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

image by Eric

1. 40 Rituals that Make Relationships Last 40+ Years from Marc and Angel Hack Life.

2. Is Addiction A Habit Or A Disease?

3. Good stuff from Dances with Fat: Licked Some Donuts? Don’t Blame Fat Kids, and Even if Weight Loss Would Solve Every Problem, and That Ridiculous Oprah Crop Top Thing, and What My Body is Not.

4. Wisdom from Freya Stark, “There can be no happiness if the things we
believe in are different from the things we do.”

5. Zucchini Parmesan recipe. If you are like me, you’ve always got lots of extra zucchini.

6. Artist Creates Impossible Towers Of Balanced Rocks To Meditate.

7. “That’s What Happened Between Me and Clark,” Revising Old Hollywood’s Greatest Scandal..

8. Proximity Leads to Understanding by Sharon Salzberg.

9. How we’re honoring the teen who died saving her friend’s life.

10. Scenes from the Weekend: Jacksonville, OR & Beyond on Rowdy Kittens.

11. Hard Conversations: An Introduction to Racism, Unconscious Racism, and Silent Racism. “FREE 4-Week Online Seminar: Online Readings, Live Conversations, and Interviews about Racism.”

12. For The Broken Ones, The Sad Ones, The Ones Who Are Falling Apart from Rebelle Society.

13. Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong.

14. Obama, Confronted With Bill Cosby Question, Shares Message Of Zero Tolerance For Rape.

15. True Confessions with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

16. Photo essay: Migrants share their most cherished belongings.

17. (sorta) Losing my religion on Rita’s Notebook.

18. things that don’t need explaining on A Design So Vast.

19. 8 things i’ve figured out by forty-eight on Chookooloonks.

20. Let Go. Say No. Be Awestruck. on Be More With Less.

21. Deeply Delicious by Geneen Roth.

22. california dreamin’ on SF Girl by Bay.

23. Wisdom from Pema Chödrön,

All of us have this precious human birth. We’re fortunate enough not to be starving; we’re fortunate enough to have food and shelter; we’re fortunate enough to hear the teachings and be given methods to wake up; we’re fortunate enough to have good intelligence and the luxury to explore and question why we and others suffer. We have a tremendous amount going for us, so this is the crucial time to practice.

24. Writing A Lot, Writing A Little, And The Power Of Failure on Terrible Minds.

25. The Year I Embraced Minimalism and Completed a Yearlong Shopping Ban.

26. Amid Devastation, Tig Notaro Searched For A Sense Of Humor.

27. This YouTuber Wants To Know Why It’s Only Plus-Size Women That Are Shamed For Eating Junk Food.

28. Periwinkle on Allowing Myself.

Dr. Mulnix, image from http://mulnixanimalclinic.com/

Yesterday was a sad day. We found out that Dr. Mulnix, our favorite vet, had passed away. He had just announced at the beginning of the summer that he was retiring, and there were plans for an open house and reception in his honor. I was so sad he wouldn’t be treating our dogs anymore, but happy that he’d get to relax a bit — he worked so hard. But now he’s gone. I was surprised by how sad it made me. I burst into tears when I saw the post on Facebook. For the rest of the day, I couldn’t really get it together.

He’s been treating our dogs for 14 years. He calmed us when Obi was so sick the very first weekend he lived with us, our first nervous moments as dog owners. He was the one seven years later who had to tell me Obi had cancer and it was incurable. He most likely saved Sam’s life by identifying and treating something no one else could figure out. Even though we see four different vets at the clinic, he was the first vet we saw each time there was a new puppy. We loved taking our mixed breed dogs to him because the rescues were never really sure, but with all his years of experience, all the thousands of dogs he’d seen, Dr. Mulnix always could guess their mix. He was willing to entertain the silliest questions, to spend time with us over the smallest concerns. He was so patient and kind, and super smart. We trusted him with that which is most precious to us. And now he’s gone.
In an attempt to hit the reset button today, in the early morning before it got too hot, I took a long walk with Eric and the dogs, and then did yoga on the back patio listening to my favorite playlist to practice for the class I’m teaching tomorrow morning. When I finish this post, I’ll take a shower and have a bowl of peach pie oatmeal. I feel grateful for how green it still is even though it’s mid July, for my tiny family, for all the care and kindness Dr. Mulnix showed all four of my dogs and their humans, for the good human he was — all the while hoping that when I go, I will be as fondly remembered, as genuinely missed.