that commoditize everything? That create scarcity instead of abundance, that promote accumulation rather than sharing? We’ve surrendered our values to an economic system that actively harms what we love. I’m wondering how we fix that. And I’m not alone. Because I’m a botanist, my fluency in the lexicon of berries may not easily extend to economics, so I wanted to revisit the conventional meaning of economics to compare it to my understanding of the gift economy of nature. What is economics for anyway? It turns out that answer depends a lot on who you ask. On their website, the American Economic Association says, “It’s the study of scarcity, the stud... posted on Jan 19 2021 (11,047 reads)

in one in the face of something so vast and so powerful and so transcendent and so unexpected that it makes one rethink what you're looking at, because you can't comprehend it. You can't quite take it in on one side. The first reaction, which is what happens to our breath, to me seems very telling. You know, when you see a night sky, a very majestic night sky or a mountain or a storm or sunset -- I'm naming all the natural phenomenona, but it doesn't only only have to be nature, it could also be a piece of music or art, or a very supremely kind act, anything that you consider, that you feel is so huge and encompassing that you can't take it in -- what you do insti... posted on Apr 17 2021 (5,993 reads)

path to an ecological civilization is paved by reclaiming the commons—our common home, the Earth, and the commons of the Earth family, of which we are a part. Through reclaiming the commons, we can imagine possibility for our common future, and we can sow the seeds of abundance through “commoning.” In the commons, we care and share—for the Earth and each other. We are conscious of nature’s ecological limits, which ensure her share of the gifts she creates goes back to her to sustain biodiversity and ecosystems. We are aware that all humans have a right to air, water, and food, and we feel responsible for the rights of future generations. Enclosures of ... posted on Apr 19 2021 (6,614 reads)

in touch with reality. As a felt sense, it refers to feeling our center of gravity low in the belly and experiencing a deep silence, stability, and connection with the whole of life. Feeling grounded does not require contact with the earth; it can happen anywhere and anytime — even when we’re flat on our backs in a rowboat. Reality is inherently grounding. The more in touch with it we are, the more grounded we feel. This is as true of the facts of daily life as it is of our true nature. Life is multidimensional, ranging from the physical to the subtle to formless awareness. When we are in touch with physical reality, we feel physically grounded. As subtle levels of feeling an... posted on Jun 10 2021 (9,195 reads)

the activists, because activists sometimes are stressed out physically and emotionally, sometimes burning up with their own anger. It’s like, we could help, right? But there’s oftentimes not an appreciation that people who are engaged with the suffering of others have something to teach those of us who organize around spirituality. And much of the spirituality of the West, in many respect, is quiescence. Like, I want to get away from the noise of the world. I want to go out to nature, because nature’s everywhere. I want to go out to nature, and I certainly don’t want to get involved with politics. I mean, that’s really dirty stuff. TS: Messy. ... posted on Aug 31 2021 (3,428 reads)

and a mind may interpenetrate till the nature of both is altered,” the Scottish mountaineer and poet Nan Shepherd wrote in her lyrical love letter to her native Highlands, echoing an ancient intuition about how our formative physical landscapes shape our landscapes of thought and feeling. The word “genius” in the modern sense, after all, originates in the Latin phrase genius loci — “the spirit of a place.” I find myself thinking about Shepherd as I return to the Bulgarian mountains of my own childhood, trekking the same paths with my mother that I once trudged with tiny feet beside her, astonished at the flood of long-ag... posted on Sep 26 2021 (4,221 reads)

to support the Earth and its inhabitants. Let’s be kind, let’s be compassionate, let’s be moral—and truthful. Let’s accept our fear and work with it, accept our grief and regret and be guided by them. Let’s also accept our rage, but moderate it into quiet strength. And let’s come together. I don’t think there need be a manifesto here, or a great “this-is-the-way-forward idea.” Just be natural. If you’re looking to support nature, be natural. Let light from the heart guide you, because we can gather together around that light. You’re probably seeing the news reports of the climate change presentations and demon... posted on Dec 3 2021 (4,852 reads)

begin to discover one of life’s greatest secrets: how love is at the source of all that exists, is the source of all that exists. Love is not just a feeling between people, but a substance, an energy, a divine spark that is present within everything. And it is this deepest essence—this substance of love—that we need to nourish us. Love speaks to our soul and to our body. Love includes all the senses—taste and touch, smell, sight and sound. Love by its very nature includes everything. It does not just belong to a human relationship. It can be found anywhere, because it is everywhere. The mystic uncovers the simple secret that in truth love flows through ... posted on Dec 30 2021 (6,193 reads)

communities and often used casually or habitually. The concept of Namaste is difficult to articulate and translate because Sanskrit is an ancient language that contains incredible complexity, wisdom and insight around the Invisible, Intangible and Divine Nature of the Universe. A very basic interpretation of Namaste is: “When the divine in me sees the divine in you, we are one”.   My quiet practice of Namaste is about recognizing another person’s divine nature, no matter the circumstances – for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health. I wish to see their Light even when I can see their suffering. I wish to activate comp... posted on Apr 15 2022 (11,502 reads)

we’re being summoned to keep. And I’d like to hear more about this, this notion that we have these appointments with destiny and how you understand that.   JH: Well, if we ever stop and ask ourselves the question that I know we all ask as children, in some fashion, but have forgotten for a long time now: Why am I here? Really, why am I here? Am I just to fit in with a crazy world around me or is there some sense of purpose in my life? And so destiny is really what nature or divinity has invested in us from the beginning. And I think our summons, our job, if you will, is to try to serve that. Because from childhood on, we’re obliged to report to the world ... posted on Oct 1 2022 (4,385 reads)

Could we see the world more clearly alongside them? Could we think differently through them? What would they say if we tried to listen? THE TREES WERE LADEN with acorns on the day I first traveled to meet Barry Webb and his wife, Gill Ferguson, also a photographer, for a slime mold safari in their nearby woodland. It was a mast year—a year when acorns are abundant—and the ground crackled with their tough shells. I met them at a coffee shop in Burnham Beeches, a national nature reserve in the South of England. Gill was wearing a T-shirt with an image of slime molds, which I was able to identify. Both Barry and Gill talked enthusiastically about the beauty and diver... posted on Feb 5 2023 (3,807 reads)

the wholeness of it all. So the journey you’ve been on to make Sounds True, the journey this body of Dan has been on, about interpersonal neurobiology, in many ways, they’re the same journey. So when you reached out and said, “Would you like to do this experience of a conversation?” The feeling was, humans need this conversation. It isn’t even a conversation between me and you, this is a conversation for our whole human family. So that’s the intraconnected nature when you just look at the system of humanity. Then, when I think about what those trees literally said to me when I was in that forest, those three days, and this is going to sound odd, and I&r... posted on Mar 10 2023 (2,393 reads)

spring, it's almost spring. It's that moment when you're just starting to see things green up a little bit, which is very hopeful. So it's nice that the spring is almost here. Preeta:  Hmm. Yeah. So as you're no longer getting some of your energy from the people and places you meet as you travel and perform, what is nourishing you now? Carrie:  You know, it's interesting because I love people and I love my work with people, but I think by my nature, I'm a person who gets a lot of energy from solitude. And so I think if you're a writer, you'd have to be comfortable with being in solitude for long periods of time. So I’m h... posted on Jul 15 2023 (2,810 reads)

are going to have our own specific ways of doing that, the things we’re drawn to. I’m drawn probably to—I often put a hand on my heart or two hands on my heart, and it just reminds me, “Oh, yes, I’m here,” and I can feel my heartbeat and then I can feel it slow down a bit. For me, that’s a pretty reliable one. For other people, there’s movement. Movement will usually bring you back into some organization. So going for a walk, getting out in nature. I’m turning on a piece of music. Certain ways of breathing. You may have a statement that brings you there, that reminder. And what I like to say is that we’re always reminding ... posted on Nov 12 2023 (5,289 reads)

the two are present together at all times -- that for me at an emotional level, when I'm studying forest, that manifests in my emotions as a sense that the forest is a place of incredible and inexpressible beauty and complexity and joy, but also of just unfathomable brokenness. And those two things for me both are very true, both present paradoxically at the same time. … [W]ith the second book I really wanted to place myself in a number of spots where it seemed that what we call nature wasn't really present, in the middle of cities and industrial zones and so forth. And I wanted to do that because the first book was set in an old growth forest and there were many wonderfu... posted on Jan 7 2024 (5,188 reads)

natural human potentials that we all have. And I ask audiences, I say to them, the people I work with, all kinds of audiences from business people to unions, to teachers, to students, “What’s your favorite way to go to the balcony?” And everyone has one. I mean, it could be just to breathe, like they teach you in meditation class. Take a few deep breaths, and there’s a kind of clarity that emerges. It might be to take a break. It might be to go for a walk in nature, which is my favorite way to go to the balcony if I have time, just because the effect of nature just kind of calms me, give me a sense of perspective. I like to go walk in the mountains. That... posted on May 13 2024 (2,652 reads)

to be a much more moral person. There's a relation that establishes with another human being." "The question of [his book, The American Soul] was the meaning of America really. And I tried to discover—I did discover, I think—that the deepest meaning of America, with all its might and power and great constitution and everything, is that it makes it possible for people to come together and work at discovering their own individual conscience, their own individual moral nature. That to me is the whole reason, ultimately, for the founding and creation of America. And the greatest of our founding fathers understood that—that what was needed was a safe place to se... posted on Apr 28 2011 (12,498 reads)

in front of people. I have experimented, several times, in the last 3-4 yrs with PowerPoint slides. I can’t really say they have ever been helpful. So, I just go without any preparation for the group with an open mind. First I do whatever I can to understand the group. I always memorize everybody’s name so when I see them I don’t have to look at their name tags and I have some sense of connection with them as individuals. I try to understand as much as I can about what is the nature of these people, what they interested in, what are they concerned about… Sometimes, if I feel really disconnected, I’ll even stop early on and ask them what is important to them a... posted on Aug 28 2011 (11,668 reads)

France lost to Italy because they were without their captain and one of the greatest players of the game. As an executive coach interested in exploring what drives people to successes and failures, I have worked with hundreds of ambitious people including business executives, sports legends and Nobel laureates. One key discovery I made repeatedly over the last fifteen years is that there is a common driver to the successes and failures of the people I studied. I call this driver, the 'Signature Strength’ and its downside, ‘Core Incompetence’. A signature strength forms in a person when a certain competence matures in a person due to his nature and/or nurture. I fo... posted on Sep 25 2011 (12,281 reads)

in the Hindu tradition is the idea of "non-possessiveness," or taking only what we need and finding satisfaction in balanced living. Perhaps the most developed expression of a middle way between material excess and deprivation comes from the Buddhist tradition. While Buddhism recognizes that basic material needs must be met in order to realize our potentials, it does not consider our material welfare as an end in itself; rather, it is a means to the end of awakening to our deeper nature as spiritual beings. The middle way of Buddhism moves between mindless materialism on the one hand and needless poverty on the other. The result is a balanced approach to living that harmonizes... posted on Oct 7 2011 (24,274 reads)