Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. Wisdom from Tulku Thondup: “Loving-kindness is the essence and nature of the whole world and of every being. To see and experience this is to realize who we are. We can all observe that, if someone is in a quiet, undisturbed place for example, in nature he or she will become more peaceful. The more peaceful that person becomes, the more joyful, wise, and helpful they will be to others. That is a clue that our human nature in its normal, undisturbed state is not violent or harmful, but loving.”

2. Dharma for a Traumatized World on Lion’s Roar. “The cause of our global suffering is forgetting that we belong to one another and to the earth. Tara Brach recommends four practices to nourish a sense of collective belonging.”

3. A Simple Pie. “Gratitude washed over me: for modern medicine that shrinks tumors and gives back possibility; for my amazing body that keeps on going, that can start over from such weakness to strengthen again bit by bit; for this tradition and practice of baking for another holiday season; for my place in it all.”

4. Unravel Your Year workbook and Find Your Word ebook from Susannah Conway, (free!). “Filled with questions, insightful prompts, calendar pages and so much more, it’ll help you take stock of the year that’s ending and prepare you for a new ride around the sun. PLUS! You’ll also get the Find Your Word ebook to help you uncover your power word for 2023!”

5. One Idea Books & Gifts, Alexandra Franzen’s new store. “We specialize in books—written by women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ authors—and unique, memorable, hand-crafted gifts.”

6. #50. English ivy, and a goodbye: On endings, a final post on Bulletin from Jonny Sun.

7. The 10 Best Books of 2022 on The New York Times. In related news, The Non-Comprehensive Non-Exhaustive List Of Cool Stuff I Liked In The Year 2022 from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds, and Favorite Books of 2022 from Maria Popova on The Marginalian, and Books for Everyone on Your List, and 14th Annual Goodreads Choice Awards.

8. The Chills at Will Podcast with Robert Jones Jr. (video version) in which podcast host Pete discusses with Robert about “the festive national Book Awards 2022, his early reading of comic books, his life-changing exposure to James Baldwin’s work, his incredible Son of Baldwin platform, a dearth of representation for Black queer people that led him to write the book he wanted to read, the wonderful literary community and its inspiration for his work, and the work of art that is The Prophets, with its myriad standout lines, memorable characters, and structure that makes it a true classic and work of art.”

9. The Creativity Talks Podcast Episode 18: Coherence and Creativity (video version). “Crystal chats with Fabeku Fatunmise, artist, writer, author, spiritual practitioner, community builder, and business consultant focusing on building businesses that work and feel like home. They discuss the idea of “cohering” and how it applies to the creative process and life.”

10. Good stuff from Seth Godin: “You’re right” and Don’t let a story get in the way.

11. Modern Love: ‘How Much Was That?’ on The New York Times. “A family obsessed with the cost of things learns a stark lesson in what’s priceless.”

12. Why I’m Done Using And Boosting AI Art from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

13. 11 things with cognitive dissonance making an appearance at the 3.5 mark from Jena Schwartz.

14. 7 Things You Definitely Won’t Need This Year (or ever again) from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

15. The Secret to Happiness, According to This Harvard Professor: A Reverse Bucket List. “If you want to be truly happy, don’t just think about what to add to your life, but about what to take away.”

16. The ‘Limbo Box’ Method Helped Me Get Rid of Stuff Without Regrets.

17. Good stuff from Austin Kleon: The bookends approach to reading and The art of imperfection.

18. On Witness and Respair: A Personal Tragedy Followed by Pandemic by Jesmyn Ward. “The acclaimed novelist lost her beloved husband—the father of her children—as COVID-19 swept across the country. She writes through their story, and her grief.” I probably shared this when it was published two years ago, but it’s worth reading again.

19. 16 Signs You Were Raised by a Highly Critical Parent. First on the list? “Frequent criticism early in life can make it hard to trust yourself.” *sigh*

20. Understanding Fight, Flight, Freeze, and the Feign Response: A Reframe of Fawn to Feign.

21. The Cruel Spectacle of ‘The Whale’ from Roxane Gay on The New York Times.

22. A 28-year-old woman who’s lived in LA and Hong Kong gave up city life to renovate a cottage in the forest alone.

23. Georgian Culture and Ukrainian Pride Highlight the 2022 Tbilisi Mural Fest.

24. 25-year-old Arkansas woman is spreading kindness to strangers one hand-written letter at a time.

1. Morning walks. There were some chilly ones this week. Cold but quiet and beautiful.

2. The season of lights, generosity, good food, and rest. These are all of my favorite things about this season. Since so many of my family and friends live in Oregon, today I’m going to spend the day wrapping presents and packing them to be ready to ship, while playing holiday movies in the background — some of the ones I love to rewatch are Elf, Scrooged, Single All The Way, Die Hard, Love Actually, lovehard, Jingle Jangle, Let It Snow, and Home Alone. Tomorrow, we’ll go pick out a tree.

3. Good friends. It’s especially import to me, since I prefer staying home and being alone. The friends I have are kind, smart, creative, and funny — the best kind of humans. Also: take pictures with your friends. I’ve loved and lost people and don’t have any pictures of us together and that’s a particular kind of heartbreak.

4. Practice. I wouldn’t still be here without it.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. They might be tiny, but they are everything, the whole world to me.

Bonus joy: music, listening to podcasts, my infrared heating pad, Wild Writing with Laurie and our “coven,” small group training with Shelby and the gang, the hydromassage chair, the pool, the sauna, my weighted blanket, the tiny computer/camera that I call a phone, an internet connection, true crime, down pillows and blankets, a warm shower, clean laundry, groceries, pay day, snow tires, electricity, clean water, heat, a white noise machine, chocolate, broccoli, roasted brussel sprouts, balsamic vinegar, walnuts, caramel, vaccines, painting, making art with Mikalina and Janice, texting with Chloe’, Mike Birbiglia, writing in the morning with a hot cup of coffee, sitting in the morning with a cup of green tea and my weighted blanket across my lap, hugs, laughing, naps, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.