Blessing for the Longest Night

All throughout these months
as the shadows have lengthened,
this blessing has been
gathering itself,
making ready,
preparing for
this night.
 
It has practiced
walking in the dark,
traveling with
its eyes closed,
feeling its way
by memory
by touch
by the pull of the moon
even as it wanes.

This week’s post is by Nir Eyal, a Stanford MBA, author, and entrepreneur who has started and sold several successful companies. He currently focuses on behavior and habit formation.

I found this article more than timely. One interesting part was Jimmy Fallon asking for feedback regarding a policy attributed to Hillary Clinton—when it was actually from Trump.

This works both ways, folks. Time to calm down, get out of our “camps” and get into the light of day. 

The Secret to True Kindness

Research shows it’s measured by the benefit of the doubt

Babies. They’re such jerks, aren’t they? They wake you up in the middle of the night. They make huge messes for you to clean up. And let’s not forget to mention the inevitable diaper blowouts that happen at all the wrong times. Who do they think they are?

Below is an article from The School of Life… “How to Choose a Good Present.”

The essence of the article? Gifts are important. That thought is ingrained in childhood and isn’t likely to go away. But what does an adult need when it comes to a gift?

Excerpt from article:

Anything our friends are likely to want, they buy for themselves – or we won’t be able to afford to buy it for them. This isn’t to say that (our friends) don’t have any (needs); it’s merely that what they seek from us is largely psychological rather than material in nature.

Nick Cave is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor, novelist, and screenwriter who played a prominent role in the postpunk movement as front man for the bands the Birthday Party and the Bad Seeds. He is also the author of the blog, The Red Cave.

Someone recently wrote to him, asking how he deals with the loss of his son, who died from a fall during an LSD episode. Cave’s response gives light to how he survived the loss: he allowed his son to help.  

This year’s holiday season is difficult to celebrate without physical contact with friends and family, but especially hard for a person whose heart has been broken by a loved one’s death.

“I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.”
— Mary Oliver