1. Andrea Gibson embodies LOVE. For example: A Stranger Asks If She Can Pray For Me and The Worst Lines I’ve Ever Written (video).

2. Good stuff from Lion’s Roar: How to Make a Spectacular Mistake, (“You’re going to make one anyway, says Anita Feng. So why not go big? You might end up with something more beautiful than perfection”), and 10 Tips for a Mindful Home, (“Karen Maezen Miller offers 10 simple tips for keeping a mindful home. How simple? Well, as Karen says, ‘If you can do the first one, the next nine take care of themselves'”).

3. Social Media Rx from J Clement Wall’s most recent newsletter.

4. The Secret Gratitude List, “New Yorkers reveal what they’re privately thankful for this Thanksgiving.”

5. Single All The Way | Official Trailer | Netflix. (video) I very much recommend this sweet, funny Christmas love story. Elf is also now streaming on Netflix.

6. Recipe I want to try: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Our local Whole Foods used to make a lemon poppy seed scone that was SO good, and this looks like it may be similar, only in muffin form.

7. Remembering the Sand Creek Massacre. “Studying American history means confronting dark, shameful chapters. The Sand Creek Massacre is one such event. Learn more about the circumstances leading up to that tragic day and the aftermath here.”

8. Food Insecurity on Native Reservations Is Part of a History of Discrimination.

9. In Denver, Suicide Among Black Men is Soaring. “Halim Ali is helping young Black men in Denver address the trauma and anger that can turn into violence and suicide.”

10. One person has crowdsourced the very best life advice from over 20 million people online.

11. Meet an Ecologist Who Works for God (and Against Lawns) on The New York Times. “A Long Island couple say fighting climate change and protecting biodiversity starts at home. Or rather, right outside their suburban house.” The picture of their yard next to their neighbors lawn is really amazing, and one so clearly looks better than the other, IMHO.

12. These Wonderful Winter Snow Drawings Will Leave You In Awe.

13. The life and tragic death of John Eyers – a fitness fanatic who refused the vaccine. “He did triathlons, bodybuilding and mountain climbing and became skeptical of the Covid jab. Then, at 42, he contracted the virus.”

14. What’s It Like To Write A Book? by Ijeoma Oluo.

15. How ‘The 1619 Project’ underscores connection between slavery and modern America. (video)

16. Dozens of online Indigenous gift ideas. “The holiday season is here, and here’s a collection to help make the busy season that much easier while at the same time supporting Indigenous creators.”

17. How Watching British Reality TV Helped Me Finish My Novel. “Kirthana Ramisetti on Adapting to a New Set of Working Conditions in the Pandemic.”

18. The 50 Best Albums of 2021. “If the year presently coming to a close was a dance, it’d be a hesitant shuffle, tentative steps toward — or heyyyy, maybe away from? — an uncertain future. So maybe that’s why, when we sat down together to discuss which albums we loved the most over the course of 2021, NPR Music’s staff and contributors found ourselves drawn to albums by artists making breakthroughs, moving forward with clarity, without balking at the obstacles falling in their way.” They also compiled a list of the 100 Best Songs of 2021. And for both lists, they made playlists on various music streaming services so you can listen.

1. Learning To Love Being Wrong, “And why being right is boring” from Andrea Gibson. “When we lose our vice grip on being right, we are more open to having our minds and hearts changed. Open minds and hearts lead to a more peaceful, compassionate world.”

2. Reine #28: Love Is A Community Experience. “Ren Strapp is a butch lesbian illustrator and designer, who makes comics about her life.”

3. The seven types of rest: I spent a week trying them all. Could they help end my exhaustion? “When we feel fatigued most of us focus on sleep problems. But proper relaxation takes many forms. I spent a week exploring what really works.”

4. Why It’s Worth Rewilding on a Domestic Scale. “It doesn’t take much to add some wildness to your garden at home.”

5. How to Let Go of a Book You’ve Been Writing for Twenty Years. “Aaron Gilbreath on Growing Up with His New Book.”

6. For wellness community, social media often a conduit for misinformation. “NPR’s David Folkenflik talks with Derek Beres, co-host of the podcast Conspirituality, about vaccine misinformation in the health and wellness community.”

7. Musician Joanne Shenandoah, a powerful voice for Native culture, dies at 64.

8. Wisdom from Dza Kilung Rinpoche: “Sometimes it may seem that meditation means trying to do something different—to be something different. But it’s not that way really. What we’re really trying to do is to be what we already are. We discover the true nature of mind, instead of trying to be something else. But often we look at our thoughts and emotions, and we struggle with these, thinking that our mind’s nature is somewhere in there. But according to the Buddhist teachings, the true nature of mind is beyond disturbances; it is vast, spacious, and pure. And when we are connected to our true nature, to openness, there is a great potential for us to recognize that ‘This feels very familiar, this state of undisturbed mind.’ Intuitively we know we are home.”

9. 100 Notable Books of 2021 on The New York Times. In related news, NPR Books We Love: Best Books 2021 and What to Read When: A Holiday Book-Gifting Guide., and Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2021, organized by genre.

10. Wisdom from Marcus Garvey: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”

11. Not My America: Patriotism, Thanksgiving, and White Erasure. In related news, Day of Mourning, 2021 Resources (Google doc), and Groups and Indigenous Organizers to Support (Twitter thread), and Thanksgiving offers a way forward, and Complicated thanks, and Thanksgiving Promotes Whitewashed History, So I Organized Truthsgiving Instead, and Unpacking Origins of Thanksgiving Leads to Hard Truths.

12. The Standing Rock resistance and our fight for Indigenous rights, (TED Talk). “Still invisible and often an afterthought, Indigenous peoples are uniting to protect the world’s water, lands and history — while trying to heal from genocide and ongoing inequality. Tribal attorney and Couchiching First Nation citizen Tara Houska chronicles the history of attempts by government and industry to eradicate the legitimacy of Indigenous peoples’ land and culture, including the months-long standoff at Standing Rock which rallied thousands around the world. ‘It’s incredible what you can do when you stand together,’ Houska says. ‘Stand with us — empathize, learn, grow, change the conversation.'”

13. The modern family. “Amid distance and estrangement and strain, some are happily replacing the clans they’re born into with chosen families.”

14. Depression can make tasks as easy as showering feel impossible — here’s how I dealt.

15. Adele Breaks Down In Tears After Reuniting With Favorite Teacher During Concert Surprise.

16. Nicholas Ashe on Queen Sugar, Queer Art, and Coming Out in an Instagram Post.

17. CSU professor and ‘father of veterinary medical ethics’ Bernie Rollin dead at 78. Not gonna lie, I sort of thought he was going to live forever.

18. It’s now possible to visit the Smithsonian’s African American history museum virtually.

19. This webcomic made it okay to be sad online. Then its artist vanished. “The author of ‘Pictures for Sad Children’ went AWOL after a 2014 Kickstarter drama. In an exclusive interview, she explains why she had to unplug from the internet.”

20. 25 Weird Websites That’ll Make You Laugh And Confused.

21. Gary Shteyngart: Three Simple Tricks for Writing Your Novel FAST!!! **Spoiler Alert!!!**: “Walk! Nap! Write!”

22. Push Off from Here: Quitting Social Media (Again).