How To Make Hard Choices
The push and pull of different options can often be impulsive at best, and agonizing at worst. In this thoughtful TED Talk, Ruth Chang explains why sizing one choice against the other -- for example, a home in the country versus the city, or a major in philosophy versus in law -- presents a false dichotomy of the vast range of possible options that exist to become the person that we want to be. Ra... posted on Sep 06 2014, 32,551 reads

5 Constraints That Help Me Innovate
"A kite flies because of pressure dynamics in the air, but the string facilitates that condition. Cut the string and it will crash. In other words, constraints can be guides." Placing limitations on processes is not normally associated with innovation. However, as explained in this article, setting boundaries and playing within them can foster creative solutions to complex problems, encourage a se... posted on Sep 05 2014, 7,695 reads

Who Fixed The Refrigerator?
Many years ago, a man's refrigerator stopped working and he ventured out to find a solution. A few people -- the used furniture sales person, somebody at the electrical supply store -- shared some tips with him so that in the end, he was able to successfully repair a seemingly mundane problem. Or so he thought. A deeper inquiry of the many apparent and invisible forces that brought about this simp... posted on Sep 04 2014, 19,924 reads

Julia Cameron On How To Get Out Of Your Own Way
"Art is a spiritual transaction. Artists are visionaries... Art is an act of faith, and we practice practicing it." For anyone interested in the ineffable grasping and spiritual practice of the artist, Maria Popova of brainpickings.org summarizes Julia Cameron's seminal text The Artist's Way, "exploring its gateways, its obstacles, and how we can get out of our own way."... posted on Sep 03 2014, 25,343 reads

An Act of Dog: An Artist's Effort To Foster Compassion
5,500 dogs; that's the estimated number of shelter dogs killed every day in the U.S. About one every 15-16 seconds. But one artist is hoping to change those statistics by cultivating a new generation built on compassion. Artist Mark Barone used to spend his time revitalizing cities ravished by blight. Now he has given up everything to paint 5,500 portraits of euthanized dogs in order to memorializ... posted on Sep 02 2014, 35,144 reads

Big Questions From Little People
Do animals like sheep and cows have accents? Why do we cry? Is new technology always good? The art of asking big questions often comes from brave little people who are innocent to the complexities of the answers. Sometimes, it takes a whole book and the world's leading experts to respond to these simple yet profound inquiries about life, nature, and the cosmos...... posted on Sep 01 2014, 15,531 reads

Of Webs, Boxes and Boundaries
Margaret Wheatley shares: "When my children were small, I had a slogan on my refrigerator that read: 'If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.' Perhaps that was my children's first lesson in systems thinking. We adults learn this, too. If others are struggling, we experience the consequences of their struggle. If others don't feel safe, we aren't safe. Great teachers have been trying to teach us t... posted on Aug 31 2014, 22,015 reads

Radical Kindness: The Banker Who Gave It All Away
On the surface, Philip Wollen does not look like the radical type. Named as one of the top-wanted executives in Australia, he was a vice-president of Citibank when he was 34 and a general manager at Citicorp. Around 1990, however, Philip decided to give away 90% of his capital. His aim, he says, is to die broke; to give away all he owns with "warm hands." Now, his Winsome Constance Kindness Trust ... posted on Aug 30 2014, 9,488 reads

4 Ways Sadness May Be Good For You
Evolutionary theory suggests that we should embrace all of our emotions, as each has an important role to play under the right circumstances. So, though you may seek ways to increase happiness, don't haphazardly push away your sadness. No doubt, it's there for good reason, as research suggests that mild, temporary states of sadness may actually be beneficial in handling various aspects of our live... posted on Aug 29 2014, 29,129 reads

From Hero To Host
For too long, too many of us have been entranced by heroes. Perhaps it's our desire to not have to do the hard work, to rely on someone else to figure things out. But perhaps it's time for us to face the truth of our situation -- that we're all in this together, that we all have a voice -- and figure out how to mobilize the hearts and minds of everyone in our workplaces and communities.... posted on Aug 28 2014, 35,293 reads