1.  This Is Hip Hop (via youtube)  This video was sent to me by my friend who thinks that Sister Disco should recreate this video.  Don’t let the title fool you!  -Farrell

2.  Copying and Credit: Where Does the Line Begin and End? (via DesignSponge) looks at issues of originality and stealing artistic ideas and designs.  I’ve known of a few cases of artist friends whose work was clearly copied by a larger brand and I think it raises a lot of interesting issues, particularly given the accessiblity of people’s creative work these days.  -Lauren

3.  Frances McDormand on Aging (via youtube) is a video that, for some reason, I felt touched by this week as I approach my 30th year of life. –Farrell

4.  Things Tom Petty Doesn’t Want You To Do (via The Poke)  As visualized in a pie chart.  So nerdy and I love it!  -Lauren

5.  Birds of a Feather (via elephantine) beautifully captures the mood I have been feeling lately. –Farrell

6.  The Kinspiracy (via Miss Moss) is a Tumblr that aggregates various people’s Instagram pictures to show how pervasive the Kinfolk Magazine aesthetic is for a whole subset of people.  I have to admit my feed is loaded with images just like this.  -Lauren

Lake Erie August 31, 2014

I had such a busy January with work that I have been feeling pretty disconnected from my relationships lately (even with myself). For a minute yesterday there I was feeling totally overwhelmed and starting to feel like everything was going wrong. Of course now I know that it wasn’t true but in that split second I really convinced myself that nothing was right and everything was wrong. A while later I stumbled upon these 5 life lessons from the Dali Lama. I liked them for two reasons: #1 because we have done these types of posts in the past here and here and #2 because it was all the things I needed to hear. While what he said was nothing new per se, in that moment when I was questioning everything it all sounded so simple.

Dali Lama’s Life Lessons

1. Be compassionate. Remember that compassion is good for your health and stress, fear and anger will literally eat up your immune system. Choose compassion over negative feelings.

2. Find your own inner peace. As his holiness said: “Global change must come from individuals and world peace must come from inner peace.” Realize that you can make a difference by starting with yourself.

3. Be happy. Instead of grappling with complex Questions like “Why am I here?” simply focus on being happy and the rest will fall into place.

4. Be a good human being. Avoid feelings of regret when you reach the end of your life by being a good human being. Sounds obvious – but you’d be surprised how easy it can be to get caught up in other unimportant things.

5. Practice forgiveness. Know that forgiveness does not mean accepting the other person’s wrongdoing – it is simply a way of respecting your own physical health enough to not allow negative feelings to cause you harm.

Check out more from the Dali Lama and these lessons here.

(image via Flickr)

STARTING my mornings with a CLEAN Essentials shake and a cup of coffee and feeling like it’s the best of both worlds.

RECOVERING from a super busy weekend working with Valley Cruise Press at the LA Art Book Fair.  It was exhausting but we had so much fun!

LOVING spending so much time with family out here in California.  They’re the best!

LISTENING to the Amelie Soundtrack every day when I need to focus. Try it out!

RESEARCHING the FloLiving program to help me figure out why I get headaches weekly.

SPENDING quality time with my sister in our slowly-but-surely redecorated apartment.

1.  SPIN Album of the Week: Monster Rally and Jay Stone’s Hip Hop Vacation, ‘Foreign Pedestrians’ (via SPIN) is our younger brother’s latest album.  We couldn’t be more proud of all the things he’s doing right now.  -Lauren

2.  WANT aka Women Against Negative Talk was just launched by the co-editor of The Chalkboard.  This site is so eye catching and draws you in.  It was a wonderful surprise in my inbox this week.  –Farrell

3.  Getting Grief Right (via NYTimes.com) reminds us, “…there is no right or wrong way to grieve. There is no pressure to move on. There is no shame in intensity or duration. Sadness, regret, confusion, yearning and all the experiences of grief become part of the narrative of love for the one who died.”  -Lauren

4.  The Period Store is an interesting and funny site that Lauren sent me this week after my post about hormones. It is an online store where you sign up for a monthly period box. It’s a pretty crazy and hilarious idea.  –Farrell

5.  Age 40: Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That (via Medium.com) ‘Cause every age is the new 40  -Lauren

6.  Babies blown away by being in tunnels is a video that completely made my day yesterday.  I think it is the funniest thing.  We all know driving through tunnels is awesome.  –Farrell