Pick One

Whenever I (Charissa) get an email in my inbox or expose myself to any sort of list with links to helpful articles, amazing products, or interesting books or podcasts, I immediately feel a sense of curiosity and then, always, overwhelm. I find myself disheartened because I don’t have enough time to wade through them all, even though I sometimes try.

Invariably, I wind up becoming sidetracked or buying something I do not need.

Yes, I subscribed to this person and chose to receive their monthly updates but now I’m angry at them for sending me down endless rabbit trails. I am a curious person and enjoy learning about anything new, it’s hard to control myself! But here’s what I’ve discovered- a few boundary lines are so helpful. So instead of just hitting unsubscribe, deleting the messages, or ignoring any and all headlines with links to helpful, quality, curated content, I practice picking just one from the list.

By picking just one I exercise curiosity within time constraints while avoiding the trap of distraction and defeat.

It is within this framework, we offer you a list of 10 resources we found particularly intriguing this week. Which one will you pick?

Just Pick One: 10 Favorites From This Week

1. Motherhood: Bec Ellis, one of our collaborators here on Being Human, is hosting a 2-week writing/photo/artwork/poetry prompt challenge. If you need some inspiration to see your days through a new lens, if you want to ignite your creativity as a mother, or you just need some solidarity- check out Bec Ellis’ IG page and band together with other mamas on your same path. “Motherhood is…longing fro sleep/but knowing the thing/that actually keeps/you up at night/is whether/you will be/enough.”
   
   
2. Love Your Earlier Selves: We bookmarked this post from the Naked Pastor. A refreshing caption on how real growth happens. Here’s a snippet: “It’s harmful to treat our earlier selves with contempt. You wouldn’t be who you are now if you weren’t who you were then. Appreciate your roots.”
   
   
3. Small Things With Great Love: Bob Goff and Anne Lamott (two of the most light-hearted humans) sit down for the best 30-minute conversation! Get ready for some good stuff! A favorite quote from Anne, “I’m willing to sit with people and let them feel terrible.”
   
   
4. A Precious Contemplative Asshole in Recovery: Ideas Digest podcast, have you heard of it yet? Conrad, the host, challenges us to not just agree or disagree with people, but sit and listen and let the ideas digest. This interview is with a favorite courageous creative woman, Brie Stoner. You will be taking notes on this one!
   
   
5. Challenging the Patriarchy: This podcast titled, And Also, is a very lively discussion with Shaleen Kendrick of Desert Voices podcast. Here’s a peek: “And also, none of us have a corner on the market when it comes to doing it right. There’s no such thing as doing spirituality right. The best you can do is orient yourself towards truth, and hope, and life, and resurrection and for me, that is found in collaborative power.”
   
   
6. An Interview with Sue Monk Kidd: Have you read anything from Sue Monk Kidd?! Please do yourself a favor and pick one of her books- we recommend starting with her latest, Book of Longings, or Dance of Dissident Daughter or When The Heart Waits. Sue is wise, grounded, and a mentor for all of us as women to stand up, embrace our largeness, and be a voice- and all of this comes through in a captivating interview here.
   
   
7. On Trying To Figure It All Out: This post from Brittany Stoess on Being Human last month is a must-read if you are still holding on to the belief that someday certainty might come, “I exhausted myself striving to figure out the one-and-done truth, as if I could ever hold it all in my mind. I had yet to realize that the beauty of faith is that we will never have it figured out.”
   
   
8. Learn the language of poetry: Poetry has a way of speaking to the often untouchable, mysterious, universal parts within all of us. Have you perused some of the poems on Being Human? You can find them all here. There’s one on inclusion, new life, leaving your tribe, earth care, and so many more.
   
   
9. I Heard God Laughing: Speaking of poetry, this book of poems is a wonderful way to fall in love with the language and nuance of poetry! Check it out at your local library or buy it used on amazon. A favorite stanza, “Learn to recognize the counterfeit coins/That may buy you just a moment of pleasure,/But then drag you for days/Like a broken man/Behind a farting camel.”
   
   
10. Smile and Release: This idea is simple and can be revolutionary for our mood and the world. If you’re up for it… try some mouth yoga this weekend! Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “Smiling is a kind of mouth yoga. When we smile, it releases the tension in our face. Others notice it, even strangers, and are likely to smile back. By smiling, we initiate a wonderful chain reaction, touching the joy in anyone we encounter. A smile is an ambassador of goodwill.”

Seriously, we hope you pick JUST ONE to give your full attention and energy to for just a brief moment. Then joining us in slipping your devices into the drawer for the weekend, letting your imaginations run wild through fields of possibility, your creativity bubble up and over onto crisp white pages, and your words flow soft and brave over the ones in your midst.

And remember Being Human is your greatest work of art.