1. This Twitter thread about the “six month slump” was very helpful to me and many others who shared it this week. The final tweet sums it up: “So, dear friends, do not despair of the 6 month wall. It’s not permanent, nor will it define you in this period of adversity. Trust that the magic that helped you through the first phase is still there. Take a breath & a pause. You’ll be on the other side in no time.” Don’t give up.

2. Holding Space is Not About Willful Blindness or Complacency in the Face of Injustice.

3. The Beauty of Imperfection on Lion’s Roar. “Lion’s Roar AV Producer Sandra Hannebohm looks at wabi-sabi and the perfection of imperfection.”

4. On hope from Lion’s Roar: Yes, We Can Have Hope (“Roshi Joan Halifax reflects on the idea of “wise hope” and why we should open ourselves to it”) and Ask the Teachers: What is the Buddhist view of hope? (“Oren Jay Sofer, Sister Clear Grace, and Ayya Yeshe look at the meaning of hope in Buddhism and what it means in today’s world”).

5. Richard, a chapter of Allie Brosh’s new book. If you’ve never read her blog or other book, go now.

6. It’s OK to Rest Your Voice from Jena Schwartz. Also from Jena:

May all who enter through the open gates be met with forgiveness. May old wounds heal and future wounds be wrapped in tapestries of light. May peace seep into the cracks that divide us. May the righteous be humbled and the wicked be righted. May we be held in a vast container of love. May the Days of Awe have mercy on all whose hearts are willing to return. May I be ready to walk through the doors tonight to sing and pray. May our gaze be steady and our path lined with jewels. May the travelers be watched over and the sick be comforted. May our fasting bring compassion where there was conflict and support where there was suffering, honesty where there was hiding and movement where there was stagnation. May the darkness deepen and give birth to light. May destruction only prepare us to shine more brightly. May we remember who we are and why we are here. May we ask for more than we think we deserve and receive with gratitude what comes into being. May fear be consumed by fire and bitterness dissolve in the void. May sweetness linger on our lips and coat our speech like the honey that will coat the sliced apples we’ll share. Shabbat Shalom, beautiful friends.

7. This beauty from Andrea Gibson:

What I know about living is the pain
is never just ours.
Every time I hurt I know
the wound is an echo, so I keep listening
for the moment when the grief
becomes a window,
when I can see what I couldn’t see before.
Through the glass of my most bartered dream
I watched a dandelion lose its mind
in the wind and when it did,
it scattered a thousand seeds.

8. Ms. Tanqueray Starring In 32-Part Humans Of New York Series To Raise Funds Amid Financial Hardship.

9. Because it’s fall, some recipes I want to try: Split Pea Soup with Ham (Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or Stovetop) and Apple Pull-Apart Bread. I made the bread yesterday. It was the first time I’ve ever made a bread that used yeast. I didn’t have the right size pan, so it got split in two. It’s basically a giant cinnamon roll with apples. Very yummy.

10. My Octopus Teacher, streaming on Netflix. “A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.” I watched this earlier in the week, and it’s really beautiful.

11. Surviving the Pull of the Undertow by Sherry Richert Belul, “six tiny moments that can save you when you feel pulled under into dark waters.”

12. Mom shares warning after son, 9, dies of carbon monoxide poisoning on lake trip. I had never heard about this, and neither had his parents. It’s a very sad read, but if you boat with kids, it’s so important.

13. 7 Methods for Recovering From Internalized Capitalism. “Your self-worth is not connected to your productivity.”

14. If you haven’t already, Confirm You’re Registered to Vote.

15. Spoiler, a poem by Hala Alyan. Because this, “I’m here to tell you whatever you build will be ruined, so make it beautiful.”

16. Black Women Novelists You Should Be Reading.

17. Instead of hiding rips and tears, the visible mending movement turns them into art. “Born from the Japanese art of sashiko, visible mending enables crafters to eschew fast fashion and make mistakes beautiful.”

18. Black Lives Still Matter: How We Got Here and What Must Happen Next from Jen Lemen.

19. 27 Things You Do Because You’re a Highly Sensitive Person.

1. The Pall Of Our Unrest. “Terry Tempest Williams featured in The New York Times reading her ‘obituary for the land.’ She implores us: Let it not be true.”

2. Remarks by President Trump at the White House Conference on American History. If you had any doubts that the current President is a white supremacist, this should clear them up. In related news, Trump Accused Howard Zinn of “Propaganda.” But Zinn Was Right About US History, and Trump’s ‘1776 Commission’ isn’t education, it’s optics, and We Really Still Need Howard Zinn, and this wisdom from Nicole Cardoza’s Anti-Racism newsletter about supporting the 1619 project,

…as our country faces unprecedented challenges, it’s clear that many of its inhabitants are ill-equipped to fully understand the historical influences that got us here. We need to protect comprehensive curriculum that educators can implement in their classrooms. But it has to be willing to tell the truth. Because if we do, we all be more inspired to create the future that we deserve and collectively ensure that these injustices will never happen again. By protecting a whitewashed history, the current administration protects white supremacy and moves us further away from the country that truly supports us all.

3. Testing, testing on Rita’s Notebook, because this:

Our hope needs to be grounded in what is actually true right now today, not in what used to be true or what we wish or believe to be true–which means facing and feeling our sorrow and fear rather than pushing them away with half-truths that make us feel better. We need to accept the contradictory truths that things are terrible and that hope is reasonable so that we will take actions that might actually make a damn difference in our fight to make a better world, one in which we can all live and work without threat of death…

4. How is arguing with Trump voters working out for you? “If you want to stop authoritarianism, the efficient mission is not to attack the opposing side – but rather to stay firm in your principles and open in your heart.”

5. Wisdom from Andre Henry’s Hope & Hard Pills newsletter:

We’re a nation with concentration camps, where protesters are being snatched off the streets, and the president clearly aspires to total authority. And though we’re not the totalitarian state we could be, we must reckon with the fact that American fascism and authoritarianism is always on the table in response to Black freedom movements. The first step to fighting for our democracy is being honest about how undemocratic we are as a society. A new world is possible. It doesn’t have to be this way.

6. The eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life.

7. I’m not sure if it’s a curse or a blessing. Maybe both, from The Bloggess.

8. Above the Paradox Valley, a beautiful poem from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. In related news, videos of a recent event with Rosemerry hosted by the Loveland Public Library: Poetry Reading with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer and Poetry Workshop – The Practical Poet: Delight in the Details.

9. You’re Not The Fucked Up One from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

10. Guided Meditation for Election Anxiety, “a guided audio meditation by Ethan Nichtern, recorded in August of 2020 related to anxiety and contemplation of specific action around the 2020 election. The meditation itself is about 20 minutes, followed by about 7 minutes of commentary.”

11. Wisdom from Jena Schwartz’s Dispatches from Daily Life, “I realized yet again that writing really is how I live, how I process information and synthesize experiences, how I metabolize fear and sadness, how I play with ideas and possibilities, how I meet myself and you and the world.” Me too, Jena.

12. 5 Ways to Get into the Meditation Habit on Lion’s Roar.

13. Rev. angel Kyodo williams: Tying the Red Thread, a dharma podcast from Upaya Institute and Zen Center. “In this dharma talk, Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Sensei talks wrapping ourselves completely in the Red Thread, or the soiled messiness of life. She also talks about directly meeting what is in front of us and of being prepared for anything and everything.”

14. ‘PEN15’ Is No Longer an Underdog, and That Feels Weird on The New York Times. “In a joint interview, Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle discussed the new season, the destabilizing effect of their show’s success and why the smallest slights are the most devastating.”

15. Free Online Practice Sessions from Tricycle. “Join Dr. Larry Ward and others for a series of live-stream meditations to help ease anxiety amid our social-distancing efforts.”

16. I’ve been doing Zoom meetings for years. These 7 tricks make them great.

17. Queer Morning Blessings / birkot hashachar. “You can greet the dawn (or whenever you wake up or really whenever you want) and become present to the miracle that is this life, that is YOU, every day, in the company of these beloveds. These are rough times, and more than ever, we need practices that reconnect us with ourselves, with Source and with each other.”

18. Video of dancing trash collectors recorded on home’s security camera goes viral.

19. Lost baby goat reunited with his mama. (video)

20. Breonna Taylor’s Family to Receive $12 Million Settlement From City of Louisville on The New York Times. “In the aftermath of the botched police raid in which Ms. Taylor was killed, the city also agreed to institute changes aimed at preventing future deaths by officers.”

21. Black-Owned Galleries to Support across the United States.

22. Japanese Artist Made These 30 Cute Vignettes From Leaves.