Category Archives: Something Good

Something Good

Image by Eric

1. We Can Do Hard Things Ep 215 | The Bravest Conversation We’ve Had: Andrea GibsonI am gutted by the recent health update from Andrea. 

2. If you want to fix your own clothes, try this easy style of mending.

3. Tarot Prompts for Writers

4. A personality test can’t tell you who you are“The desire to define ourselves, from love languages to Myers-Briggs types.”

5. Childfree By Choice: 5 Reasons I Never Wanted Kids.

6. What to do about grocery store plastic.

7. Do we really need an app for everything?

8. Poems from Rosemerry Wathola Trommer: A Letter to the Graduates, and Some Mornings, and On the Night I Learn (Again) We Are Doomed. Added bonus, this gorgeous video of her poem Teach Me The Dark. And then this one showed up in my inbox this morning with the subject line “Why I Garden”: In Search.

9. Monday Missive: Alter Ego from Jena Schwartz. “Let my ego shatter into a thousand shards of light.”

10. The Buddhist Path that Transformed Tina Turner on Lion’s Roar. “From humble beginnings to global stardom, Tina Turner credited her Buddhist practice for her survival, success, and happiness. Following her passing, Donald Brackett shares how her journey exemplifies resilience and looks at the profound legacy she leaves behind.”

11. Everything you need to know about #1000wordsofsummer from Jami Attenberg.

12. 5 Simple Ways for Introverts to Get More Healthy Alone Time.

13. Wisdom from fabeku fatunmise’s newsletter“your bodyself is god’s bodyself. your bodyself is nature’s bodyself. same. distinct from one angle. never different. never separate. what is breathing you is same thing that breathes Palm Tree + Octopus + Honeycomb + Fulgurite. you are the same in your substance. in your proximity to the vast loving that makes the ocean dance + seeds grow into flowers that keep us in alive in their beauty. distinct. the way fingers are distinct. not different. anchored in the same thing. extensions of what some call god. others call life. you are that. there is nothing small in you that’s real. we know your name as vast-expanse-of-love, vast-expanse-of-love, vast-expanse-of-love.”

14. An Open Thank You Note to My Neighbors and Their Gardens.

15. The real monster behind soaring prices“It’s becoming clear that corporate greed is screwing over the US economy.”

16. Buddhism and Gardening on Lion’s Roar: Dogen’s Instructions to the Gardener (“Karen Maezen Miller on cultivating the three minds—joyful mind, kind mind, and great mind”), and Grow Your Mindfulness in the Garden (“Cheryl Wilfong on how to practice the four foundations of mindfulness in the garden”), and The True Nature of a Flower (“For Valerie Brown, her garden is a teacher of the dharma. In every bloom she sees impermanence, nonself, and nirvana”).

17. How “Gender” Went Rogue.

18. Oldies but Goodies from Austin Kleon: Be the light or reflect it and The religion of walking.

19. ‘Things are definitely opening up’: the rise of older female writers“Unpublished authors in their 60s, 70s and 80s are now at a premium in the book world – with radical, edgy women in high demand.”

20. Derrick Downey Jr. on InstagramAnd here is why: Guy builds a house with a tiny kitchen and living room for a squirrel named Richard… and Richard uses the house to start a family! (video)

21. Tallulah Willis on Grief, Healing, and the Road Ahead.

22. ‘Somebody Somewhere’ Renewed for Season 3 at HBOWoo-hoo!!!

23. Flooded with online hate, the musician corook decided to keep swimming.

24. One Man’s Mission to Make Running Everyone’s Sport on The New York Times. “Martinus Evans wants to make running more inclusive. His new book beckons back-of-the-packers to lace up.”

25. ‘Deeper than a sexual betrayal’: what happens if your partner doesn’t like your writing? “In Nicole Holofcener’s incisive new comedy You Hurt My Feelings, a horrifying scenario leads to uncomfortable questions.”

26. Grief Groceries“Both of those gift-givers knew something I didn’t know – that when you are grieving, you don’t want to make decisions. No, that’s not quite it: You can’t make decisions. You hit decision fatigue really fast.”

27. Post-graduation advice you’ll actually use“Set a budget, don’t center your life around work, and other advice for graduates.”

28. Resting with Ancients: Nichola Theakston Invokes Animal Spirits in Her Contemplative Bronze Sculptures.

29. Lisa Stevens’ Ceramic Sculptures Capture Coral-Inspired Motifs in Vibrant ColorIn related news, Intricate Ceramic Sculptures Mimic the Shapes and Forms of Aquatic Life.

30. ‘Temples of Books’ Is an Ode to the Grandeur and Democratic Ideals of Public Libraries.

31. On Joyful Movement (from Lindley Ashline’s Body Liberation Guide newsletter): What is Joyful Movement?, and 7 Ways to Heal Your Relationship With Exercise and Movement, and 10 Ways to Build an Actually Sustainable Workout Routine You Love, and Here’s How the ‘Health at Every Size’ Movement Made Me a Better Trainer, and 50 fun, joyful movement ideas

32. Half Magic: The Power Of Half-Way and The Power of Help.

33. Brandon Taylor: ‘Writing is the most fun I’m capable of having’“The American author talks about growing up queer in a family of ‘wolves’, poverty and class in the US, and the 19th-century writers who inspired his latest novel.”

34. Drew Barrymore Is Figuring It Out Live“Her radically intimate daytime show is as much therapy for her as it is for her guests.”

35. All the rage: the rise of the menopause novel“Self-help shelves are filled with guides to surviving midlife, but where is the fiction? Lisa Allardice talks to Marian Keyes, Joanne Harris and others about ‘hot-flush lit’.”

36. Outstanding figurative driftwood sculptures by Tony Fredriksson.

37. These were the most frequently performed plays and musicals in high schools this year.

Something Good

1. The Last Songs I’ll Write About You, a new album from BLÜ EYES. If you are working to let go of something, this is a great break up album.

2. Good stuff from Seth Godin: Your preference is not universal and Captives of memetic desire.

3. What counts as enough? “An exploration of money, stuff, and spending.”

4. The Optimization Sinkhole from Anne Helen Petersen. “What if there’s no such thing as the perfect coffee maker?”

5. Dead Stars: Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s Stunning Love Poem to Life.

6. Poetry from Rosemerry Wathola Trommer: Making a Difference, and Blood, Like Salt Water, and More than Happiness, and Momentary Altar.

7. Lots of talk, still too little change to policing three years after George Floyd’s murder. “The fault lines that widened in the aftermath of the Floyd murder are troublesome and continue to present serious peril as the nation struggles to deal with public safety and the role of police. But there are opportunities for consensus-based constructive change, if we’re smart enough to grab them.”

8. Conservative attacks on US abortion and trans healthcare come from the same place“Both are part of a project to roll back the victories of the feminist and gay rights movements and inscribe in law a firm definition and hierarchy of gender.”

9. The State Of Being A Published Writer In 2023 Is Really Weird, And A Little Worrisome from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

10. Everyone Is My Teacher: Three Poems / Three Lessons from Andrea Gibson.

11. 36 questions to stay in love.

12. Lewis Capaldi: Tiny Desk Concert.

13. How To Resist The Seduction Of Getting Things Done from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

14. Seven Existential Questions on A Grace Full Life. What a great set of prompts.

15. Welcome to the Department of Make Believe from Laurie Wagner. “I’ve been working with adults most of my life, and so much of the work we’re doing in Wild Writing has become about love. At first I thought it was writing I was teaching over 20 years ago, but it’s become all about listening and trusting the sound of our own voices – the stuff inside of us that we haven’t always had the courage to bring out.”

16. The Wisdom of The Essay from Summer Brennan. “Some thoughts from a recent craft seminar with award-winning writer Alexander Chee.”

17. 10 Minimalist Tips To Help You Simplify Your Home with Tammy Strobel on Be More With Less.

18. Understanding Rigidity, Elasticity and Trauma.

19. What Random Finds Do You Swear By? Make sure to read the comments.

20. Darkness is Not Absolute from Frederick Joseph. “The gift of like minds, and the weight of what’s to come.”

21. Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World (without a Bullhorn) by Omkari Williams is available for preorder. Omkari’s work and wisdom have been such a blessing to me.

22. 8 Ways Journals Are a Sensitive Introvert’s Best Friend.

23. Stay Above the Noise from Patti Digh’s Orange Desk. 

24. Visual Frameworks“Visual frameworks are patterns to help you think creatively, reframe challenging situations, and imagine possible strategies and solutions. Think of a situation or challenge that’s on your mind right now, and click an image below.” In related news, Exploring stuckness with visual frameworks.

25. Midjourney-Created Fake Ikea Bomb Shelter Furnishings Catalog.

26. Playing a religious character without making faith the punchline“I started watching this show a few weeks ago called Somebody Somewhere on HBO and raved about it to anyone who would listen. A lot of things struck me about it — the fullness of the queer characters for one, and the authenticity of the dialogue. But even more so for me, it stood out because of the way it represented religion through a character named Joel.” I adore this show.

27. Coincidences That Can Only Happen Once In A Lifetime.

28. The Unseen Side Of Everyday Things.

29. This. 

30. The exciting possibilities that open up when you rip up your lawn“In ‘Soil,’ Dungy recounts taking a grass and rockscape lawn in a suburban neighborhood and transforming it into an ecosystem for birds, bugs, rabbits and native plants. We talked together about the implications of gardening as a political and social act.”

31. Curious Squirrels and Rambunctious Hares Form a Miniature Menagerie of Felted Wildlife.

32. Recipe I want to try: Maple Bars. These are some of my favorite things and my mom used to make them — so good.

33. 39 award-winning photos that show some of the most vibrant colors around the world.

34. The Color Purple | Official Trailer (video). “A bold new take on the beloved classic.”

35. Tina Turner, rock and roll icon, dead at 83.

36. Ashley Judd Reflects on a Year of Grief on The New York Times. “The actress and mental health advocate shares how she coped while mourning the loss of her mother, the country music singer Naomi Judd, who died by suicide.”

37. Six Years In the Making, the Elaborate ‘Grand Jardin’ by Lisa Nilsson Pushes the Boundaries of Paper.

38. Amazingly intricate paper sculptures of animals and natural landscapes by Calvin Nicholls.

39. Stunning images of Indigenous peoples in their traditional splendor“Jimmy Nelson has gone all over the earth to photograph native peoples at their proudest moments and to show you their soul.”

40. A military police officer-turned-pacifist makes garden tools from guns.