urban, lefty lesbian, smiling like, waving like a dork. (Laughter) When I spotted the stuffed cougar on the wall behind him, this vegetarian thought she knew all she needed to know about Don the bootmaker. But there we were. So I asked him if he'd just show me quickly a little bit about his craft. He agreed. And we ended up spending the whole day together, as I drew out Don in his workshop, and he told me about the sudden death of his beloved wife, about his deep, deep grief, and about this hunting trip that he was planning, and so looking forward to taking with his son. Every tool in that shop held a story. ... posted on Oct 21 2023 (5,886 reads)

has trained us to be more ambitious for the ‘me’, while becoming more timid, unskilled and complacent for the ‘we’.But we can’t achieve or buy our way out of systems failure or collective anxiety – what some academics are now calling a general Terror About The Future (a terror our young people feel acutely).We can, however, harness our energy, skills and ambition for something greater than ourselves. We can cultivate the radical hope that comes through love in action, and personal commitment to the public good. We can take courage and optimism from the suffragettes, the abolitionists, our First Nations leaders, labour organisers, environmentalists, ... posted on Apr 10 2024 (2,079 reads)

knowing that even the universe is dying, do we bear our lives? Most readily, through friendship, through connection, through co-creating the world we want to live in for the brief time we have together on this lonely, perfect planet. The seventh annual Universe in Verse — a many-hearted labor of love, celebrating the wonder of reality through science and poetry — occasioned a joyous collaboration with Australian musician and writer Nick Cave and Brazilian artist and filmmaker Daniel Bruson on an animated poem reckoning with this central question of being alive. BUT WE HAD MUSICby Maria Popova Right this minute across time zones and opi... posted on Apr 13 2024 (5,637 reads)

good to see you all. It's an honor to be here on this holy ground with you holy people. ... Thank you for all that you're doing in the world. When I was a kid, I loved to dance. I danced freely without inhibition, not worried about who was looking. And, my parents, when we would have guests over after dinner, they would summon the entertainment, which was me. And I would come out and I would dance for our guests. I don't dance so much anymore. I think as I got older, I became a little more nervous about what people would think about me. My knees got bad. And I don't know, sometimes I fear I've lost the love - that I don't have it in me anymore.In 2005, a terrible hurricane, called Hur... posted on Apr 21 2024 (3,213 reads)

experiences, here are some of our favorite articles to put your ears (and eyes) on. The Extinction of Silence and the Man Who is Saving It: Modern noises find us almost everywhere we go, and it’s having an impact on our health! But Gordon Hempton is leading the charge to protect and preserve the places we have left. (Make sure you have your headphones when you pop into this) Whales Have Viral Music, Too! Did you know humpback whales have viral songs, too? Just like us, humpback whales love a catchy new tune. From Australia all the way to Ecuador, viral whale songs are taking over the ocean. This astonishing discovery is changing how we see whales and ourselves in the natural world.... posted on Apr 25 2024 (5,323 reads)

caught by the womanI became, during them.Stars serenade mewith their chorus of hallelujah’s,offer themselves upas pin-pricksof wonder and guidancein the darknessTrees salute me, standguard and strengthen meoffer their wisdom– if I’m listening.I am.all existence.My friends are rocks andpraying mantises, I threadtheir hearts through mine, likean endless chainLet the sky teach me loyaltyto warmth AND shadow– the humility of hailand the sanctity ofchange.*And through it alllove.Ablazefrom magma – upthrough the solesof meI give the Mothermy body, for colonisingwe areember and water,– all at oncewe aresodeeplylovedjust like thiswith our limping, brokenhearts &... posted on Apr 26 2024 (3,962 reads)

and put the little light from his phone on.Two more people.Three people. Then, the whole audience of people come on, and everyone was shining their light of their phone on us. It lit up the whole hall.And so I got out my phone and took a picture of everyone with their light shining at me: It was the most beautiful scene -- a feeling that we're all in this together. That it's not anyone's fault, we're just all here, and we're all supporting each other.It was the most beautiful feeling of love from strangers I'd ever experienced.... posted on May 14 2024 (1,848 reads)

We were now holding each other physically. It was so needed and so healing. We knew that we could stand strong together. It was an unusual ceremony. More often, each person has a very individual experience in the field that is unique to them. Each horse normally works with one or two people, giving them some guidance that is specific to that person. But on this day, the horses stepped together as one herd to heal us all as a group, to draw us back together into community, connection, and love.  They showed us how to weather the storm, anchor ourselves in the turmoil and stay connected. A beautiful participant gave a moving video testimonial after the ceremony. Parts of it ar... posted on Jun 4 2024 (4,661 reads)

is not up to the task of making sense of what we have encountered. But you don’t need remarkable circumstances to encounter awe. When my colleagues and I asked research participants to track experiences of awe in a daily diary, we found, to our surprise, that people felt it a bit more than two times a week on average. And they found it in the ordinary: a friend’s generosity, a leafy tree’s play of light and shadow on a sidewalk, a song that transported them back to a first love. We need that everyday awe, even when it’s discovered in the humblest places. A survey of relevant studies suggest that a brief dose of awe can reduce stress, decrease inflammation, a... posted on Sep 11 2024 (2,590 reads)

Note: Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, a legendary leader known as "the Gandhi of Sri Lanka," passed away on April 16, 2024. This article, originally published on October 6, 2022, offers a glimpse of the timeless values through which the movement that flowed through him has served millions.] Building a road is a “shramadana” (communal gift of energy). Sarvodaya is self-governance movement that seeks a no-poverty, no-affluence society in Sri Lanka through community based efforts and volunteerism. Credit: Sarvodaya Photo Archive Over the past six months, Sri Lanka has been in the news. You have likely read accounts or seen videos of a civil revolution sparked by government corru... posted on May 7 2024 (2,285 reads)

to go with another sister to visit someone?"  I said, "Yeah. Right."  She said a few things, which I won't repeat here :), about how I had to learn to be more open and blah, My response in all my naiveté and (I would say now) stupidity, I looked straight at her and said, "But sister, human relations is not really my field." The shock on her face! It's a wonder that she did not dismiss me from the convent and send me home. :) But that's how I lived. I lived in my head. I loved reading. I was competent, I was confident, I felt I was in control (and, pretty much, I was) as I got into teaching. And I had always felt the closeness of God. But, somehow, it never translated... posted on Jun 24 2024 (3,059 reads)

ago, and her letter arrived to comfort him a few days before he died.  When she went back to thank a teacher, “She saw us and the flowers, put her head on the desk and cried she was so happy.  She said she had been a teacher for 23 years and no one had ever thanked her.”  I am grateful to hear of such moments, though I know I am not the one responsible for them. When I write to my readers now, I try to express to them my hope that they will find, as I did, that the love and gratitude they express to others will return to them someday. Having just written my 860th note, I can say that I learn in new ways all the time that gratitude is a pathway to the peace that ... posted on Aug 18 2013 (100,675 reads)

if we could smile or laugh at our seriousness of purpose when we write? To open the heart is like the stories that we tell. There are an infinite number of ways to go about the same essential experience.I wanted to close with this. A couple of months ago, we had a gifted musician, sound healer and ceremonial guide named Madhu Anziani on Awakin Calls. He closed our call with a song. In the chorus, he sings: "Pulse, dissolve, pulse, dissolve -- that's the life of the universe. Could you be so in love that you are willing to dissolve. Every moment to be recreated, just to be recreated? That's the life of the universe." To me, that also seems to be the life of the new story, which has no end... posted on Jul 1 2024 (3,009 reads)

18-year-old daughter announces she’s in love, dropping out of college and moving to Argentina. Your yoga-teaching brother refuses to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and is confident that fresh air is the best medicine. Your boss is hiring another white man for a leadership team already made up entirely of white men. At home, at work and in civic spaces, it’s not uncommon to have conversations that make you question the intelligence and benevolence of your fellow human beings. A natural reaction is to put forth the strongest argument for your own – clearly superior – perspective in the hope that logic and evidence will win the day. When that argument fails to have t... posted on Jun 26 2024 (4,350 reads)

The police are patrolling in their patrol cars. Joggers do their laps in between. A few minutes walk above, on the Schlossberg, with its clock tower -- the city's landmark -- and a panoramic view over the rooftops reward the climb. The lawn here is neatly trimmed, roses are in bloom and a beer garden caters to tourists. A young German couple is sitting on the bench next to me. It's his birthday, he's in his mid-20s, and he is listening to a voice message from his parents, who obviously love him very much. You can hear the kisses they keep sending him, as his girlfriend hugs him. Do homeless people celebrate their birthdays? With whom? Raindrops tear me from my thoughts. The C... posted on Jul 18 2024 (2,946 reads)

act becomes a seed of transformation, a spark that ignites the unimaginable. Thank you, all, for being that critical yeast of heart. When our heads and hands are led by our hearts, when we can dance with the known, the unknown, and the unknowable, and when we respond to the world’s suffering with unbounded compassion, we find ourselves baking bread together to nourish the hunger of the world!   P.S. As you head out today, you'll see a table with heart pins, each one crafted with love by women from an underprivileged community in India. Years ago, as my wife and I were visiting them as friends, those women offered us a parting gift—hand-stitched heart pins made from wast... posted on Sep 17 2024 (2,570 reads)