Head, Heart, Hands #1

Things to make us think, feel, and do. Welcome to the first issue!

Welcome to Making Time. Each week, I explore the impact of time on creativity, ways to slow down, and scenes from my own life in rural Oregon. If you’d like to follow along, you can subscribe for free.

Hello, and welcome to the inaugural issue of Head, Heart, Hands, my roundup of things that made me think, feel, and do this week. I’ve been collecting so much goodness lately that I decided this feature deserves its own space to really spread out and relax.

My favorite newsletters and blogs are those that remind me of all the surprising magic and creativity in the world, that brighten my day by making life feel expansive and new. So hopefully I can spread a little of that magic.

Let me know what you think. Too many links? Would you like more? Types of links you particularly feel that spark from?

The ice was fierce in Oregon last week, or so I hear. I ended up staying in California much longer than I thought on account of it, which gave me the chance to stay with my nonna, who is currently recovering from a broken leg. That’s no small thing when you’re 94, but she is strong. Here’s a photo of her in her younger days:

Watching her go through physical therapy (which she is acing) really drives home the importance of strength and mobility throughout our lives. The hardest part of getting older for me are the injuries, which become more and more difficult to recover from.

On to the links!

• Why You Should Plan To Get Less Done

• The Right Kind of Busy. This piece from

  Anne Helen Petersen
  made me think about how quickly I shift from good-busy to bad-busy, and how to do a better job recognizing the signs.

• The Slop School of Internet Success and other lies about cyberspace. I’ve been thinking so much about quantity vs. quality this month.

• The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same. Kyle Chayka’s new book, Filterworld, seems to be everywhere right now.

• Choosing Consideration, Not Consumption.

• What is beauty? A breakdown of Immanuel Kant’s theory of beauty with helpful illustrations by

  Ralph Ammer
  .

• Slow Change Can Be Radical Change, from Rebecca Solnit.

• You can’t hoard life. Wise words as always from Oliver Burkeman, and this essay also got me to pick up Radically Condensed Instructions for Being Just as You Are by J. Matthews, which was a beautiful read.

• Appreciate what happens, as a rule. This concept of appreciation (rather than enjoyment) has been pinging around in my head ever since I read this a couple weeks ago. I’m also taking an 8-week mindfulness course that touches on these themes, and it’s shifted my thinking quite a bit.

• It's that time of year when we're meant to become a better person overnight.

• Happiness is a ghost that’s not worth pursuing.

• Encountering Anni Albers from

  Kelsey Worth Solomons
  , who always helps me add interesting books about artists to my pile.

• What I wish someone had told me about starting a meditation practice, probably one of the clearest, most practical guide to meditation that I’ve read yet. Another good introduction is the short book It’s Easier Than You Think.

• Throwing the pants in the fire, from

  Emily McDowell
  whose newsletter I’ve been devouring since I read this.

• The Dance of Anger is the first book I finished in 2024, and I can already tell it will be one of the best I read all year. If, like me, you are a woman who thinks anger really doesn’t affect you all that much, you probably need to learn about it (like I sure did).

• I’d like to try making these sweet potato dog chews.

• The experts: artists on 20 easy, mind-expanding ways to be much more creative

• This visible mending class is 5 weeks (!) and looks fantastic. Discovered via

  Zinzi Edmundson
  .

• These wall hangings by Lucy Freeman are simply gorgeous (pictured above)! I love the way she combines techniques. It’s made me think about making my own hanging of some kind.

• Will the Elisabeth blouse (pictured above) be my next knitting project? Currently working on the Cumulus blouse in a bright sky blue.

• These baked egg ricotta thyme cups are a go-to for me. Quick and easy, and great with some toasted sourdough.

Thanks for reading Making Time. If you’re new here, you can subscribe for free to receive new posts each week. And don’t forget to join me in The 2024 Slowdown this year.