1. Love at First Sight streaming on Netflix. “After missing her flight from New York to London, Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) meets Oliver (Ben Hardy) in a chance encounter at the airport that sparks an instant connection. A long night on the plane together passes in the blink of an eye but upon landing at Heathrow, the pair are separated and finding each other in the chaos seems impossible. Will fate intervene to transform these seat mates into soul mates? Based on the wildly popular novel, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, by Jennifer E Smith.” Not everyone liked this movie, which is rated 6.9/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. Some reviews said things like the movie was “an absolute stink fest,” “painful to watch,” “booty cheeks” or “absolute buns” (?), and simply a waste of time. I, on the other hand, LOVED it. It was exactly what I needed, easy and sweet. 

2. First Aid for The Soul & Ebb and Flow on A Grace Full Life. Kari has been in a sweet and tender place recently and her blog posts reflect that. The Nikita Gill poem she shares was exactly what I needed this morning.

3. 17 Ways To Open Your Heart. “Building an emotional survival kit” from Andrea Gibson on Things That Don’t Suck. This post is restricted to their paid subscriber community, but it is just one of 1000 reasons you should subscribe. And there’s this, “Since early on in my cancer diagnosis I have been writing and speaking about how amazing it feels to have an open heart. By open heart I mean many things: To feel at ease in my being. To be in love with living. To be guided by gratitude for each precious day. To appreciate the lessons learned through challenges. To interact with everyone I encounter knowing they are my teacher. To not be burdened by the weight of grudges or blame. To be present in the moment.” If you know me at all, you know what a fan I am of an open heart. ❤

4. Poetry: Crows by Mary Oliver on The New Yorker and Terce from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

5. Author Rebecca Solnit Found ‘Half’ Her Books in a Dataset Used to Develop AI, an interview. I don’t know exactly how I feel about AI, am disappointed by the theft of the intellectual property of so many artists, and yet, also this past week I had to send an uncomfortable text that was necessary but because of my emotional connection to it and the potential outcome I didn’t trust myself to effectively communicate my point, so I tried ChatGPT for the first time and it was SUPER helpful.

6. Good stuff from Seth Godin: The Pizza Principle, Writing your book, It could have easily gone the other way, Different kinds of people, and No thank you.

7. Tips&tricks #1: You’ve hit a chronic illness flare. Here’s what to do with your writing practice from Esmé Weijun Wang, who has been there, done that.

8. Containers are my weakness from Patti Digh.

9. For introverts and those who love them: 5 Annoying Questions That Introverts Are Tired of Hearing and 9 Things Introverts Never Have to Do.

10. Objects, a documentary. “There are two kinds of people. To some, objects are the root of clutter and materialism. To others, objects are a way to keep a treasured record of their lives. Objects follows three unique people who have held onto something that gained incredible meaning for them over decades.”

11. When Museum Workers Take Over Their Institutions’ Walls. “The Met’s staff art exhibition made headlines when it opened to the public last year. As it turns out, these shows are anything but rare.”

12. One Thing at a Time, Lady! My Week of No Multitasking. “I started slow, with a ban on multitasking while talking on the phone or running around the city. No more texting while walking the dog! That went well, so for the final week I decided to tighten the screws and eliminate multitasking entirely. It nearly killed me.”

13. Two sets of 11 things from Jena Schwartz: 11 things (spread over us a shelter) and Still I Can’t Cry.

14. For those of us confused and trying to make sense of things: What is Hamas, and what’s happening in Israel and Gaza? A really simple guide, and What to know as the war between Israel and Hamas continues, and Israel-Hamas war: what has happened and what has caused the conflict? And for those who want to keep going, get deeper: The Lines that Whisper Us, and What Preceded the Killings in Israel and Gaza Was Not “Peace” — It Was Apartheid, and How Was Hamas Able To Launch Such A Devastating Attack On Israel?, and How should the US respond to the Israel-Palestine crisis?, and What the Mainstream Media Never Told You About Palestine.

15. On Turning 40. “As I reach this milestone, there are three things that are on my mind that I want to share with you.”

16. Letters to my home from Susannah Conway. “I don’t want to travel the world. I don’t have or need a bucket list. I want to plant the deepest roots I can and finally have a place that’s mine.” #same

17. Kaira Jewel Lingo’s October newsletter, No One is Excluded from My Heart, which includes this difficult but necessary truth: “Not excluding others from our heart does not mean we do not say ‘no’ to injustice and oppression. We must challenge all forms of discrimination and systemic violence, while never forgetting that whatever others do, they are still part of our human family and even perpetrators and the tragic situations they create still have the capacity to transform and be healed.”

18. Somatic Therapy: 12 Easy Ways To Shift Your Mood With Your Body from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

19. How to Experience the True Nature of Mind on Lion’s Roar. “Mingyur Rinpoche shares step-by-step instructions to experience the basic nature of mind.”

20. Eclipse New Moon: Practices for Collective Grief and Grace from Mindy Tsonas Choi, which includes this advice, “Take what concrete actions you have the capacity for, when you can. Reach out to our Jewish and Middle Eastern friends in whatever way you are able. This might look like sending a note, baking a batch of cookies, donating to an organization, sharing critical information, calling your local government officials, or showing up to a rally in solidarity. All of it matters and makes a difference.”

21. Good stuff on The Marginalian: Roxane Gay on Loving vs. Being in Love and the Mark of a Soul Mate and The Importance of Trusting Yourself: Nick Cave on the Relationship Between Creativity and Faith.

22. Moving Poetry: In The Name of Beauty, “and inevitable discomfort” from Sarah Blondin.

23. LitBuzz Presents | Spill The Tea With The Bees : Amy Marie Turner. “Bee Tanya sits down virtually with author Amy Marie Turner to chat about her book Voyage of The Pleiades, Amy’s personal practices of both research & writing as well as her unique life path to becoming an author of many forms.” P.S. I’m reading and loving Amy’s book. It can be an uncomfortable thing to read the published work of someone you know. There’s always the concern that it won’t be good, or more specifically that you won’t like or enjoy it (which is really the only way we measure if something is “good” or “bad”, as all art is ultimately subjective and our evaluation says more about us than it does the work), and then what do you say to them about it? I don’t have to worry in this case, because instead of not knowing what to say, I keep catching myself as I’m reading thinking, “Amy WROTE this! It’s so good! I can’t wait to finish it and tell her how much I enjoyed it, how impressed I am with the research she did.” 🙂

24. How Jesmyn Ward Is Reimagining Southern Literature on The New York Times. I just preordered her latest novel. She is one of my favorite living authors.

25. How the Land Back Movement Is Unraveling Manifest Destiny. “Across Indian Country, tribal nations are buying back their land one parcel at a time.”

26. Positive News, “the online and print magazine for rigorous journalism about what’s going right. Our mission: While most of the news overwhelms people with negative narratives, instead Positive News is here to offer a lens on the world that helps give people a fuller picture of reality, supports their wellbeing and empowers them to make a positive difference. In doing so, we’re showing the rest of the media that good news matters.”

27. The 5 secrets to my success from Danny Gregory. “I’ve been teaching myself to draw for 25 years. Here’s what I’ve learned matters most.”

28. Shedding Our Stuff While Living as Nomads Was Easier Said Than Done.

29. Itches to Scratch by Jami Attenberg.

30. Life bruises us in ways we cannot see from Patti Digh. “It’s not only the big things that bruise us. It’s those little ones, too. And those bruises mean we are alive.”

31. A Bridge Amidst the Hardship from Frederick Joseph. “On the ‘Five For Families’ campaign helping 150 families.”

32. Patrick Stewart says his time on ‘Star Trek’ felt like a ministry.

33. Death in Paradise’s Ralf Little reveals set secret as filming draws to a close. This is a silly, sweet show.

34. Texas company 3D printing houses on Earth, partnering with NASA to 3D print infrastructure on the moon.

35. Ozempic Can’t Fix What Our Culture Has Broken on The New York Times.

36. Elliot Page asks about ghosts on the Handsome podcast. I adore this show and its three handsome hosts, and this is one of the best episodes yet.

37. A fat-loss coach lost 12 pounds while spiking his blood sugar to prove you don’t need to be scared of fruit and oatmeal.

38. See Eddie Murphy wreak holiday havoc in 1st trailer for ‘Candy Cane Lane.’

39. Gary Meikle’s rant on eyebrows in this Facebook reel is hysterical. His accent makes it even funnier somehow.

40. A Celebration of Life for David Bartecchi to be held on Sunday October 22nd, 2023 at 1 pm at CSU. If you would like to provide support to the Bartecchi family in this uncertain time, please consider contributing to their GoFundMe campaign. “Dave was a true friend of the earth and a ‘good relative’ to all people.” Read more about Dave here.

1. Wisdom from Lucian James: “Every moment matters. In every moment you become the person you want to be, or you surrender to the person you were. In every moment.”

2. Poetry from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer: Autumn Walk, Reasons to Weep, and Tumbling.

3. Good stuff from Seth Godin: A small shopping list (floss and more), and Fooling ourselves, and Evenly distributed, and Getting better at bucket management, and Getting it right the first time, and Possibility and opportunity.

4. From Courtney Carver on Be More With Less: 7 Surprising And Invisible Benefits of Simplicity and Prioritize Self-Care Practices With 10 Gentle Reminders and 5 Daily Habits That Are Causing You Pain (and how to let go), and 7 Life Mistakes That Make Us Feel Unhappy.

5. In related news, a ton of good stuff from Courtney Carver’s last two Weekend Favorites lists: Cinnamon Roll Overnight Oats recipe, and Why Kindness at Work Pays Off, and Mel Robbin’s 3-Step Routine To Target Negative Self-Talk & Experience More Joy, and How to advocate for yourself at the doctor’s office, and A guide to forest bathing, and The Best Documentaries of 2023, and Shut Up & Write!, and Use the ’20/10 Method’ to Clean Without Exhausting Yourself, and 99 Mindful Conversation Topics For Deeper Connections, and Take the visitor’s approach to exploring your own city, and Why ‘daily-ish’ habits can be better than everyday routines.

6. Conversation with a Friend from Jami Attenberg. “Another approach I have been thinking about is that when I sit down with my pen and journal, I am simply just catching up with a friend. I want that same warm, easy vibe as when you meet up with someone that you are close with but don’t see that often, maybe for coffee or lunch, in a sunny space. You know it’s just going to be a pleasant chat, filling in all the blanks and just checking in and catching up.” Also from Jami, The Questions I Would Ask You.

7. Good stuff from Regan Chastain: The Utter Ridiculousness of the 5-10% Weight Loss Recommendation and Not Blaming Fat People For Failed Weight Loss Isn’t Enough.

8. Good stuff from Introvert, Dear: How Introverts Can Master the Art of ‘Doing Nothing’, and How to Deal With Pushy People When You’re a People-Pleasing Introvert, and How Introverts Can Build a Peaceful Life in an Extroverted World, and 7 Tips for INFJs to Stop Overthinking.

9. Upaya Zen Center Podcast: Hope Is a Discipline – On Being Present and Committing to the Future with Rebecca Solnit. “In her talk, Rebecca Solnit explores the concept of hope and activism in the face of uncertainty, particularly relating to climate change. She discusses how even so-called ‘failed’ actions can have lasting, transformative impacts, changing the conversation and laying the groundwork for future successes.”

10. Women on the frontlines of climate change. (video) “Hear from the women who are reshaping climate leadership around the world as policymakers, scientists and activists on the frontlines…join Washington Post Live’s climate summit featuring conversations with USAID administrator Samantha Power and top climate leaders about innovative solutions to tackle a warming planet, the latest global efforts to curb carbon emissions and how women have been disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.”

11. Wisdom from Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse: “Becoming aware of how things change is a useful form of mind training. Letting go of all your attachment to planning, scheduling and expectation will reduce your fear of death considerably. If, during your life, you have never experienced disappointment or failure, when you find yourself at death’s door, you will be terrified. Of course, by then it will be too late for you to do anything for yourself.”

12. What will sustain. “I am a human animal in the autumn of my life and actually, it suits my soul. It’s my vibe. Autumn is older and wiser. She looks at summer’s daydreams and expansive visions, measuring up what she can make with them. What will keep. What will sustain.”

13. It’s Banned Books Week. Here’s how to fight for libraries.

14. Don’t Be A Buddhist from Satya Robyn. “Just be a person with a good heart.”

15. Nine Things That Make My Life a (Lil) Better.

16. Good stuff from Patti Digh: I talked to myself about what success and happiness means, and I forgive you. Now, stay far, far away from me, and (The Long and) The Short of Things.

17. Good stuff from Summer Brennan on A Writer’s Notebook: Oleander Leaves: a notebook entry and Introducing: A Writer’s Notebook Podcast.

18. Good stuff from Jena Schwartz: Serious Folly {a poem} and Friday Dispatch: Creative Conversations.

19. Minda Honey Tells Us About Putting Yourself in the Running on Cheryl Strayed’s Dear Sugar. “I’m pleased to share the fourth installment of an occasional series I do in which I invite an author to tell us five things—not only about their most recent book, but about their life too.”

20. Good stuff on For Dear Life with Maggie Smith: The Good Stuff and On Surprise & Gratitude.

21. Refuge, a video poem from David Whyte.

22. The Uncomfortable Truth About Truth from Frederick Joseph. “On self-awareness, societal change, and running from honesty.” I kept looking for a paragraph to quote here, but I ended up wanting to quote the entire piece. Also from Frederick, Individual Greedflation Is Destroying Us. “People wanting to become wealthy makes it difficult to hold the wealthy accountable.” In my opinion, Frederick Joseph is one of the most important writers of our time, as he tells the full and terrible truth from a tender heart. He’s also asking for donations to an important cause, Five for Families, because “In NYC, Black and Latino households face food insecurity at rates startlingly higher than white households. As inflation rises, more local pantries close and the need grows exponentially. Which is why this November, we are supporting The Lower East Side Girls Club (LESGC) to help address this crisis head-on.”

23. Ursula K. Le Guin on Change, Menopause as Rebirth, and the Civilizational Value of Elders.

24. Nick Cave on “this crazy thing called grief”: “you have every right to be a mess, but let me say this – don’t be a mess all the time, because this planet needs people like you. We need fierce souls with flaming swords that lay open the world to the truth of things – our perilous and impermanent mutuality, our ferocious resilience, and our acute and heartbreaking preciousness.”

25. grief is a wild thing and it’s also quite rude from Abigail Rose Clarke.

26. Reservation Dogs Was a Miracle. “The FX show could have been a near-perfect hangout sitcom. It did something much more interesting.” In related news, On Location: ‘Reservation Dogs’ Builds a Fictional Oklahoma Reservation One Last Time for Its Final Season.

27. Discovering aphantasia. I’m fascinated by this, as Eric has it. Knowing he did and what it was explained so much about him.

28. Good stuff from Lion’s Roar: Learning From the Dead (“Carolyn Campbell shares how studying the famous Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France sparked an awareness of death that helped her wake up to life”), and Stop, Soothe, Shift: A 3-Step Practice to Do What Helps (“Zen teacher Vanessa Zuisei Goddard shares her simple three-step practice to stop, soothe, and shift in the face of suffering”), and Meditations on Buddhanature (“Four Buddhist teachers share concise instructions for recognizing the luminous nature of mind”), and You Are Already Dying (“The most profound meditation, says Joan Halifax, is contemplating the certainty of your own death”), and How to Be a Friend Until the End (“According to Frank Ostaseski, offering care to someone who’s dying is like meditation: there’s no one right way, but practice helps, and so do basic guidelines”), and Death: The Greatest Teacher (“The Buddha said the greatest of all teachings is impermanence. Its final expression is death. Buddhist teacher Judy Lief explains why our awareness of death is the secret of life. It’s the ultimate twist”).

29. We’re all lurkers now. “‘As more people have been confronted with the consequences of constant sharing, social media has become less social and more media—a constellation of entertainment platforms where users consume content but rarely, if ever, create their own,’ a recent Insider piece explains. ‘Influencers, marketers, average users, and even social-media executives agree: Social media, as we once knew it, is dead.'”

30. The Blessings of Obstacles and Diversions.

31. The Tree in our backyard: the other people who tended it and the mystery of its age. 

32. For When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing. I love these posts about Jesse’s gardening experiences, which are always about way more than a garden.

33. You Don’t Have to Be Complicit in Our Culture of Destruction on The New York Times, an interview with Robin Wall Kimmerer. “This beautiful gift of attention that we human beings have is being hijacked to pay attention to products and someone else’s political agenda. Whereas if we can reclaim our attention and pay attention to things that really matter, there a revolution starts.”

34. Slama Land Art on Instagram. “straw sculptures – art – nature – ecology – love – utopia – society – sustainable – movement – fire.”

35. A song of believing by Brian Doyle. “Look, I know all too well that the story of the world is entropy, things fly apart, we sicken, we fail, we grow weary, we divorce, we are hammered and hounded by loss and accidents and tragedies, we slide away into the dark oceans behind the stars. But I also know that we are carved of immense confusing holiness; that the whole point for us is grace under duress; and that you either take a flying leap at nonsensical illogical unreasonable ideas like marriage and marathons and democracy and divinity, or you huddle behind the brooding wall.”

36. Trying to find a good breakfast burrito recipe because I have too many potatoes. These are some of the contenders: Breakfast Burrito, Vegetarian Breakfast Burritos, The Best Breakfast Burritos, and Breakfast Burritos.

37. Attorney General Merrick Garland: The 60 Minutes Interview (video). “People can argue with each other as much as they want and as vociferously as they want. But the one thing they may not do is use violence and threats of violence to alter the outcome,” he said. “American people must protect each other. They must ensure that they treat each other with civility and kindness, listen to opposing views, argue as vociferously as they want, but refrain from violence and threats of violence. That’s the only way this democracy will survive.”

38. Sea Lion Escapes Central Park Zoo Enclosure During New York City Flooding.

39. This comedian says words often fail during tragedy. And that’s OK, an interview with Rob Delaney.

40. Losing a Dog Is the Hardest Thing. “For 38 months, Rowlf brought love, slow meandering walks, and dog ice cream cones into writer Brendan Leonard’s life. And now Rowlf is gone.” If you are one of those people who would say, “what’s the big deal, it’s JUST a dog” you probably should stop reading my blog.

41. 15 Ways to Rewild Yourself. “Nature has always been a place for me to self-soothe. Whether it’s been starting a garden and learning how to tend my heart in the same way I do my plants, or by going on walks in the forest to discover wild herbs and edibles. There’s no denying how therapeutic it is to escape into nature and recalibrate, or as I call it: Rewilding.”

42. Poetry: Nancy Shaffer: “Because We Spill Not Only Milk” and Yes by William Stafford.

43. ‘On stage, I could escape’: Sir Patrick Stewart on childhood trauma and acting success. “Sir Patrick Stewart is one of our most admired actors, a master of Shakespeare – and the universe. But his start in life was anything but starry. Here, he talks about writing his memoir, his violent father – and why he’d love to do more comedy.”

44. 9 Common Human Experiences That Can Be Traumatic (but are often seen as not).

45. BMI Is Outdated—Here’s Why Your Waist-to-Hip Ratio Is a Better Indicator of Health. It’s fascinating how many superficial shortcuts we are willing to apply to assess our health and wellness. It will never be as simple or universal as things like BMI or WHR try to make it seem. Which reminds me of this infographic:

46. I try to be a body-positive doctor. It’s getting harder in the age of Ozempic. “Sometimes I call myself a ‘body-positive doctor,’ but that isn’t it, exactly, because I don’t expect all of my patients to love their bodies at all times. With my students, I call it practicing ‘weight-neutral medicine.'”

47. England’s Beloved Sycamore Gap Tree Has Been Chopped Down. In related news, A week after someone cut down the iconic tree at Sycamore Gap, the police and local residents appear no closer to answering the most persistent question: Why? on The New York Times and Sapling planted at Sycamore Gap removed by National Trust.

48. I rest in love, a gorgeous poem from Gretchen Schmelzer. “Yet for all of the despair and pain, each morning comes and nature and people don’t give up, and this may be the most beautiful form of art.”

P.S. This is my 600th Something Good list!!!