1. Poetry. These from Julie Barton: In Media Res, You Know You’re Already OK, Right?, Dream Time, The Writers I Know, and Poem for My Dead Dog. This one from Marie Howe, who was recently awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection New and Selected Poems. The Pulitzer Prize committee honored the work as “a collection drawn from decades of work that mines the day-to-day modern experience for evidence of our shared loneliness, mortality, and holiness.”: The Meadow. And this one from Maya Stein, Fast Forward: A poem from the future, about which she says, “This is a stitched poem I composed using lines written by the 40+ students who entered the 2025 Belfast (Maine) Free Library Youth Poetry Contest. I had the honor of serving as the contest judge and emceed yesterday’s reception for the participants and awardees, where I shared this poem with the students and their families. ‘Fast Forward: Poems from the Future’ was the theme of the contest.”

2. Good stuff from Patti Digh: The Day I Forgot How to Play and The Man Underground and Is that line a boundary, or a horizon?

3. Random thoughts about my longest love affair from Danny Gregory. **Spoiler alert**: it’s books. He loves books. Me too. 

4. Protecting democracy is not enough: five things Americans must fight for. It seems to me that no matter who you supported in the last election, these are five things we can all agree on.

5. Questions Without Answers, a new book from Sarah Manguso (Author) and Liana Finck (Illustrator). “Why does a ghost wander? Are bubbles in drinks their thoughts? Do dogs have chins? Where does the dark go when the light comes on? How will it feel on the last day I’m a child? What’s the best question a kid ever asked you? When Sarah Manguso opened a Twitter account and posted this single (and only) tweet, she immediately received hundreds of answers. Many, she discovered, were intelligent, intuitive, inventive, and philosophical. For Manguso, these responses seemed to form a ‘choral philosophy’ that she believes disappears from most people’s lives in kindergarten. As she says in her illuminating foreword, ‘These questions are cute by the word’s original definition, swift and piercing. They cut to the quick.’ Gathering more than one hundred of the best questions from this poll and bringing them brilliantly to life with illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck, Questions Without Answers ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime—encompassing birth, death, poop, dinosaurs, and everything in between—to show us the wit and wisdom of little people in all their wondrous glory.”

6. why gardening, and why now? “On the Instinct for Beauty and Life” from Elissa Altman. In related news, What Gardening Offered After a Son’s Death, “Deep in mourning, I thought, What if spring never returns?” by Yiyun Li.

7. communal compassion, “it’s time to create a cadence of taking care of each other” from Karen Walrond.

8. What It Feels Like to Be a Caregiver *Right Now*, “Grief and Rage and Gratitude, So Complicated!” on Culture Study.

9. Why PBS still matters. “There’s a lot to lose when we stop caring for ones who care about kids” from Brad Montague.

10. 8 Things To Let Go of Today for a Simpler Life Tomorrow from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less. In related news, 12 Tiny Decluttering Projects, also from Courtney.

11. I cannot save the world (and neither can you), “But we can write about its beauty” on Writing at Red Lights.

12. There is still joy ahead, I promise from Jenny Lawson.

13. Are We Brave Enough to Create? from Sara Saltee.

14. How to Stay Calm when Talking to Someone with Dementia. “It’s the dementia that’s frustrating, not the person” from Elizabeth Kleinfeld.

15. Good stuff on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz: 5 Ways to Give Fascism a Middle Finger and No, the Right Doesn’t Hate the New Pope. They Hate His Jesus.

16. Reasons to Commit to It. “Curiosity and tenderness, for starters” on Craft Talk from Jami Attenberg.

17. 20 Lessons on Tyranny: by Timothy Snyder / read by John Lithgow. (video) “Now, more than ever, we need the wisdom of our intellects, the patriotism of our citizens, and the passion and talents of those who still believe in the American experiment. I am deeply grateful to Timothy Snyder for his 20 Lessons On Tyranny and for talents of the brilliant John Lithgow for bringing them to life.”

18. Electric Garden. (video) “When artist Ricky Boscarino bought a dilapidated hunting lodge in the forests of Sussex County, he did not anticipate the journey he and the house would undergo. 36 years later, the house is Luna Parc, a whimsical 5,000 sq. foot museum, atelier, and home resembling something out of the mind of PeeWee Herman or Tim Burton. Meet the madcap artist behind New Jersey’s most iconic home.”

19. Watercolor Mornings & Manifestation Lists. “On Rituals That Remind Me I’m Alive.”

20. Good stuff on Lion’s Roar: How to Create a Meditation Space (“No matter your living situation, you can have a place to practice. Yaotunde Obiora explains”) and A Practice for Letting Your Heart Break (“Kimberly Brown offers a practice for when the weight of the world leaves you angry and overwhelmed”).

21. 10 beautiful images from the 2025 GDT Nature Photographer of the Year awards.

22. The Hardest Winter Of My Life. “Writing from the messy middle” by Andrea Gibson.

23. All This Is Happening on the Farm on Trackless Wild with Janisse Ray.

24. What kind of abundance do you want? from Rita Ott Ramstad on Rootsie. “A small creative life won’t bring you fame or fortune, but there are plenty of other things to be had from not going big.”

25. Pick My Brain, “some answers to your questions” from Maggie Smith.

26. Are You Solarpunk Without Knowing It? on Earth & Verse, “a hopeful vision of the future where nature, technology, and community thrive together.”

27. How I Find Clients As An Introvert from Alexandra Franzen.

28. This is where the battle is being waged by Josie George.

29. Krista Tippett Answers the Orion Questionnaire. “In which we get to know our favorite writers better by exploring the sacred and mundane.”

30. A real recharge. Five ways to get more – and better – rest.

31. Long-lost sisters meet for the first time—wearing the exact same dress.
“We have the exact same taste in everything. Even our houses look the same.”

32. 31 Inspiring May Journal Prompts (+Ideas) for May.

33. An optimal state of consciousness’: is flow the secret to happiness?

34. What Are “Side Quests” And How Can We Use Them for Self-Care?

35. ‘James’ wins 2025 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

36. I constantly felt tired and unmotivated in life, until I adopted these 7 daily habits.

37. Kandy G. Lopez Embroiders Striking, Life-Size Yarn Portraits Highlighting BIPOC Narratives.

38. Heather Clements Art on Instagram. “Artist • Muralist • Interactive Art-Maker. Creating art from my inner-most weirdo.” Her new interactive “pop up” book Pull Me Apart looks so cool.

39. And finally, this set of random things I saved to my phone this week.

1. Poetry: A New World by Julia Fehrenbacher, Every Poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Faint Music by Robert Hass, Spell Against Indifference by Maria Popova, and Two-Factor Authentication and Whispering Yes and Morning Run and Touchstone, Taproot from Julie Barton. In related news, Ada Limón reflects on her tenure as the poet laureate and bringing us back to wonder. Also, check out my dear friend Michelle’s new book of poetry: “Between Latitudes, Michelle Latvala’s remarkable debut collection of poetry, is rooted in both the practice of forging a life in the boreal forest of Alaska and finding footing in contemporary California. The collection provides a window into our complex human experience through Latvala’s vast emotional and poetic range as she explores interior and exterior lives across generations, latitude lines, and a changing climate.”

2. Why America Desperately Needs PBS by Frederick Joseph. “On Truth, Our Collective Memory, and the Potential Loss of PBS.”

3. Meditation and Strong Emotions by Susan Piver. “Meditation is not a Path to Peace. It’s Something Better.”

4. Good stuff from The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz: Please, Don’t Forget to Live Today, and When The Worst Person is Leading the Greatest Nation, and Was This Worth It, Trump Voters?

5. A prayer from Jena Schwartz:

May we open doorways to thanks & walk through in wonder.
May we pay attention to where we are paying attention.
May we remember that beauty is never a waste of time.
May we listen to the silences where wisdom blooms.
May we remember the power of a few words.
May we marvel at the tenacity of the weeds.
May we make space for each other’s voices.
May we let our hearts be known.

6. Petals in the Wind: Belonging with Everything by Mindy Tsonas Choi.

7. The Cult Of The American Lawn. “Manicured grass yards are ecological dead zones. So why are they being forced on people by their neighbors and homeowner associations?”

8. 15 must-see movies in theaters this summer.

9. How To Shop In A Recession, “What I learned about myself on a recent shopping trip,” a comic from Connie Sun.

10. 7 benefits of creativity (and easy ways to be more creative).

11. I saved $36,000 by not buying anything new – here are seven reasons you should do the same.

12. When Your Cup is Empty on Zen Habits.

13. 13 Habits That Will Make Your Life Lighter and Happier.

14. 4 Things That Are Not Your Responsibility — Even If Your Anxiety Says They Are.

15. 20 Ways to Look After Yourself and Simplify Your Life.

16. Happy birthday, David Attenborough! 99 ways he has inspired us.

17. The Intrusion, “on psychic noise, creativity, and silence-as-luxury” by Elissa Altman.

18. “Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn” by Jonathan Edward Durham. “The sublime frustration of staying away from home.”

19. No such thing as bad weather? by Rita Ott Ramstad on Rootsie. “I want to thrive not as an act of resistance, but simply because I am 60 years old, and I don’t want to give away what’s left of my life waiting for some better time that might not come before I go.”

20. How to Be at Peace with Whatever Happens by Elizabeth Kleinfeld. Spoiler alert: “It doesn’t mean there’s no grief.”

21. What country am I in, again? by Patti Digh. “Why I no longer want my son to fly.”

22. New and Improved by Danny Gregory. “Instead of trying to be better, we can try to be different, iterating new approaches to new conditions, a fresh start every new day. Instead of fretting over self-improvement, we can accept that we’ll never solve things perfectly and permanently, and that’s not the goal. We don’t get to start life over. But we do get a fresh page. Again and again.”

23. One Hundred Reasons Not to Die, “Finding resilience amidst these many storms” by Nickole Brown.

24. What’s that rash? Put some thought into asking Google for medical help.

25. Spread Courage. “What can you do to build morale in these unsettling times?”

26. Building community is a joy (except when you don’t want to, or you’re tired, or you’re in your own head, or other people have let you down one too many times…) on The White Pages. “On dragging your feet (forward).”

27. A new documentary checks out the many ways libraries are a ‘Free For All’.

28. And finally, a few random things I saved to my phone this week.