1. Poetry: Different Kinds of Sadness by Jenny Molberg on The Slow Down, Radiance Theory and Quiet Delay by Julie Barton, Here’s To You (also) by Julie Barton shared on Heart Poems, Oh, November by Alix Klingenberg, Prescription For The Disillusioned by Rebecca del Rio, Sound Bath and Right Here by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Nourishment by James Crews, and If Adam Picked the Apple by Danielle Coffyn shared by Patti Digh. Also this collection, Mindfulness Poetry from the Mindfulness Association.

2. Tending the Small Fires: Lessons in Light from a Darkening Season from Lori at Little Truths Studio.

3. You suffer for as long as you decide to: stop touching the wound from Patti Digh.

4. 11 things one day before leaving Facebook, including a few writing lessons. “Ending my extremely online era'” from Jena Schwartz (who in part inspired my own exit).

5. What if you gave up social media? “On ignoring the online drama, algorithms, and AI to find an authentic path forward” by Dan Blank.

6 Back from the Drift. “Re-emerging from a time of shifts and drifts” from Sara Saltee.

7. 5 Everyday Habits Secretly Stealing Your Ease by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

8. Stuff worth considering on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz: Trump Supporters Are Miserable People. Let’s Not Become Like Them, and Staying Human in Inhumane Times, and Christians Who Don’t Want to Feed People—Aren’t Jesus Christians, and SNAP is What Jesus Would Be Doing Here. That’s Why MAGA Christians Are Trying to Kill It.

9. 6 Strategies to Stay Calm When Life Feels Uncertain, According to Therapists. 

10. How Not to Waste Your Life by Maria Popova.

11. For a Literary Saint, Margaret Atwood Can Sure Hold a Grudge on The New York Times. (gift link) “She had to be pushed to write her new memoir, ‘Book of Lives.’ The result reveals the experiences (and a few slights) that have shaped her work.” In related news, ‘It is the scariest of times’: Margaret Atwood on defying Trump, banned books – and her score-settling memoir.

12. Woman Shocked by Neighbors’ Response After She Sets Up Día de Muertos Altar as Tribute to Beloved Dog.

13. Have We Finally Hit Peak Protein? “In 2025, protein isn’t just a macronutrient — it’s a marketing language that now defines how Americans shop, snack, and eat out.”

14. Josh Hawley: No American Should Go to Bed Hungry on The New York Times. (gift link)

15. Breaking Free From Doomscrolling: From Willpower to Redesign. “To make it easier to put down the phone, reshape your world for presence.”

16. What it takes to make. “Creating isn’t about talent or the muse. It’s a few things anyone can do. Including you” from Danny Gregory.

17. Getting Closure When the Universe Doesn’t Give It to You, a 5-day email course from Elizabeth Kleinfeld. “You’ve been waiting for an apology, an explanation, or acknowledgment that’s never coming. This 5-day course teaches you how to create closure on your own terms—so you can finally move forward without needing their permission or participation.”

18. You have to do the living yourself on The Imperfectionist, which shares this “deeply important point: building a meaningful life is much less about discovering the right set of practices or habits than it is about cultivating the willingness to step up moment after moment and just do more of the things that matter, for the projects and people and causes you care about most.”

19. Cultural Narratives and Craft Converge in the 2025 World of WearableArt Competition.

1. Poetry: The Tetons Were Made By A Woman and Watch Watching and What The Glaciers Told Me and Rest Day and Summer ’87 by Julie Barton, Everyone Is Welcome Here and Deep Listening from James Crews, Ever Changing by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, and On Longing on bimblings by Josie George.

2. In the Bardo with My Mother, “On grief both personal and public” by Elissa Altman. *sigh*

3. Wisdom from Patti Digh: The gentlest of metrics and Healing is violent.

4. Halloween: A Chance to Dance with your Shadow by Gretchen Schmelzer. “The shadow was this sign that there was something else, something beautiful if I could find it…I need to see my shadow, befriend it, and by doing so, find my own beauty.”

5. 10 Things: Friends, Friends, Friendly Friends. “Each of the activities below can help you take a budding friendship to the next level, ensure your closest friends feel seen and prioritized, and generally encourage joy and community during a time when we need it more than ever.”

6. Papier-Mâché Masks Crafted by Liz Sexton Bring Animals to Human Scale.

7. There is something very wrong with the president.

8. This Is How We Rise: Feeding Each Other, One Shelf at a Time. “20 heart-led ways to help your community — even if you’re stretched thin on time or money.”

9. Good stuff from The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz: Dear Hateful White Christians, and How to Stay Alive When You Don’t Feel Like You Want To, and No, America is Not Cooked, and Looking for Hope? Try here, and The Demolition of the East Wing, and America, and Now That The Government Has Turned Tyrannical, What Happened to All the Second Amendment Conservatives?

10. Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2025 Finalists. In related news, Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

11. This Eerie 19-Year-Old Time-Travel Sci-Fi Series Is the Perfect Weekend Binge.

12. What the world teaches us from Seth Godin.

13. Here is a very specific thing you can do right now that will meet the moment quite nicely from Garrett Bucks on The White Pages.

So this is where we are at. Millions of humanity-loving bodies have been set in motion, but that’s not enough to quiet a million middle-of-the-night doubts. There is a very real chance that you have encountered somebody (perhaps from a distance, perhaps up close) whose voice and actions have filled you to bursting with joy and hope. And there is an equally likely chance that person is, quite frequently, exhausted and annoyed and wondering how long they can keep it up.

…

My greatest fear is not what the despots will do to us. It’s that we’ll give up. And that would be a tragedy, but it’s not irrational. The strongmen may have a predictable set of tools (brute force, austerity, propaganda), but they’re willing to use them with impunity. Their only plan is to break our spirits. And so, the work of the moment is simple. If you see anybody engaged in efforts that you value right now— hope-giving work, base building work, community care work— we need to shower them in gratitude and support.

14. brave enough to talk about sex from Brit (and Olivia) on Play is the Opposite of Survival Mode.

15. 1140’s Guide to Dystopian Literature.

16. Good stuff from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less: 8 Weird Ideas That Actually Help Calm Anxiety (When Nothing Else Works) and 10 Decluttering Rules That Make Letting Go So Much Easier.

17. On my own from Hugh Hollowell. *sigh* I miss my dad.

18. 50 Simple Ways to Make a Difference in Your Community.

19. This comic, the only thing I saved to my phone this week, (since I’m no longer on social media, which is interestingly the topic of the comic).