1. In Those Quiet Hours. (video) A gorgeous and heartbreaking poem from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. These two from Rosemerry also stand (as my friend Wendy once said) in between grief and grace: In a Difficult Time and Timing.

2. From Seth Godin: The Santa problem and The Le Guin precepts. 

3. On Being Colorado’s New Poet Laureate from Andrea Gibson. We are so lucky. In related news, ANDREA GIBSON on the Blessings of the Wound /347 of for the wild podcast, and Meet Colorado’s new poet laureate: “I write about what I dream the world can be.”

4. Anne Gudger Tells Us: About Grief Being the Source of Our Superpowers. “Grief taught me compassion. Grief taught me to not take time for granted. To say and do the things that matter. Tell people I love them. Walk in love. I’m fond of saying grief’s the source of my superpowers, because it is.”

5. Be your own boss: Lessons from 27 years of owning my own business from Patti Digh.

6. Why all the Burning Man schadenfreude? Where do I start … In related news, Fear and Loathing—and Pooping in a Plastic Bag—at Burning Man 2023.

7. Larger than life: Woman with decades-old rhododendrons celebrates her own 100th birthday.

8. The Fascination of Flaming June. “Discover the magnetism of this iconic painting that nearly fell into obscurity.”

9. U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón to Publish Anthology, Bring Poetry to National Parks as part of Signature Project, “You Are Here.”

10. How I learned that creativity and vulnerability go hand in hand.

11. People-pleasing often stems from fear you felt in childhood. Here’s how to slowly start being yourself.

12. The work of our hands on Rita’s Notebook.

13. 15 People Who Said “Screw You, Landfill” And Accomplished The Most Clever Repairs I’ve Ever Seen.

14. 5 Things That Make Art Meaningful.

15. Living and Dying in ¾ Time on The New York Times. “Whenever I take my young researchers on celebrity interviews, I give them the Warning: No matter how well you hit it off, don’t feel bad if you ever run into the stars again and they act as though they don’t know you. That’s usually how it goes. Think of them as elusive, shimmering creatures from another planet. One of the few exceptions to this rule was Jimmy Buffett.”

16. Election season has come. Here’s what you need to do to stop Trump from winning.

17. Recipe I want to try: Peach muffins.

18. A concerned citizen reported a “mass killing” at a British seaside café. Police found a yoga class. It’s called “corpse pose” for a reason.

19. These are the top causes of divorce, according to a dating coach.

20. In ‘The Fraud,’ Zadie Smith seeks to ‘do absolute justice to the truth.’

21. Hyperrealistic Portraits Burst Into Botanical Shards in Vibrant Murals by Ratur.

22. The Unraveled Month #01: Things that filled my cup in August from Susannah Conway.

23. Fall Vibes from Jami Attenberg. The last two paragraphs? Whoa. I needed that.

24. How to Trust Your Basic Goodness on Lion’s Roar. “The gold of your true nature can get buried beneath fear and confusion, but it can never be tarnished. Tara Brach shares how to trust your basic goodness.”

25. What Our Grief Can Teach Us from Frederick Joseph. “Death is an inexplicable thief. It does not discern; it does not choose based on worthiness or love. It comes uninvited, often at times when its presence is the most jarring, the most inconceivable. And so, as I ponder the lives lost to the unfathomable randomness of fate, I am reminded that our time here is limited. But our impact, our legacy, the love we give and receive—that can defy the very constraints of mortality.”

26. #TradWife Life as Self-Annihilation from Anne Helen Petersen.

27. 9 Things That Annoy Introverts the Most.

28. The Alternative to “Obesity Medicine” from Ragen Chastain. “What if there was a field of medicine dedicated to providing better care to fat* patients rather than dedicated to making us thin?”

29. Presence Over Performance from Laurie Wagner.

30. The Mind of Writing: Natalie Goldberg from the Upaya Zen Center. “‘There’s an integrity to mind if you watch it.’ In this fresh talk, Natalie Goldberg shares about giving space to her grief, about her high school friend Phyllis, about time, about watching Katagiri Roshi’s mind, about teaching teachers in North Dakota, about poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, about Dogen, about neurodivergence, about Faulkner. Natalie is alive and so is her talk—it organically unfolds, each story propelling the next. The talk helps us to experience what it is to drop below discursive thinking, to experience the mind of writing through the vibrant details and stories Natalie shares with us.”

Also from Upaya, Being Awake (Online 2023). “To awaken is to be fully alive. We integrate mind, heart, body and reality. Everything we encounter, even suffering, can support the development of a wise and compassionate heart, so we can become a whole human being. We will explore how we can use challenging conditions, whether personal or social, to cultivate awakening and aliveness, and express that realization through loving action.”

31. The Church of Minding One’s Own Business from Austin Kleon.

32. 50 (Short) Rules For Life From The Stoics.

33. Help Fund Urban Monk Studios! “Black [and Woman] owned business, affordable music lessons, music classes and music workshops in Fort Collins, Colorado since 2007.”

34. What to Do When You’re a Sensitive Introvert Who Feels Lost and Stuck.

35. Good Life Project Podcast: Finding Your Unique Voice | Elizabeth Gilbert, Morgan Harper Nichols & Lisa Congdon.

36. The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal. “James Crews, editor of two best-selling poetry anthologies, How to Love the World and The Path to Kindness, presents an all-new collection of highly accessible poems on the theme of celebrating moments of wonder and peace in everyday life. As Crews writes in the ‘[A] deep love for the world is present in every one of the poems gathered in this book. Wonder calls us back to the curiosity we are each born with, and it makes us want to move closer to what sparks our attention. Wonder opens our senses and helps us stay in touch with a humbling sense of our own human smallness in the face of unexpected beauty and the delicious mysteries of life on this planet.'”

37. Here’s how to contribute to organizations that are aiding the rescue and recovery efforts after a devastating earthquake in Morocco on The New York Times.

38. Photography Composition Guide from Unsplash.

39. Generation 9/11 on PBS, “an intimate film driven by the stories and personalities of its protagonists, who were born in the wake of a global tragedy which, for them, was also deeply personal. But it is also the story an entire generation that has been shaped by the attacks and their aftermath.”

40. Do You Suffer From ‘Scope Creep’ in Your Garden?

41. Hayao Miyazaki’s New Film ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Wanders Into a Magical World of Life and Death.

42. With new home build, Winona LaDuke showcases Native housing solution, tribal economic opportunity.

43. Creative Personal Development with Todd Mitchell. “A holistic combination of individual creativity coaching, expert craft instruction, and life-changing personal development.”

44. Ememem Playfully Revitalizes Cracked Pavement With Vibrantly Patterned Tiles.

45. Florals and Landscapes Redefine Vintage Portraits in Han Cao’s Embroidered ‘Silhouettes’.

46. Bird Photographer of the Year 2023 Highlights Avian Attitudes and Winged Wonders Around the World.

1. RIP Jimmy Buffet.💔 Jimmy Buffett, Roguish Bard of Island Escapism, Is Dead at 76 on The New York Times and Jimmy Buffett, who sang of wastin’ away in ‘Margaritaville’, dies at 76. They shared this picture on the Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefers Facebook page. 

2. Wisdom from Nick Cave: “It seems to me that it is the most human of things to love foolishly, that most love in the world is unrequited as we lose our hearts over an arbitrary gesture, a casual word, a chance look. We are propelled by some contingent mischief into a sphere of yearning, of imagining, of warm dreaming, directed at someone who is oblivious to the full nature of our longing. It is a madness of sorts, not unlike religious belief – so much desire and yearning directed at an entity that so often feels indifferent and withdrawn. But this unrequited longing poured into the universe is the energy that turns the world. Mad dreams of love cast in one direction and not returned.”

3. 10 Things That Fill Introverts with Joy.

4. Good stuff from Seth Godin: The absence of proof and Are you doing what you said you wanted to do? 

5. Erika Seshadri – Eviction Notice. “As gently and softly as the narrator of the poem relocates a spider, Erika Seshadri carefully places her quiet poem ‘Eviction Notice’ at our feet. Erika’s poem is centered around the theme of ‘ahimsa’, which is a respect for all living things and avoidance of violence toward others, in Buddhist and Hindu traditions.” This reminds me of one of my favorite poems from Rudy Francisco, Mercy. 

6. Wisdom from Morgan Harper Nichols: “I hope you know it is okay to grieve what was lost or what changed. I hope you know you are allowed to take the time to do the things that help you open your heart to love again or to dream again. And I also hope you also know that you are allowed to breathe deep and trust that your story will carry on, anyway.”

7. I Made a New Friend. And Then We Argued. On The New York Times. “https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/style/new-friend-children-conversation.htmlThe conversation was rolling along until it turned to the topic of having children.”

8. Man Called Fran. “Plumbing, the depths.”

9. Leaning Toward Light: A Posy of Poems Celebrating the Joys and Consolations of the Garden.

10. How To Declutter Your Home: 10 Tiny Tasks To Start from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

11. Good stuff from Lion’s Roar: Embracing the Bodhisattva Vow (“Noel Alumit reflects on the daunting commitment of the bodhisattva vows, and how his ordination bolstered his relationship with his mother and culture”), and 3 Questions That Bring Us Back to Now (“While hiking, Buddhist practitioner Leslie Davis suddenly found her mind miles ahead of her body. She offers a three-question meditation practice to reel your running mind back to the present moment”), and How to Be Kind to Yourself (“You have enlightened nature, says Pema Khandro Rinpoche. If you truly know that, you’ll always be kind to yourself”).

12. Activist Micro Action Dispatch from Omkari Williams: Mutual Aid.

13. Here’s What I Want A.I. To Do from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

14. The Arc of it All from Jami Attenberg, about her upcoming release 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round.

15. On The Small Things Where Hope Lives. “It’s hard to know the effect your actions will have over time. A child in a culture of immediacy, thinking long-term was not something I learned to do. But the plants are teaching me to imagine six months, two years, five. To have faith that what is small will establish, and what goes dormant could come back if given enough time.”

16. Daily Prayer For The Earth. A project from Satya Robyn of Gentle Buddhism.

17. Enjoy bushwhacking up the mountain from Patti Digh. “10 more lessons from my 27 years of solo entrepreneurship.”

18. Art advice with Beth Pickens from Austin Kleon. “A chat about death, deadlines, and doing your art no matter what.”

19. ‘Where Should I Live?’: In a terrifying summer, a search for safety.

20. “We Have to Teach Young People to Think”: Lessons from a James Baldwin interview with Studs Terkel.

21. Cutting Screen Time By 30 Minutes A Day May Ease Anxiety & Loneliness.

22. Why a stranger’s hello can do more than just brighten your day.

23. Doing Essential Things Makes Time For Everything Else. “I had indeed been putting off doing this kind of work because I didn’t have the time and energy, but once I was able to make space for it in my day, it became clear that it was an essential thing that I need to do so that I can create time for everything else.”

24. Old Japanese Lottery Tickets.

25. How to Be Pro-Life. This infographic came up in my Facebook memories today, and it’s worth another share, maybe even more so now.

26. What Is a Permaculture Garden? Plus 12 Tips for Planting Your Own.

27. 60 Second Docs: Dream Delivery Man and Dad To The Whole Internet. (videos)

28. My First Cult Was My Family. My Mother Was in Charge. By Maria Bamford. In related news, WTF with Marc Maron: Maria Bamford. (podcast)

29. I Slept On 2023’s Best Pillows For a Week Each – Here’s What Happened.

30. Kirkus Prize names Jesmyn Ward, Héctor Tobar among finalists for top literary award.

31. New poll reveals the top 20 things ‘that make us feel good’ in 2023.

32. Yoga Changemaker Magazine | Summer 2023 Edition.

33. Woman, 104, who swims laps every day shares simple tips for long life.

34. That Good News Girl on Instagram. “Fun & positive content every day.” So good.

35. I suddenly became a hit writer – but I felt my husband treated my career like an interruption of my domestic work. “When poet Maggie Smith’s Good Bones went viral, it helped to expose a faultline at the centre of her marriage. What happened when the true dynamic of her relationship was revealed?”

36. 30 Before & After Photos That Show How Good Design Can Really Transform A Space.

37. Fun products I didn’t buy this week but wanted to: Sam the Weighted Sloth, Green Tree Calendar 2024 with Lights, and these Tiny Treehouses.