George Orwell: Some Thoughts on the Common Toad
Novelist and essayist Eric Arthur Blair, pen name George Orwell, is perhaps best known for his prescient depictions of creeping totalitarianism and social injustice as captured in 1984 and Down and Out in Paris and London. Blair is also recognized as an avowed appreciator of the living world who intuitively understood nature's role in transforming the human spirit in the aftermath of war: "I think... posted on May 29 2019, 5,711 reads

Wangari Maathai: Marching with Trees
The late Wangari Maathai--biologist, environmentalist, and the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize--founded the Green Belt Movement to create designated areas of park, farm, and uncultivated land around communities. It has contributed to the planting of over 52 million trees. Across two decades, she was at times beaten and imprisoned as she battled powerful economic forces and Kenya's t... posted on May 28 2019, 5,295 reads

We Are Designed for Connection
Diane Poole Heller, a licensed therapist and noted expert in trauma, integrative healing, and secure attachment, talks to Tami Simon of Sounds True about the different attachment styles that we pick up in childhood and carry subconsciously into our adult behaviors. They discuss strategies for coping with and healing from insecure and disorganized childhood attachment. Diane explains how these atta... posted on May 27 2019, 11,320 reads

The Courageous Mary Oliver
Lisa Starr shares her insights from the last years of her friend Mary Oliver's life. From this deep perspective of love - we see Mary's courage, strength and generosity. She lived her craft - listening for the words - to the very end - using them to transform the heartbreak of living into things of beauty.... posted on May 26 2019, 32,057 reads

George Orwell: Why I Write
When George Orwell was sixteen, he discovered the joy of words while reading Paradise Lost. In this essay, Orwell considers his motivations for writing. In general, he believes writers are motivated by four reasons-- sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, and political purpose. It is the age in which a writer lives that provides the reason. By 1936, Orwell was firmly grounded in p... posted on May 25 2019, 6,181 reads

Kitbull: A Moving Story of Friendship Between Dog and Cat
In this heartwarming Pixar short, an unlikely friendship forms when a stray cat encounters an abused pit bull. Together, the pair discovers that trust and companionship can mend even the most painful of wounds. Watch their journey unfold here.... posted on May 24 2019, 3,585 reads

How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World
"Margaret Atwood describes The Gift, by Lewis Hyde, as 'a book about the core nature of what it is that artists do, and also about the relation of these activities to our overwhelmingly commercial society.' Bill Viola has called it 'the best book I have read on what it means to be an artist in todays economic world.' Robin McKenna is the writer, director and producer of a feature-length documentar... posted on May 23 2019, 5,518 reads

Solar Sister
Solar Sister is an organization that believes women are an important solution to the problems of economic equity and environmental change. Women in rural Africa are provided with opportunities to access solar powered products to help them run small family businesses, to cook without using harmful fuels, and to educate children. Solar Sister's Communications Director Fid Thompson shares in this upb... posted on May 22 2019, 6,355 reads

Remembering Jean Vanier: The Living Saint
Canadian Catholic philosopher, theologian and humanitarian Jean Vanier, a man who dedicated his life to helping those less fortunate, passed away in Paris this May at the age of 90. Founder of L'Arche, a federation of communities spread over 37 countries for people with disabilities, as well as of Faith and Light, with similar works in more than 80 countries, he has written 30 books on religion, d... posted on May 21 2019, 3,476 reads

Welcome to Fearless Dialogues. Are You Ready for Change?
Gregory Ellison II founded the non-profit organization Fearless Dialogues in 2013. In just 6 years they have worked with over 50,000 people worldwide. Fearless Dialogues provides safe space for seeing and hearing those who have been overlooked, forming unlikely alliances and engaging in hard conversations about difficult subjects like racism, classism, and community violence. Ellison is an associa... posted on May 20 2019, 6,341 reads