1. Poems from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer: Ode to the Echo and Exemplar and It’s Going to Take a Long Time.

2. You Can Do It on Craft Talk, a good reminder for anyone trying to do anything.

3. Sounds True Podcast | Susan Cain: Bittersweet: The Hidden Riches in Sorrow and Longing.

4. How to Be Un-Dead: Anaïs Nin and D.H. Lawrence on the Key to Living Fully.

5. A whole bunch of good stuff from Lion’s Roar: A Practice to Navigate Grief (“In this excerpt from her new book, Navigating Grief and Loss, Kimberly Brown takes us through the practice of ‘standing on the earth,’ which can help us in times of great change and grief”), and How to Be Weird (“Eric G. Wilson explains how we can see the strangeness in reality, and how examining the ‘weird’ can help us understand the essence of life), and Do Dishes, Rake Leaves: The Wisdom of the Ancient Homemakers (“Karen Maezen Miller on how the domestic practice of ancient Zen masters can lead us to intimate encounters with our own lives”), and The Do-Nothing Farmer’s Guide to a Perfect Harvest (“Mark Frank’s five steps to successfully doing nothing — in your garden or any other part of your life”).

6. A Theory of Sprawling Holidays: Welcome to Weeklong Halloween. Because this, “commodification and consumption becomes the primary way that Christmas is expressed, is experienced. The primary affect is one of near-constant purchasing, unboxing, arranging — a vigilant doing — as opposed to periods of observation, contemplation, devotion, being.”

7. ‘I’m changing and I don’t think society helps at all’: Christine and the Queens’ journey to becoming Redcar. “The French pop star has endured the death of his mother, record industry resistance and a backlash after adopting male pronouns. In an emotional interview, he talks about the struggle to understand himself and the music he makes.”

8. The Sounds of Your Self. “‘Finding your voice’—or, even better, your voices—on the page is more than a craft challenge; it’s the key to claiming your story.” In related news, Dismantling the Patriarchy by Reclaiming Her Voice. “Elissa Bassist reflects on how women’s voices get silenced & reborn, the eleven years it took to write her memoir, and how she wrote like a mother#^@%*&.”

9. 30-day challenge from Austin Kleon. In the beginning, this is one of the ways I cultivated my writing practice and this blog.

10. Permacrisis declared Collins Dictionary word of the year. “Collins’s annual compilation of 10 words or phrases which ‘reflect our ever-evolving language and the preoccupations of those who use it’.”

11. The Art of Persuasion in a Polarized Age. “For the majority of Americans who still believe in liberal democracy, in the idea that humans are created equal, and in fact-based reality, talking to those we care about on the other side can feel hopeless. Is there any point trying to reach these people? Is changing minds that don’t want to change a lost cause? It isn’t.”

12. The Body Keeps the Score, and it will Fucking Win.

13. Death as Life’s Work. “In her new book, Hayley Campbell seeks to demystify death by sharing the perspectives of funeral home directors, gravediggers and others.”

14. The Best Cinnamon Rolls You’ll Ever Eat, a recipe that claims, “The BEST cinnamon rolls in the WORLD. Big, fluffy, soft and absolutely delicious. You’ll never go back to any other recipe once you try this one!” and as my partner said, “there’s only one way to find out!” I also want to try this recipe: Lebkuchen (aka German Gingerbread).

15. Dyed and Rolled Pages Splay Outward into Flower-Like Forms in Cara Barer’s Book Sculptures.

16. Ray Bradbury on feeding your creativity from Austin Kleon.

17. Don’t Be Afraid to Do These 10 Hard Things for Yourself.

18. On Being Selfish.

19. 10 Essential Areas to Declutter that Will Save You More Time. I like how this frames the effort as a way to make your home more functional for you rather than to prove something to other people.

20. 99 Mindful Conversation Topics For Deeper Connections. These would make good journal prompts too.

21. 5 Beliefs That Increase My Calm. “These powerful mindsets can lead to less drama and more peace.”

22. Painted on Vintage Postcards, Flora and Fauna Celebrate Farming Traditions and Wildlife of the Midwest.

23. 7 Little Things That Make Highly Sensitive People Happy.

24. Photographer Levon Biss Illuminates the Strange, Otherworldly Chrysalises of Butterfly Pupae.

25. Rest Is Resistance. “How to dream your way toward a radically decolonized future”, an excerpt from Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey.

26. Kindly Go Fuck Yourself With Your Shitty Fucking Gas-Powered Leafblower, You Tremendous Asshole from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds. Seriously, leafblowers are dumb.

27. “Autumn Anxiety” Is a Thing, and This Is How I Deal with It.

28. How to thrive during (and after) this election.

29. 3 Myths About Themselves That Highly Sensitive Introverts Need to Stop Believing.

30. Dried Flowers Are Arranged into Passageways and Processions in Installations by Rebecca Louise Law. This one is my favorite.

31. Natural Wood Kaleidoscope. This is so cool. It’s also on sale, so I bought one for a holiday gift.

32. If bumblebees can play, does it mean they have feelings? This study suggests yes.

1. Wild Rooster Walks Into Couple’s House And Decides To Stay. (video) I think I shared this when it first came out, but it’s too silly to not share again. The Dodo consistently creates and shares some of my favorite content.

2. OuiSi game sets, “award-winning sets of visually-connecting (‘this looks like that’) Photo Cards, with games and activities that ignite creativity and curiosity, regardless of age.” These look fun.

3. Recipe I want to try: Perfect Starbucks Grilled Cheese (copycat recipe). 

4. Leslie Jordan, Comic Actor and Instagram Star, Dies at 67 on The New York Times. In related news, these three videos: Weeks before his death, Leslie Jordan reflected on his career and unexpected turn to country music, and Comedian Leslie Jordan, known for his roles on “Will & Grace” and “American Horror Story,” dies at 67, and In Memory Of Leslie Jordan.

5. What To Do About Twitter? from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds. “Most of our avenues of information — again, The Media, writ large — are gripped tightly by the hands of right-wing capitalist assholes who view and treat media less like it’s a vehicle for truth and more like it’s a vehicle ultimately for money. Yes, also a vehicle to further agenda, but ultimately, that agenda is to cycle more money. It’s always money. Making it. Laundering it. Occasionally setting it on fire.” In related news, Shonda Rhimes Says Bye-Bye to Twitter After Elon Musk Takeover, “‘Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye,’ she wrote curtly.”

6. How to cope with SAD or seasonal affective disorder.

7. Rogan Brown – Paper Sculptures. “My work comes into being in the space where science fact and science fiction meet and merge…Paper, my chosen material, embodies the paradoxical qualities that we see in nature: its fragility and durability, its strength and delicacy; there is a pleasing poetic symmetry in taking this material that was cut from the forest and by cutting and transforming it once again returning it to its origins.” These are amazing.

8. Fortune Feimster Jokes Being ‘Obsessed’ with Her Dog Leaves No Time for Kids with Wife Jax Smith. In related news, Comedian Fortune Feimster’s star on the rise. (video)

9. After the First Snow Storm, a poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. 

“And so this cold morning,
driving on ice
when I feel the slip of the wheels
as they lose traction,
the heart resonates
with the skid.”

10. TikTok influencer Isaiah Garza was once homeless. Now he gives back to people in need: “I was born to do this”. (video) I have seen his videos but never knew the backstory, his origin story.

11. A canine psychologist with a new puppy explores ‘how dogs become themselves’. “Between the humanness of the human and the dogness of the dog lies a sublime mystery. Many of us call it love.” 

12. Wisdom from Priscilla Long by way of Jena Schwartz: “Sustaining creative work requires respecting yourself, honoring your life, and the humility and faith to keep going despite the ambiguity of creative work and the lack of guarantees regarding either artistic outcome or recognition. Honor yourself and your work as if the world depended on it. The world does depend on it.”

13. How 3 Buddhist Teachers Work with Difficult Emotions on Lion’s Roar. “Working with difficult emotions is a lifelong practice. Three Buddhist teachers [Susan Piver, Karen Maezen Miller, and Norman Fischer] open up about their own struggles.”

14. The Pattern of Pretendianism, “And the sort of nuanced analysis you can’t have on Twitter.”

15. Thank you. I love you. I release you with great love. from Amy Oscar. “Listening to who I was then is helping me become who I am now.”

16. Fear-Mongering at The Grocery Store, and More of “Wellness’” Greatest Tricks.

17. Prepping for the Apocalypse Means Building Community On Movement Memos, a Truthout Podcast. “‘Our mutual investment in one another’s survival is our greatest resource, and our greatest hope,’ says Kelly Hayes. In this episode of ‘Movement Memos,’ Hayes talks with anthropologist and survivalist instructor Chris Begley about the lessons of his book The Next Apocalypse: The Art and Science of Survival, and why many of us might be preparing for the wrong apocalypse.”

18. We Need to Talk About Women and ADHD.

19. No More Grind: How to Finally Rest with Tricia Hersey on We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle. (podcast)

20. This American Life Ep. 779: Ends of the Earth. (podcast) “An exploration of the very upper limits of what you do for someone you love.”

21. 50 Worst Things That Waste Your Time – Guilty or Nah? “Whether you use or waste the moments you have, you always face the consequences and results accordingly. In this blog post, we’ll discuss 50 of the most common things that waste time and how to avoid them.” 

22. In a poetic mood. “Poetry ruminates and reflects, explores thoughts and emotions, or a snapshot in time, without necessarily being linear.”

23. The Art of Dying by Peter Schjeldahl. “I always said that when my time came I’d want to go fast. But where’s the fun in that?”

24. 3 of the Things I Love Most About Getting Older. My favorite thing about getting older? Still being here.

25. 5 Reasons I Don’t Want a Bigger Home. “And five reasons I do want more space!”

26. 99 Free (Or Affordable) Self-Care Ideas For Your Wellness Routine.

27. 102 Best Random Acts of Kindness Ideas.

28. 30+ Gratitude Journal Prompts.

29. 10 ways not getting enough sleep is killing you. This “‘unrecognized epidemic’ is about more than just feeling tired — it can actually lead to a number of entirely unnecessary, chronic conditions. Here are 10 things sleep deprivation can do to you.”

30. Landed, “is not a dating app or friend finder, but a one-time, meaningful interaction with a different person each week. It is social media that supports your life, not the other way around.” This looks really interesting.

31. Landed Just 22 Of The Best Fall Shoes In Existence, No Big Deal. Transitioning back to needing to wear something other than flip flops or going barefoot is always hard for me.

32. The 13 Things That ‘Horrify’ Introverts the Most.

33. Feast of Losses: A Communion of Grief and Gratitude. “Jami Sieber (composer, cellist) and Kim Rosen (spoken word artist) have created a transformative convergence of music and poems that emerge from the heartbreak, gratitude and wake-up call of this moment in our lives and in the life of our world. The words of Langston Hughes, Stanley Kunitz, Marie Howe, Ellen Bass, Lucille Clifton, W.S. Merwin, Deena Metzger, Mark Nepo, Yehuda Amichai, and Mary Oliver, spoken by Kim, rise and fall in the evocative waves of Jami’s original music.” I just downloaded this. I feel like I need a little nudge to fully open up to my grief and after listening to the “Adrift by Mark Nepo” track, I think it’s just the thing for it.