3. Why is caregiving so hard in America? The answers emerge in a new film. “Caregiving traces the history — and unique challenges of — caring for family members in the U.S. In the documentary, viewers meet caregivers like Malcoma Brown-Ekeogu, who now helps her husband, Kenneth, with even his most basic needs, like walking and bathing. ‘I never let him see me cry,’ she says.”
13. 15 Years. I love what Kari has to say about how her perspective about blogging has changed over the years:
but here’s what i’m beginning to realize: wanting to be seen isn’t the same as showing off. wanting to connect, to speak the truth out loud, to say “this hurt” or “this matters” — that’s not ego. that’s being human.
maybe ego nudges me to hit “publish.” but soul is what’s really sitting at the keyboard.
and maybe writing publicly is part of the soul’s work, too. it’s one thing to reflect privately. it’s another to risk being seen, to leave the door cracked open and trust that someone kind might read their way in — someone who might need to hear it.
15. Michelle Cassandra Johnson and Amy Burtaine: The Wisdom of the Hive. (podcast) “More and more people are waking up to the very real dangers that humanity is facing as a result of a declining honeybee population. Yet as we join the refrain, ‘Save the bees!’ Michelle Cassandra Johnson and Amy Burtaine pose a profound and extraordinary question: What if it’s the bees who are trying to save us?”
17. We Watched Dozens of Graduation Speeches. Here’s What We Found. on The New York Times, who “studied videos of addresses posted online, including those by President Trump, Kermit the Frog and a slew of celebrity speakers. Here is a look at key themes that emerged.” (gift link)
19. If This Is All I Getby Elizabeth Kleinfeld. Y’all, this post BROKE me. I’ve known Liz (irl) for a really long time, like probably close to 20 years. We met while I was still working at CSU, trying and failing to situate myself as an academic. She was always one of my favorite people to run into at a conference or some other work thing, but I have to say, I like her even more now. The things she’s experienced and shares through her blog are the big, important things, and she is full of so much love and kindness and wisdom and through it all she has never lost her sense of humor, her curiosity. When this post was published, I was still awaiting word about her surgery. There hadn’t been any news yet and the idea that this may be her final public statement, that it was so beautiful, the notion that she wasn’t done yet but if this was it she was so grateful… Thankfully, not too long after her daughter posted a positive update on her Facebook.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 