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Latest — Feb 14, 2025

Ways to Win the Day Right Now

When I drove by the assisted living facility on a cold, lightless February day, a group of residents, some in wheelchairs, some with walkers, were posted on the corner waving homemade signs: "HONK FOR PEACE!" The word win comes in part from the Old English winnan meaning to

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How to Stop Giving the Powerful More Power + Build Up Our Own Instead

Years ago, I knew a woman who worked at a muscle magazine. She told me that before photoshoots, some bodybuilders would inject a kind of filler into their muscles to temporarily make them look bigger. It's very dangerous, and very effective. It creates the appearance of strength, though

How to Meet the Chaotic Moment with Greatheartedness

Most winter Mondays, I pull into the gym parking lot a little before 5pm, grab my sneaks, and hoof it through the cold towards the glowing outdoor light by the entrance. This past Monday, though, there was no glowing outdoor light. Which was the first time I'd noticed

A Gentle Guide For Hard Times

This is a noisy season, isn't it? Rapidly accumulating headlines on top of posts on top of podcasts on top of people at the gym saying, "Can you believe that they're going to..." We couldn't be blamed in this young year for

The Fascinating Marriage of Politics + Policy

Hello Dear Reader! I'm off for the long weekend, but I rummaged around in the archives and plucked out this favorite for you! Wishing you all good + gentle things in the days ahead, Caitie The Fascinating, Often Dysfunctional Marriage of Politics & Policy Wheat grown in Kansas, shipped

Which Politicians We Should Pay Attention to Right Now

"Folks come to Washington to do one of two things, " Senator Mitch McConnell said from the Senate floor one December day. "To make a point. Or to make a difference." The politicians who're in Congress to make a point might be making the finest

How Good Policy Will Be Made This Year

The first sunrise of 2000, I was on a ferry off the coast of Maine and a guy proposed to a girl on the bow as the new century's light broke around us. I'm thinking today of that earnest morning air that held 100 new years

End of Year Goodness for You

Hello Wonderful Reader, I'm taking a long winter's nap this week, and I hope similar rest and restoration for you. In this in-between time of the old year and new one, I love a few good Wendell Berry lines: Communicate slowly. Live a three-dimensioned life; stay

Things to Be Hopeful About in 2025

"You are brilliant and the earth is hiring," environmentalist Paul Hawken once wrote for a commencement address. And it's not just the earth who's hiring. Kindness, justice, gentleness all have many, many openings, too. But first, we need a bit of hope, don'

What's Worth Our Attention Right Now

Years ago, my mother took a nail, hammered it into the kitchen wall, and hung the prayer. "Grant me the serenity," it started in dark calligraphy, "to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the