Category Archives: Susannah Conway

Something Good


1. Giving away good stuff for free. There are a lot of websites and blogs where if you sign up for the regular newsletter, you get a free book–and these aren’t cheap, crappy giveaways, this is meaningful, useful, and oftentimes beautifully designed content. Some good stuff for I’ve gotten for free recently:

  • “The Anatomy of Joy,” a 90 minute talk, live streamed online, by Brene’ Brown.
  • The Open Heart Project. You’ve heard me talk about it before and plenty, but I can’t say enough good things about it. If you are interested in meditation, you absolutely should sign up for this. Susan’s mini (not small in meaning, but short in time) dharma talks and meditation with instruction are definitely something good. This week, she talked about one of my favorite subjects, basic goodness, in her “You are Good” post.
  • Hulu. I know that in a technical way, it’s not really free (they make you watch commercials), but I love that while I no longer pay for cable tv, I can still selectively and mindfully watch the good stuff (which mostly means “stuff that makes me laugh”): Modern Family, Parks & Recreation, 30 Rock, Community, and Glee.
  • Creative Joy Workbook (click the link to download your own copy), put together by Susannah Conway, Jennifer Louden, and Marianne Elliott. Susannah also shared links to all the other people who wrote about creative joy last week, and made a creative joy mix tape (she makes the best mixes!).

2. Speaking of Susannah’s mix tapes, I was listening to her “Dance Meditation” mix this weekend, and heard Samantha James, who I hadn’t known about before, and who I am now loving. Here’s a video of the title song from her new album.

 

3. Real Writers Rest from The Write Practice blog. This is a great collection of wisdom, but you want to know the irony? I’ve been too busy to read all of it!

4. Demystifying self-care: 34 ways to begin your self-care practice, a great list by Jenn Gibson on Roots of She. Again, the proof that I need to read this is that I haven’t given myself the time or space to take a mindful look at it, or get even close to applying any of its wisdom.

5. 11 Questions, 11 Answers from A Design So Vast. This meme sounds so fun, but I don’t have time to do it right now…are you sensing a theme here, dear reader?

6. Castaway on the Moon. I wanted to watch a movie one night last week, and was trying to find something on Netflix streaming. I was considering Melancholia, but it was described as dark and dramatic, and I was home alone. Just as I was about to stoop as low as I could get and watch “No Strings Attached” with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, I saw the listing for Castaway on the Moon, and remembered that my friend Courtney had watched and recommended it. So good…

 

7. You might not know this about me, but I think things like Autocorrect Fail are so funny, I can’t even read them–I start laughing so hard, I can hardly stop, and almost make myself sick, (seriously, even having to look it up to get the link was risky). Here’s another set I loved, Texts From My Dog.

8. Smart and funny, it’s Incidental Comics.

Gratitude Friday

This post is a mashup of The Little Bliss List and Joy Jam, and as such is meant to celebrate: the little things that brought me hope and happiness this week, the sweet stuff of life, those small gifts that brought me joy this week. By sharing them, I not only make public my gratitude, but maybe also help you notice your own good stuff and send some positive energy out into the world.

1. Lilacs. They are blooming, and I cut some yesterday to bring in to the house. They are my favorite flowers, but they come and go so quickly.

2. Dexter and Sam. I spent a lot of extra time with them this week, we took lots of walks, cuddled, and hung out in the back yard. They make me so happy.

3. Eric. He was gone a lot this week, and missing him so much made me appreciate him that much more. I sincerely do not know what I would do without him.

4. Blogging from the Heart. Today is the last day of class. I will attempt a longer post, a review, a thank you at some later date, but for now I will simply say this class was amazing, and I am so grateful, for it and for Susannah Conway and all that she does. Luckily, her Unravelling class starts on Monday, so we’ll only be apart over the weekend.

5. Fearless Creativity, a writing and meditation retreat at Shambhala Mountain Center led by Susan Piver. I am headed there today, am so excited about it. I won’t be back until Monday. I have some posts set to release so that I don’t miss anything, but I will be otherwise absent. I will return with lots to share, I’m sure.