Bolivia's Law of Mother Earth
Imagine a lake having the same rights as a landowner. Or a condor with the same rights as a child. Under Bolivia's historic Law of Mother Earth, signed into law in 2010, all entities in nature have equal rights to humans. Based on Andean spiritual principles, the law was enacted in an effort to curb climate change and the exploitation of Bolivia's natural resources. It spells out seven specific ri... posted on Jul 15 2016, 32,167 reads

One Heart: A Mission To Save Lives in Childbirth
""When I came to Tibet I heard of so many tragic stories of women dying -- no access to care in remote areas, no history of trained birth attendants, and no knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth," Arlene Samen recalls. It is a problem that stretches well beyond Tibet's borders. According to the World Health Organization, more than 500,000 women worldwide die each year as a result of complicatio... posted on Jul 14 2016, 2,798 reads

A Tribute to Mr. Happy Man
For over thirty years, Bermuda's Johnny Barnes stationed himself every morning for six hours at a busy traffic intersection. He made sure to tell all who passed by that he loved them. His delight and sincerity were infectious, and the people of the island loved him back. His service was a simple reminder of the power of happiness and loving-kindness to change any day for the better. Though Barnes ... posted on Jul 13 2016, 5,924 reads

How Anxiety Reduces Empathy
It turns out that anxiety can have a negative effect on not just ourselves, but our dealings with others. In a recent series of studies on how specific emotions influence perspective taking, participants experiencing emotions with uncertainty, like anxiety and surprise, displayed greater egocentrism than those feeling other emotions such as anger or disgust or even neutral feelings. When stressed ... posted on Jul 12 2016, 22,751 reads

Our Relationship With Media & Attention
Mary Rothschild studies the effects of media on young children. She tells this story, "Each child was happily kneading their dough, these two, two-and-a-half to five-year-old children, and making a bread animal or something. I thought, "Wow. It's been like four minutes and they're all quiet!"Then this little girl next to me looked up and said, "Mary, the Lion King video is too loud." So I thought ... posted on Jul 11 2016, 21,404 reads

The Mystery and Art of Living
Krista Tippett is best known as the host of "On Being," the award-winning public radio conversation, podcast, and website which explores the questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live? In this interview, Pico Iyer turns the tables on Krista and interviews her about her life, her inspirations, and the topics in her eloquent and passionate book, ... posted on Jul 10 2016, 14,378 reads

The Beauty of Human Skin in Every Color
It has been 128 years since the last country abolished slavery, and 53 years since Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, yet we still live in a world where the color of our skin gives a first and leaves a lasting impression. Angelica Dass's portrait project, Humanae, challenges how we think about skin color and ethnicity. What does it mean for us to be "black, white, yellow, red." Is ... posted on Jul 09 2016, 3,971 reads

Why We Should Teach Empathy to Preschoolers
"Various studies show that the more empathy a child displays, the less likely they are to engage in bullying, online and in real life. Empathic children and adolescents are more likely to engage in positive social behaviors, like sharing or helping others. They're also less likely to be antisocial and exhibit uncontrolled aggressive behaviors. That's a big reason why educators have been devoting m... posted on Jul 08 2016, 33,511 reads

Free Tea and Company: Ten Years And Counting
For Guisepi Spadafora, offering people free tea has been at the center of a decade-long journey that has changed both his life and the lives of others. In his early twenties, Guisepi wanted to meet interesting and genuine people, but he wasn't finding them in the usual places. He decided to go somewhere unusual instead and parked himself on Hollywood Boulevard. Using a camp stove beside his truck ... posted on Jul 07 2016, 0 reads

Why Play with Koans
For over 30 years, Zen teacher John Tarrant has been teaching people how to meditate with koans, an ancient method for addressing the question of who we are. He has developed ways to practice with koans -- traditionally reserved for advanced Zen students -- that anyone might find useful. For example, how would your life change if you stopped believing all of your thoughts? What if you had everythi... posted on Jul 06 2016, 17,922 reads