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

One of my favorite trees

So glad to be partnering with Yoganonymous to share this list with a larger audience.

1. Man offers free hugs at Sanders and Trump rallies and gets shockingly different responses. If you are interested, here’s an extended version. Im all for more hugs and less yelling.

2. This dog and duck grew up together, and them playing is one of the most awkward, cutest things ever. And in related news, Duck pals: A girl and her duck.

3. This gif of what overthinking looks like is hilarious, because it’s so accurate.

4. A birdbath for hummingbirds. The only way I’ll stop watching this video is if someone makes me one of my own.

5. Limited Edition Memorial Bracelet: Feeds 22 Shelter Dogs in Honor of Your Beloved Pup from I Love Dogs. What a great idea. They also sell a 2-Pack “My Pet Is Home Alone” Wallet Cards, which is a brilliant idea.

6. The feminist cupcake sale that led to death and rape threats. “It started with male students upset they’d have to pay the full $1 for a cake … and ended with the realisation we still desperately need feminism in the 21st century.” Word.

7. Recipes I want to try: potato pizza, even better, and fresh spinach pasta, and artichoke gratin toasts — all from Smitten Kitchen, quickly becoming one of my favorite recipe sites. Also, Zucchini Lasagna. And for dessert, Lemon Gelato and this GIANT Peanut Butter Cup which I am still having trouble believing is even real. And if you don’t like any of those, maybe try this, Please eat the dandelions: 9 edible garden weeds.

8. In one letter, a teacher sums up what test scores can’t. This is so sweet. What lucky kids.

9. A photographic documentary of Fukushima, what it looks like now, an amazing set of images and story from photographer Arkadiusz Podniesinski. In related news, this video of The Guardian Of Fukushima’s Animals. I can’t even imagine having to leave my animals behind in such a disaster, and would be so grateful to this man for going back, for taking care of them for me, for us.

10. Photographer Reveals How Much Online Images Are Photoshopped (13+ pics). Fascinating.

11. A Writer’s Rules for Meditation. “Best-selling author Natalie Goldberg has been practicing meditation for nearly half a century. Here are her four rules for making meditation a regular part of your life.” In related news, Buddhism and meditation for beginners — a Lion’s Roar guide.

12. A 150-Year-Old Porcelain Warehouse in Japan Opens for Daily ‘Treasure Hunts’ for Just $45. I want to go to there.

13. You’re a Fucking Miracle, wisdom from Meg Worden. The first part of this post is worth printing out and taping to the fridge, where all the best things go.

14. An Open Letter To Tiny House Hunters on Terrible Minds. I just got done watching the series Chuck is referring to, and as he always does, he had me fighting for breath I was laughing so hard at what he wrote about it.

15. My first Weight Watchers — on being groomed for disordered eating. This post comes with one of the best opening set of lines ever, “I still can’t eat defrosted peppers. They taste like sadness.”

16. Family Leaves Husky For 3 Hours, Dog Redesigns The Apartment. What a disaster…

17. The Difference between Practicing Yoga Postures and Having a Yoga Practice. “There are many people doing yoga poses today, but there are far less people who have a yoga practice.” An important clarification.

18. Being tired isn’t a badge of honor. Word.

19. My wife surprised her coworkers when she came out as trans. Then they surprised her. “It’s a lot of energy to judge people, you know. It’s way more fun to celebrate and support them for who they are.”

20. The Joy of Doing Less: 3 Ways to Reclaim Your Time. It’s worth a try.

21. 152 Minutes With … Julia Cameron. “The author of The Artist’s Way has been unlocking our inner creative spirits for more than two decades, not to get too woo-woo about it.” I am forever in debt to Julia Cameron for her morning pages practice.

22. American Eagle Thinks Body Positivity is a Joke. The fact that any of the models involved in this weren’t told it was a joke is just awful. Yet another example of why I don’t like April Fool’s Day, or most pranks.

22. 21 Timeless Strategies to Lower Your Daily Stress from Marc and Angel Hack Life. I’ll take all the help I can get, whatever tips there are for lowering my daily stress.

From our walk this morning

In the most recent issue of The Sun magazine is a beautiful little essay called The Sudden City by Brian Doyle. He writes about when his sister went to Woodstock Music & Art Fair in 1969. She didn’t spend her time doing drugs or dancing in the mud, but rather when she saw the sheer number of people, “she immediately sought out the medical tent and anyone with a shred of authority who would know how to distribute food and water, and she spent the next three days handing out water and sandwiches and blankets.” He says that the stories that are told about that festival are mostly about the music and how many people attended and all the mud, but that “perhaps the deeper story, the better story, the more substantive story, is how a sudden city of young Americans arose briefly on a hillside for one summer weekend, and not one got beaten up, and hundreds of people like my sister handed out water and sandwiches and blankets.”

I’m uncomfortable with politics and protests — anything involving large crowds and yelling really. Even in cases where it’s clear which side I agree with, it’s difficult for me to take sides, to be engaged in the tussle, involved in an argument. I’m much happier being the peacemaker, the helper. I’ve always said that when there’s a situation where there are people with signs and opinions and bullhorns, I’d be much happier handing out sandwiches, baking cookies for everyone. So this essay really stuck me as so true, so right. Doyle goes on to say,

People still do that sort of thing all the time, every day, in every city and country in the world, and we never talk about it, because most of the time we are hearing and talking about the reverse.

I’m weary of the reverse. I do not think that evil and greed and violence are the definitive characteristics of our species. Many readers will sneer at me for this, and they are right to be cynical and skeptical, for evidence of evil and greed and violence are everywhere at hand. Yet there are also millions of people who hand water and sandwiches and blankets to millions of other people. What are we to make of that?

Which makes me think of two things: that quote from Mr. Rodgers about helpers, and a video I saw the other day.

mr_rogers_helpers_quote
In the video, Ken E Nwadike Jr aka the Free Hugs Guy, visits both a Trump and a Bernie rally to give free hugs, and (not shockingly) gets very different responses.

This is the kind of brave I want in the world, the huggers and the helpers, not the kind that wants to punch people in the face, not the ones confused and blinded by their own hate. More water and sandwiches and blankets and hugs. THIS is who we are.