1. Wisdom from Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel: “The fact that nothing is certain, and we therefore can’t hold on to anything, can evoke fear and depression in the mind. But it can also evoke a sense of wonder, curiosity, and freedom.”
2. What To Do About the Pointless Practice of Worrying by Courtney Carver on Be More With Less.
3. Padgett Powell’s rules on “What Writing Should Do,” printed in the back of The Interrogative Mood. “Brave wild failure is applauded.”
4. #DoTheWork from Rachel Elizabeth Cargle, a 30 day course “designed to be an eye-opener and a call to action for those who seek to be allies to Black women.” In related news, USM offers two free online classes on social reform, racism in America.
5. On Being with Krista Tippett: Robin DiAngelo and Resmaa Menakem in Conversation. “The show we released with Minneapolis-based trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem in the weeks after George Floyd’s killing has become one of our most popular episodes, and has touched listeners and galvanized personal searching. So we said yes when Resmaa proposed that he join On Being again, this time together with Robin DiAngelo, the author of White Fragility. Hearing the two of them together is electric — the deepest of dives into the calling of our lifetimes.”
6. Meet the Supporters Trump Has Lost on The New York Times. In related news, New Anti-Trump Group Launches Ad On Fox. I still want to stay mad at them (petty) but I’ll take the change of heart.
7. Your Love for Dogs May Be in Your DNA. If this is true, I definitely got it from my dad.
8. For HSPs, Compassion Fatigue Is All Too Real. “Signs of compassion fatigue include chronic exhaustion, isolation, trouble sleeping, and more.”
9. People Behaving Badly: Oregon Senator blasts Trump over Portland protestor shot in head by federal DHS troops, and Lawyer for Michigan Couple Who Pulled Gun on Black Family Says They Were Victims of ‘Ethnic Intimidation’, and Blues Singer Lady A: ‘I Should Not Have to Bend to Band’s Will Because They’ve Got Money’, and Indiana Woman Arrested For Hitting Protesters And Speeding Off With Them Still Clinging On To Her Car, and Authorities execute search warrant on St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters, and Video shows white woman harassing Black pedestrian: “F**ckhead!”, and Drunk Man Has a Racist Meltdown Over Asian Family at California Restaurant, and Californians Who Allegedly Defaced Black Lives Matter Mural Face Hate Crime Charge, and J.K. Rowling Compares Transitioning to “Conversion Therapy”, and Turns Out Florida Man Who Waved Gun At Black Homeowner During Racist Rant Has Been Faking Being A Navy SEAL For Years, and ‘Get The Noose’: Video Shows Black Man Nearly Lynched On The Fourth Of July, and Tucker Carlson’s racist and extreme descriptions of the Black Lives Matter movement.
10. COVID-19 related news (which includes some people behaving badly): Man, 30, Dies After Attending a ‘Covid Party,’ Texas Hospital Says (“I thought this was a hoax,” the man told his nurse) on The New York Times, and Man Dies Of COVID-19 After Posting On Facebook That Masks Are All Hype, and From Camping To Dining Out: Here’s How Experts Rate The Risks Of 14 Summer Activities, and Fauci: I Haven’t Briefed President Trump in Two Months, and Which drugs and therapies are proven to work for COVID-19—and which ones aren’t, and Trump Sets Date To End WHO Membership Over Its Handling Of Virus, and Florida Man Screams “I Feel Threatened” At Elderly Woman Who Asked Him To Wear A Mask In Costco, and Anti-mask shoppers at Costco and Target throw tantrums and tear down mask displays, revealing a growing crisis for retail workers, and Nurses Who Battled Virus in New York Confront Friends Back Home Who Say It’s a Hoax on The New York Times, and Florida teen dies after conspiracy theorist mom takes her to church ‘covid party’ and tries to treat her with Trump-approved drug, and Hell No To The Hybrid Model, and 239 experts want WHO to declare coronavirus airborne. Here’s why it’s hesitating.
11. The Goya Foods free speech controversy, explained. “Goya Foods’ CEO says his speech is being suppressed by a boycott. It’s not.”
12. Black Rain Frogs Look Like Angry Avocados.
13. Denver School Principal On How Black Students Led Swift Changes To History Curriculum.
14. Person Shares ‘Decade Review’ Vs. ‘Unedited Decade Review’ And People Adore The Honesty.
15. Betty White Blooper Reel from Hot in Cleveland. (video)
16. The Acrobatic Immigrant Who Invented Pilates in a Prisoner of War Camp. “Interned during WWI, circus entertainer Joseph Pilates used found materials and his fellow prisoners as his test lab, and imagined an exercise system that would captivate millions.”
17. The Inside Story of Why Mary Trump Wrote a Tell-All Memoir on The New York Times. “President Trump’s niece was a family outcast. Her new book casts a cold light on the relatives she describes as dysfunctional.”
18. What the police really believe. “Inside the distinctive, largely unknown ideology of American policing — and how it justifies racist violence.”
19. Dakota Access and Atlantic Coast Pipelines to Shut Down. May the Water Protectors who have done so much for all of us get a moment to pause, to celebrate, to rest, and may they feel the immeasurable love and gratitude of the rest of us.
20. A Pit-Stop in Japan’s Time Capsule Post Towns.
21. People Are Comforting Each Other With Uplifting Facts, And Here Are 30 Of The Best Ones.
22. Take a Tour Through the History of Black Science Fiction.
23. Black Lives Matter at 7 Years and the Meaning of this Movement-Moment. “For the last seven years, Black Lives Matter has worked to end state-sanctioned violence against Black people and struggle forward, in the Black radical tradition, to transform systems that were deliberately and intentionally designed to produce oppressive and deadly outcomes.”
2. Practice. This week was hard. There was grief, heightened anxiety, a dog recovering from a wonky belly and then walking with a limp, so much tenderness and effort, and when I look out the window, real and figurative, there’s so much chaos, so much violence, so much suffering. In Buddhist philosophy, the teaching is that when we practice, we soften towards ourselves and this in turn softens us towards others which makes us feel connected, beholden, not so alone. This can be difficult, for all kinds of reasons, but when I put my effort towards loving as much as I can, as many as I can, as often as I can, on not giving up, it gets easier — soft enough to open, strong enough to stay. 
3. “Here we are stretched between grief and grace.” A friend of mine wrote this line and it feels so right to me, here at the end of the world in the middle of nowhere. Every kindness right now breaks my heart, so tender and raw. It’s like hello and goodbye all in one, simultaneously full and empty.
4. Our garden. It’s not a great moment in time to have complex ptsd. My hypervigilance is off the charts. One thing that helps is to look close, notice, pay attention to the small things that are still working — the bugs and the blooms in particular. Today we got our first cucumbers.
5. My tiny family. Hopefully Ringo is on the mend after a rough week. Eric got to go on an adventure, climbed Longs Peak. He ran into a herd of elk on the way up, while it was still dark enough that he almost didn’t see them. I was very happy he made it home safe, that it was fun for him, that he’s strong and healthy enough to do such a thing. We promised each other at the start of all the shut downs and sheltering in place that we’d be extra nice to each other, not fight, because we knew things were about to get difficult, and I’m happy to report we’ve kept that promise.
Bonus joy: kitchen counter love notes, yard time, Rainier cherries, Beyond Burgers, coleslaw, rain (we are in a stretch of 90+ degree weather, so every time it rains, we are grateful for the cool and hydration), good TV (I watched the third season of Marcella and Chris Fairbanks’ new special Rescue Cactus), good books (finishing up the final book in the Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, and I think I’m going to have to read everything else she’s written), good podcasts (I’ve been enjoying Mike Birbiglia’s new one, Working it Out), writing, yoga with Jamie on Sunday mornings, clean sheets, texting with my mom and brother, seeing Chelsey and Jon and Liz (all of whom said how much they love our neighborhood), good neighbors, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 