1. The most empowering changes you have made in your lives on Positive News. “We asked readers: what have you done to empower yourself in these strange times? This is what you said.”

2. A new podcast examines the perils of intense meditation. “Meditation and mindfulness have many known health benefits, including helping to process trauma and manage anxiety, improve eating habits, and ease chronic pain. While many participants say Goenka retreats changed their lives for the better, The Retreat tells the stories of individuals whose mental health deteriorated during a 10 day retreat – or for some, after several 10-day retreats.”

3. Nick Cave on love, art and the loss of his sons: ‘It’s against nature to bury your children’. “In the past nine years, the musician and artist has lost two sons – an experience he explores in a shocking, deeply personal new ceramics project. He discusses mercy, forgiveness, making and meaning.”

4. Julia Louis-Dreyfus Thinks Youth Is Overrated on The New York Times. (gift link) “The actor wants you to start listening to older women — and not just because they’re guests on her podcast.”

5. Earth, Head, and Heart: Six Deeply Researched Eco-Memoirs.

6. Elaborate Still Lifes Erupt with Vivid Color in Eric Wert’s Oil Paintings.

7. There Is No Point in My Being Other Than Honest with You: On Toni Morrison’s Rejection Letters.

8. Join the Wild Writing Family. Registration closes at midnight, Thursday, April 4.

9. Project 2025 and the End of America from The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz. “PROJECT 2025 outlines in precise and sickening detail, the Republican Evangelical plan to swiftly thrust America into full-on theocracy and dismantle every legislative protection and democratic process put in place to prevent the marriage of Church and State. Project 2025 seeks to immediately establish a police-state, permanently stripping away decades of civil and human rights.” In related news, and also from John, Christians Should Condemn Christian Nationalism and Evangelical Theocracy. Jesus Does. In other related news, on The New York Times (gift link), The Church of Trump: How He’s Infusing Christianity Into His Movement. 

10. On making art from Danny Gregory: “When you’re free from the ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts,’ what you create transcends art—it becomes discovery, revelation, epiphany. Those internal critics, with their relentless commentary on realism, style, and technique, amount to nothing more than noise, pulling your focus away from what’s genuinely important. The goal isn’t to rack up a stack of techniques. Rather, it’s about reducing everything to its essence, approaching the world with the awe of someone seeing it for the first time.”

11. Generative A.I. For Writers: An Unfolding (But Not Inevitable) Nightmare! from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

12. Interview with an Artist: Helena Wurzel On Becoming Visible on For Dear Life with Maggie Smith.

13. Good stuff from Seth Godin: Boyle’s Law and Kinds of courage, which suggests that, “Generosity is a great antidote to fear.”

14. Embracing Vulnerability: A Reflection on Tears and Truth from Andrea Gibson.

15. Why Introverts Hate Last-Minute Plans. P.S. Don’t rush me, either!

16. The Toxic Mix of Grief and Burnout from Nikita Gill. “Why rest is urgent, important and revolutionary.”

17. Don’t it always seem to go… from Rita Ott Ramstad on Rootsie. “Learning how to know what I’ve got before it’s gone.”

18. 5 Questions With Chrissy King an interview by Ragen Chastain.

19. Prompt 289. A Contagion of Blessings “& Mavis Staples on counting them” on The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad.

20. Trapped in routine? Here’s how to “dishabituate” and rediscover joy. “Neuroscientist Tali Sharot recently spoke with Big Think about a two-step method for escaping the dark sides of habits.”

21. “Floor Time” Is the Relaxing Habit You Need To Try During the Work Day.

22. Break Free from Busyness and Uncover the Magic of Life.

23. How two lost and lonely ducks found friendship. (video)

24. Shanbai on YouTube and Instagram. “A cameraman records his nephew producing handicrafts with traditional methods in the countryside.” These videos are so beautiful and relaxing.

25. In Sand and Stone, Jon Foreman Sculpts Hypnotic Gradients and Organic Motifs.

1. Some inspiring women: United Bodies Podcast: What Makes an Enjoyable Life with Andrea Gibson, and Why Samin Nosrat Is Now “Fully YOLO” on The New York Times, and Laura Pritchett discusses her new novel, Playing with Wild(fire), and Frida Kahlo, in her own words: A new documentary draws from diaries, letters, and On ‘Tigers Blood,’ Waxahatchee is in her anti-eras era, and Artistry meets science in a prosthetist’s workshop, and Jasmin Paris first woman to complete gruelling Barkley Marathons race and Endometriosis, Sobriety, and Stand-Up: Tiffany Haddish’s Courageous Path to Healing.

2. Wisdom from writers I adore: Claim Your Territory from Jami Attenberg, and Because I’m a Writer from Maggie Smith’s Pep Talk series, and A Few Things I Won’t Be Writing About from Laurie Wagner, and Everyday Use: Of legacies and the objects that embody them from Rita Ott Ramstad, and The Writer from Hugh Hollowell.

3. The Sadness Scale, As Measured by Stars and Whales.

4. Dear Christian, Why Do You Stand Behind Cruelty? “An Open Letter to Jesus MAGAs” from John Pavlovitz. 

5. The World Happiness Report, “a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board. The report is produced under the editorial control of the WHR Editorial Board. The World Happiness Report reflects a worldwide demand for more attention to happiness and well-being as criteria for government policy. It reviews the state of happiness in the world today and shows how the science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness.” In related news, These are the world’s happiest countries in 2024.

6. Out of control from Seth Godin.

7. Podcasts from Upaya Zen Center: Being With Loss (“Join us in this heartwarming conversation with Frank Ostaseski and Tara Brach as they explore the depths of grief, loss, and the human experience. Through personal stories and profound insights, they reveal the transformative power of allowing ourselves to feel the full spectrum of our emotions. Together, they offer wisdom on navigating the wilderness of grief, letting go of control, and finding the path to wholeness”) and Opening to Darkness in Unsettling Times (“Sensei Zenju delves into the profound concept of embracing darkness as an integral part of the human experience. Zenju shares a quote ‘Darkness is asking to be loved,’ which explores themes of inner peace, composure, and the need to confront darkness. The speaker invites the audience to fully engage with their own darkness, acknowledging it as an essential aspect of life”).

8. On with-ness: Navigating normal and reclaiming each other. I typically share one or two links from the CTZNWELL WELLREAD newsletter, but this week’s intro and list of links were so good, I decided to share the whole thing.

9. “The Bloodbath”: Why we should take Donald Trump at his word about coming violence from Frederick Joseph.

10. Something Weird is Happening to Me. “It feels completely terrifying and also very needed.”

11. Mindfulness for Grief and Loss. “Grief is different for everyone, and it can change over time. Mindfulness can support us in healing and self-discovery after loss and change.”

12. 25 Fun (and Even Free!) Spring Activities to Put on Your Warm Weather Bucket List.

13. Lynda! Barry! “This week I had the opportunity to spend a couple hours with Lynda Barry…Below are five things inspired by our conversation, her teaching philosophy and what it means to be creative.”

14. Christian Cooper, the “Extraordinary Birder” on CBS Sunday Morning. “Christian Cooper made national news in May 2020 when, while birdwatching in New York’s Central Park, a white woman called 911 to report that an ‘African American man was threatening her life’ after he’d asked her to put her dog on a leash. His recording of their interaction went viral, just as the country was rocked by the George Floyd murder. Since then, he has hosted a National Geographic Wild series, ‘Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper,’and written a memoir about growing up a closeted gay teenager on Long Island, titled ‘Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World.’ Nancy Giles reports.”

15. 30 Books Critics Think You Should Read Right Now.

16. A Bronx Teacher Asked. Tommy Orange Answered. on The New York Times. (gift link) “When the author received an impassioned email, he dropped everything to visit the students who inspired it.” In related news, Indigenous Author Tommy Orange Digs Into Our Past — So We Can Embrace Who We Are Today. “In his new novel, Orange’s characters reveal how intergenerational trauma can manifest.”

17. The 50 Best Lesbian Movies Of All Time.

18. How I Learned to Write the Hard Stuff. “I wanted to write about my traumatic personal experiences, but I was hiding behind walls. This is the moment when I finally broke through and found my voice.”

19. Elyse Myers Deleted All of Her TikToks After Being Targeted by Operation Watermelon. In related news, Let’s talk about Elyse Meyers (Instagram reel).

20. Good Things Vending. (Facebook reel)

21. I like my own company. But do I spend too much time alone?

22. No Oprah, Ozempic alone can’t fix our culture of fat shaming. In related news, Things to Remember if You Watch the Oprah Special.

23. His Novel Sold a Million Copies. James McBride Isn’t Sure How He Feels About That. on The New York Times. (gift link)

24. 1000 Words: Changing Writers’ Lives “by Accident”.

25. M. Emmet Walsh, Character Actor Who Always Stood Out, Dies at 88 on The New York Times. (gift link) In related news, M. Emmet Walsh, unforgettable character actor from ‘Blood Simple,’ ‘Blade Runner,’ dies at 88.

26. Intermittent fasting: Your heart, your health, your waistline.

27. Tom Stuart-Smith’s dos and don’ts of gardening. “The landscape architect and garden designer known for his naturalistic and resilient planting offers advice on good gardening.”

28. A Musical Based on Prince’s Purple Rain Is Coming.