1. Wisdom from Desmond Tutu, “Discovering more joy does not, save us from the inevitability of hardship and heartbreak. In fact, we may cry more easily, but we will laugh more easily too. Perhaps we are just more alive. Yet as we discover more joy, we can face suffering in a way that ennobles rather than embitters. We have hardship without becoming hard. We have heartbreaks without being broken.”

2. Recipe I want to try: Sweet Potato Black Bean Hash. This is actually one I shared a year ago and never made, but saw it in my Facebook memories this morning and decided to make it for dinner this week. Pretty much anything with sweet potatoes, spinach, black beans and cumin is something I’m going to like.

3. An Interview With Bryan Stevenson on Institutional Racism and Changing the Narrative..

4. Power & Heart: Black and Buddhist in America on Lion’s Roar. “At the first-ever gathering of Buddhist teachers of black African descent, held at New York’s Union Theological Seminary, two panels of leading Buddhist teachers took questions about what it means to be a black Buddhist in America today.”

5. Wisdom from Michelle Obama (by way of A Design So Vast), “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”

6. I Wish I’d Had A ‘Late-Term Abortion’ Instead Of Having My Daughter.

7. Trapped, with no end in sight: A detained mother’s struggle to get home.

8. 4 Surprising Ways to Use a Yoga Bolster. There’s one of these I wouldn’t try or recommend, but there are two core ones that look worth trying.

9. Mexican-American novelist Sandra Cisneros wins international literary prize from PEN America.

10. Artwork (sculpture) by Thomas Deininger. (video) There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.

11. First Listen: Yola, ‘Walk Through Fire.’ It took me a few songs to get into this album, and when I did, I wanted to curl up in her lap for the rest of the day while she sang to me.

12. So, feeding baby manatees looks like the BEST JOB EVER. (video)

13. Kitten tries to copy momma cat bathing. (video)

14. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. (video) “America’s obsession with and fear of obesity is putting fat people’s lives at risk. As a reminder: don’t worry, you can laugh! This segment was written by fat people! Featuring the thicc and fabulous Kristen Bartlett and Ashley Nicole Black.”

15. NFL star Shaquem Griffin shared an adorable moment with a little boy who has 1 hand, just like him. (video) To be honest, the real reason I’m sharing this video is I had no idea there was a professional football player with only ONE HAND! So cool.

16. “It’s easier to talk about gang rape than your body”: Roxane Gay on body positivity, trans rights, and 2020 In related news, Roxane Gay Would Prefer Not to Have to Be Exceptional.

17. The Denver teachers strike is over. They won.

18. A Border Agent Detained Two Americans Speaking Spanish. Now They Have Sued.

19. Rare, Elusive Black Leopard Caught On Camera In The Wild.

20. “Pen15” Is The Must Watch Show That Tackles The Awkwardness Of Middle School From A Female Perspective. I really, really liked this show.

21. Dazzling Gradients and Geometric Designs Baked into New Pies and Tarts by Lauren Ko. I think this is cool, but honestly it’s more important to me what they taste like.

22. Butterflies Vs. Border Wall: National Butterfly Center Seeks Restraining Order.

23. Dozens of polar bears invaded these Russian islands, prompting them to declare a state of emergency. (video)

24. This woman dropped everything to keep her granddaughter out of the foster care system. (video)

25. North Carolina A&T’s Kayla White Becomes the Fastest 200-Meter Runner…in the WORLD. In related news, Watch this 15-year-old girl bench press 360 pounds, breaking a state record, (video).

26. Five Essay Collections by Women of Color.

27. 9 Brutally Honest Confessions Of An INFJ.

28. Chimpanzees Build Makeshift Ladder, Break Free From Zoo Enclosure.

29. At first glance, the works of Ruth Miller look like paintings. (video) “They are embroidered tapestry portraits hand stitched with care. She explains why she continues her art.”

30. This 390-year-old tree survived the bombing of Hiroshima.

31. Who won this lip sync battle? (video)

32. Sweet Photo Series Reveals What’s In A Preschooler’s Pockets.

33. Fox News host who doesn’t wash his hands because germs aren’t real sums up Fox News.

34. The Aurora shooter had a history of domestic violence and assault. He never should have had a gun.

35. Accounts of sexual misconduct and abuse from several people who were very close to the Sakyong. This is a particularly difficult read, but it’s important to know the truth.

1. Hummingbird feeding her babies. (video)

2. The Practice of Letting Go from Zen Habits.

3. Misty Copeland And Calvin Royal III Become The First Black Couple To Dance Lead With The American Ballet Theatre.

4. Hi I became obsessed with amanda chantal bacon the inventor of moon juice “and what she eats in a day because of this article …so i made a video to exorcise it.” (video)

5. I’ve No More F***s To Give. (video) This is my new theme song.

6. “Why can’t I stop dreaming of waffles?” (video)

7. Ellen DeGeneres Awards $50K To Good Samaritan Who Paid For Hotel Rooms For Homeless Chicagoans During Polar Vortex. “She plans on renovating and furnishing properties around the Chicago area to give homeless individuals a permanent home.”

8. 3 Ways To Improve Education About Slavery In The US. “When it comes to dealing with slavery, textbooks often use inadequate or inaccurate descriptions.”

9. At least someone is enjoying all this snow. (video) I feel like this tells you everything you need to know about having a cattle dog.

10. Just me over here, feeling my feelings. (video)

11. Jessica Nabongo is on her way to becoming the first Black woman to travel to every country in the world. (video)

12. Allison Mae has a new website! She’s my favorite local pet photographer. Check out her portfolio to see why.

13. This marathon runner picked up a stray puppy at mile 7 and carried her past the finish line. (video) In related news, Woman Finishes Marathon Carrying Puppy She Rescued Along The Way.

14. This is what millions of monarch butterflies look like. (video) In related news, National Butterfly Center to file restraining order to stop border wall construction.

15. ‘I’m mad, y’all!’ “Ocasio-Cortez wipes away a tear as she vows to defund ICE over death of 7-year-old migrant and claims Trump hates ALL immigrants – while saying Latinos can’t be illegals because America is ‘native land.'”

16. ‘We bought this good boy a shell bath the other day… I think he likes it’ (video)

17. Wisconsin Boy Is Hooked On Crocheting And Giving Back.

18. I Wrote a Letter to a Nightclub That had Hindu Gods on its Bathroom Walls. Here’s What Happened Next.

19. 100+ Books by Black Women That Should Be Essential Reading For Everyone.

20. Redbone ~ Come And Get Your Love ~ The Midnight Special 1974 (video)

21. Pipe Cleaner Puppets (video)

22. The National Parks’ iconic typeface has never been digitized–until now. “It’s part of designer and professor Jeremy Shellhorn’s Design Outside Studio, which takes on design projects in Rocky Mountain National Park.”

23. This video of a girl singing into a well has gone viral because, well, just listen. (video) Sometimes I feel like all our efforts are just singing into a well, hearing our own echo.

24. ‘If our union is strong, it is because of its resilient people who have succeeded in spite of, not because of, the actions of this administration.’ (video) In related news, Read Stacey Abrams’ full response to the State of the Union.

25. A dam collapse killed more than 60 people and ruined this Indigenous tribe’s home — now they blame the ‘white man’ and corporate greed. (video) As they should.

26. “Who’s Behind Dieting’s Rebranding as “Wellness”? Men.”

27. First bison calves born in Banff National Park in over 140 years.

28. Colorado Runner Kills Mountain Lion In Self-Defense. You know how people sometimes give themselves a goal to train towards? Mine is now “be able to fight off a mountain lion attack and then suffocate it with my bare hands and walk away, drive myself to the ER.”

29. Camille Dungy on Race, Motherhood and the Guidebook to Relative Strangers. In which Camille shares a very important question for us to consider: “How are we personally doing in terms of treating the people around us with equity, care, honesty, grace, support and genuine kindness?”

30. A Dying Mother’s Letter to Her Daughters. “Many may disagree, but I have always believed, always, even when I was a precocious little girl crying alone in my bed, that our purpose in this life is to experience everything we possibly can, to understand as much of the human condition as we can squeeze into one lifetime, however long or short that may be. We are here to feel the complex range of emotions that come with being human. And from those experiences, our souls expand and grow and learn and change, and we understand a little more about what it really means to be human.”

31. Dismantling White Feminism Masterclass with Layla F. Saad. “How white womxn can become allies to BIWOC* (*Black, Indigenous, Womxn of Colour).”

32. The struggle is real, this past week’s newsletter from Paul Jarvis, one of the only humans who gives advice about business that I listen to and trust.

33. Yoga for All Podcast with Jessamyn Stanley, “her Yoga Journal cover, setting boundaries, representation & more.”

34. 14 Stunning Illustrations That Perfectly Capture The Introvert’s Love Of Books.

35. don’t follow your passion from Karen Walrond on Chookooloonks.

36. Write to Get Free with Melissa Toler. February 17 – March 24, 6 weeks of reflective questions and prompts.

37. The difference between Validation and Hope, and Toxic Positivity. “Here are some positive sayings I found on Pinterest. Alone, they’re pretty benign. But for someone who is really struggling they can sting. I translated them into some different variations that I think still inspire hope, but are validating. What do you think?”

38. Here’s How To Love Each Introverted Myers-Briggs Personality Type.

39. “Real but Not True”: How These Four Words Can Help With Strong Emotions on Lion’s Roar. “‘Real but not true’ gives us space to both notice thoughts and emotions and acknowledge that they might not correspond with reality. It’s an antidote to our habit of trying to escape uncomfortable emotions. It alleviates the suffering that is caused by futile attempts to avoid what actually is.”

40. This week in People Behaving Badly: “They Say We’re White Supremacists”: Inside the Strange World of Conservative College Women (alternative title: This is What Willful Ignorance Looks Like”), and Nick Sandmann’s Lawyer Plans To Sue Nathan Phillips For Defamation, and This Republican rep. tried to kick Parkland parents out of a hearing on gun reform and said building the wall would do more to protect our country than gun legislation (video) (This is the kind of thing I think about when someone argues for civility, tells us we need to try and get along with those who disagree with us. THIS kind of violence and perversion of the truth is not something we should entertain under any circumstances), and CSU sells Hughes Stadium land to home developer; 600-700 homes planned, and We fact-checked Trump’s State of the Union address — he averaged one false claim every 2 minutes (video), and Liam Neeson Explains Why There’s No Such Thing as Racism, and Investigation: Shambhala leader Sakyong Mipham likely committed sexual misconduct.