1. How the Pandemic Made Me Lose My Ambition. “There’s an illusion with work that everything you give up now, all the stolen time commuting, working overtime, checking your email and Slack notifications after hours, will somehow earn you freedom and capital in your later years. But the farce of “work hard now, play later” has been exposed for millennials and Gen-Zers; most of us will be working until we die. It’s hard to maintain your ambition in the face of that reality.”

2. Don’t insist on being positive – allowing negative emotions has much to teach us. “Leaning into difficult feelings can help you find the way forward, according to a refreshing new wave of books, says Jamie Waters.”

3. One Good Thing: Conversations with strangers, which I missed so much. “But the camaraderie that comes from just being alive at this moment — having survived to this point, to be able to sit in a snowy bistro on 10th Avenue and bask in the kindness of strangers. To celebrate that we are here, both human, and to be alive together in this moment is a little bit of a miracle.”

4. “Let me tell you a secret.” (video) I have this one saved so I can rewatch it whenever I want and as many times as I need.

5. For the first time in 4 years, a litter of red wolf pups was born in the wild. “U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff in North Carolina welcomed a litter of six red wolf pups into the world earlier this week. It’s the first time in four years that a pair of wild red wolves — a species teetering on the brink of extinction — gave birth to a litter in the wild.”

6. Moonlit Forests, Fish, and Branches Populate Kirie Silhouettes Cut from a Single Sheet of Paper.

7. An Abandoned Farmhouse Transformed Into a Life-Size Dollhouse by Heather Benning Reflects on Ideas of Home.

8. Alice Walker Has ‘No Regrets’ on The New York Times. “Walker has grappled with some of the thorniest issues of 20th-century America. She’s also taken troubling stances. She has now opened up and shared her diaries, giving readers a window into her life.”

9. How planting trees fostered a sense of belonging and changed this filmmaker’s life.

10. Scientists Find No Benefit to Time-Restricted Eating on The New York Times. “In a yearlong study, participants who confined meals to certain hours lost no more weight than those who ate at any time.”

11. The Way Out Is In / Kaira Jewel Lingo on White Supremacy and Racial Healing. (podcast)

12. People Are Sharing What They Miss Most About Life Before Cell Phones.

13. How Long Does Menopause Last? on The New York Times. “And how will I know when it’s over?”

14. Trans comedian shares her transition journey on TikTok in an uplifting and funny way.

15. How will I meet this? “When the world around us feels chaotic and out of control, we can feel as if we are walking in the wilderness, lost and alone. Where can we turn, what can we do to return to calm, peace & acceptance?”

16. I Lived the #VanLife. It Wasn’t Pretty. on The New York Times. “The writer Caity Weaver’s pursuit of the manifest destiny of the millennial generation ended up looking better in the photos.”

17. When Meditation Turns Toxic: The Woman Exposing Spiritual Sexism. “Since suffering a miscarriage at a women’s retreat, Tara Brach has tried to reform the world of meditation by arming its practitioners with a single weapon: self-compassion.”

18. Touching short film shows how the smallest act of kindness can help someone with depression.

19. Arundhati Roy on Religious Nationalism, Dissent, and the Battle Between Myth and History.

20. Fiber Artist and Animator Andrea Love Combines Her Passions For Fibers and Stop-Animation, And The Results Will Blow Your Mind.

21. Good stuff from Seth Godin: Words that matter and Cooperative enthusiasm.

22. Famous Last Words from Andrea Gibson.

23. “You Can’t Separate People From the Planet”, activist and author Leah Thomas lays out her vision for a more just environmental movement.

24. Recipe I want to try: Sesame Garlic Ramen Noodles.

25. 6 Ways to Incorporate Sweden’s Concept of “Plogging” Into All of Your Outdoor Activities.

26. A Gentler, Better Way to Change Minds. “Stop wielding your values as a weapon and start offering them as a gift.”

27. It’s a myth that suffering makes you stronger. “Suffering is not beautiful, nor is it a state of grace. But you can swim to the wreckage at the bottom and bring something back to the surface that can help others, says writer Lidia Yuknavitch.”

28. Closing Up Shop on a Marriage, from the Modern Love series on The New York Times. “When the last thing you share is your pharmacy rewards account.”

29. Statistics on Clutter That Will Blow Your Mind. “If you didn’t realize that there is a clutter problem, these statistics on clutter will help you see its pervasiveness. The statistics on clutter are shocking, but being informed can help us make better choices going forward.”

30. The unmasking of a selfish nation. “COVID-19 didn’t change America. It revealed our cruelties and churlishness in a time of unprecedented crisis.”

1. Memories of Thay on Lion’s Roar. “A collection of tributes to and memories of Thich Nhat Hanh from Peggy Rowe Ward, Shantum Seth, Hozan Alan Senauke, Larry Ward, Kaira Jewel Lingo, Rebecca Solnit, and Dzung Vo.” Other good stuff from Lion’s Roar: Spring Prayer (“Shozan Jack Haubner presents a prayer for the chaotic awakening of nature that is spring”) and I Vow to Save Everyone? (“Noel Alumit reflects on the daunting commitment of the bodhisattva vows, and how his ordination bolstered his relationship with his mother and culture”).

2. One Heart is Enough from Jena Schwartz. “A dozen years after one of the hardest periods of my life, the one when I stood by my own knowing even as grief and guilt threatened to engulf me, I have come to see just how powerfully the assumption that my job was to make sure everyone else was happy has steered my choices and dictated my responses.” *sigh*

3. Comedian Hannah Gadsby opens up about autism diagnosis, sexuality in memoir ‘Ten Steps to Nanette.’

4. 90 Journal Prompts For When You Feel Like You Have Nothing to Write About.

5. How To Find a Therapist: Your Comprehensive Guide.

6. This Year, Try Spring Cleaning Your Brain on The New York Times. “Five ways to soothe a mind overstimulated by anxiety, stress and streams of information.”

7. A small list of knowable things. “From quietly provocative international best selling author and TV writer Jonny Sun, a weekly illustration and reflection on a personal object close to his heart.”

8. Things to feel bad about from Seth Godin.

9. 5 Thoughtful Ways To Help You Underreact on Be More With Less from Courtney Carver. Did you know I wrote a piece that’s posted on this site? It’s part of the Simplicity in Action series, stories that “demonstrate that a life of simplicity comes in many shapes and sizes.” Read mine: Simplicity in Action: Jill.

10. A Time Like This from Laurie Wagner, whose Wild Writing Family is open for registration until April 22nd.

11. Banned Books Book Club. “A monthly book club, library and fund dedicated to reading and protecting the most important books for our generation.”

12. The Final Pandemic Betrayal. “Millions of people are still mourning loved ones lost to COVID, their grief intensified, prolonged, and even denied by the politics of the pandemic.”

13. Yes, Colonialism Caused Climate Change, IPCC Reports. “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its final report Monday. The Frontline explores the significance of the sixth report finally naming ‘colonialism’ as a historical and ongoing driver of the climate crisis.”

14. To Be Pro-Choice, You Must Have the Privilege of Having Choices on The New York Times. In which Monica Simpson, the executive director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, states, “it’s important to keep in mind that Roe never fully protected Black women — or poor women or so many others in this country. That’s because Roe ensured the right to abortion without ensuring that people could actually get an abortion. People seeking abortions in America must consider: Do I have the money? How far is the nearest clinic, and can I get there? Can I take off work? Will I be safe walking into the clinic? For more privileged people, these questions are rarely a deterrent. But for many women of color and poor people, they are major obstacles. That’s how white supremacy works.”

15. The Expanding Job: Some problems even a wife can’t fix. “And if you are utterly unwilling to hire more people to do the amount of work we do, and utterly unwilling to decrease the amount of work you do, then you should be honest with yourselves: you’re fine with the human wreckage, you’re fine with moral injury, you’re fine with churn, you’re fine with continually unraveling societal bonds, you’re fine with snow-capped organizations, you’re fine with the enduring wage gap, and you’re fine with the toxicity that pervades our company.” I left my job a year before the pandemic and so many others continue to leave, all for these very reasons.

16. 31 Toddler Products That’ll Make You Think, ‘Wow, I Could Really Use This In My Life.’ A little person I know is definitely getting the scavenger hunt and scissor skills book for her next birthday.

17. How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero on The New York Times. “To independent booksellers, the enormous chain was once a threat. Now it’s vital to their survival. And it’s doing well.”

18. Daily Activities Are Interwoven into Rural Landscapes in Ágnes Herczeg’s Lace Sculptures.

19. Nature Writing is Survival Writing: On Rethinking a Genre. “Michelle Nijhuis Thinks It’s Time for Some New Perspectives.”

20. The Noom paradox. “Noom is a diet app in an anti-diet moment.”

21. Bitch Magazine Is Closing: Bad News For Me, You and Indie Media Overall.

22. Turns out Aimee Mann is really good at painting, too. “The famed singer-songwriter thought a nervous system disorder might end her music career. She coped by creating revelatory comics — and portraits of first ladies.”

23. I Lost My Mom 12 Years Ago. And No, I’ll Never ‘Get Over’ It. “I’m marking another Mother’s Day without my mom as people around the world deal with new, raw grief. Here’s what I know about how to cope.” In related news, What’s at the Heart of Grief? Love, Actually, (“My conversation with Marisa Renee Lee about her new book, Grief Is Love, which unpacks and reframes this complicated emotion).

24. 5 toxic pieces of advice that are hurting your writing.

25. Meet Elyse Myers: What to Know About the Comedian Who Shot to TikTok Fame for Viral ‘Worst Date Ever’ Video. “Elyse Myers opens up to PEOPLE about building a following of millions, finding celebrity fans like Reese Witherspoon and spreading a message of positivity.” I love Elyse. I wouldn’t agree with the way PEOPLE framed what she does as “spreading a message of positivity” — what she actually does is be honest about how hard being human is, all the ways we all screw up and suffer, and reminds us there are good things, lots to laugh about, and we don’t have to give up.

26. The Poetry of a Body a short story contest winner by Megan Falley.

27. The Shape of the Void: Toward a Definition of Poetry on The New York Times. “‘Poetry leaves something out,’ our columnist Elisa Gabbert says. But that’s hardly the extent of it.”

28. What Is Your Ikigai? Finding Pleasure and Purpose In Life. “The Japanese word is often translated as ‘the reason for getting up in the morning.’ It’s that … and more.”

29. Densely Arranged Stone Gradients Sweep Across the Sand in Jon Foreman’s Extraordinary Land Art.

30. The Truth Isn’t Anti-White. The Truth Is The Truth. “I wonder what America could be if it faced itself? What could America be if it taught real history? What could America be if we changed the landscape of our monuments to use them similar to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe to tell the story of enslavement in America? What are we so afraid of? The truth isn’t what should divide us or cause fear. Learning the lessons the truth offers is what will bring us together if we ever want to move towards healing. However, one of the first steps of healing is acknowledging that something has happened. There is no healing without admitting and telling the truth. There is no healing without facing the truth. If America ever wants to be what it can be, we must tell the story accurately.” Amen.

31. As ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’ turns 100, its message continues to resonate. “‘It is true that some of the most beautiful stories ever written for children … have been sad stories,’ Williams Bianco wrote in the literary magazine The Bookman in 1925. ‘But it is the sadness which is inseparable from life, which has to do with growth and change and impermanence, and with the very essence of beauty.'”