Four Ways to Cool Down Your Defensiveness
"Years ago, when I had my first media interview about my research on humility, the interviewer was curious whether studying humility actually made me any humbler. She asked me to poll my wife, to see how humble she perceived me to be. When I solicited my ranking from one to 10, my wife gave me a four." More in this post that shares four ways to counteract one's own tendency towards defensiveness.... posted on Sep 14 2022, 6,092 reads

Make Like A Neuron, Be As Connected As Possible
There are more neurons packed into the expansive confines of a human skull than there are human bodies jostling together on this swirling sphere we call Earth. How many neurons is that exactly? Dedicate a few billion of your own brain cells, if you will, to imagining the colorful millions of Calcutta; add to them the commuters careening through Bangkok, the campesinos picking coffee in Guatemala, ... posted on Sep 13 2022, 1,630 reads

How to Be in Awe
"Trees, writes Aimee Nezhukumatathil in her debut book of nonfiction 'World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments,' have been known to form alliances and send signals to one another. "And what a magnificent telegraph we might send back," she says, "especially if other humans have ever made you feel alone on this earth." With wry, warm-hearted, bizarre, and beaut... posted on Sep 12 2022, 1,596 reads

The Politics of Play
"Indigenous philosophies of childhood overwhelmingly agree on one thing: that a child should not be forced into obedience but should have liberty of body, mind, and will. Inuit children have traditionally experienced extraordinary freedom and would become 'self-reliant, caring, and self-controlled individuals,' an Inuit person I met in Nunavut told me. By the age of ten, their self-control is 'alm... posted on Sep 11 2022, 1,681 reads

Charles Foster: Against Nature Writing
"There's a wood near us. I can't see the wood for the words. Probably the wood is wonderful. My intuition tells me it is. But unless intuition is knowledge, I really don't know. And even if intuition is knowledge, all that I get from my intuition is the generic assertion, "This wood is wonderful." I cant see any particulars. I can't get an uninterrupted view of a flower petal or the hair on a cate... posted on Sep 10 2022, 1,419 reads

How Drawing Helps You Think
You don't have to be an artist to draw! Drawing is something all of us have successfully used with a pen or pencil on paper to plan, show or imagine what we are thinking. Being good art doesnt really matter as long as ideas are being shared. In this beautifully illustrated talk, Ralph Ammer shows how drawing your thoughts can be a powerful tool for improving your thinking, creativity and communica... posted on Sep 09 2022, 2,766 reads

Matthew Fox: Bowing to the Heart Over Authority
"And so creativity should be at the heart of all ritual; not a frozen form, but a flexible form. Dance is at the heart of our prayer. We do circle dancing. We dance to DJ music and live music. And we also do spiral dancing. Getting the body involved is so important. You don't have a Hindu body or an atheist body or a Buddhist body. You have a body. We're all human there, so we can all dance togeth... posted on Sep 08 2022, 3,131 reads

You Have to Raise the Sails
When Richard Whittaker received an email from a friend about a 'Beginning Acting for Adults,' class she was teaching, it gave him pause. Richard is founding editor of works&conversations magazine. He's been conducting deep-dive interviews with artists for over three decades."I'd never taken an acting class. And at 79 years old, why would I? It seemed a crazy idea. But on the other hand, why not? A... posted on Sep 07 2022, 1,760 reads

Silent Drum: Tips for Rhythmic Meditation
"'Drumming may be the oldest form of active meditation known to humanity.' What could meditation and drumming possibly have in common? I've been asking myself this question ever since I heard world-famous sound healing expert Jill Purce say, 'The purpose of sound is silence.' First, both meditation and drumming help us get out of our heads and into our hearts. They just go about it in different wa... posted on Sep 06 2022, 4,020 reads

Heartfelt Inquiry into Core Beliefs
"Core limiting beliefs form in childhood and mostly reside outside or on the edge of conscious awareness. They are core in the sense that everything about us organizes around them -- how we relate to others, work, and take care of ourselves. They are limiting because they constrain us, holding us back from living our lives as wakefully, freely, wisely, powerfully, joyfully, lovingly, and creativel... posted on Sep 05 2022, 2,835 reads