The Muse Who Made Storefronts Bloom
"Joan Vorderbruggen's job title is cultural district artist coordinator, but she really is Joan the connector, Joan the problem-solver, Joan the nurturer, Joan the perfect balance of right-brain nonlinear creativity and left-brain organizational prowess. Most people with her nonstop manic energy would get annoying in a hurry, but her authenticity charms, whether she's trying to pitch corporate spo... posted on Sep 07 2021, 2,438 reads

Monet Refuses the Operation
"Doctor, you say there are no haloes
around the streetlights in Paris
and what I see is an aberration
caused by old age, an affliction.
I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels,
to soften and blur and finally banish
the edges you regret I don't see..."
In this exquisite poem, Lisel Mueller l... posted on Sep 06 2021, 8,636 reads

Re-inhabiting the World
"The plants that grow out of pavements have a history longer than our own. Birds communicate their news in songs and calls. Insects tunnel their way through the earth. The clouds draw the geography of the sky and the stars speak the language of light. We are surrounded by a living and vibrant universe that we barely know, and that we rarely feel as our own." In the following excerpt Fabiana Fondev... posted on Sep 05 2021, 4,749 reads

I Don't Seem to Be Fine
A disorder caused by a medical treatment for malaria, a too-common affliction for children in Uganda, can lead to constant pain and a debilitating handicap for the children who receive this treatment. Ugandan medical professionals have developed a successful surgical remedy that, along with physical therapy, greatly improves the children's quality of life. With support from a team of medical colle... posted on Sep 04 2021, 2,065 reads

Anil Gupta: India's Hidden Hotbeds of Invention
Where does creativity reside in today's world? Is it the monopoly of the educated elite or does it reside within the cracks of our 'well-ordered' systems? In this engaging TED talk, Anil Gupta asks this humbling, soul-searching question, and provides some responses. Read on to see and hear a stunning patchwork quilt of indigenous entrepreneurs and inventors whose ingenuity has changed lives for th... posted on Sep 03 2021, 3,959 reads

Valentina Suzukei and the Music of Tuva
"Tuva is the epicenter of a rare form of throat singing, in which our ears seem to magically hear multiple pitches and melodies emerging all at once from a single note sung in a drone. Valentina Szkei is the world's leading expert on Tuvan music, especially the variant known as Xmei. Unfortunately, her research and preservation of Tuvan culture has never been translated into English, despite its i... posted on Sep 02 2021, 3,785 reads

The Dancing Doctor
On a chilly morning in November, 2013, Deborah Cohan, MD, a clinical professor and program director at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, walked into an operating suite, her curly hair tucked under a cap, not to perform surgery but to undergo a double mastectomy for breast cancer. Within minutes, the sterile room began to enliven with R&B drumbeats, and the entire surgi... posted on Sep 01 2021, 9,055 reads

Building Belonging: Being an Ambassador to the Earth
"john a. powell is the director of the Othering & Belonging Institute and a professor of law, African American studies, and ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He previously directed the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University, and the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. He is also the author of Racing to Jus... posted on Aug 31 2021, 3,473 reads

Response is Different From an Answer
"The current moment calls for moral ferocity. We should not sleep well at night when we know others are suffering. Ferocity itself, though, holds danger. Lets not forget that some of the worst perpetrators of evil have often claimed to act in the name of the good, or God, or the national interest, or a future utopia. By claiming the moral high ground, and labeling our opponents misguided, we run t... posted on Aug 30 2021, 2,068 reads

Be Earth Now
"In Rainer Maria Rilkes seminal collection of poetry, The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, the great twentieth-century poet explores the nature ofand his relationship toGod through divinely received prayers. Nearly twenty-five years ago, Anita Barrows, an award-winning poet and translator, and Joanna Macy, a Buddhist scholar and eco-philosopher, collaborated to translate this collection. Now, on ... posted on Aug 29 2021, 3,271 reads