Poets and Sages Behind Closed Doors
Not all of us will reach old age. The lucky among us who aren't lost to disease, accident, or other unforeseen circumstances will have decades of adjustments to make as we age. We slow down, lines etch our faces, grey finds its way into our hair. At a certain point, it's likely that some of us will end up in care facilities -- whether due to the lack of surviving relatives to help, or simply be... posted on Feb 20 2018, 16,632 reads

Hummingbirds: Bubbles Wrapped in Feathers
Their appearance has been described as "glittering fragments of rainbows, flamingo comets, and living gems," but equally fascinating and beautiful is what hummingbirds are physically able to do and how they are able to do it. Their bodies, bones, and feathers are filled with air -- which makes them little more than "bubbles wrapped in feathers" -- yet an adult hummingbird visits an average of 1,50... posted on Feb 19 2018, 1,199 reads

The Revolutionary Power of Diverse Thought
Elif Shafak is a Turkish author, columnist and speaker who writes stories of women, minorities, immigrants, subcultures, and youth in both Turkish and English. In this Ted Talk, she exposes the unprecedented challenges facing the world today, the attraction to and fallacy of following demagogues, and how these same problems will show us the way forward: the indispensability of democracy, the need ... posted on Feb 18 2018, 0 reads

... posted on Feb 17 2018, 8,470 reads

How to Help Teens Find Their Purpose
"Research shows that teens and young adults that seek purpose report higher life satisfaction and levels of happiness. New research even suggests that a feeling of purpose in young people is associated with better physical health." In this piece Patrick Cook-Deegan explores the power of transformative experiences in helping teenagers find their purpose.... posted on Feb 16 2018, 268,539 reads

Photographing the Beauty of Life in the Shadow of War
While violence might be the only thing depicted in times of trouble or war, its not the whole picture. Thats what photographer Ami Vitale learned in places like Kosovo and Gaza. At the age of 26, Vitale quit her office job in Manhattan to go abroad and make a difference. There, she got a job as a photographer for a business journal when war broke out nearby, instantly altering her course and putti... posted on Feb 15 2018, 2,858 reads

Tea with Betty Peck
Betty Peck's kindergarten in Saratoga, California was a magical place. One mainstay of Betty's classroom cooking was the Kindergarten Bread. Baked weekly, the making of the bread takes children through all the stages of wheat, from kernel to loaf. The children plant the wheat each year, harvest it, grind a small amount to add to the bread, and learn about kneading, rising, and baking, singing song... posted on Feb 14 2018, 8,871 reads

21 Lessons on Leadership and Love from an Uncommon Master
Frederic Pignon and his wife, Magali Delgado, travel the world performing and leading horsemanship and dressage clinics. Magali dazzles audiences with her ability to perform high-level dressage moves without so much as a bridle. Together the duo invite humanity into an altogether different approach to relationship. Their philosophy towards horses is actually a way of life: love, respect and unders... posted on Feb 13 2018, 1,626 reads

It's Never Too Late to Grow a Garden
Some people in public service make changes and start organizations on a large scale, affecting many lives. All of this is good, but so is change made on a smaller scale. Mary Ellen Graham's life is testament to this. She is the founder and first executive director of My Place Germantown - a community-based permanent housing residence for homeless men in the City of Philadelphia. It is a small scal... posted on Feb 12 2018, 12,229 reads

Cotton and Silk: Reflections of a Seamstress
"When someone asked me my profession, I tried to come up with an elaborate, elevated word for seamstress. And when I tried to describe what I did, people's eyes glazed over and I experienced a sad, lonely feeling. Well, you are what you are. Eventually, I discovered that the whole point of life is to know yourself. This long process has been, and is, much more interesting than trying to find mysel... posted on Feb 11 2018, 3,935 reads