East Hill Farm: A Leap of Faith
"Once upon a time...many years ago, when a now very old man was but a youth, he felt something was mysteriously missing in his life, but he didn't know what it was or where to find it. He wasn't even sure how to begin looking for it. "Go find Truth and Knowledge," he was told. "When you find them, you'll know what's missing and how to find it." What follows is an excerpt from Jonathan James's book... posted on Aug 05 2022, 2,553 reads

Taking Time to Make Time
"When the 33-year-old Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Pope Julius II would impatiently ask him when it would be complete. The artist would reply, "When I am satisfied." Rodin took 37 years to compete his Gates of Hell. The Taj Mahal took 22 years, two more that the Great Pyramid at Giza. The Great Wall of China took 2,000 years!" Artist Durriya Kazi explores our relationship ... posted on Aug 04 2022, 3,827 reads

The Art of Emptiness
"The composition below is called Woodmaster and it is written for solo Taimu shakuhachi and dedicated to Ken Mujitsu LaCosse, designer and maker of Taimu. Taimu is a wide-bore, natural bamboo variant of shakuhachi, the root-end bamboo flute from ancient Zen Buddhism. This flute itself calls into question rigid lines or divisions between masculine and feminine, sacred and secular: it comes from Zen... posted on Aug 03 2022, 1,929 reads

At the Gate
"Wheelchairs in wild spaces shouldn't be an anomaly some thirty years since the Americans with Disabilities Act, but here I am, in front of another gate, asserting my right to exist in nature. The very fact of me seems to rankle the men I am here to meet. King Estates Open Space Park is a verdant area of native grasses, wildflowers, and spectacular vistas overlooking the San Francisco Bay. During ... posted on Aug 02 2022, 1,697 reads

Jonathan Foust: Body-Centered Inquiry
"Jonathan Foust is a longtime teacher of yoga and meditation who has guided learners at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, DC for more than 20 years. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Jonathan discuss the practice of body-centered inquiry--specifically the surprising ways it can be applied to pain. Jonathan explains how ... posted on Aug 01 2022, 4,329 reads

Learning to Learn: You, Too, Can Rewire Your Brain
"The studio for what is arguably the world's most successful online course is tucked into a corner of Barb and Phil Oakley's basement, a converted TV room that smells faintly of cat urine. (At the end of every video session, the Oakleys pin up the green fabric that serves as the backdrop so Fluffy doesn't ruin it.) This is where they put together "Learning How to Learn," taken by more than 1.8 mil... posted on Jul 31 2022, 3,100 reads

Fermentation as Metaphor
"In this interview, Sandor Katz discusses his new book, Fermentation as Metaphor. A world-renowned expert in fermented foods, Sandor considers the liberating experience offered through engagement with microbial communities. He shares that the simple act of fermentation can give rise to deeply intimate moments of connection through the magic of invisible forces that transform our foods and our live... posted on Jul 30 2022, 1,747 reads

Botanical Animation: A Story of Flowers
There are nearly half a million flowering plants growing beautifully and strongly in this world, spreading their roots in the earth, sprouting, blooming, pollinated by birds and insects, living on through rain, wind and storms. They pass on the baton of life, rebirth and decay. Everything is so in a continuous cycle, stunningly animated by Azuma Makoto.... posted on Jul 29 2022, 2,886 reads

14 Smells that Remind You to Breathe
Megan Hippler is an environmental and humanities writer in Queensland, Australia. In this short lyrical piece she lists 14 scents from the natural world, mixing the familiar with the exotic, waking one up to the absorbing medley of life experiences we absorb through our noses.... posted on Jul 28 2022, 3,097 reads

George Lakoff on Language and Climate Action
"Why is it so difficult to act on climate change? Despite growing public awareness of the current climate crisis, the topic of climate change continues to thwart political and social systems across the globe, as it has for over 30 years. The reasons for this vary, but cognitive linguist and philosopher George Lakoff suggests that an inability to act on climate change may be ingrained into our most... posted on Jul 27 2022, 1,931 reads