Category Archives: Something Good

Something Good

1. Begin Here by Maya Stein on Bentlily.

2. Brene’ Brown on The Power of Being Vulnerable on the Goodlife Project.

3. Allison Mae Photography. Beautiful.

4. This quote from Tara Brach: “No matter how much we meditate or pray, we still need others to help us dismantle the walls of our isolation and remind us of our belonging.”

5. Also from Tara Brach, Meditating Daily…”No Matter What” on the Elephant Journal.

6. Women Heal: an online alliance, another beautiful offering from Christa Gallopoulos.

7. Dealing with Exhaustion: Part 2 — Insist on Solitude on Life After Tampons.

8. This from the Daily Flame:

You may not see us or feel us, but I want you to know that, in this moment and always, you are completely supported. Your tribe is here, wrapping you in loving arms and lifting you up. The Universe is here, holding you, guiding you, and sending you signs so you don’t lose your way. I am here, whispering the truth, reflecting back your beauty and brilliance, always aligned and never betraying you. You are not alone. Capiche?

9. This Daily Truth from the Brave Girls Club:

Dear Unmatchable Girl,

Today it is time for you to be kind. To you. Just try, sweet friend, just try. You are the only one who knows the parts of you that need kindness the most, and for this reason, only you can provide this kind of deep kindness that you so need.

So today, please just try to be kind to the weak parts of yourself. Be kind to your addictions and your frailties, your mistakes and all of your human parts. Rather than treating these parts of yourself with hatred and disgust, please just take hands with these parts and say, “I am with you, we will make it through this.”

There are these kinds of parts to ALL of us. These parts are lonely, scared and act out in ways that make us sometimes feel ashamed. BUT, they ARE parts of us, and what if we just TRY to treat them with kindness, to put our arms around these parts of ourselves and let them know that no matter what, we will work hard to BE with these parts and teach them with love and truth. Just try, sweetest girl — just try. BE KIND to ALL of you. Let her know that it’s gonna be ok, that you are gonna love her no matter what as she works through all of this.

It will be worth it.
You are so deeply loved.
xoxo

10. You’re The One on the Daily Breadcrumb. Sunni Chapman is one of the most brilliant and wise women out there.

11. Settling In on Soule Mama. I think if I were a mom, this blog might make me feel bad, but I’m not, and it makes me feel so happy. I want this family to adopt me.

12. Unexpected Guests: Kim Fisher Designs on SF Girl by Bay. This cottage is where I live in my dreams. I want to go to there. Or here.

13. What I Know About Weight from the brilliant Rachel Cole.

14. Book Review: A Field Guide to Now on Scoutie Girl. This book is on my nightstand, and I am slowly reading it, savoring it. Christine Rosalie‘s work, her writing, blog, design, and art, are all gorgeous.

15. “What matters is the work”: 25 lessons for creatives in Patti Smith’s Just Kids.

16. Half the Sky Movement. I want to read this book, see the film, help the cause.

17. Margaret Atwood’s 10 Rules of Writing on Brain Pickings. Margaret Atwood is my favorite author, and I love this particular picture of her almost as much as I love the list of rules.

18. Transitioning on What We Create. Eydie is one of my kind and gentle readers, and this poem and post sums up exactly what I’ve been feeling and thinking this season. She ends it by saying:

Autumn is the season of harvest, of letting go, of decluttering, and clearing…It’s about holding onto only what is essential. Nature is signaling that it’s time to let go of the things, thoughts, patterns and behaviors that weigh us down and diminish our light. As we watch leaves fluttering to the ground, we are reminded that nature’s cycles are mirrored in our lives. Autumn is a time for letting go.

19. Tig Notaro is my new hero. She is funny and so strong, a real badass. Here’s an interview she did on Conan. If you want to buy a copy of the show she references, you can find it here. I downloaded it this morning, and it’s heartbreaking and beautiful and, believe it or not, funny. She was also on this weekend’s This American Life episode.

20. This quote from the Dalai Lama:

Education is the proper way to promote compassion and tolerance in society. Compassion and peace of mind bring a sense of confidence that reduce stress and anxiety, whereas anger and hatred come from frustration and undermine our sense of trust. Because of ignorance, many of our problems are our own creation. Education, however, is the instrument that increases our ability to employ our own intelligence.

Something Good

1. Finding Peace with Uncertainty by Leo Babauta on Zen Habits. Yes, please.

2. Videos from World Domination Summit 2012. Brene’ Brown’s isn’t here, but the others are worth watching. This one in particular, Scott Harrison talking about Charity:Water and his own personal redemption story, changed me. I challenge any one to watch it and remain unchanged by it–or at the very least realize that you could be doing more. It is a powerful story, important work, and the best news is that you can help. I have committed to giving up my birthday this year, (more on that once I get my campaign site set up).

3. How to Have Your Own Simplicity Summit on Be More With Less. This is going on my to-do list. And, because Courtney Carver was being particularly badass last week, here’s another one: Why You Can’t Measure Self Worth by Net Worth.

4. This quote from Pema Chödrön:

For one day (or one day a week), refrain from something you habitually do to run away, to escape. Pick something concrete, such as overeating or excessive sleeping or overworking or spending too much time texting or checking e-mails. Make a commitment to yourself to gently and compassionately work with refraining from this habit for this one day. Really commit to it. Do this with the intention that it will put you in touch with the underlying anxiety or uncertainty that you’ve been avoiding. Do it and see what you discover.

5. Around Here from Ali Edwards. A really great post and writing prompt idea.

6. 7 Simple Habits for an Awesome Start to Your Day on The Positivity Blog.

7. For cuteness sake, Gorillas very curious about a caterpillar. I especially love when the silver back tells a smaller gorilla to back off and give the little guy some space.

8. This quote from the Dalai Lama:

In order to carry out a practice—such as constantly watching the mind—you should form a determination, make a pledge, right when you wake up: “Now, for the rest of this day, I will put into practice what I believe just as much as I can.” It is very important that, at the start of the day, we should set out to shape what will happen later. Then, at the end of every day, check what happened. Review the day. And if you carried through for that whole day your morning’s determination, then rejoice. Reinforce further your motivation to continue in the same line. However, when you do your reviewing, you may discover that you did things during the day that are contrary to your religious values and beliefs. You should then acknowledge this and cultivate a deep sense of remorse. Strengthen your resolve not to indulge in these actions in the future.

9. Dealing with Exhaustion–Step 1 from Jennifer Boykin on Life After Tampons. When I read this, “it’s really really discouraging to want to change your life, but have absolutely no energy to do it,” I wanted to cry, it felt so true. Jennifer goes on to say, “So, if you’re exhausted today, stop. Make it a game, make it a challenge to figure out the absolute LEAST you can get by with doing for the next 30-days, and then try to shave some stuff off of that list.” Sounds like a plan!

10. How to be soulful, online and off by Jen Lee on Roots of She. I am loving everything Jen Lee does lately.

11. Two messages I really needed to hear, one from The Universe and one from my Inner Pilot Light.

Dearest Jill,
That thing you’re clinging to… let it go.
Breathe in, breathe out, surrender.
Ahhhh….
Your Inner Pilot Light

There hasn’t been one single day of your life, Jill, when the world
hasn’t been made a better place by your presence in it.
Kudos,
The Universe

12. How to make space for quality to show up in your life from Danielle LaPorte, in which she says, “possibility requires space to unfold.”

13. This email I just got from Netflix streaming: “The Office (U.S.) Season 8 is now on Netflix.” I watched the BBC version first, but loved them both, in different ways and for different reasons. I like stuff that makes me laugh, without the comedy being too mean–too dependent on someone being made fun of or tricked or hurt. This is one of my favorite scenes from the U.S. version, and because of it, any time I trip or fall or do something similarly Lucille Ball, I say “parkour! parkour!”

14. Shit Liz Lemon Says. This completely made my week, (except for the fact that NBC is selfish and I can’t embed the video in this post). My favorite Lemon lines are “What the what?” and “I want to go to there.”