Tag Archives: neil gaiman

Something Good

1. The problem with holding a grudge, and Plenty more, and Abandoning perfection from Seth Godin.

It’s time to stop waiting. It’s time to become who you want to become and do what you want to do and learn what you want to learn and rest when you want to rest and take little pieces of time and do terrific things with them that are beautiful and personal and unique and true.

And,

We all have a proverbial basket of things that are in need of mending, all of us do! We have relationships, sweaters, cabinet doors, hearts, dreams, windows………..thing after thing in need of some attention and time.

Sometimes we get paralyzed by the amount of things in that basket, so we just start walking past it, pretending that it’s not there…but still feeling something deeply gnawing at us, and preventing us from feeling total peace.

Don’t be afraid to look in your basket, beautiful friend…..just start picking up one piece of mending and work on it a little….then another tomorrow. This can be real, physical things like sewing a button back on your favorite coat, to much bigger things…like sending a nice card to someone you’ve had a falling-out with but would love to patch things up with.

Don’t let your basket of mending steal any more of your joy or peace. Take an honest look at it today and then take a deep breath and make a plan to start mending things…..a little at time, and then let it go and be o.k. with it all.

And

What would a leap of faith look like?

That thing that’s been lingering on your mind, burning in your heart…..that scary beautiful thing that you can’t get out of your whole soul because it wants to be heard and acted upon……..guess what lovely? It’s not going to go away.

It’s not going to go away because it’s your deepest wisdom and authenticity…trying to get you on exactly the right track. It is your truth.

What is it that is holding you back? Would it be so bad just to take that first step? Would it be so bad to stop and really honor yourself and at least listen to that longing?

This is where the fork in the road just might lead to the place you’ve been praying to be.

Get quiet, dear friend…….listen closely….then be brave when you know exactly what to do next.

Live THAT ONE PRECIOUS LIFE OF YOURS….really really live it.

It is time.

3. Own our history. Change the story. from Brene’ Brown.

4. The Best & Less-than-Best Motivations for Learning from Zen Habits.

5. 9 Simple Yoga Poses To Help With Back Pain.

6. Magical Thinking, Yoga, And Internal Inquiry.

7. Good stuff on Brain Pickings: Pool: A Tender Illustrated Celebration of Quiet Curiosity and How We Find Our Kindred Spirits, and How to Own Your Story: Vivian Gornick on the Art of Personal Narrative and the Power of Textured Storytelling, and The Subterranean River of Emotion: Cheryl Strayed on Writing, the Art of Living with Opposing Truths, and the Three Ancient Motifs in All Great Storytelling.

8. Finding the Wisdom in Your Worrying & Whining from Jen Louden.

9. Online “Success” And “Failure” Don’t Look The Way You Think. (Thanks for sharing, Laura).

10. Is Your Purpose Frivolous? from Laura Simms.

11. Good stuff from Rowdy Kittens Happy Links list: On Working, A Lot and Paying Off a Mortgage in Seven Years.

12. The Truth Does Not Change According to Our Ability to Stomach It: A Southerner’s Perspective on the Confederate Flag.

13. Good stuff from Austin Kleon: To be a teacher and remain a student and Jenny Diski’s End Notes.

14. Shared on Susannah’s Something for the Weekend list: this amazing designer and The Beautiful Wooden Dome House In A Forest.

15. Every Day, I Draw One Animal Letter A Day To Teach My Son The Alphabet.

16. Good stuff from {Peacefulinks #9} Useful Resources Handpicked and Handcurated for You This Week from Peaceful Triumphs: Leadership With Simon Sinek: Serving Those Who Serve Others, and Quitting as a Productivity Tactic, and How Meditation Saved My Business.

17. ‘I Identify As Black,’ Rachel Dolezal Says In TV Interview.

18. 5th grade boys Synchronized Air Swimming Talent Show Skit W A Porter Elementary. So cute.

19. A Photo Essay: Orr Lake & Beyond on Rowdy Kittens.

20. SLIP | @PhillipChbeeb & Renee Kester | @ElliotMossMusic. Everything about this is so beautiful.

21. The Buddhists Who Are Speaking Out. “Buddhists in countries around the world are speaking out in an effort to rescue and protect tens of thousands of displaced people – many of them risking death in overcrowded boats – in Southeast Asia. TIME magazine this month called them ‘The nowhere people.'”

22. Latin proverb, “If there is no wind, row.”

23. Sara Seinberg on movement, the fallacy of willpower, and seeing the body as an opportunity.

24. Willpower: The Big Bullshit Hoagie from Sara Seinberg.

25. Scott Carver’s Bucket List Fund, on GoFundMe.

26. Hunter Treschl’s fundraising page on GoFundMe. Hunter says,

I’ve lost my arm obviously, so I have two options: I can try to live my life the way I was and make an effort to do that even though I don’t have an arm, or I can just let this be completely debilitating and bring my life down and ruin it. Out of those two, there’s really only one that I would actually choose and that’s to try to fight and live a normal life with the cards I’ve been dealt.

27. Rachel Dolezal Syndrome, (thanks for sharing, Patti).

28. The First Time I Was Called “Fat.”

29. Ricky & Doris: An Unconventional Friendship in New York City. With Puppets!

30. say something from Chookooloonks.

31. Charleston Church Shooting on The Daily Show.

32. The Perils of Father’s Day by Christine Mason Miller.

33. How to Figure out what’s Important When You Have too Much to Do from Be More With Less.

34. America is ready: Same-sex couples show how long they’ve been waiting for the freedom to marry.

35. Harriet Tubman Set to Be Honored with Face on $10 Bill.

36. The Roar Sessions: Patti Digh.

37. Dreamy Modern Loft Oasis : Portland. Too bad Pearl time doesn’t come with the rental.

38. Your mission: use your gifts, wisdom from Britt Bravo.

39. How I Reactivated My Creative Bone.

40. Fat Classics: Dieting, health, and the hijacking of Hippocrates by Helen Morales.

41. In A Relationship With A Highly Sensitive Person? Here’s What You Need To Know.

42. Wisdom from U Pandita, “In Buddhist practice, we work to expand the range of life experiences in which we are free.”

43. Why Our Culture Is Obsessed With Thinness.

44. Existing in the pause from Neil Gaiman.

Something Good

3 Replies

The most important item on this list: Nepal death toll climbs towards 2,000 as world responds to earthquake. Heartbreaking, heart breaking, but here are some ways to help: How you can help Nepal after the earthquake and To Nepal With Love: Earthquake Relief and How to help Nepal: 7 vetted charities doing relief work following the earthquake and Help Nepal Heal (by way of charity:water).

1. Don’t Read The Comments: Comment Sections Are Our Own Fault on Terrible Minds.

2. Choosing Rest (& Why it Makes us so Uncomfortable) from Mara Glatzel’s newsletter.

3. Making Peace Possible: The Shared Wisdom of the Human Heart, a free online talk from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche on May 7th.

4. Wisdom from Rumi, by way of Erin,

Be ground. Be crumbled,
so wildflowers will come up
where you are.

You have been stony for too many years.
Try something different. Surrender.

5. 5 Better Ways to Start or Grow a Blog and If You Want to Be Light, You Have to Let Go from Be More With Less.

6. Wisdom shared by Laura Simms in her newsletter: We All Have Permission To Be A Work In Progress and 3 Empowering Questions to Ask When Dealing with a Challenging Situation.

7. Good stuff from Dances with Fat: Things You Don’t Owe Anybody, and What the Hell is Going on at Protein World?, and Back Off My Big Fat Body and When They Say “War on Obesity” I Hear “Casualties.”

8. prescription for calm, (thanks for sharing, Karen).

9. Don’t Wear Shoes That Hurt, a great list of wisdom.

10. Good stuff on Bored Panda: 20+ Photos Of Geometrical Plants For Symmetry Lovers and 22+ Before & After Photos Of Dogs Growing Up (Part II) and Japanese Craftsman Restores Old Books To Look Good As New.

11. Confront Death by Avoiding Fritos: The Gluten Lie, Fad Diets, & Foodie Faith.

12. How Living With and Loving Bruce Jenner Changed My Life Forever.

13. The Challenges of Seeing Meditation Only Through a Scientific Lens.

14. The Crossroads of Should and Must.

15. Beyond Mindfulness: Explore Mindfulness as a Path to Wisdom and Transformation, a free online event.

16. When a man asks people to translate a hate message he’s received, their response is unforgettable.

17. 5 Ways to Stop Worrying About What Everyone Thinks of You.

18. Wisdom from Pema Chödrön,

Not acting on our habitual patterns is only the first step toward not harming others or ourselves. The transformative process begins at a deeper level when we contact the rawness we’re left with whenever we refrain. As a way of working with our aggressive tendencies, Dzigar Kongtrül teaches the nonviolent practice of simmering. He says that rather than “boil in our aggression like a piece of meat cooking in a soup,” we simmer in it. We allow ourselves to wait, to sit patiently with the urge to act or speak in our usual ways and feel the full force of that urge without turning away or giving in. This is the journey of developing a kindhearted and courageous tolerance for our pain.

19. To overcome an irrational fear… from Seth Godin.

20. From this week’s Blessing from Ronna Detrick,

I kept myself busy with so many responsibilities. I took them on because they needed to be done, but more, because they seemed like the best way to keep from feeling crazy. When I slowed down, when I rested, when I stopped, my mind fought against the silence, the space, the calm. But, in truth, silence, space, and calm was what my heart wanted most; what I needed most. It took time, but I learned that it’s not in working harder, faster, or smarter; but in sitting, resting, and leaning that feeling crazy eventually vanishes, that transformation comes, that love shows up.

21. Frog discovered in Costa Rica resembles Kermit. Don’t know quite why, but this makes me so happy.

22. Good stuff on Hello Giggles: Amy Schumer’s NSFW sketch brilliantly skewers how Hollywood treats older actresses and ICYMI: Tracy Chapman’s awe-inspiring cover of “Stand By Me” leaves us speechless.

23. Transgender Kids, a series of features from NBC News.

24. Interesting stuff on Huffington Post: Parents’ ‘Demanding’ Invitation To Baby’s First Birthday Goes Viral and What Makes ‘Liking Your Body’ So Damn Hard and Grieving Dad Pens Honest Obituary For Daughter Who Died Of Heroin Overdose and the comments section of My Battle With My Son’s Addiction.

25. On What it Takes from Dani Shapiro.

26. This Advice on Dealing with Your Struggles and Privilege is Pretty Much Perfect – And Super Adorable.

27. Read Amy Schumer’s Powerful Speech About Confidence.

28. A Conversation with Neil Gaiman.

29. 10 Things You Should Know About Doing a Crowdfunding Campaign from Todd Mitchell.

30. The Pioneering Poet, Tig Notaro interview’s Andrea Gibson.

31. Amy Schumer’s brilliant ‘Friday Night Lights’ parody puts the blame for rape where it belongs.

32. ‘Wellness Guru’ Belle Gibson lied about having brain cancer, profited from lying about bogus cancer cures.

33. Wisdom from Atisha,

The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

34. “What Is Systemic Racism?”, a playlist of important videos from Race Forward.

35. Native Actors Walk off Set of Adam Sandler Movie After Insults to Women, Elders.

36. The Best Job Interview Answer Ever. This Man Just Nailed It.

37. From In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts in the Introduction,

The inhabitants of the Hungry Ghost Realm are depicted as creatures with scrawny necks, small mouths, emaciated limbs and large, bloated, empty bellies. This is the domain of addiction, where we constantly seek something outside ourselves to curb an insatiable yearning for relief or fulfillment. The aching emptiness is perpetual because the substances, objects or pursuits we hope will soothe it are not what we really need. We don’t know what we need, and so long as we stay in the hungry ghost mode, we’ll never know. We haunt our lives without being fully present.

38. togs: my natural hair journey on Chookooloonks.

39. Walking Is A Humans Best Medicine.

40. Obama Just Burned GOP Climate Deniers in “Anger Translator” Rant.