1. When a Boyfriend Joins the Marriage on The New York Times. “They agreed she could have sex on the side as long as he didn’t have to know about it. Then she fell in love.” I am so happy about this! The writer is my dear friend Sherry, and when this piece first got accepted for publication she was so excited but then there was some question whether or not it was going to actually happen, for the same reason all writers who write about our own experience often run into – our stories aren’t always just OUR stories, but rather other people are involved. And in this case, as so often also happens, love found a way.

2. Good stuff from Susannah Conway: Unravel Your Year and Find Your Word.

3. Good stuff from Seth Godin: Everyone’s got their thing and Seeing what’s right in front you.

4. People We Meet, a short film written and directed by Keith Powell. He also did a really great web series, Keith Broke His Leg.

5. How to Get Good at Dealing With Massive Change on Zen Habits.

6. An Edwardian English Kitchen. We aren’t going to really have the funding to do a full kitchen remodel or refinish our hardwood floors in the rest of the house, so might just paint the cabinets in the kitchen and do something less to the floors. I love the color of these cabinets and the floors remind me that the hardwoods in the rest of our house don’t need to be redone to look “fancy” but rather rustic is perfectly fine.

7. Adapting – Pilot. “This is the (mostly) true story of an advertising copywriter and his life coach wife who, after dealing with infertility and breast cancer, begin the emotional, difficult and surprisingly ridiculous journey of adopting a baby. It’s a journey that will test their wills, their love, and their ability to make sarcastic comments to each other without being heard by other people.” (video)

8. INFJ: 6 Therapist Tips To Express Your Emotions (When You Don’t Want To Rock The Boat).

9. 10 Leading Thinkers Choose Their Favorite Buddhist Films.

10. How Personal Grief Connects Us to Shared Compassion. “Laura Johnson’s eight-month-old cat died as the California wildfires destroyed nearby homes. She reflects on how her deeply personal loss opened her heart to society’s shared humanity.”

11. Michelle Obama: By the Book on The New York Times. In related news, Michelle Obama’s Take On ‘Lean In’? ‘That &#%! Doesn’t Work.’

12. TRUTH: A Year-Long Exploration of Personal Values The Back Story.

13. Xicanisma shares what it’s like to run their platform. “Xicanisma sat down with us and shared what it’s like to run a platform that fights the patriarchy and other forms of oppression.”

14. 4 year old Lyla decided she wanted to ride the big roller coaster, and immediately regretted it in the most hilarious way possible. (video)

15. Kitty says “Don’t touch my presents!” (video).

16. Adorable toddler with spina bifida warms hearts with video showing him celebrating his first steps. (video)

17. Watch this video to the end. It’s the best. (video)

18. Kate artist can’t walk or raise her arms and she needs a ventilator to breathe, but she’s always had a passion for art. (video).

19. Hannah Gadsby meets Roxane Gay: ‘Trolls get incensed by a woman daring to think she’s funny. I’m very funny.’ In related news, Hannah Gadsby Calls Out Hollywood’s ‘Good Men’ for Their Hot Takes on Misogyny.

20. Victoria Hanna left her Orthodox Jewish community to rap and defy gender norms. (video)

21. 50 Of The Most Incredible Photos Of The National Geographic Photo Contest Of 2018.

22. 30 Hilarious Memes That Will Make Every Introvert Laugh Out Loud.

23. OMG, his little accent though! (video)

24. Rumpus Original Poetry: When I Die, I Hope They Talk About Me by Camille Dungy.

25. Jersey City poet laureate is 24-year-old poetry slam champion.

26. A Black Orthodox Rabbi Explains How He Navigates Both Racism And Anti-Semitism.

27. This Holiday Season, Resist The Unbearable Whiteness Of Wellness. “Without connection, care and community, self-care is simply narcissism. And, without engagement in real, political efforts to change the racial and economic status quo, the ideology of self-care amounts to a radical reinvestment in the individual, in neoliberal capitalism, and in regimes of whiteness that reinforce the mythology of the primacy of the individual. Wellness without a radical, collective politics doesn’t offer resistance to regimes of power, but rather, a way to remain in them.” In related news, Self-Care Won’t Save Us, and Gwyneth Paltrow Takes Credit For Yoga Boom. Twitter Bent Out Of Shape – I’ve been willing to roll my eyes and move on most of the time with her, but this makes me feel stabby.

28. This company in Ghana is building roads out of plastic waste. (video)

29. 26 Children’s Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism & Resistance.

30. Fuck Lena Dunham And The White Feminist Horse She Rode In On. “White women lie. We been knew this. White women lie to protect white men and themselves, and white women lie to bring direct harm to people of color. This kind of harm is the one source of power that white women have, and they exert it as much as possible, from calling the cops on Black children and adults minding their own business, to actively supporting racist and misogynistic policies that sometimes end up hurting them too. Dunham’s support of Miller is not shocking within the context of American history. White women will continue to lie to protect white men and their crimes against women of color.”

31. 23 Insanely Cool Products Selling Like Crazy (Under $50).

32. No More “We Can’t Find Any Black Female Writers”: Here Are 62 Scribes in One Photo.

33. The Last Curious Man. “The enormous life of Anthony Bourdain, according to those who knew him best.”

34. Soothing Watercolor Paintings by Cindy Lane. (video) “Cindy Lane Art is a watercolor painter and illustrator who uses her talents to recreate the beauty of nature. She focuses on the sky and the sea, capturing the intense colors and textures of our swirling galaxy and majestic marine life.”

35. These are the cutest thieves EVER. (video)

36. White Lies, “Ijeoma Oluo On Privilege, Power, And Race.”

37. Tiniest Puppy Loves His Pack Of Pit Bulls. (video)

38. Photographer Captures Extremely Rare White Baby Reindeer While Hiking In Norway.

39. Glennon Doyle Is Trying To Wake Up White Women. Is It Working?

40. In this week’s edition of People Behaving Badly: Homophobic Man Punches Woman After She Receives A Kiss From Another Woman On New York Subway, and California Teacher Cuts Off Student’s Hair While Singing The National Anthem, and Bulldozers to soon plow through National Butterfly Center for Trump’s border wall, and Apparently, the New York Times Really Misses White Supremacy, and White Woman Causes Scene At Target After Minding Two Black Women’s Business, Accusing Them Of Loudly Discussing Sex, and This man was tased and body slammed — and it turns out that he was innocent (video).

1. Me And White Supremacy – The Workbook. “Part education, part activation, the Me And White Supremacy Workbook is a first-of-its-kind personal anti-racism tool for people holding white privilege to begin to examine and dismantle their complicity in the oppressive system of white supremacy.” Seriously, just download it.

2. 4 Ways to Find More Peace Around Difficult People.

3. Are you being gaslit? Here are some things people do when they are gaslighting you.

4. The Art of Activism: Hard Conversations Book Club 2019. A reading list worth considering.

5. 16 Signs You’re An INFJ, The World’s Rarest Personality Type. In related news, 6 Things You May Not Know About Introverts, Illustrated, and You’re Not Crazy, You’re A Highly Sensitive Person.

6. 100 questions to spark conversation & connection. I’ve shared this before, but it’s so good it’s worth sharing again and again.

7. When, if ever, is it okay for a Buddhist to euthanize a pet? on Lion’s Roar.

8. How to Be an Artist. “33 rules to take you from clueless amateur to generational talent (or at least help you live life a little more creatively).”

9. Worst Holiday Diet Tips Ever from Dances with Fat.

10. Good Reads: Small Space Style from SF Girl. My dream is enough property to have this in my backyard. Actually, what would be the best is a converted barn: ground floor yoga studio, upstairs private office, practice space, potential spare bedroom, and a bathroom.

11. ‘I’m Broke and Mostly Friendless, and I’ve Wasted My Whole Life’ on Ask Polly.

12. Please stop telling me to leave my comfort zone. “Our comfort zones are there to protect us, even if productivity specialists say otherwise.”

13. Sacred Bow: An Intentional Way to Close Out the Year & Start the New Year on Zen Habits.

14. First The Why, Now The How: 25 Ways To Keep Making Stuff from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

15. Taking Pics Of Fat People On Planes on Dances with Fat. In related news, To the newspaper that encouraged “discreetly” photographing fat airline passengers, “USA Today Travel released a video instructing passengers to post photographs to social media if they felt their space was invaded. One fat passenger responds.”

16. An Intentional System for Working with Goals on Zen Habits.

17. Winter Joy Retreat 2018: “Threads.” “Remember what makes you come alive to start 2019 filled with new energy and focused on creating what matters. (A two-week online writing group for women, Dec. 3-16, 2018).”

18. Gifts For Writers 2018 from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

19. Black Boy Fly: 53 Children’s Books Centering and Celebrating the Humanity of Black Boys.

20. Stunning images of pagan costumes worn at winter celebrations around the world.

21. N.K. Jemisin Is Trying to Keep the World From Ending. “The most critically acclaimed author in contemporary science fiction and fantasy made history this year. Now she’s trying to make the future.”

22. Full Interview: Michelle Obama Talks To Stephen Colbert. (video)

23. For these female prisoners, dance is an emotional outlet and a means of expression. (video)

24. A garbage man saved 25,000 books and turned them into a library. The pictures are amazing.

25. Researchers Find That Losing A Dog Can Be As Hard As Losing A Loved One. I could have saved them a lot of work. All they had to do is ask me.

26. The way Gina Yashere handled this case of everyday racism is brilliant. (video)

27. Meet entrepreneur and farmer Suzan, who uses her allotment of land to grow products that contribute to the local economy in Uganda. (video)

28. This 9-year-old pro skater is traveling the globe to help underprivileged kids. (video)

29. He can’t go to sleep without cuddling his favourite toy. (video)

30. This Indian village has found a unique way to protect newborn girls from infanticide. (video)

31. Jameela Jamil says cultural pressures to look a certain way led to an eating disorder in her teens. (video)

32. This guy has the funniest relationship with his dog. (video)

33. Remembering the Howard University Librarian Who Decolonized the Way Books Were Catalogued. “Dorothy Porter challenged the racial bias in the Dewey Decimal System, putting black scholars alongside white colleagues.”

34. Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake Shakes Alaska, Damaging Roads, Buildings. Yikes!

35. Everybody Dance Now! (video)

36. It’s Not Just Grain-Free: An Update on Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

37. NRA Reports $55 Million Loss With Membership Declines.

38. How dealing with past trauma may be the key to breaking addiction.

39. Black women are 243% more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications than white women — this father brought his heartbreaking story to Congress to change that. (video)

40. A pod of beluga whales has adopted a lost narwhal. (video)

41. This Video of a Guy Accidentally Hang Gliding Without a Harness Is Pure Terror. Reason #43 why I will never hanglide, bungie jump, or skydive.

42. 12 Things to Look Forward to If You Ever Appear on ‘House Hunters.’ I know it’s fake, but I’m still gonna watch it.

43. Japan has so many empty homes, they’re just giving ’em away for free. (video)

44. A 60-year-old woman sent a rap about her dog to this guy to be performed, and it’s got me right in the feels. (video) Consider yourself warned.

45. It’s Time To Unpack White Fragility. (video) “Dr. Robin DiAngelo has spent 20 years running diversity trainings within companies in the US. She’s heard every excuse from white people: that they’re ‘color blind’ or that their ‘best friend is black.’ Surely they aren’t racists. Why are white people so bad at talking about race?”

46. Slowly but surely, the Amazon Prime backlash is coming.

47. Whoever made Baby Shark into a slow jam needs to be arrested. (video)

48. This is “the yoga school for big people.” (video)

49. In this week’s edition of People Behaving Badly: Boston Police Has a Secret Point System That Turns Normal Teenage Behavior Into Gang Membership, and A Famous Alpha Wolf’s Daughter, Spitfire, Is Killed by a Hunter, and Utah Man Allegedly Shouted ‘I Hate Mexicans’ Before Attacking Latino Father And Son, and Black Man Handcuffed While Police Searched His Bags After Being Falsely Accused Of Stealing From Finish Line, and Security Called on Black VCU Professor Eating Breakfast In Her Classroom, and St. Louis Cops Giddily Planned to Beat Protesters but Unwittingly Beat an Undercover Cop. Now They’re Indicted, and Amber Guyger has been indicted for murder after the Botham Jean shooting, and Black Panthers mural in Los Angeles defaced with swastikas, and Chick-fil-A Still Hates Gay People, But Doesn’t Want To Be Labeled ‘Anti-Gay’ Anymore, and Kevin Hart Lashes Out At Critics of His Son’s ‘Cowboys And Indians’ Birthday Party, and Jewish professor finds swastikas spray-painted on her office walls at Columbia’s Teachers College, and Outrageous Gold Rush-Style Grab of Public Lands to Begin Friday, and Trans Woman Was Beaten in ICE Custody Before Death, Autopsy Finds, and White Nationalist Accused of Driving His Car Into a Crowd and Killing Heather Heyer Claims It Was Self-Defense, and Former Florida Police Chief Who Framed Black Teen and Multiple Black Men Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison, and Nooses Hung At Mississippi State Capitol Just Before Runoff Election.