Friendship Balloons
When 9 year old Sara-Beth Martin let out red balloons in her send-off party a week before her second heart surgery, little did she know that one of them will travel 180 miles to reach 8 year old Reanna -- struggling with troubles of her own. The balloons carried a simple request of praying for Sara for her successful surgery. Reanna knew adversity and pain herself -- she lost her mother to cervica... posted on Sep 18 2011, 3,268 reads

Blooming in the Whirlwhind
"'Conduct your blooming in the noise and whip of the whirlwind.' Strange message in a stranger place. I don't know who said it, but this pronouncement suddenly appeared on a huge wall of the 59th St. subway tunnel connecting the Lexington Avenue trains to the N and R lines. For many months I'd passed the area, which was roped off and covered over with heavy paper -- reconstruction in progress. Wha... posted on Sep 15 2011, 2,983 reads

Planning & Other Paths To Less Stress
A recent survey by psychologist and self-help author Robert Epstein found that 25% of our happiness hinges on how well we're able to manage stress. The next logical question is, of course, how best can we reduce our stress? The stress management technique that worked best, according to the survey: planning. In other words, "fighting stress before it even starts, planning things rather than letting... posted on Sep 12 2011, 8,836 reads

10 Strategies for Reducing Prejudice
UC Berkeley professor Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton provides research-based tips for overcoming prejudices based on differences. Here are his top ten strategies, summarized: Travel (somewhere that challenges your worldview); Take a course on prejudice; If you value egalitarianism, recognize that unconscious bias is no more "the real you" than your conscious values; Laugh a little -- smiles and happiness ... posted on Sep 10 2011, 17,619 reads

The Best Goal is No Goal
"These days, however, I live without goals, for the most part. It's absolutely liberating, and contrary to what you might have been taught, it absolutely doesn't mean you stop achieving things. It means you stop letting yourself be limited by goals. Consider this common belief: 'You'll never get anywhere unless you know where you're going.' This seems so common sensical, and yet it's obviously not... posted on Sep 01 2011, 28,877 reads

The Inner Landscape of Beauty
For the late Celtic mystic John O'Donohue, the visible world isn't all there is -- it's "the first shoreline of the invisible world." The question of what should I do, is secondary to the question of "how should I be?" In short, spirituality isn't an esoteric notion, but an accessible, natural response to the landscapes of beauty around us, and within us. His unique perspective, captured in this r... posted on Aug 25 2011, 6,546 reads

Attention as an Art Form
185 billion bits of information. In an average lifetime, this is what the human brain is capable of processing. With any limited resource, the fact that it's in short supply can quickly create a feeling of scarcity. But it can also motivate wiser use of our attention, one of the fundamental building blocks of human experience. This article breaks attention down into four key aspects: Awareness, th... posted on Aug 22 2011, 24,277 reads

The Age of Social Transformation
The most significant social transformation in the last century is the shift, in dominance, of the industrial to knowledge based worker, according to the father of modern management, the late Peter Drucker. Regardless of numbers or power, knowledge workers will uniquely define the emerging knowledge society. This classic, in-depth Atlantic Monthly article by him is a survey of the epoch that began ... posted on Aug 19 2011, 5,252 reads

Secrets to Longevity
They say that the key to a long life is eating well, exercising regularly and reducing stress. Now an eight-decade study indicates that this is only part of the equation. The Longevity Project tracked the lives of 1,500 boys and girls to explain how factors such as social connections, personality and marriage affect long-term health. The results flipped traditional logic on it's head. "Take dispos... posted on Aug 10 2011, 17,273 reads

Alone But Not Lonely
An emerging body of research is suggesting that spending time alone can be good for us. Just as regular exercise and healthy eating make our minds and bodies work better, solitude, experts say, so can being alone. Sherry Turkle, director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, makes the case for people to mindfully set aside time everyday when they are not engaged in so-called "social snacki... posted on Aug 05 2011, 5,382 reads