How to Talk to Strangers
Kio Stark enjoys interacting with people she doesn't know. Not in an "anonymous acts of kindness" sort of way, but in an adventurous way. Author of the book, "When Strangers Meet: How People You Don't Know Can Transform You," Stark has always been fascinated and enamored by the experience of interacting with strangers. Most people don't give these encounters a second thought, but Stark encourages ... posted on Oct 15 2016, 17,664 reads

Whistling in the Wind: Preserving a Language Without Words
The last speakers of a language without words reside on La Gomera, one of the smallest islands in Spains Canary Islands. "El Silbo," a whistled communication used in rural and isolated areas, is dying out as islanders embrace digital communication and move to cities and the mainland. Even so, El Silbo has a firm place in the island's culture. Some of La Gomera's schools are teaching the language a... posted on Oct 14 2016, 3,118 reads

The Gift of Danger: Lessons from Aikido
"As I began to practice aikido, there were indeed moments when my own energies blended with those of another person and I had a taste of what I had hoped to find. But often I reacted unthinkingly when someone grabbed at my arm or struck toward my head. Id try to muscle through or, just as tensely, hold back from moving. As I witnessed these automatic outbreaks of fear and hostility, I began to rec... posted on Oct 13 2016, 10,936 reads

Lessons from the Garden: Harvest & Gratitude
"It's harvest time. Plums are falling from the trees every day. Tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and beans need daily picking along with the plums, or they become too ripe too quickly. Im making sauces, soups and stews to freeze, and blanching chard and the last broccoli. Sometimes it feels overwhelming. A friend phoned a couple of days ago and invited me out to Alberta for a few days. Sounds wonderf... posted on Oct 12 2016, 12,407 reads

The Secret Life of Trees
In The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, German forester Peter Wohlleben chronicles what his own experience of managing a forest in the Eifel mountains in Germany has taught him about the astonishing language of trees and how trailblazing arboreal research from scientists around the world reveals "the role forests play in making our world the kind of place where we want t... posted on Oct 11 2016, 20,054 reads

5 Habits to Heal the Heart of Democracy
"We the People" called American democracy into being. Today, the future of our democracy is threatened. How can "We the People" call American politics back to health at a time when, in the words of Bill Moyers, "we have fallen under the spell of money, faction, and fear"? One answer is close at hand, within everyone's reach. We must return to the "first home" of democracy: the human heart. In our ... posted on Oct 10 2016, 0 reads

The First Allergy-Friendly Food Bank
For people with food allergies or Celiac disease, groceries can be extremely expensive. Those on very limited budgets can get caught in a gap in the social safety net because available food products may be unsafe. Facing just this problem when her daughter was diagnosed with food allergies, Emily Brown worked with fellow mom, Amy Goode, to launch the Food Equality Initiative, aimed at making food ... posted on Oct 09 2016, 9,210 reads

This Van Delivers Human Kindness
"If you want to experience real joy in your life, start giving away, start giving out..." Retired couple Peter Grazier and Nance Cheifetz decided that they wanted to become full-time Fairy Godparents, so in 2003, they sold their Lexus and bought Bodhi, their 1990 Volkswagon kindness van, and have been hitting the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area with lunch and hot chocolate. "Adults should ha... posted on Oct 08 2016, 4,524 reads

'Love Rounds' at Loma Linda
"Love Rounds" are done at the Loma Linda hospital once a week. "This unique idea was started by Dr. Wil Alexander, PhD, who is currently 94 years old and still teaching and lecturing within the family medicine department. He is not a physician -- he is a minister and professor of religion at Loma Linda University, and brings an important non-medical perspective to the way we learned to look at pat... posted on Oct 07 2016, 7,199 reads

Elle Luna: The Crossroads of Should & Must
"If you want to know Must, get to know Should. This is hard work. Really hard work. We unconsciously imprison ourselves to avoid our most primal fears. We choose Should because choosing Must is terrifying, incomprehensible. Our prison is constructed from a lifetime of Shoulds, the world of choices weve unwittingly agreed to, the walls that alienate us from our truest, most authentic selves. Should... posted on Oct 06 2016, 17,453 reads