1. Wisdom from Desmond Tutu: “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.”
2. Mud-caked feet, berries for breakfast and hiding from hunters: my life as a deer. “When still a teenager, Geoffroy Delorme dropped out of his lonely childhood to live among the animals in the woods of Normandy – and stayed for seven years.”
3. Michelle Yeoh has a new leading role and a new motto: No more turning the other cheek. An interview with one of my favorite actresses about her new movie, which ends with this wisdom, “I think you have to be present. This life is yours. But if you’re not present, it’s wasted. Time waits for no one. When we’re born, we age and then we die, and God forbid, we die before we have lived our lives. So we have to be present in whatever universe, in whatever life, because if you give up on being present, then you give up on your life.”
4. What I Loved (and Feared) About School as an Introvert.
5. Florals, Beads, and Lace Embellish Whimsical Faux Taxidermy and Anatomical Sculptures.
6. People Say Turning 50 Is Fabulous. Here’s What They Didn’t Tell Me. “The truth is, I’m scared. I’m scared that I’m 50 and I haven’t done enough. I’m scared that I’m 50 and I don’t know what to do now. And I’m scared that before I can unravel these fears and grab onto a tangible thread of direction, time is going to run out.” Yup. Same.
7. The Unbearable Whiteness and Fatphobia of “Anti-Diet” Dietitians. “These white female dietitians have helped steal and monetize the body positive movement. And I’m sick of it.”
8. Here’s What a $135 Million New York Apartment With Views of Central Park Looks Like On the Inside.
9. How Serena Williams Saved Her Own Life. “Black women are nearly three times more likely to die after childbirth than white women. Serena Williams was almost one of them. Here, in her own words, she tells her story.”
10. This Map Shows How Much Money You Have to Make to Afford a Home in Each State. Colorado is the third highest after Hawaii and California, and yet, there’s this: Gov. Polis signs bill guaranteeing abortion access in Colorado.
11. Ketanji Brown Jackson Invokes History, Family in Emotional Speech.
12. Ocean Vuong on Taking the Time You Need to Write. “Live your life but tend to the work mentally.” In related news, Ocean Vuong’s Brief But Spectacular take on grief and language, and In ‘Time is a Mother,’ poet Ocean Vuong reflects on life, and time, without his mom.
13. Teachers Are Done. No, Really. “Teachers are either burned out, have lost faith in the system, are disillusioned with their leadership, are sick of the constant pandering to parents and politicians, or all of it combined. Teachers are no longer willing to heal a system beyond repair at their own expense. They are done, and it’s universal.”
14. It’s not just doctors and nurses. Veterinarians are burning out, too.
15. Why on Earth would the Grammys give Louis C.K. an award? “His first comedy album since he admitted to sexual misconduct won big on Sunday night.” So disappointing.
16. So I Bought the Gay Green Couch.
17. Surfer Photographer Captures Power and Beauty of Waves.
18. What to do if you test positive for COVID at this point in the pandemic.
19. People are developing trauma-like symptoms as the pandemic wears on.
20. Twitter Is Discussing ‘Shopping Cart Theory’ To Determine If Someone Is A Good Person. P.S. I’m one of the good ones.
21. Chris Smalls started Amazon’s 1st union. He’s now heard from workers at 50 warehouses. In related news, He was fired by Amazon 2 years ago. Now he’s the force behind the company’s 1st union and A conversation with the warehouse workers who created the e-commerce giant’s first union against all odds on The New York Times.
22. The Rise of Bitcoin and Other Stupid Meme Currencies. (video) “Bitcoin: Is it something nerds made up on the internet or is it the future of currency? Throwback to when Ronny Chieng headed to Wall Street to investigate the surge of the cryptocurrency.” While he’s at it, maybe he can explain what the heck is an NFT.
23. Love Letters to Libraries for National Library Week on StoryCorps. (videos)
24. The Endearing ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ Returns with a Feature-Length Mockumentary.
25. Do Nothing! Stay in Bed! Be Idle! – How to Live a Bit Better By Doing a Bit Less. “I fill my waking hours with work – and feel bad if I ‘waste’ a single minute. Perhaps I need to learn to embrace the benefits of doing nothing?”
26. Good stuff from Seth Godin: And maybe it’s enough and Convenience and boredom.
27. Wisdom from Omkari Williams: “Lately, it feels like we’re drinking, or trying to drink, from a fire hose. Not a week has gone by without at least one catastrophe. An ice shelf the size of Rome collapsing in Antarctica, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the atrocities being committed by Russian soldiers, mass shootings here in the U.S., and more and it all feels…exhausting. It’s in times like these that I remember why it’s so very important to limit the focus of what we attempt to do. Small consistent actions beat swinging for the fence and burning out. Staying in motion matters. Inertia and overwhelm are the enemies of progress.”
28. Good stuff on Lion’s Roar: “A Cloud Never Dies” biographical documentary of Thich Nhat Hanh (“The new documentary tells Thich Nhat Hanh’s life story using original photographic and film archives”), and In Times of Crisis, Draw Upon the Strength of Peace (“When we are called upon to help in a crisis, says Kaira Jewel Lingo, it’s not a question of whether or not to respond — we must respond. But the way we do is crucial”).
29. Artist Ema Shin on Instagram. Her embroidery is amazing.
30. A Cow is Born from Andrea Gibson.
31. Needing Each Other is Human. “I’m not independent and I don’t wanna be.”
32. Back to Blogging: Why Writing for Yourself Still Matters. “With an abundance of social media apps to help you log and share your every move, it would seem that traditional blogging would be on its way out. But should it be? Here are 3 reasons it still matters.”
33. Your last 15 minutes before the end of the world, ranked from worst to best. This is a heart breaker.
34. The Thing She Carried. A photo essay in which “Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni documented the predicament of Ukrainian refugees through penetrating portraits. The photographers also asked their subjects to display one important thing they were able to bring with them from home.” In related news, I Am An Artist From Ukraine And I Created These Drawings Illustrating Horrors Of The War.
36. Movements, Missing Stairs and Lindo Bacon from Lindley Ashline. Of particular interest are the follow-ups and further reading links at the bottom of the post. Oftentimes in the midst of a necessary change so much harm is done by those who want things to stay the same, who don’t want to change, who don’t want to admit they may have been wrong.
37. A Handbook for Abolitionists. “Patrisse Cullors’ new book offers guidance for personal, as well as systemic, change. Breaking the cycle of harm starts with us.”
38. Reader-Submitted Mini Memoirs: High School Scandals. “From an unwanted kiss on a doorstep to toxic rumors in a cornfield, these are our favorite reader submissions.”
39. What Does It Mean to Be Pansexual? “A pansexual sex counselor shares what it means to love people of all genders and beyond.”
40. Sarah Lancashire becomes master — and teacher — of French cooking as Julia Child. We’ve been watching this show and it’s so good — of course we are big nerds and own The French Chef on DVD.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 