Happy Monday {{first name | my friend}},

This week, we’re finding a second life for broken things, giving the brain some breathing room, and making something warm for dinner. If you’re working through your own home changes, come share how it’s going in our ECL community.

🌎 BE THE CHANGE: Have a broken lamp or a favorite sweater with a hole? At Repair Cafés, volunteers help neighbors fix everyday items and learn repair skills along the way. Before replacing something, see whether there’s a repair gathering near you. Check to find out what they can work on.

✨ MAGICAL PLACE: Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes transform at sunset. High elevation, and very little light pollution make this International Dark Sky Park a beautiful place to see the Milky Way above the dunes. A clear, moonless night offers the best view of the stars.

🌿 NATURE CONNECTION: Chickadees and nuthatches tuck food into bark crevices, building little storage chambers they return to. Next time you watch birds, follow where they go after finding food. You might see where they’re stashing it.

🧠 OPTIMIZED MIND: Pausing is part of learning. In an NIH study, people practicing a typing sequence took 10-second breaks, and researchers detected rapid mental replays of the skill during rest. When you’re practicing something new, try leaving a few quiet pauses between attempts. Patience is a good thing.

✅ TRY THIS WEEK: Pick something you’d enjoy being a beginner at: mending a seam, identifying a bird, or cooking a dish you’ve never made. Give yourself permission to be clumsy. If a small repair sounds appealing, learning alongside someone who knows how can be a good place to start. We all need mentors.

🍽️ RECIPE OF THE WEEK: This lemony red lentil soup combines lentils, vegetables, cumin, and a squeeze of lemon in one pot. Blending part of the soup gives it a creamy texture without cream. Make enough to save a portion for another evening when you’d appreciate having dinner ready.

Reading about environmental toxins can leave you with plenty of concerns and very little direction. I’m always more interested in the next question: What can we actually do about it?

That’s what drew my attention to Body Burden: The Toxins We Carry, a documentary from investigative journalist Nick Pineault.

Nick visited an environmental medicine clinic to explore how doctors approach illnesses they associate with environmental exposures. Along the way, he became part of the story, undergoing testing and following a yearlong protocol while documenting his experience.

The film brings together:

As a filmmaker, I appreciate following an investigation through someone’s lived experience. Individual stories don’t give us every answer, but they can open up questions worth exploring.

You can register now to watch October 19–26 at no cost.

Which pairing would make a good habit easier for you this week?

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🎧 An audiobook while I exercise (16.0%)
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🎶 Favorite music while I cook (30.6%)
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ☎️ A catch-up call while I walk (11.7%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🌿 I'd rather enjoy the activity on its own (41.7%)

To a healing future,

— Rob