Author: gracesmuggler

We will have many ups, downs, winding roads, and surprises during this election season. This may come in handy.

— Photos by Renee Roederer

Yep, there’s a species of fish in the eastern Atlantic that is called Boops Boops.

This means that Boops Boops Boops Boops Boops is a sentence.

— Renee Roederer

Dust Devil, by Christian Wiman

Mystical hysterical amalgam of earth and wind
and mind 

over and of
the much-loved

dust you go
through a field I know

by broken heart
for I have learned this art

of flourishing
vanishing

wherein to live
is to move

cohesion
illusion 

wild untouchable toy
called by a boy

God’s top
in a time when time stopped.

When you have a chance to complete a super long goal, it is super satisfying. After 558 days, I finished German Duolingo. I put so many hours of learning into this, and I didn’t miss a single day. This was a long streak.

And it’s going to pay off because I’m headed to German-speaking parts of Europe soon. I’m excited to put this into action.

Have you completed a long goal that you’re especially proud of? Or do you have one underway now?

— Renee Roederer

Why do I find ways to share beauty every day — both nature and stories?

Frankly, because I enjoy them, and I value the process of discovering them. And people tell me they enjoy them too.

But beyond the most obvious levels of enjoyment, I find, share, and lift up these experiences to remind us that beauty is still there in abundance. This adds resilience to us. And this stands as a reminder that there are human connections, forms of life, and a whole world worth our striving, protecting, and delighting.

— Renee Roederer

This weekend, I had one of the most adventurous days I’ve ever had in Michigan. I took some of my family members to Traverse City, and in one day, we traveled around the whole Leelanau Peninsula (it’s the tip of the pinky when Michiganders do that hand map thing).

Leelanau Peninsula Tour:
Sleeping Bear National Lake Shore, Empire, Glen Arbor, Leland/Fish Town, Northport, Grand Traverse Light House, Suttons Bay, Traverse City.

Here are some beautiful photos!

— Photos by Renee Roederer

As we take in the news, and as I view my social media feeds, many are afraid from yesterday’s political violence,

And

Many are afraid of potential political violence, with concerns that more could follow in a variety of ways and directions.

Recently, a friend asked me, “How do you calm your nervous system in the face of scary political possibilities?”

I am no expert on that, including sometimes, even for myself. But I think what helps me most is a commitment to live the same values, no matter what sort of outcomes are at play, no matter who is in power, and no matter what circumstances are unfolding. I don’t always do that perfectly, by the way. Not at all. But we bring ourselves and one another back repeatedly to these consistent values and commitments.

And by consistent, no-matter-what values, I don’t mean ‘just ideas,’ important though they may be, and I definitely don’t mean punditry. I mean commitments to one another.

This is about lifting people up. It’s about community care. It’s about creating a safe world to live in — in our political realities; in the grocery stores; in the schools; in the houses of worship; in the workplaces; and in our care, connections, and commitments for people in other world regions facing immense violence and trauma — some of them, from our own nation’s bombs. It’s about proclaiming that our lives have value, our neighbors’ lives have value, and our world has value.

Mother Theresa used to say, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to one another.”

This about making sure that people have that they need — that people can eat. That people can have a community surround them during a health crisis. That people can know they can call each other and have a listening ear, a soft place to land, and an actual tangible way providing resources for one another.

Our fears are valid. Our capabilities to act in these ways, individually and collectively, are immense.

That’s what helps me calm my nervous system. That’s what moves me to keep acting, imperfectly but in actuality, in these directions.

Support and care to all who are afraid, or who have slept less tonight than they needed. We’ll need to keep lifting one another up — in all these ways listed above and more, and of course, right here.

— Renee Roederer