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

1. I got my COVID-19 vaccine! Added bonus: Eric also got his. The place we got it was a drive thru distribution center, super fast and super efficient, and they automatically scheduled our second shots. I still have concerns about the variants, don’t feel the complete sense of relief that some people say they got with the shot, but I’m so grateful for a chance. It also means I met one of my pandemic goals: to not get COVID-19 before a vaccine was available.

2. Comfort. A hot cup of coffee while I write, reading, listening to podcasts, practicing with my writing sangha, down blankets and pillows, my infrared heating pad, the sauna, a warm shower, laundry, grocery pickup, clean sheets, warm berry pie, that corner of the couch.

3. Practice. I’m so glad that I had that foundation cultivated long before this year, that I had that support, that comfort, that way to work with all of it.

4. Morning walks. In particular the owls and that blue everything is when it’s just getting light but before the sun comes up.

5. My tiny house, my tiny family, my tiny life. I’ve said for a long time that what I want is a life that is small, but deep and wide. That’s exactly what I have, and I’m so grateful.

Bonus joy: Zooming with Chloe’, hanging out and writing with Calyx, texting with my mom and brother, sitting in the sauna with Eric, getting in the pool, getting a massage, writing with Natalie Goldberg, good TV, good podcasts, good books, emergency vets, online shopping, markers and crayons and watercolors, glue stick, plants, things that are soft, having a washer and dryer in my house, daffodils, compost, birds in the feeder, the promise of another spring and another garden, musicians and poets, dogs — all the dogs, gortex, the ocean, sunshine, bird song, naps, reading in bed at night while Ringo and Eric sleep.

1. what demoralization does to teachers. “Teachers are great. But telling them so isn’t enough. If you value them, act, vote, and speak in a way that evidences that value. They have held a crumbling system together for so long. It’s time to give them relief — and reconsider its construction.”

2. Anti-Asian Violence Resources. “Anti-Asian racism and violent attacks on Asian elderly have only increased in recent months. Since COVID-19 became news in the United States, hate speech and violence against the AAPI community has run rampant. In February 2021, attacks, particularly on elderly Asian Americans, have spiked. Unfortunately, many of these incidents are not being reported and are invisible to major media outlets. We hope to change this by offering the following resources with our community. Please join us in taking action whether it’s by educating yourself and others around you or donating to non-profit organizations.” In related news, Speaking Out Against Anti-Asian Violence.

3. Asian Americans on PBS, “a five-hour film series that delivers a bold, fresh perspective on a history that matters today, more than ever. As America becomes more diverse, and more divided, while facing unimaginable challenges, how do we move forward together? Told through intimate and personal lives, the series will cast a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping the nation’s story.”

4. Ten reasons to write a book from Seth Godin.

5. These Precious Days by Ann Patchett. Wow.

6. Molly Brodak, Poet and Memoirist of Her Father’s Crimes, Dies at 39 on The New York Times. In related news, Molly Brodak: In Memoriam.

7. The Curiously Complicated Emotions of Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine
from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds. Also from Chuck, Should Writers Write Every Day?

8. 7 Things That Are Extremely Annoying to Introverts.

9. Good stuff from Austin Kleon: You have to be obsessed and 7 questions no one asked me about 1 bad year.

10. Lynda Barry leads a two-hour Graphic Medicine Drawing Together gathering. (video)

11. What Would a White Woman Do? In related news, White people, black authors are not your medicine.

12. What Covid-19 Has Done to Our Well-Being, in 12 Charts. “The pandemic has led to mental health declines, increased work demands, and feelings of loneliness. But the news isn’t all bad.”

13. Mike Birbiglia’s 6 Tips for Making It Small in Hollywood. Or Anywhere. on The New York Times. This is an article from 2016, but I was reminded of it this morning and it deserves a re-share.

14. A conversation with Kiowa Pulitzer recipient N. Scott Momaday. In related news, 40 Best Native American Authors to Read in 2021.

15. 45 Tweets About The Funny Names Kids Have For Things.

16. Elliot Page Is Ready for This Moment.

17. How Honest Can Demi Lovato Be? on The New York Times. “The singer is opening up about her queerness, her near fatal overdose and her journey to living her truth. ‘I’m ready to feel like myself,’ she said.”

18. Beauty in a Cold Season: Katherine May’s Wintering.

19. Restaurant owner drives six hours to cook favorite meal for customer with stage 4 cancer.

20. A White Man’s Bad Day by Roxane Gay.

21. What’s Happening in Our Nervous Systems? On Being Podcast. “The light at the end of the COVID tunnel is tenuously appearing — yet many of us feel as exhausted as at any time in the past year. Memory problems; short fuses; fractured productivity; sudden drops into despair. We’re at once excited and unnerved by the prospect of life opening up again. Clinical psychologist Christine Runyan explains the physiological effects of a year of pandemic and social isolation — what’s happened at the level of stress response and nervous system, the literal mind-body connection. And she offers simple strategies to regain our fullest capacities for the world ahead.”

22. Burnout Isn’t Just Exhaustion. Here’s How To Deal With It. In related news, Three ways you can slow down to avoid overwhelm and burnout.

23. The Racist and Problematic History of the Body Mass Index. “Explaining the racist roots behind BMI — and why it’s not the standard of health it’s been made out to be.”

24. A Year of Trauma and Resilience: How the Pandemic Changed Everything on The New York Times. In related news (and also on The New York Times), It’s OK to Grieve for the Small Losses of a Lost Year and The pandemic took lives far too soon. How much human potential has been lost?.

25. Jena Schwartz: Writing Prompt #6 | One Little Acorn.

26. Spring’s a Love Note and I’m Lonely as Hell. Two poems by Christine Sneed.

27. How a British Gardening Show Got People Through the Pandemic on The New York Times.