Head over heels

Helping Friendly Newsletter, 07.04.25

This issue is dedicated to Andy! Happy anniversary, love. 21 years, 3 teenagers, 2 nonlinear careers, life coming fast, and, by some miracle of caring and compatible foolishness, we are still dancing together. I’m so grateful to you and for you. Always, JLP

GM! ☕️

Here are this fortnight’s 5 things to consider:

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1. Lifting love: Buddhist philosopher, environmentalist, and generous elder Joanna Macy has transitioned to hospice care, which will be her final teaching on the interconnection of grief and love. Macy developed a framework she calls “the great turning,” which takes us from gratitude, through grief, to love and hopeful action. We are called, she teaches, to fall in love with the world. This is “the work that reconnects.”

   “It relates to everything. It relates to what’s in our food, and it relates to the clear-cuts of our forests. It relates to the contamination of our rivers and oceans…we are called to not run from the discomfort and not run from the grief or the feelings of outrage or even fear — [and] if we can be fearless, to be with our pain, it turns. It doesn’t stay static. It only doesn’t change if we refuse to look at it.

   But when we look at it, when we take it in our hands, when we can just be with it and keep breathing, then it turns. It turns to reveal its other face, and the other face of our pain for the world is our love for the world, our absolutely inseparable connectedness with all life.”
   

   Joanna Macy, “A Wild Love for the World”

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2. “What does it mean to build a business that resists capitalism?” One place to begin is in journals and supportive conversations, exploring: “What inherited norms do you want to disrupt?… And what do you want to opt into instead?” Follow with action like ethical pricing, intentional scale, non-extractive resourcing, and collaborative strategies. “This isn’t about perfection. It’s about practice.”

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3. “Gather the women and pray for peace.” - Leymah Gbowee, via

   Celeste Davis

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4. Harvard Business Review on saying no at work: “The real leadership skill is not figuring out how to do it all; it’s knowing when and how to push back.”

Harvard Business Review, “When You’re Asked to Meet Impossible Goals”

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5. Helping friendly cartoon: How to sit with a feeling.

destressed

A post shared by @destressed

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Summer reading

I haven’t fallen head-over-heels for a book this season, but I have been getting out there (with mixed success):

Shop these books: Careless People | The Most | The Husbands | Fever Beach | What the Chicken Knows

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Thank you for reading! This newsletter is a labor of love. 💌 To support it, you can upgrade to a paid subscription, share this post, or engage my services. You can learn more about my work at jenniferlphillips.com.

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ICYMI, two weeks ago I shared these 5 things to consider: living the protest, becoming a good relative, your personal canon, restorative quilts and summer light.

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Treasure chest (is back!)

I bet you find a gem 💎→ what UVA means for Charlottesville | how to transform strategic planning for social justice | the answer obsession and the question revolution | be good-argument driven, not data-driven | what is your personal theory of change? | everyone i know is worried about work | phish, improv, and the strategy jam | a very concise photography 101 | opening paragraph excellence | how art can save us from smartphone addiction | hang the disco ball, eat the cookies | not all heroes wear capes | worth a fortune👇🏼

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Have a great weekend!

I’ll see you in your inbox again soon.

Peace,

Jenny