Tag Archives: Laura Simms

Something Good

oldtownalleySo great to be partnering with Wanderlust to share this list with a larger audience.

1. This American Was Shocked When His Facebook Post About England Went Viral. “A few weeks ago he visited England, and he decided to share his observations on Facebook.” This list is both interesting and funny.

2. Wildlife is absolutely thriving at Chernobyl disaster site.

3. Living a Full Life, a dharma teaching from Natalie Goldberg. “A writer, for better or for worse, gets to live life twice.”

4. This offensive photo sparked a whole lot of love for the boy who deserved better.

5. It’s here and it’s being claimed “The first zero-waste grocery store in the world.”

6. Nutritower is a vertical farm for your tiny condo.

7. The Just F*cking Journal Class: October 12th-16th. “5 days. 5 fresh prompts. 5 ways to get present with YOU.” This is a great opportunity, a great practice — FREE.

8. Wisdom from Mara Glatzel, on the page for her The Deep Exhale offering, something I needed to hear so badly I signed up for it,

When we are well-rested, well-nourished, and well-loved we are able to show up in the world to do the work that we were put on the planet to do with ease and grace. It really is that simple and yet, so many of us tie ourselves up in knots believing that working hard(er) is the only way forward.

9. Begin Again: How Yoga Unlocks the Writer Within from Dani Shapiro, in which she says,

The writing life is painstakingly slow. We toil invisibly, tearing our hair out, steam escaping from our ears, our hearts frozen in fear, our poor small selves so full of the tension of what we hope to express and the impossibility of ever getting it exactly right. It’s just about unbearable, which is why we look to our totems to help us along the way. But perhaps the wisdom we crave isn’t to be found inside those objects we imbue with magic and meaning. Perhaps—just perhaps—to quote Woolf once more, “We are the words; we are the music; we are the thing itself.”

10. Squirrel Rescued After Hurricane Becomes Family’s Cutest Member. A squirrel named Jill.

11. The True Secret of Writing: A Talk With Natalie Goldberg, wisdom from one of my favorite teachers.

12. #3bravethings : Have You Done 3 Brave Things in 2015 Yet? from Diana Dellos.

13. Money Talks with Jill Salahub I love the Money Talks series on Mabel Magazine with the lovely Sherry Richert Belul, and was so happy when she asked me to take part. It’s so timely, because I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I make my living.

14. The Simple Technique that Changed My Life on Elephant Journal. This article explains why I meditate better than almost anything I’ve ever read.

Our tendency at grasping for the next thing to fill a hole that we perceive in our being is demonstrated in our thoughts during meditation practice. By cutting the pattern of discursive thought we learn to relax and just be. We can actually sit and be content. But, we’re not doing all of this to just be good little meditators, or to have short reprieves during our day from our constant state of anxiety and dissatisfaction. We’re doing this during our sitting time so that it begins to affect our entire life.

15. The corporatization of higher education: With a system that caters to the 1 percent, students and faculty get screwed. I could only read this in short doses. It’s so true, so disappointing, that it makes me feel sick.

This exploitation of low-wage faculty is part of what’s known as the corporatization of higher education. Increasingly, both public and private colleges are being run on the cost-cutting model of American business. Which presents a burning question: If faculty are being paid less, class sizes are growing and tuition is higher than ever, where is the money going?

16. Dog Refuses To Leave The Side Of Man Who Saved Him From Flood. This story had me in tears.

17. This Is What You Should Eat. Any Questions? This is so great, highlights how hard it can be to know what to eat when we listen to something other than our own body, our own inherent wisdom. And, it’s funny at the same time.

18. Instead of a ‘dislike’ button, Facebook tests new set of reaction emojis.

19. Mom’s Viral Facebook Post Offers Powerful Message After Miscarriage, “Scars tell stories. Scars mean survival. Scars mean you showed up for the fight instead of running from it.”

20. Awake in the World, 2nd Annual Online Free Event, November 4th – 8th. Last year this was great, and this year promises to be the same. So many great teachers.

21. Raise Your Hand Say Yes with Austin Kleon. A great podcast, a great guest.

22. The Brutal Economics of Being a Yoga Teacher.

23. Good stuff from this week’s Positively Present Picks list: 25 Hilarious Tweets That Perfectly Capture Your Feelings About Animals, and 5 Positive Reasons for Saying No, and The Two Best Ways to Uncover Your Truth.

24. Austin Kleon on Mary Karr’s new book, The Art of Memoir.

25. the shutterbugs: kate holstein on SF Girl by Bay. Such dreamy pictures. I clicked through to her full website and got lost in it.

26. 5 Ways to Manage Stress at Work, some great tips from Laura Simms, who is also offering Your Career Homecoming Training Series videos for FREE on her new website.

27. The Crossroads of Should and Must. “This is a story about two roads — Should and Must. It’s a pep talk for anyone who’s chosen Should for far too long — months, years, maybe a lifetime — and feels like it’s about time they gave Must a shot.” This post ended up inspiring a book that I really want to read.

28. Why you should stop saying should on Positively Present. Stop shoulding all over yourself.

29. Wisdom from Anam Thubten,

If we were asked to be free right now, to jump into the sea of love in this very moment, we might turn our attention inward and try it, and it may not work. Why? Because of a hindrance, a block. That block is the very sense of “I am” that is the false image of who we are. It is the shell that is veiling, covering our true nature. So the goal of all spiritual endeavors is to actually realize the enlightened part of who we are, not sometime in the future, but right now.

30. Wisdom from Kiki Smith,

Just do your work. And if the world needs your work it will come and get you. And if it doesn’t, do your work anyway. You can have fantasies about having control over the world, but I know I can barely control my kitchen sink. That is the grace I’m given. Because when one can control things, one is limited to one’s own vision.

31. The Geography Of Sorrow: Francis Weller On Navigating Our Losses.

32. Claritude from Jena Schwartz.

33. Breathe, an eleven week, (self-directed), deep breathing, creative recovery retreat for your spirit with the lovely Julia Fehrenbacher.

34. A dirty secret called grief. “After her mother’s death, Kiran Sidhu found she was expected to ‘move on’ with such bewildering haste that her only option was to conceal her sorrow.”

Something Good

yellowfall

So great to be partnering with Wanderlust to share this list with a larger audience.

1. Another chance to start over, wisdom from Seth Godin.

2. Good Question: How can I stay creative when I have to sit and type all day long? and No regrets, wisdom from the wicked smart Alexandra Franzen. What I love so much about her perspective is she is able to be both gentle and fierce at the same time.

3. One day you’re a dog. The next day, you’re in space. by Andrea Scher. Even though this piece is about a very personal experience, it’s completely universal at the same time. And, the fact that she published it on September 11th gave it a whole other layer of meaning. It made me think of all the times in my life this has happened — “Sometimes life changes like that – one day you’re a dog, the next day you’re in space.”

4. The Digital Breakup from The School of Enough, (shared on Be More With Less). This makes a really compelling argument for challenging yourself to make a change to your digital habits. I want to try it, but I confess it also makes me a bit shaky just thinking about it.

5. My Plan On 9/11. One person’s memory of “that day.” This line alone is worth the read, “In some ways, hope is just a lie in a prom dress.”

6. Confessions and Lessons from a Former Approval Addict on Tiny Buddha.

7. Omission: Choosing what to leave out, on why writing is choosing what to leave out.

8. Good stuff from Chookooloonks this was a good week list: One woman’s mission to photograph every Native American tribe in the US, and 10 Questions With Brené Brown. Also from Chookooloonks, accept your nomination.

9. The Gentle Art of Trying Something & Sucking at It on Zen Habits.

10. The “New Age Thinking Will Make Me Thin” Diet from Isabel Foxen Duke. Word. Confession: I went to therapy for my dis-ordered eating at first because I thought it was the magic bullet to getting the body I wanted, NOT because I wanted to get well — that came later.

11. How to Do a Career Change Detox from Laura Simms.

12. 7 Ways Happy Couples Deal with Disagreements Differently from Marc and Angel Hack Life.

13. News Flash: Fear Does Not Respond Well to Self-Discipline from Jennifer Louden.

14. What All Writers Can Learn From Mitch Hedberg.

15. So this happened: The ‘Dear Fat People’ video is tired, cruel and lazy – but I still fight for the woman who made it, and “Dear Fat People” isn’t satire: Despite the backlash publicity, it’s unlikely to make Nicole Arbour a star, and This comedian’s YouTube channel was shut down for fat-shaming, and What I Want to Say to Fat People: Response to Nicole Arbour, and Response: Dear Fat People from Meghan Tonjes.

16. This Couple’s “Drunk History” Version Of How They Met Is Pure Gold.

17. Two powerful posts on Facebook in response to National Suicide Prevention Day, one from Andrea Gibson and another from Amy Tingle.

18. I was a teenage Fox News robot: Sean Hannity destroyed my childhood.

19. Recipe: Easy Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers! With Avocado. Looks so yum, although if you put sweet potato and avocado in just about anything, I’m going to want to eat it.

20. ‘Eat Clean’? The Smug Instagram Lifestyle Might Not Be So Healthy After All. If you’ve never heard of orthorexia, you need to read this.

21. How to help your family and save lives from Neil Gaiman.

22. 9 things I’ve learned about marriage from being a couples therapist.

23. Your FitBit Is Ruining Your Relationship with Your Body – Here Are 3 Reasons Why.

24. the big quiet from Sas Petherick.

25. How to help Syrian refugees? These 6 groups you may not know are doing important work.

26. Hijacking Genocide: An Open Letter.

27. 10Q. 10 Days. 10 Questions. “Answer one question per day in your own secret online 10Q space…When you’re finished, hit the magic button and your answers get sent to the secure online 10Q vault for safekeeping. One year later, the vault will open and your answers will land back in your email inbox for private reflection.” This year’s 10 actually started yesterday, but you can still join in. I’ve done it for the past few years, and it’s really fun. I always learn something about myself answering the questions, and am surprised and inspired when I read my responses from the year before.

28. This Is What Happened When I Welcomed A Refugee Family Into My Home.

29. A large group of snazzily dressed men gathered outside a Connecticut public school on the first day of classes.

30. There’s More to Life Than Being Happy.

31. How to Finally Clean out Your Closet for Good, a really great strategy from Be More With Less. “When I finally cleaned out my closet for good, peace replaced guilt, joy replaced frustration, and love replaced fear.”

32. How Not to Do It All from Zen Habits. I should probably just commit to starting each and every day by reading this. My name is Jill, and I’m a do-aholic.

33. The Loving Our Body Lie and Fat People and Faulty Assumptions from Dances with Fat.

34. Meditation: Beyond the Practice with Susan Piver on The Good Life Project Radio, two of my favorite people talking to each other about one of my favorite topics.

35. “What My Recovery Looks Like”: Jennifer Matesa on Freedom.

36. Wisdom from John Lubbock, “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

37. I’m Fat and I Don’t Want to Assimilate into Diet Culture (And No, I’m Not Sorry).

38. Zen Foxes: Photographer Documents Wild Foxes Enjoying Themselves.

39. The Tiny Book Show. If you are looking for an easy, creative project, this one is super fun.

40. 12 Simple Ways to Make Your Yoga Classes More Trauma Informed.

41. Killing Of Young Woman In Nepal Spotlights Travel Safety.

42. Wisdom from Saul Bellow, “Death is the dark backing that a mirror needs if we are to see anything.”

43. Wisdom from Carl Sagan, “For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.”

44. 26 Photos That Every Perfectionist Will Find Pleasing.

45. Margaret Atwood: On Facing the Blank Page.

46. Man Recreates Photos Of His Late Wife With His 3-Year-Old Daughter 3 Years After The Accident. All the feels…

47. Creative Work on Allowing Myself.

48. 11 easy ways to reduce your plastic waste today on Tree Hugger. I’m doing most of this already, but what’s really got me excited from this post is the picture of the decorated tiffins. I want! Indian Tiffin has decorated ones, and Happy Tiffin has a really great selection of undecorated ones, all different sizes and shapes.