Small Kindnesses
"Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection," is an anthology that includes poems by Ross Gay, Marie Howe, Naomi Shihab Nye and many others. The poems within it urge readers in these polarized times to "move past the negativity that often fills the airwaves, and to embrace the ordinary moments of kindness and connection that fill our days." What follows is one of the poems from this coll... posted on May 04 2022, 3,102 reads

Solving Complex Problems Relying on Diversity and Inclusion
"This five-stage process originated in ancient Tibet as the Four Karmas (actions). It demands
deep inquiry: we rely on differences of experience and perception in order to discern actions
that might bring sanity to addressing the issue. It requires humility: we honor the fact that no
one person or group has the answer (not even me). It requires appreciation: the experiences of... posted on May 03 2022, 1,916 reads

Let the Sun Rise
We all have days when things don't go as smoothly as we'd hoped and we have to make peace with things as they are. Fortunately the sun rises again each morning for all of us and we get another chance to see what the day will bring, to try again and to meet each moment with hope and to practice the art of living. Rejection, fears, doubts and failure are simply part of the human condition. Acknowled... posted on May 02 2022, 2,348 reads

A New Hotline for a Pep Talk from Kindergartners
"Amid a crush of heavy news from around the world, who couldn't use some sage advice right now? Call a new hotline, and you'll get just that -- encouraging words from a resilient group of kindergartners. Kids' voices will prompt you with a menu of options: If you're feeling mad, frustrated or nervous, press 1. If you need words of encouragement and life advice, press 2. If you need a pep talk from... posted on May 01 2022, 5,577 reads

How to Stay Open and Curious in Hard Conversations
"To have a chance at really hearing other beliefs, philosopher David Smith teaches, you have to value truth more than your own opinion, and you have to come in with a measure of humility. With nothing more than these two questions, we can help our minds move from certainty to uncertainty, finding gaps in understanding that help our curiosity catch on." The following piece shares eight tips for hav... posted on Apr 30 2022, 8,835 reads

Called to the Sea
Roger Hanson, a retired school teacher and an ocean advocate, has always loved the sea. He was called to live near the ocean after a chance encounter with a whale many years ago. One day, while diving in Long Beach, California he happened upon a tiny species that seemed oddly out of place. He has since dedicated his life to protecting the habitat of the Pacific Seahorse, and he has come to be call... posted on Apr 29 2022, 1,684 reads

To Observe that Kind of Devotion
"Orion's poetry editor Camille Dungy recently sat down with poet, friend, and Orion board member Major Jackson to discuss their thoughts on literary stewardship, environmental writings complicated legacy, the sacred inner lives of Black children, small towns, urban parks, building community, talking to foxes, and connection to the natural world." Check out their conversation here. ... posted on Apr 28 2022, 1,660 reads

The Magnitude of All Things
Earth is our mother and when she suffers, we all suffer. Jennifer Abbott's climate change documentary "The Magnitude of All Things" helps us to see grief on a personal and global scale. When her sister died from cancer, Abbott's sorrow opened her up to the grief that is being experienced on a global level by people who are already losing their homes and lives due to climate change. The film is a r... posted on Apr 27 2022, 2,090 reads

How Much Is Enough?
"Over the next 20 years, a minimum of $35 trillion, and up to $70 trillion, in wealth will transfer from the post-World War II generation to the next younger generation. Most of that wealth will flow in the upper canopy of the wealth forest, between family members in the world's wealthiest 0.1%...But some beneficiaries of this system are working to disrupt it, with the help of financial advisers w... posted on Apr 26 2022, 4,111 reads

Why Did We Stop Believing that People Can Change?
"Belief in the fixity rather than the fluidity of human nature or maybe in guilt without redemption shows up everywhere -- not just in the formal legal system that decides questions of innocence, guilt and responsibility but also in the social sphere, in which we render verdicts replete with both unexamined assumptions about human nature and prejudices for and against particular kinds of people an... posted on Apr 24 2022, 3,231 reads