Do You Remember Your Song
"When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child. They recognize that every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavor and purpose. Then the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud."... posted on Dec 16 2019, 12,098 reads

This Is Your Brain On Music
"Musical training doesn't just improve your ear for music -- it also helps your ear for speech. That's the takeaway from an unusual new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers found that kids who took music lessons for two years didn't just get better at playing the trombone or violin; they found that playing music also helped kids' brains process language."... posted on Dec 15 2019, 5,403 reads

On Courage
What does it mean to be courageous? Is it something seen outwardly, as when someone overcomes an overwhelming physical obstacle, or is it "the measure of our heartfelt participation with life, with another, with a community, a work, a future"? This short video provides an eloquent answer through powerful images that encourage further consideration of the question.... posted on Dec 14 2019, 2,930 reads

How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them
Our biases can be dangerous, even deadly as we've seen in the cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, in Staten Island, New York. Diversity advocate Vern Myers looks closely at some of the subconscious attitudes we hold toward out-groups. She makes a plea to all people: Acknowledge your biases. Then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable. In a fu... posted on Dec 13 2019, 9,749 reads

The Lost Words
"It had come to our attention that words were slipping out from the mouths and the minds of children, but it was only once the book was complete and beginning to make its way out into the world that this really hit home. In a class full of children I asked who knew what a wren was. Wren, that small brown bird, feathers small as splinters with a sharp song so loud that threads its way through hedg... posted on Dec 12 2019, 6,942 reads

How an Army of Women Resurrected a River
Women in Vellore, India, have resurrected the Naganadhi river and the agriculture of the area that were almost lost to drought. In 2014, the women took matters into their own hands and worked with engineers and hydrologists to build 600 recharge wells by hand: digging wells, making cement rings, placing the rings and stones, and planting drought-resistant saplings along the river basin. This labor... posted on Dec 11 2019, 1,806 reads

The Biggest Little Farm
"Many people have dreamed of leaving the city for the country, to live in a way that would reflect their concerns about the environment. John and Molly Chester, are a couple who did just that; they left their home in Los Angeles and started an organic farm. The Chesters tried to turn a dry and soil-depleted 200-acre parcel into a lush, organic farm. They were determined to tend fruit orchards and ... posted on Dec 10 2019, 3,653 reads

When I Wrote My Mom a Thank-You Letter
"In the waning days of 2015, I decided to mark a milestone birthday by simply saying "thank you." My plan was to write one letter each week of that year to someone who had helped, shaped, or inspired me on the road to the person I am today. Nothing fancy: just one gratitude letter at time. I later called this letter-writing spree my Thank-You Project--and it would change my life in a profound, pos... posted on Dec 09 2019, 8,737 reads

Earth as Goddess
Baba Mandaza Augustine Kademwa, from Zimbabwe, was born a Svikiro (in Shona, his native tongue), a carrier of many earth and water spirits, and a Mondhoro (Lion), one who is in constant prayer on behalf of others.Mandaza is an African traditional healer and voice for Mother Nature, he carries with him, in his heart, the Central African spiritual tradition of healing and peacemaking. In the followi... posted on Dec 08 2019, 6,039 reads

How Place Can Connect Us to Gratitude
"Certain places can evoke a profound experience of gratitude for us. Have you ever noticed how your favorite bakery, or neighborhood park, or familiar church, or your own living room, can bring you profound gratitude that you feel in your body?...Place connects us to gratitude, and gratitude connects us to place. And this gratitude also finds its place in our bodies. As we find gratitude in a sens... posted on Dec 07 2019, 6,571 reads