1. 200 Years of Solitude: Great Writers, Artists, and Scientists on the Creative and Spiritual Rewards of Fertile Aloneness. “There is a silence at the center of each person — an untrammeled space where the inner voice grows free to speak. That space expands in solitude. To create anything — a poem, a painting, a theorem — is to find the voice in the silence that has something to say to the world. In solitude, we may begin to hear in the silence the song of our own lives. ‘Give me solitude,’ Whitman howled, ‘give me again O Nature your primal sanities!’ Gathered here are some of my favorite voices in praise of solitude, of its ample creative and spiritual rewards, its primal sanities.”
2. The bid to ensure that no one dies alone. “A nurse who trains compassionate citizens to provide company for people in the last hours of their lives is expanding into tackling social isolation too.”
3. ‘It comes for your very soul’: how Alzheimer’s undid my dazzling, creative wife in her 40s. “By the time my wife got a diagnosis, her long and harrowing deterioration had already begun. By the end, I was in awe of her.”
4. Ada Limón on the Comfort of Eternity.
5. Wisdom from Tennessee Williams: “The world is violent and mercurial — it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love — love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.”
6. Wisdom from Howard Zinn: “To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
8. Guy Walks Hundreds Of Miles To Help Unhoused People Feed Their Dogs on The Dodo. (video) “…and he just adopted a pittie off the street who rides around on his bike now!”
9. Colorado rattlesnake “mega den” gaining national attention via webcam for citizen science. “Biology professor says den near Fort Collins is home to as many as 2,000 rattlesnakes at a time.” AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
10. ‘I’ve lived in an incredible time’: Comic Bob Newhart dies at 94. In related news on The New York Times (gift link), Bob Newhart, 94, Dies; Soft-Spoken Everyman Became a Comedy Star. The Bob Newhart Show is one of the only comedies I’ve been able to rewatch and not cringe. It totally holds up.
11. The Making of a Wildlife Haven from My Wildlife Gallery and Robert E Fuller. (video)
12. Two gorgeous poems from John Roedel: I used to hate the wind and You are somebody’s front porch to God.
13. $12 window, a thread that is so worth reading.
14. Wisdom from Pema Chödrön: “Although it is embarrassing and painful, it is very healing to stop hiding from yourself. It is healing to know all the ways that you’re sneaky, all the ways that you hide out, all the ways that you shut down, deny, close off, criticize people, all your weird little ways. You can know all that with some sense of humor and kindness. By knowing yourself, you’re coming to know humanness altogether. We are all up against these things. We are all in this together.”
15. Bullies from Seth Godin.
16. Maggie Smith: A Conversation on Self-Trust and Transformation. “Maggie talked about how she’s learned to trust her intuition, even when it tells her things she doesn’t want to hear, which is also my experience. We discussed how her divorce was the most emotionally painful experience she’s faced, and how she’s navigating through it to find some peace. I was impressed that no matter how much pain she is in, Maggie is able to find joy in everyday moments, like a beautiful sunrise or a funny moment with her kids. I am personally working on that myself too. If you haven’t read Maggie’s book, “You Could Make This Place Beautiful.” It’s a profound and moving read that I highly recommend. Listen to the episode or watch the video to hear more about Maggie’s journey, her insights on life, and the wisdom she has to offer.”
17. Writing on Empty, Natalie Goldberg on Upaya Zen Center’s podcast, “best selling author of Writing Down the Bones and fifteen other celebrated works, discusses and reads a selection from her newest publication, Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice, a book about writer’s block, mortality, and Zen. She explores her relationship with her late teacher, Katagiri Roshi, her visit to Leonard Cohen’s grave, and her experience as a Zen practitioner in Judaism. Natalie reminds us that the more we practice, whether it’s meditation or writing, the more we become who we are.”
18. Macro Photographer Reveals ‘Unseen World’ of Household Objects.
19. Teach the Ordinary. In related news, Modest Pleasures.
20. The Peach Caretaker, “The hidden history of the Navajo peach trees and the woman resurfacing it.”
21. How Not to Write About Whales, “12 tropes to avoid when writing about whales.”
22. Hope is a practice, Hugh Hollowell’s most recent Life Is So Beautiful newsletter. “This week I’m doing something different. I’m sharing items from my own personal toolkit that I use to reinforce hope inside me when I feel it flagging…you will find a few quotes and poems that move me, that are reminders of the world I want to live in, that are, to refer to the paragraph from Active Hope, reminders of the direction in which I want things to move. I hope they are useful to you – they have been lifesaving to me.”
23. Hey, I’m proud of us from Ijeoma Oluo. “We’re likely all going through a lot right now, and I’m so proud of us all for hanging in there and fighting for ourselves and each other in so many ways. These are skills we’re going to need in the coming months and years.”
24. I dropped out of high school due to ADHD and depression. Public libraries saved my life—and now I’m getting my master’s degree. “Nancy Dutra found refuge in local libraries, self-teaching her way to a GED, a bachelor’s degree and now graduate school.”
25. Want to be a better ally to disabled people? Here’s how. In related news, You May Not Notice My Disability.
26. 10 Clear Signs You’re Actually An Introvert. No surprises here.
27. Ditch These 5 Unhealthy Habits.
28. Compassion Is Key to Our Survival. “From an evolutionary standpoint, ‘survival of the kindest’ is no exaggeration. When we respond with kindness in the face of suffering — including our own — we’re affirming the reality that our lives and well-being are all interconnected.”
29. Election anxiety levels through the roof? Strategies to deal with election-induced anxiety. Anyone else feeling this? Just me?
30. How to care about the world and not forget to care for yourself.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 