“When they say Don’t I know you?
say no.When they invite you to the party
remember what parties are like
before answering.
Someone telling you in a loud voice
they once wrote a poem.
Greasy sausage balls on a paper plate.
Then reply.If they say We should get together
say why?It’s not that you don’t love them anymore.
You’re trying to remember something
too important to forget.
Trees. The monastery bell at twilight.
Tell them you have a new project.
It will never be finished.When someone recognizes you in a grocery store
nod briefly and become a cabbage.
When someone you haven’t seen in ten years
appears at the door,
don’t start singing him all your new songs.
You will never catch up.Walk around feeling like a leaf.
Know you could tumble any second.
Then decide what to do with your time.”
The Art Of Disappearing
A Kindness Log
I rarely feel confident enough to give anyone advice about anything, but here's something small that has changed my life as a writer: a kindness log.
— Yohanca Delgado (@yodelnyc) December 3, 2021
Loving these instructions for keeping a Kindness Log.
(Thank you Annie)
Rope Leash
It’s happening. I have become a person who posts about design-y dog products. This rope leash is pretty. (Comes in a set with poop bag holder and collar. I am into it.)
Little Bit of Good
“Do your little bit of good where you are;
it’s those little bits of good put together
that overwhelm the world.”
– Desmond Tutu
Running Into A New Year
I am running into a new year
and the old years blow back
like a wind
that I catch in my hair
like strong fingers like
all my old promises and
it will be hard to let go
of what I said to myself
about myself
when I was sixteen and
twentysix and thirtysix
even thirtysix but
I am running into a new year
and i beg what I love and
I leave to forgive me— Lucille Clifton (1936-2010)
Tank And The Bangas: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
I love you Tiny Desk.
(Thank you Casey)
♥ / Interior Lighting Design Certificate
A big thank you to CPE at The New School for sponsoring my blog this week.
Use Lighting Design to Transform Spaces at Parsons
The Interior Lighting Design Certificate at Parsons equips you with an understanding of the science of light and vision.
In this three-course certificate you will gain foundational knowledge of lighting technologies (lamps, luminaries) while developing your eye for bringing out the best in any space. Plus, you can earn your certificate online with one-on-one guidance and support from Parsons faculty at the top of their field.
Enroll today for spring courses starting January 24th.
Here’s to 2022
New year and another trip around the sun. Hey 2022, here’s to:
– more parties in the heart
– more listening. Less talking
– being ok with being misunderstood
– spending time with expansive humans
– staying open
– more dancing
– long walks
– petting dogs
– BELIEVE (Ted Lasso style)
– less sugar
– remembering that fear is the absence of love
– remembering to interpret mixed signals as a no
– continue to gently recognize my limiting beliefs
– trusting that inner whisper
– sprinkle fun and good vibes
– be intentional about rituals / traditions (create new ones)
– notice when the universe is cheering me on
– no more overwatering plants
– notice and celebrate what’s working
– clarity
– recognize when I am swimming upstream and swiflty turning around
– write my book (at least start)
– being open to love
Whispers: Thank you for visiting my garden on the internet. I appreciate you stopping by.
Sardoodledom
This made my day.
No More Billionaires
Ok how about this:
No more billionaires. None.
After you reach $999 million, every red cent goes to schools and health care.
You get a trophy that says, “I won capitalism” and we name a dog park after you.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) March 22, 2020
Reading
“Reading is a basic tool in living of a good life.”
– Joseph Addison
Good Things Happen
This Good Things Happen Print by Adam JK is the little bit of optimism we all need right now. (Comes in all kinds of colors)
Definition of a Leader
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
– John Quincy Adams
Kimono Patterns
Designs from Kimono Pattern Books (ca. 1902). Delightful.
A Flock of Friends
“Fortify yourself with a flock of friends! There is always at least one who will understand, inspire, and give you the lift you may need at the time.”
– George M. Adams
Rudie Racoon
Come into my life, Rudie!
Heritage Apples
Tom Brown has spent most of his retirement tracking down all-but-extinct apple varieties that once thrived throughout Appalachia, US. I want to be like Tom when I grow up.
Link Pack
– The Photos of the Year for 2021
– “We lose sight of the fundamental tradeoff that the price of higher productivity is always lower creativity. All of it, Burkeman observes, is the product of an anxiety about time that springs from our stubborn avoidance of the elemental parameters of reality.” Against the Trap of Efficiency: The Counterintuitive Antidote to the Time-Anxiety That Haunts and Hampers Our Search for Meaning
– This Rainbow Scarf makes me happy.
– What went right in 2021: the top 26 good news stories of the year
– The best movies and TV of 2021, picked by NPR critics
– Joan Didion is dead at 87.She established a distinctive voice in American fiction before turning to political reporting and screenplay writing.
– You’re not uncool, making friends as an adult is hard (Two months into dog ownership, I can attest that having a dog is a Friend Making Machine)
– This post over on Colossal is fueling my love for foxes
– This Instagram account is pure gold. This post of finding your posse of missfits pulled me in.
– The literature clock tells you the current time using a literary snippet. (via)
– This Oak Pen Tray makes my minimalist heart sing.
– Typography fundamentals through Google Fonts.
– I’m going to close this deal using business words I’ve heard men yell in airports, by Wendi Aarons
– A big thank you to Caveday for sponsoring my blog this week. (Whispers: Team CreativeMornings is huge fans of Caveday.)
Happy Holidays to you all, my dear readers. Thank you for visiting my garden. I like tending to it and knowing that you enjoy my finds.
Live In It
“I’m not telling you to make the world better, because I don’t think that progress is necessarily part of the package. I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment. And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave’s a fine and private place, but none I think do there embrace. Nor do they sing there, or write, or argue, or see the tidal bore on the Amazon, or touch their children. And that’s what there is to do and get it while you can and good luck at it.”
― Joan Didion
Mykonos Mobile
My kids have heard me say many times that the only reason I would want to become rich for one day is so that I can own a real Calder Mobile. In the meantime, maybe this one will do?
I Was In Love With The City
“…quite simply, I was in love with New York. I do not mean “love” in any colloquial way, I mean that I was in love with the city, the way you love the first person who ever touches you and you never love anyone quite that way again. I remember walking across Sixty-second Street one twilight that first spring, or the second spring, they were all alike for a while. I was late to meet someone but I stopped at Lexington Avenue and bought a peach and stood on the corner eating it and knew that I had come out out of the West and reached the mirage.”
― Joan Didion
Don’t Be Afraid
This is lovely. Thank you for your gift, Gasta.
♥ / Caveday
A big thank you to Caveday for sponsoring my blog this week. (Whispers: Team CreativeMornings is huge fans of Caveday.)
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