Category Archives: Susannah Conway

Something Good

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today is a U.S. federal holiday marking the birth of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At the age of 35, he was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, choosing to turn over the award ($54,123) in order to further the civil rights movement. His commitment to non-violent change, to standing up for civil rights (or sitting down for, as the case may be), speaking out against popular opinion in the face of a clear injustice, is worth remembering, worth celebrating, worth an aspiration or two. I was reading quotes from MLK this morning, and thinking about how smart, how brave, and how kind his words, his way of being in the world: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. photographed by Marion S. Trikosko, 1964.

Another good, related read is “5 Lessons from MLK on Living, Leading, & Communicating” from Jeff Goins.

Seth Godin and the TED Imperatives

In a blog post by Seth Godin this week, he shared:

The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) imperatives

  1. Be interested.
  2. Be generous.
  3. Be interesting.
  4. Connect.

He goes on to suggest that these “aren’t just principles for TED, of course. They’re valid guidelines for any time you choose to stop hiding and step out into the world.” Amen!

Downtown Abbey

I haven’t started watching this yet, but people can’t seem to stop talking about it, and I just noticed that the first season is available on Netflix streaming.

“Fearless Creativity” with Susan Piver

“Fearless Creativity: A Meditation & Writing Retreat with Susan Piver” is going to be held at the Shambhala Mountain Center, April 13th-16th. Guess who gets to go? ME!!! So excited…Holy wow! I’ve mentioned Susan and her Open Heart Project here many times. She is an amazing teacher, smart and kind and funny, and this retreat is a gift I am giving to my artist self, to my sad and tender warrior heart.

Meditation Hall at Warrior Assembly, Shambhala Mountain Center, Summer of 2009

Susannah Conway

I have a big, fat girl crush on Susannah Conway–yet another amazing woman, teacher, artist, and love warrior you have heard me talk about before. I love, love, love her work. I preordered her next book, “This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart.” Her recent “My ABC of important things” is a great post, a great idea for a writing prompt. And as soon as registration opens, I am signing up for her e-course “Blogging from the Heart.” Her perspective, one that she shares with kindness and an open heart, presents grace and stillness and beauty, freely to anyone who chooses to see.

Image by Susannah Conway, "Stillness" Series

Creative Living with Jamie Ridler

Okay, I didn’t realize until just now that today’s Something Good has a strong focus on all the amazing women I am in love with right now. One more is Jamie Ridler, who hosts Wishcasting Wednesdays and Full Moon Dreamboards, and does a great podcast, “Creative Living.” This past week, she talked with Julia Cameron, (you might have heard of a little book she wrote, The Artist’s Way). In looking through her archive, I also see she talked with Susan Piver, Tara Mohr, Rachel W. Cole, Britt Bravo, Brene’ Brown, Chris Guillebeau, Jennifer Louden, Patti Digh, Susannah Conway–okay, I have to stop listing them because I am feeling a little dizzy and about to swoon! So many good people, and an archive of two years worth of these interviews on Jamie’s site.

Gratitude

“48 things to be grateful for when you need to shift your focus.” I am grateful for this list, and to Susannah Conway for sharing it in her “Something for the weekend” post this week.

One of my favorite poems by one of my favorite poets

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

“Enjoy Every Sandwich” Book Trailer

This is heartbreaking and inspiring, in equal measure.

The Joy of Books

Great video, must have taken forever to put together.

Sh*t New Age Girls Say

I swear, this is the last one I’ll share, because I am noticing that this meme is starting to spin into mean, even racist and homophobic territory, but this one makes me laugh. “I saw my first UFO at Burning Man.”

Dexter napping on the footstool

My boys can turn anything into a dog bed.

Guest Post by Rachel W. Cole


Yup, you heard that right: later today I’ll be publishing a special guest post “Three Truths and One Wish with Rachel W. Cole.” P.S. There is still time to register for the Well-Fed Woman Mini-Retreatshop here in Fort Collins, but you should hurry! Jamie Ridler did a Creative Living podcast with Rachel this summer that you might also be interested in.

Wishing you lots of good things this Monday, and always!

Something Good

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I was thinking, as I made this list, “wow, the Universe is so in love with me, sending me all this good stuff” but then I realized “the Universe is so in love with us.” I am only just recently understanding and fully opening up to this idea: I am so loved. You are so loved. We are so loved. How amazing is that?

Do me a favor, even if that sounds too fantastic or sappy or impossible, give it just a moment. Don’t get too caught up in where or who the love is coming from, let go of having to attach it to a source and simply allow it truth and space, just for a minute. Right now, let go of any skepticism or bitterness or whatever else might block the idea. Let it all go and allow yourself to feel, fully experience what it means to be loved. Go ahead. Close your eyes, maybe even put your hands over your heart, take a deep breath, and remember, really know: You are so loved.

art by hugh macleod

Here’s the rest of today’s list:

Quotes from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

“If the mind is flexible, the world is flexible.”

This one, for me especially, is really powerful: “The self-assured strength that grows from knowing that we already have what we need makes us gentle, because we are no longer desperate.”

Audio Dharma

Thanks to Rachel Cole for sharing this link. “This site is an archive of Dharma talks…Each talk illuminates aspects of the Buddha’s teachings. The purpose is the same that the Buddha had for his teachings, to guide us toward the end of suffering and the attainment of freedom. [The “end of suffering and the attainment of freedom”?! Amen!] These talks are freely available for download or to listen to in streaming audio.” There are hours, years of dharma talks available here. An amazing resource with talks on compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, busyness, awareness–and you do not need to be Buddhist to benefit from this wisdom.

The Small is Beautiful Manifesto

I have added a new button to my side bar that says “small is beautiful.” It links to the “Small is Beautiful Manifesto” on Magpie Girl’s blog, a statement co-authored by the amazing Jen Lemen:
The Small Is Beautiful Manifesto

We believe stories are valuable, no matter how many people read them.
We believe following your passion is more important than watching your site meter.
We believe in the handmade, the first try, the small start, and the good
effort.
We believe that small is beautiful.

I believe it too, which is why I’ve added the button.

The Mild Manifesto

This is from the Mildly Creative blog, and begins this way:

We, the mildly creative and the mildly productive, are a calm, cool collaboration of travelers on a creative journey. We lead lives of quiet inspiration and are nourished by our shared imaginations.

Before we make money, we seek first to make meaning.

Before we attract customers and clients, we seek first to attract friends and kindred spirits.

Before we make a profit, we seek first to make a contribution.

Count me in, all in.

Mexico by The Staves

Susannah Conway posted this video on her blog a while back, and I can’t stop watching it. It is a beautiful song and a beautiful video. I have listened to it at least 20 times in a row this morning, so I think I am going to have to buy their new EP, which was just released a few weeks ago.

12 Questions to Make 2012 Your Best Year Yet

This set of writing prompts by Tara Sophia Mohr looks really interesting.

The Last Writing Prompt You Will Ever Need

In contrast to the above set of prompts, Jeff Goins suggests in his latest blog post, quite simply and elegantly, that we should “Write something meaningful and share it.” That is all, and that is everything. Amen!

7 Ways Meditation Increases Creativity

I am printing this post, written by Orna Ross and posted on Jane Friedman’s website, and reading it to myself every day before I meditate, to remind myself that it isn’t a chore or a project or a punishment or an escape, but essential to my sanity and my ability to manifest and embody my basic wisdom and compassion.

Legos Ad from 1981

I love this so much, and wish more advertising were like it.
Lego Magazine ad from the year 1981.

Shit Yogis Say

Again, I might be offended by this, if I weren’t laughing so hard.