Hello lovelies,

I’m in the process of going through old blog posts and assigning (or reassigning) categories and tags. Partly to make this more user-friendly, partly to give it a more consistent feel, and partly because organizing things makes me happy. Let me know what you think.

1. Be here now. About two weeks ago I had one of those days where I felt overwhelmingly anxious, about everything and nothing all at once. I couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t sit down with work, couldn’t manage to pull my head out of itself. At a loss for anything else to do, I opened up my meditation app. And there, in bright, friendly letters, was a notification that a teacher I’d bookmarked had posted a new meditation: a grounding meditation for stress and anxiety. I did it. It worked. I was able to set the anxiety aside and get one with my day. I’ve meditated every day since then, and it has made a huge difference in my attitude, my perception, my ability to be present.

2. Other people’s houses. My friend just got her real estate license, so I’ve been shamelessly indulging my voyeuristic side assisting her by letting her practice showing houses.

This was in the basement of a house that also had an in wall toaster, original Jacuzzi tub, and room-to-room intercom system, all of which I have suddenly realized I desperately need in my life!

3. Recipes wanted. Lately, it seems like I’m making the same things for dinner every week. Anybody have a go to recipe or recipe blog they recommend?

4. Not a bad place to raise the kids. I’m not a fan of small towns, but this one is starting to grow on me. Z wiped out into a mud puddle during a bike ride the other day. It cushioned the fall, but left her with a giant steak of mud down her arm—which she was not happy about. As she was making it clear that we needed to go home and clean up before the bike ride continued, one of the neighbors came up to us with a towel and helped wipe her off. It was a lovely, unexpected gift.

5. Commune update. I planted winter vegetables in the garden a few weeks ago. The squash and the radishes are doing really well, the carrots and spinach are struggling, and the peas couldn’t handle the heat and will need to be replanted in a few weeks. The lemon tree is producing like crazy – we’re going to be up to our ears in lemons soon. And the ladies of the henhouse are slowing down with the shorter days but still giving us a solid 2-3 eggs a day. Oh, and the back studio is now an airbnb, and is crazy in demand.

Links & Things

My mother always said they should just put lithium in the water supply.

The meditation app I use is Insight Timer.  I’ve mainly been using The StillPoint’s grounding meditation, but I’ve also started listening to a Mindfulness Training series. Part of what I love about the app is the community focus – I love logging in and seeing all the “Thanks for meditating with me” messages.

The creation of a (friendly) monster—how the Flyers created Gritty, the Internet’s most popular mascot.

I love everything about this photo series: Portraits of Medieval Knights Reimagined as Fearless Women