1. Morning walks. It was pretty hazy all week, due to the fires in Canada and Oregon. Eric came with us on a few of our walks, and that was nice. On their walks, Eric and Ringo saw lots of racoons and deer, and one day on one of our walks, we saw two mama deer and three of this years babies. One of them had the zoomies and it was so cute to see the baby running as fast as it could in circles around the rest of them and its mom joining in to play and chase him around.
One of three babies they saw
It’s almost impossible to see in these next pictures, but on one walk I heard and then saw a tiny hummingbird taking a break way up in this mostly dead tree.
2. Long term healthcare providers. I’ve had the same primary care doctor for 25 years, have gone to the same women’s clinic for 25 years, the same eye doctor for at least 15, and have gone to the same dentist office for 20+. There is a level of compassion, comfort, and care you have access to after a long, good relationship that is worth so much. I am in trouble when everyone starts to retire.
3. Content/Art. Sometimes there is so much of it that it feels overwhelming, but I love all the books, TV shows, films, videos, podcasts, comedy, music, etc., and how easy it all is to access.
4. The chance to start over. Again, and again, and again, as many times as necessary.
5. My tiny family, small house, little life. This morning when I went to practice, I noticed that Eric had left a bonus love note on my meditation shrine. Then I remembered how the tiny brass deer was another surprise from him — I’d posted a link to it on Facebook, saying “add this to the list of things I don’t need but want anyway” and when I got back from being in Oregon caring for my dad as he died, the tiny brass deer was there on my shrine. Then I walked out into the kitchen after I finished meditating this morning, and Eric was there making potatoes for Ringo and had added peaches and sliced almonds to the grocery list because he’s going to make me a pie. I haven’t done everything right or always made the best choices in my life, but marrying Eric is NOT one of those things.
Ringo clearly is feeling SO much better, his belly and his arthritis, and that makes me incredibly happy.
Bonus joy: rain, texting with Chris, peaches and corn, a/c, clean laundry, finding new recipes to try, cancelled plans, a warm shower, the way Ringo naps on the bathmat until I’m done, the way the top of his head smells when he comes in from laying in the sun in the backyard, Facebook memories, hawkmoths, tiny bright yellow turtles, meadowlarks feeding on the sunflowers, pizza, gummies, floss, popcorn, naps, cuddling with Eric on the couch in the morning, hugging in the kitchen, making each other laugh, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.
1. 200 Years of Solitude: Great Writers, Artists, and Scientists on the Creative and Spiritual Rewards of Fertile Aloneness. “There is a silence at the center of each person — an untrammeled space where the inner voice grows free to speak. That space expands in solitude. To create anything — a poem, a painting, a theorem — is to find the voice in the silence that has something to say to the world. In solitude, we may begin to hear in the silence the song of our own lives. ‘Give me solitude,’ Whitman howled, ‘give me again O Nature your primal sanities!’ Gathered here are some of my favorite voices in praise of solitude, of its ample creative and spiritual rewards, its primal sanities.”
2. The bid to ensure that no one dies alone. “A nurse who trains compassionate citizens to provide company for people in the last hours of their lives is expanding into tackling social isolation too.”
5. Wisdom from Tennessee Williams: “The world is violent and mercurial — it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love — love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.”
6. Wisdom from Howard Zinn: “To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
13. $12 window, a thread that is so worth reading.
14. Wisdom from Pema Chödrön: “Although it is embarrassing and painful, it is very healing to stop hiding from yourself. It is healing to know all the ways that you’re sneaky, all the ways that you hide out, all the ways that you shut down, deny, close off, criticize people, all your weird little ways. You can know all that with some sense of humor and kindness. By knowing yourself, you’re coming to know humanness altogether. We are all up against these things. We are all in this together.”
16. Maggie Smith: A Conversation on Self-Trust and Transformation. “Maggie talked about how she’s learned to trust her intuition, even when it tells her things she doesn’t want to hear, which is also my experience. We discussed how her divorce was the most emotionally painful experience she’s faced, and how she’s navigating through it to find some peace. I was impressed that no matter how much pain she is in, Maggie is able to find joy in everyday moments, like a beautiful sunrise or a funny moment with her kids. I am personally working on that myself too. If you haven’t read Maggie’s book, “You Could Make This Place Beautiful.” It’s a profound and moving read that I highly recommend. Listen to the episode or watch the video to hear more about Maggie’s journey, her insights on life, and the wisdom she has to offer.”
17. Writing on Empty, Natalie Goldberg on Upaya Zen Center’s podcast, “best selling author of Writing Down the Bones and fifteen other celebrated works, discusses and reads a selection from her newest publication, Writing on Empty: A Guide to Finding Your Voice, a book about writer’s block, mortality, and Zen. She explores her relationship with her late teacher, Katagiri Roshi, her visit to Leonard Cohen’s grave, and her experience as a Zen practitioner in Judaism. Natalie reminds us that the more we practice, whether it’s meditation or writing, the more we become who we are.”
22. Hope is a practice, Hugh Hollowell’s most recent Life Is So Beautiful newsletter. “This week I’m doing something different. I’m sharing items from my own personal toolkit that I use to reinforce hope inside me when I feel it flagging…you will find a few quotes and poems that move me, that are reminders of the world I want to live in, that are, to refer to the paragraph from Active Hope, reminders of the direction in which I want things to move. I hope they are useful to you – they have been lifesaving to me.”
23. Hey, I’m proud of usfrom Ijeoma Oluo. “We’re likely all going through a lot right now, and I’m so proud of us all for hanging in there and fighting for ourselves and each other in so many ways. These are skills we’re going to need in the coming months and years.”
28. Compassion Is Key to Our Survival. “From an evolutionary standpoint, ‘survival of the kindest’ is no exaggeration. When we respond with kindness in the face of suffering — including our own — we’re affirming the reality that our lives and well-being are all interconnected.”
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 