. How I Got Better. “A comic about healing over time” from Connie Sun.

28. It’s Time To Stop Fighting For Your Rights: Individual Rights vs. Collective Liberation from Ijeoma Oluo.

29. A string of beads on The Imperfectionist. “What is within our power is to thread beads, one after the other, and gradually to develop the internal trust that we’ll be able to thread the beads that need adding in the future, too. (The opposite of anxiety, I’ve seen it said, isn’t calm, but trust in your capacity to handle what happens later on.) All you need to do, to paraphrase Carl Jung and also Anna from Frozen, is the next right thing. Indeed, when you think about it, that’s the only thing you ever could do: select the next bead and add it to the string, then choose and add the next, and the next, through apocalyptic times and happier ones, for as many years as you’re lucky to get to do it.”

30. Sort as you go and don’t rush: six steps to clearing out a loved one’s home when they die. “From telling the insurers to accepting you may need to get the experts in, tips on dealing with the deceased’s property.” I am not looking forward to this, at all.

31. Roxane Gay on Memoir as Manifesto. “From the Memoir Nation Podcast, Hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner.” P.S. LitHub, stop asking me to become a supporting member of your publication, to give you money, when you run SO MANY ads.

32. Artisan Apple Bread recipe from I Am Baker. This looks so good. I would destroy a fresh warm loaf of this right about now.

33. I do like dogs, clips from SNL skit. (Facebook reel) Oh, Molly Shannon.

34. You didn’t do anything wrong, this is just too much from AK Przy. (Facebook reel)

35. “Magic” word to stop overthinking from Dan Harris. (Facebook reel)

36. Golden retriever and his dolphin buddies. (Facebook reel)

37. Every elected official is compromised, all of them are to blame. Wisdom from Pete Souvall. (Instagram reel) Also from Pete:

38. And finally, this random collection of things I saved to my phone this week.