How to Love a Country
The Cuban American civil engineer turned writer, Richard Blanco, straddles the many ways a sense of place merges with human emotion to make home and belonging -- personal and communal. The most recent -- and very resonant -- question he's asked by way of poetry is: how to love a country? At Chautauqua, Krista Tippett invited him to speak and read from his books. Blanco's wit, thoughtfulness, and e... posted on Nov 22 2020, 4,540 reads

A War Orphan Who Became a Ballerina
Michaela DePrince is "the ballerina who flies." Orphaned at age three in war-torn Sierra Leone, DePrince was malnourished and sick when she and her "mat-mate" at the orphanage were adopted by Elaine and Charles DePrince of New Jersey. Inspired by a photograph of a ballerina in a magazine, DePrince trained as a ballet dancer and is now with the Dance Theater of Harlem. "I think no matter where you ... posted on Nov 21 2020, 2,796 reads

Praying for the Earth
"The earth needs our prayers more that we know. It needs us to acknowledge its sacred nature, that it is not just something to use and dispose. Many of us know the effectiveness of prayers for others, how healing and help is given, even in the most unexpected ways. There are many ways to pray for the earth. It can be helpful first to acknowledge that it is not unfeeling matter but a living being t... posted on Nov 20 2020, 8,142 reads

Larry Korn: One-Straw Messenger
"Larry Korn was a 26-year-old farmhand from the United States living and working at a communal farm in rural Kyoto in 1974 when he decided to go and see for himself an enigmatic farmer-philosopher he had been hearing about through the grapevine in Japan. Korn was met at the rice fields of the Fukuoka Shizen Noen (Fukuoka Natural Farm) by the farm's middle-aged proprietor, Masanobu Fukuoka. It was ... posted on Nov 19 2020, 4,327 reads

Where Wonder Lives: Daily Practices for Cultivating the Sacred
Fabiana Fondevila is a storyteller, activist and teacher from Argentina. Her upcoming book, 'Where Wonder Lives' invites readers on a unique journey through inner landscapes, kindling fresh awareness of life's mysteries. In the following excerpt she delves into humanity's age old search for meaning through two seemingly contradictory, yet deeply complementary paths.... posted on Nov 18 2020, 7,313 reads

Are You a Highly Sensitive Person?
"Dr. Elaine Aron is a clinical depth psychologist and the author of the seminal 1997 book The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. With Sounds True, she has published The Highly Sensitive Person's Complete Learning Program: Essential Insights and Tools for Navigating Your Work, Relationships, and Life. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with... posted on Nov 17 2020, 9,611 reads

Remembering Our Way Forward
"Perspective has carried me through a year that has been marked by the pandemics of Covid-19 and racism, political strife, and an escalating climate crisis. Ive held close as gently as possible reliable truisms: Change is the only constant. Life tends toward life. I affirm: I'm not alone. In the end, death comes to us all I have only to decide how to live life now. Showing up for myself, for ot... posted on Nov 16 2020, 6,494 reads

The Soul of the Rose
"A bower of roses creates a special kind of sacred space, filled with a scent that can connect us to the past. Whether freshly cut and placed in a crystal vase with winter greens, or tumbling out of an old watering can, dried for a Victorian potpourri or the center of an herb filled tussie mussie, the rose connects us to our inner selves, to memories of another time, another place, as past and pr... posted on Nov 15 2020, 7,976 reads

Friendships Shaped by a Pair of Scissors
Since 2014, Backalley Barbers has been offering free haircuts in Geylang, Singapore, for impoverished persons in nursing homes, migrant worker shelters, and rental communities. Young volunteers learn basic hair cutting skills from professionals, and then offer these skills to community members who cannot afford a haircut. The conversations that take place in the process lead to lasting friendships... posted on Nov 14 2020, 1,801 reads

Julian of Norwich: Wisdom for a Time of Pandemic & Beyond
"A time of crisis and chaos, the kind that a pandemic brings, is, among other things, a time to call on our ancestors for their deep wisdom. Not just knowledge but true wisdom is needed in a time of death and profound change, for at such times we are beckoned not simply to return to the immediate past, that which we remember fondly as the normal, but to reimagine a new future, a renewed humanity, ... posted on Nov 13 2020, 10,727 reads