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

1. Good stuff from Lion’s Roar: 7 Life and Death Questions, The Five Remembrances, and The Creative Force: In Conversation with Novelist Ruth Ozeki.

2. In ‘Two Worlds,’ Split-View Photos Frame the Dual Environments Above and Below the Water’s Surface.

3. How to Share Space Again. “A gathering expert offers guidance on returning to a new kind of public life.”

4. How to support a friend or family member who’s struggling with their mental health.

5. Recipes I want to try (because someone gave me a bunch of apples): Apple Pie Filling (I think it would be yummy spooned on top of a bowl of oatmeal) and Apple Fritter Sweet Rolls.

6. Two Pockets from Jena Schwartz.

7. Good stuff from Austin Kleon: The Four Energies, Rewinding your attention, and An act of perpetual self-authorization.

8. In the TED spotlight, “Some thoughts on a little talk, and a big idea” in which Wendy Mac of DrawTogether talks about how she “stood on that famous red dot and got to share my thoughts about why drawing is essential: how it slows us down, helps us pay attention, look closely and connect with one another.” She also shares a link to her talk.

9. Cats are weird. (video)

10. This picture of all the different colors of chicken eggs.

11. Definitions of important mental health terms. Gaslighting, Love Bombing, The Guilt Trip, Negging, and Emotional Blackmail. Also a few slides about the mental impact of manipulation and how to deal with manipulative people.

12. Mail delays and price hikes are coming to USPS. Here’s why.

13. How I Knew I Needed to Quit Instagram on The New York Times.

14. Poet Tracy K. Smith on Finding Joy During an Unbearable Year.

15. Brandon Stosuy on “Cultivating an Art of Noticing” in the Age of Scrolling.

16. Meredith Woolnough creates embroidered artworks using a freehand embroidery technique on water-soluble fabrics. (video)

17. Uncoverage, “A podcast about growing up in a Tibetan Buddhist cult in America.” In related news (even though it is a two year old post), Ex-members: Shambhala, Boulder-born Buddhist organization, suppressed allegations of abuse.

18. Collage artist makes amazing art with old magazines. (video)

19. Colson Whitehead Finally Gets To Flex His Comedy Muscle.

20. Decluttering is bad for the planet. Here’s how to do it sustainably.

21. Understanding Wise Hope by Roshi Joan Halifax. “This is a sacred time we are in, yes, a scary time for many, a terrible time for many, a powerful time of learning for many, and I feel it is important to see that our work on behalf of others is sacred work. I believe that wise hope is a medicine that keeps us showing up for this sacred work of meeting reality, moment after moment with the heart of a bodhisattva.”

1. Fall color. This time of year, everything is changing so fast. We walk somewhere and just a day or two later we go back and it looks so different.

2. Morning walks. I love the cooler weather, the shift to more quiet. So many people go back inside in the fall and winter, especially in the morning, and it sometimes feels like we have the whole world to ourselves. We got rained on one morning this week, but it was really warm and we saw a rainbow.

3. Science. We got results back for allergy tests we did on Ringo, in part because of his wonky belly. Turns out he’s allergic to corn, flax, milk, oats, peas, pumpkin, rice, and spinach. He’s been getting pumpkin and rice every meal! He’s also allergic to all kinds of grasses and cottonwoods! And the kind of yeast that can cause ear infections, which explains the trouble he’s had with his ears. So I dropped some serious cash at the feed store because pretty much every food and treat we have for him has something he can’t have. I’m so grateful we had access to the test, the money to pay for it, and a care team who loves him so much. So handsome, so high maintenance.

4. So many tomatoes! I went out yesterday and picked as many as I could, as we are in that part of the year when the real cold could come any time. This weekend I’ll be making roasted tomato soup and tomato jam.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. I am looking forward to sinking in to all three this weekend.

Bonus joy: Drawing and hanging out with Calyx, lunch with Carrie, texting with Chloe’ (especially now that she can send me pictures of her cute baby) and Mom and Chris, meeting with my new nutritionist (she’s both HAES and ED centered — if you know, you know), good TV, listening to podcasts, getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna, cooking with Eric, laughing with Eric, being cold, a big glass of cold clean water, cancelled plans, clean laundry, pay day, paying all our bills, clean sheets, taco salad, vaccines, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.