War No More: David Swanson
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is the director of WorldBeyondWar.org, a campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org, a prolific writer, and the most recent recipient of the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation's 2018 Peace Prize. The values he lives by are "be courageous but generous; try to make the world a better place; pack up and start over as needed -- physically ... posted on Jan 28 2019, 6,261 reads

Eight Inspiring Moments from 2018
As the year 2018 slowly fades into the rearview mirror, may we take one look back to see what greater good can be learned from this last year. Though we may remember the difficult or even awful things that happened, there was good that came out of some of the painful events that occurred. In these inspiring stories, one can see the bigger lessons to be learned: that we are not alone when we reach ... posted on Jan 27 2019, 9,105 reads

Why It's Worth Listening to People You Disagree With
Zachary R. Wood invites controversy into his life. Raised by a schizophrenic mother, he learned that people are complicated and challenging, but they can bring us into a deeper understanding. In this Ted talk, he describes growing up in a difficult home that was also supportive. He attended an elite, predominantly white, private school where as a black student, he felt the sting of being stereotyp... posted on Jan 26 2019, 16,488 reads

On Compassion, Equanimity and Impermanence
"Compassion is practiced in two ways: subtly and overtly. You can subtly serve any person with whom you interact by allowing their pain to resonate deeply within you, and experiencing it completely so that it does not turn into suffering within you. This is the healthy alternative to both callous indifference and enervating enmeshment." Author and mindfulness teacher Shinzen Young shares more in t... posted on Jan 25 2019, 15,100 reads

The Wisdom of Circles: In Conversation with John Malloy
John Malloy tends fires. He is a guardian of safe spaces where people gather. John began tending fires in this spirit as a county probation senior group counselor. He then co-founded The Foundry, a school for kids who had been in jail. John currently works as an Intervention Specialist in schools and leads an Intergenerational Support Group for people challenged by grief and trauma. For over fifty... posted on Jan 24 2019, 10,729 reads

Top 10 Kindness Stories of 2018
Kindness begets kindness. This simple saying points to a profound truth. What we put out into the world, often comes back to us in one form or another. Not only does kindness have this wonderful boomerang effect, it's also delightfully contagious. Being at the receiving end of an act of kindness or witnessing a thoughtful gesture for another person can inspire a chain reaction. This just might be ... posted on Jan 23 2019, 22,765 reads

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez: Break Free
For the last 11 years, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez has been in the public eye for his activism, movement building, work with Earth Guardians, and youth empowerment. In 2013, President Obama awarded Xiuhtezcatl the United States Community Service Award. Xiuhtezcatl was the youngest of 24 national change-makers chosen to serve on the presidents youth council. He is the recipient of the 2015 Peace First Pr... posted on Jan 22 2019, 6,829 reads

Nuggets of Wisdom from 10 Everyday Heroes
Saturday Awakin Calls are moderated live conversations where amazing people share their journeys and interact with listeners. These conversations are then transcribed and archived creating a treasure trove describing the many ways to "be the change" we want to see in the world. In this post, an Awakin Calls volunteer shares some of her favorite jewels from this past year's most memorable calls. R... posted on Jan 21 2019, 7,072 reads

Quantitative and Qualitative Healing
"A bit over a year ago, my grandmother passed away. During the last couple of years of her life, she was dealing with a lot of different health problems -- literally ranging from head to toe. And, thanks to Western medicine, she was able to add years to her life, because of these different drugs and therapies that were working on the physical problems that were happening in her body. But, in the c... posted on Jan 20 2019, 4,421 reads

How Books Solace, Empower and Transform Us
Since the invention of the printing press, books have fed the human animal's irrepressible hunger for truth and meaning. Books offer refuge and companionship during lonely childhoods. The following piece opens the pages of a wonderful collection of essays about why we read and how books transform us from some of the most inspiring humans in our world: artists, writers, scientists, philosophers, en... posted on Jan 19 2019, 7,345 reads