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

1. Poetry: Traveler by Sarah Satterlee, Confession 151: On Becoming Ceramic by Furkan Pinar, We Speak of August by Valentina Gnup, Information Only by Dale E. Day-Hudson, The Opportunities Pantoum by James Valvis, Solstice Pantoum by Deema K. Shehabi, Going Back by Roger Mitchell, Old Tree Woman by Jena Schwartz, Baking Cake on Dec. 27 (In Honor of Kyra Kopestonsky) and Space Exploration and The Dream Rink and Six Glimpses of Christmas Eve and Lit and Because by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Everything That Is Divided and In Times Like These by James Crews, Power by Maya Stein, and How the Light Comes by Jan Richardson on Heart Poems. Bonus joy in poetry this week is “Peace, Please” a FREE poetry anthology “made possible by the generous voices of the community,” foreword by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer and edited by ZenJen Brown.

2. Good stuff from Patti Digh: The world narrowed to a blade (“A meditative experience of reversal”) and White lights and train dreams (“a life can be ordinary and still be enough”) and Two celebrations in one (“Pausing before Christmas day rushes forward”).

3. The quiet pressure at the end of the year from The Tiny Joy Project. “On living a year instead of summarizing it.”

4. The 8 most wholesome internet moments of 2025. Add to that list Brit’s story in her latest post about her dog Billie giving “her favorite toy to the vacuum cleaner yesterday, play-bowing to it, ready to tumble,” and Kevin the Peacock. This one also seems to belong here, To the Young Couple Building a Snowman on the Aspen Loop.

5. Return, a January yoga series with Adriene, “a special four-part series inspired by my Saturday mornings as a child and now, Sunday mornings as an adult. That once-a-week ritual that offers an opportunity to return to what matters most.”

6. 21 days of pen to page with Laurie Wagner. “If you’re craving clarity, honesty, and a deeper connection to your natural writing voice, you’re in the right place. For 21 days, you’ll receive poems, prompts, short daily videos, and a simple 15-minute invitation to write — all designed to help you land on the page exactly as you are.”

7. Letting the path hold the answers on Yoga Humans.

8. Object-ives #16: The Inheritance I Bought. “A dead woman’s milk glass collection became the family heirloom I never had.”

9. Seven Sacred Moments (plus a baby camel), “& the actor Rainn Wilson on holy spaces” on The Isolation Journals with Suleika Jaouad.

10. What’s Your Party Trick? from Jamie Attenberg. “On the cookbooks we use.”

11. Follow your inner moonlight from Alix Klingenberg on Earth & Verse.

12. From Seth Godin: Building blocks of marketing and Your best work and All bananas are the same and Popular new ideas.

13. Life After Instagram: What Happens When You Delete Social Media.

14. The Small Gestures That Help Us Navigate Grief on The New York Times. (gift link) “Readers share the small, practical acts of kindness that made a difference.”

15. Learning to Feel Safe Resting After a Lifetime of People-Pleasing.

16. ‘The sight of it is still shocking’: 46 photos that tell the story of the century so far on The Guardian.

17. Things That Leave from the Heart from Jena Schwartz.

18. 7 Little Ways to Embrace and Enjoy The Moments That Matter from Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.

19. From Danny Gregory: What I wish for you this Christmas and How to get rich making art.

20. I Don’t Want To “Get Through” This from Megan Falley. “Loving the holidays after losing a partner.”

21. it’s okay to write a things-I’m-loving-list when the world is falling apart from Elissa Altman.

22. These are Dark Days. Don’t Lose Your Light on The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz.

23. Letting Love in Gretchen Schmelzer. I love this so, so much.

24. On these in-between days I’m ‘growing down’, sinking into the present moment and savouring small delights. “My centre of gravity has shifted. The holidays are no longer something to construct but something to receive” on The Guardian’s Making sense of it, a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday life.

25. Speak the Truth in Love from Bill Johnson of Bethel Church. (YouTube short)

26. More “best of” lists: 7 Podcasts for Bookworms on The New York Times (gift link), Here are some fantastic nonfiction ‘Books We Love’ recommendations from NPR staff, The 20 best podcasts of 2025, and Guardian readers’ best films of 2025.

27. Neuroscience Explains How and Why Humans Should Hibernate a Little in Winter You’re not just lazy or tired in winter. “Your body wants you to slow down and recharge. So go ahead and (semi-) hibernate.”

28. Boulder artist creates nature-themed stickers to cover new National Park Pass design. “A Boulder artist is creating removable stickers featuring her nature paintings to cover the 2026 America the Beautiful annual pass…The Department of Interior recently announced the 2026 annual passes would feature President Trump’s face next to George Washington’s.” McCarty said the goal is to refocus attention on nature.

1. Christmas. It was a weird one this year for me and mine. It was our first Christmas without Eric’s mom, without her Pecan Tassies, without a phone call to her and the noise of her house with all the grand and great grandkids there for dinner. It was the first Christmas that Mom spent at Tokarski House rather than at home, which meant my brother, his kids and grandkids, also didn’t have Christmas at Nana’s for the first time, which is another reminder that Papa is gone too, this being the second Christmas without him. We’ve also been having especially warm weather instead of snow.

We made the best of it. We finally turned on the Christmas music and took some pictures in front of our tree, once again this year decorated with mostly just lights, which I then texted out to loved ones with wishes for a merry always and happy everything. Then I had breakfast and some hot drinks (coffee and tea, I’m weird like that), did my morning reading and writing. Then we opened presents. Ringo helped for a bit after he opened his Christmas stocking, but he was super tired (it’s a hard adjustment for him when Eric is not working and they took a pretty long walk while I slept in that morning), so he napped while we finished.

We cleaned up our mess, tested out and put away some of our presents, leaving the rest under the tree for now. I was texting with people throughout the day, in particular my brother. They’d gone to visit Hallie in the NICU on Christmas eve, (she’s almost ready to come home), taken Mom/Nana her presents, and got Chinese takeout for dinner. On Christmas morning they opened presents at Papa’s/Chris’s/my brother’s house. Then later that evening, Chris went to Tokarski House to visit Mom, we sent each other selfies (she was wearing a pair of the new Christmas pjs I sent her) and they watched some Hallmark holiday movies. They’d made her a special dinner, of which she had seconds and said was delicious. I’m so grateful she’s there, with them.

Eric and I spent the rest of our day mostly dinking around and resting. As we made dinner, we got into a dumb argument about bent spoons. On top of all the other reasons this year’s holiday season felt weird, Eric is coming down from two years of pretty intense and constant work, and the adjustment to him being off work always takes a bit of time. I kept teasing him this week anytime we fussed at each other that he needed to go back to work, but by the end of the break when he really has to go back, I know I won’t want him to, like always.

2. Morning walks. We saw a shooting star this morning. Eric saw it first and was so excited. It stayed lit up so we could follow it for a long time, with Eric saying he’d never seen one like that, one that lasted so long and had sparks flying off it like fireworks. He said later that I didn’t seem as impressed as he was and I told him I was too caught up in appreciating his joy at seeing it. Ringo likes it when we both walk because he gets extra treats.

3. Reading. I’ve read 70 books so far this year. I knew I’d been reading more but didn’t realize it amounted to that. It makes sense considering I’m typically reading four or five at a time, and that I read for a few hours in the morning and then another few more at night. And this year we joined a book club, so that adds another ten or so. I love it so much.

4. My weighted blanket. Because we’ve had such warm weather this winter, I’d forgotten about it, as I can only really use it when it’s cold. I got it out this week and remembered how much I like it. I know it seems like it would be claustrophobic because I thought the same before I got it, but under the right conditions, it’s like a full body compression suit and there is a particular kind of muscle tension release and comfort that sensation gives me.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I’d rather be here than anywhere else, with them rather than anyone else.

Bonus joy: I just realized it’s Friday not Saturday (bonus day!), fudge with walnuts, down blankets and pillows and jackets, watching TV (currently finishing up Season 3 of Home for Christmas, there’s also a playlist someone made of the music from all three seasons that’s really good), watching Death in Paradise with Eric, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, ordering myself a new pair of slippers, Eric buying me something for Christmas that I really needed but probably wouldn’t have ever bought for myself, a new air fryer (I resisted getting one for a really long time and finally gave in and asked for one for Christmas and I’m excited to try it), a big glass of cold clean water, while we don’t have snow at least it’s not raining, Christmas cards that include family pictures, the purple flowers Eric got me, flowers in the bathroom and on my writing desk and on my meditation shrine, getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna with Eric, other people’s dogs and kids, giving dog advice to people on Reddit, planning another trip to the beach with Ringo, pickled red onions, twinkle lights, making each other laugh, naps, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.