“I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.” So begins a favorite poem, “The Waking” by Theodore Roethke. We can’t always take our waking slow. But maybe this day.
Read MoreThe harvest moon kicks off fall in the northern hemisphere and a time of ensuring our own sustenance—a time we’re dubbing “Shore up September.” To shore up is to reinforce and support those things that sustain us. Our houses need shoring up, as do our relationships. Our planet could certainly use it, and so could our spirits. Won’t you join us this September?
Read MoreWhen we think of living as an art and a space for luxury, we can start to redefine how we do it. If we take luxury back from the unattainable realms of fancy cars and vacations, what might we replace it with? The look and smell of fresh flowers on the table. That first sip of our morning brew. 10 minutes curled up with a book.
Read MoreWe’ve known about the vastness of the universe for centuries. And it still blows our minds with each fresh reminder of our place in an infinite mystery. It is the most gorgeous wakeup call imaginable. The images from the James Webb telescope are a call to wonder, which is a call to imagine and a call to action.
Read MoreWe love a second act. From socks that become puppets to car lot owners turned famous sci-fi writers. Sure, a first purpose or chapter is special. A second act has a different power—one of transformation and renewal. A third? Now that’s downright magical.
Read MoreWe all share a secret—something everyone knows but we rarely talk about. Time is a made up thing. It’s a series of present moments infused with memories of past moments and expectations for future ones. We know logically that past moments cannot be changed and future ones are not guaranteed. The world has made this visceral and tragic recently. And maybe your heart hurts, like ours does
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When you cast yourself into the future to plan your next adventure or goal, how do you do it? Do you make long planning lists in a notebook (a personal favorite of ours)? Do you keep extensive digital notes? Do you make a voice memo or write future you a letter (very next level)? Do you seek the advice and wisdom of others?
Read MoreAre you a movie lover? A book worm? A foodie, a runner, a fungi enthusiast? There’s a femme future there. Here at the tail end of Women’s History Month, we can dip into the history of women in the fields we follow and let it spur us to dream of fabulous futures for everyone.
Read MoreWe all grow things, whether we garden or not. We grow children or pets or habits. We grow strong or brave or tired. Sometimes we grow all of this. As spring hints to us in some regions and roars loudly into others, it’s an annual reminder that winter will end and the sun will return and what was dead or dormant will bloom again.
Read MoreOur values show up in much of our daily consuming—like buying coffee from community-based business or experimenting with bulk dried chilis to make spice blends more sustainably and economically. When we notice our consuming is not aligned with our values, we try to make a change. We’re not perfect and don’t expect anyone to be. But keeping those values front and center helps us make new choices and habits.
Read MoreIf we take steps toward a better future, it’s because we imagine that such a thing is possible. We image a world with less trash, a more sustainable world, a world with care at its center, and it becomes more true in the imagining. It’s an exercise worthy of both Valentine’s Day and Black History Month. If you imagined a new planet for your loved ones, or a future that learns from the past, what world would you create?
Read MoreSo much of the work we need to do is work on the self. Yet, whatever form our self care takes, it is in service to being truly alive in the world. And that means, ultimately, being in community. There is no me without you. No you without others. We learn again and again that we cannot do without each other. So as we sustain ourselves, let’s make a plan to gather together.
Read MoreAs year three of the pandemic sets in, a lot of us are feeling weary and restless. It’s a strange kind of tired. One that asks for rest, but craves something less…restful. Because in many cases, what we crave isn’t a break for tired bodies, but a means to refill depleted stores of joy. Find rest in a hike on the beach with your furry friend, or in a living room dance party, or in whatever brings you joy.
Read MoreEach year we make New Year’s resolutions. Some resolutions we knock out of the park. Some…we don’t. Resolutions are notoriously hard to keep, so much so that you may be tempted not to make them at all. How about instead of a resolution, you choose a mantra?
Read MoreThe world lost a light this week when the philosopher, teacher, and author, bell hooks, passed away at 69 years young. She left us with great many gifts, including more than 30 books, many teaching us how to untangle ourselves from the old systems that keep up from forming real communities based on mutual respect and care. bell hooks taught that we must first be present with and for ourselves in order to give that same honor to others. As the winter holidays pass into the new year, I hope you can gift yourself this presence so that you may offer it in turn.
Read MoreMost winter holidays have at least one common theme: They celebrate light in the annual cycle of darkness. Here’s one simple way think about your own light. Shine on!
Read MoreIn Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us that “all thriving is mutual.” As a botanist, poet, and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer describes the way humans and plants thrive together when we’re in a relationship of reciprocity. Here’s one way to find that mutual exchange wherever you look.
Read MoreIn Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May writes of the magic that the cold months bring: “It’s s time for reflection and recuperation, for slow replenishment, for putting your house in order.”
Read MoreTucked into the daily sights and sounds of the modern world, the ancient one is still there. In How To Do Nothing, Jenny Odell invites us to “identify as citizens of the bioregion as much as (if not more than) the state. Our ‘citizenship’ in a bioregion means not only familiarity with the local ecology, but a commitment to stewarding it together.”
Read MoreWhat do you celebrate and sing about yourself? Your style, your brain, your heritage, your killer baked goods? Take a minute to reflect alongside Walt Whitman.
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