It’s been an interesting week to say the least. Work has been challenging for reasons totally unrelated to actual work. Plus, on Wednesday night I did a practice teach with my mentor group. While I may not have exactly commanded the room, I wasn’t swallowed up either. Progress, people. I spent last weekend away with my husband but it was a work retreat of sorts so it wasn’t exactly relaxing. It was fun, but definitely not restful.

Needless to say, I’m hoping to chill out and get some rest this weekend. My DVR is full—I’m a week behind on Mad Men, and I have a shit ton of Real Housewives of various cities to catch up with.

Hopefully, your weekend will be relaxing, too. In case you have some downtime, I’ve curated some pretty awesome stuff to read. It’s a wildly diverse list of articles that hit me over the head for one reason or another.

Have a great weekend!

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This. “…be willing to scrap your to-do list. To toss your best-made plans. To let go of an idea of yourself you’ve been gripping to. Even to receive the most opposed and terrifying news. It will reveal to you your best self, and it will open the possibility for you to impact the world from a source of grace. And we could use more of that.”

“Twitter does its best work in the first five minutes after a disaster, and its worst in the twelve hours after that.” via Wired.

In case you were wondering what my days are like, the fun fact on first entry sums it up nicely.

Because if we don’t advocate for ourselves, who will?

Finding Your Purpose in Life, by Kludgy Mom.

25 Things You Should Remember to Do Every Day. I particularly like #8:
Take a moment to just be aware of exactly what you’re doing. Count your steps while you’re walking, actually look around you and pay attention to your breaths. Practice mindfulness and awareness of the present moment. Remember to be in the now.

Even The New York Times thinks failure is a good thing.

This was written about food blogging, but there are so many fantastic tips in this post no matter what kind of blogging you do.

I have no idea how I came across this post, but as someone who uses the word “frustrated” when what I mean to say is “I’m fucking pissed off,” this hit me over the head:

“I’m learning that the hard feelings are simply another facet in my ability to love and feel joy and cry when someone puts just the right words to music. Sometimes dealing with the rough stuff is cathartic and sometimes it feels like sliding face first down the cheese grater of life without anesthetic. But every time I dig up another feeling and release it into the ether, my life gets a little better.”

Measuring Your Worth by Anissa Mayhew

Little-known fact about me: I love sports writing. Correction: I love fucking great sports writing. Tom Verducci, who writes for Sports Illustrated is in my Writers Hall of Fame. If you’ve ever read I Was A Toronto Blue Jay you know what I mean. However, this article about the Iditarod by Brian Phillips is amazing. Do yourself a favor and read it on a computer, not a hand-held device because the graphics are amazing.

I love stories like this photographer. Fascinating. I can’t wait to see the documentary.

And because we need a little light and laughter around here: Corgis! 140 of them! I dare you not to smile.