mindset of trying to change the hearts and the deficiency mindset of tolerance, to becoming an alchemist, the type of magician that this world so desperately needs to solve some of its greatest problems. Now, I also believe that people with disabilities have great potential to be designers within this design-thinking process. Without knowing it, from a very early age, I've been a design thinker, fine-tuning my skills. Design thinkers are, by nature, problem solvers. So imagine listening to a conversation and only understanding 50 percent of what is said. You can't ask them to repeat every single word. They would ju... posted on Sep 17 2016 (11,224 reads)

my children were babies, I worried about every cough and fever. I frantically thumbed through my dog-eared copy of How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor (a powerfully helpful book written by an iconoclast pediatrician dedicated to the empowerment of parents), and spent hours on the Internet to assuage my anxiety. It was then I stumbled upon the miracle of homeopathy. Precisely how homeopathic medicines work remains a mystery, and yet, nature is replete with mysteries and with numerous striking examples of the power of extremely small things. Packed into tiny sugar balls the size of cupcake sprinkles, this natural form of nanopharmocology dilutes remedies to t... posted on Sep 25 2016 (15,248 reads)

life of animals.” He experienced the consequence of what happens whenever we turn something alive, be it a creature or a work of art, into a commodity — the commercial focus of his job warped how he looked at trees. Then, about twenty years ago, everything changed when he began organizing survival training and log-cabin tours for tourists in his forest. As they marveled at the majestic trees, the enchanted curiosity of their gaze reawakened his own and his childhood love of nature was rekindled. Around the same time, scientists began conducting research in his forest. Soon, every day became colored with wonderment and the thrill of discovery — no longer able to see... posted on Oct 11 2016 (19,821 reads)

founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), came from a well-off family in a southern district of Japan. Short and slight as a youth, Morihei built up his body and trained in a number of martial arts, eventually becoming widely respected for his great strength and skill. At the same time he followed a meditative discipline, influenced by the Omoto-kyo, an early 20th century religion derived from ancient Shinto and shamanistic sources and emphasizing a benevolent, spirit-filled world of nature.      Challenged one day by a young naval officer to a duel with bokken, or wooden swords, Ueshiba opted not to strike the man at all. He simply evaded his attacker&rs... posted on Oct 13 2016 (10,808 reads)

It was a new take on a familiar tradition.  Lent had always been a period of sorrow, penance and self-denial, but this year I would approach it with an attitude of abundance, joy and generosity.  And in doing so, I would begin to fulfill a promise I made to an unknown friend, when I vowed that the kindness shown to me would find its way out into the world through my words, my hands, and my actions. During the 40 days, the gifts I gave were diverse and mostly simple in nature.  Some were tangible, like the can of dog food and spare change I gave the young homeless man cradling a puppy so lovingly in his arms.  Others were immeasurable in the tradition... posted on Oct 16 2016 (13,651 reads)

and searching until I find an even clearer view of my mountain. _______________ Robert wakes us all at 6am. He has created a stone circle that holds a staff in the centre. This is the threshold. He blesses it and invites us to step in one by one. A final smudge. Whispered incantations. A ceremonial brushing of feathers and he sends us on our way. From this point forward we will not see or speak to anyone else until we return in 3 days. When I arrive at my solo spot, I thank the nature that surrounds it. I ask the trees and rocks and creatures to watch over me kindly. They have the capacity to hold or hurt me, to bend the days ahead toward insight or injury. The sun is high a... posted on Oct 19 2016 (10,602 reads)

eligible to vote, volunteer. Now extend this mindset of collective participation to any action you can take that is in line with your deeply held values. You don’t have to do it all. As you take committed action, look around. Notice that you are not alone. This is bigger than you. And also, it needs you. This is how you practice moral courage. 2. Look for the good Are there destructive forces as well as virtue in all of us? Yes, of course. That’s the complexity of human nature. But this election has obscured the latter while highlighting the former. For your mental health, you need to restore some balance. One antidote to moral distress is moral elevation: witne... posted on Nov 6 2016 (38,355 reads)

and very existence. They exemplify what it means to be an authentically empowered woman in the matrilineal way of being. Here is what I’ve learned from them so far: A WOMAN’S STRENGTH IS MOTIVATED BY A DESIRE TO SERVE THE GREATER GOOD. Mitakuye Oyasin means “all are my relatives” in the Lakota language. More than a phrase, it is a guiding principle for living that extends to all beings. This includes the land and waters, both of which are feminine in nature. “Unci Maka is Mother Earth,” explained a 37-year-old mother of four. “The land is not a resource. It is an entity that you have a relationship with and you respect, like y... posted on Dec 5 2016 (41,227 reads)

count on always having enough. Instead, if you use willpower to establish virtuous habits, the danger of succumbing to impulse or temptation is reduced. The human psyche is well designed to acquire habits (both good and bad). Doing something new and different takes effort and attention, and sometimes plenty of thought and emotion. In contrast, doing something by habit requires none of those, or at most a very small amount. To conserve the limited mental and physical energy that people have, nature has designed us to convert novel exertions into easy habits. This occurs over time, with repeated practice. Can you remember your initial struggles with a bicycle, a surfboard, a computer keybo... posted on Dec 19 2016 (14,017 reads)

with you, lately I've been realizing that I haven't had a practice of prayer for a long time. I've kind of felt like my work is my prayer, and I think it is, but that's not enough. So, my life of faith, whatever that means—it's a very fluid thing. It has to do with God, but I do think that more and more, the "with God" expansively understood this sense that there's some—well, I don't know how to define it. But more and more, and given the nature of this kind of accumulative conversation that I'm part of, I think the work we do on ourselves, the work we do to get clarity—to be intentional, to care in the most practical ways, t... posted on Dec 31 2016 (13,247 reads)

beginning of another new year is the perfect time to reflect, as a family, on memorable moments of togetherness and inspiration from the year gone by and to express gratitude for all that it offered. It is also an opportunity to plant seeds for the intentions you want to cultivate at both a personal level with your families and, more broadly, to plant seeds of goodness for the change you wish to see in the world in 2017. Our team of volunteer editors hopes you enjoy our personal selection of the Top 10 Kindful Kids of 2016 here below! We are grateful to this entire community for nourishing children's journeys in the beautiful ways that you do and we look forward to seeing all of the ... posted on Jan 10 2017 (10,588 reads)

year, about fifteen of us had a breakout call with some visionaries of World in Conversation and Laddership Circles, around working with volunteers.  Below is a glimpse of the Q&A that emerged, on the call and afterwards.] Our efforts attracts many volunteers, but we don't use them effectively. What do you suggest? The most fundamental design principle is our mindset. Typically, volunteers are used as a means to an end -- this is our mission, we need this stuff done to achieve our mission, and you can help us do these chores. ServiceSpace doesn't work that way. For us, volunteer experience is an end in itself. We believe that if a volunteer ha... posted on Jan 12 2017 (19,397 reads)

refused to keep an image of herself on the wall. Her mother had been asking her for a photograph for years, but she had been unable to give her one. She did not consider herself beautiful enough to look at. Love stories often have their roots in hospitality, in providing welcome to a stranger, an acknowledgement of a shared humanity.  In his autobiographical book “Letter to a Hostage,” the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry talks about the miraculous nature of a smile, not only to obscure the trauma of being taken hostage but to remove it all together, as if it never existed. As I have walked from place to place, the willingness of communities to ... posted on Jan 14 2017 (13,340 reads)

politics of deeply listening and collaborating on behalf of the common good. It’s a politics of openness and transparency and participation, leveraging the technological tools that we have and the wisdom of listening to one another and sitting together in a circle and in groups and allowing the collective wisdom to inform our decisions as a community, as a nation, as a human family. The new story is playing out in the field of our environment, right? Young people are reconnecting with nature, with the natural world. We’re reshaping the way that we eat and the way that we engage with food. People are growing food locally, working to transform their schools and make sure that f... posted on Jan 18 2017 (12,327 reads)

fixed) patterns of connection, but connection remains key to reorganization, so maintaining some critical connections will be key to resilience and regeneration of new forms (see #3 in image below).  All of this has me emphasizing that much more the importance of network leadership, which I recently presented to the Food Solutions New England Network Leadership Institute, in the following way: Network leadership operates from the understanding that the nature and pattern of connection in a system underlie its state of health (including justice, prosperity, resilience). Network leadership strives to understand, shift and strengthen connectivity,... posted on Feb 4 2017 (25,742 reads)

dealing with processes of communication. Social networks, as you know, are networks of communications. Like biological networks, they are self-generating, but what they generate is mostly non-material. Each communication creates thoughts and meaning, which give rise to further communications, and thus the entire network generates itself. Mind and consciousness One of the most important, and most radical, philosophical implications of the systems view of life is a new conception of the nature of mind and consciousness, which finally overcomes the Cartesian division between mind and matter that has haunted philosophers and scientists for centuries. In the 17th century, René... posted on Jan 31 2017 (18,687 reads)

to each other in groups. This is critical to human survival and wellbeing; we are above all social creatures and we thrive through co-operation. When we are generous or caring towards another person and we witness their gladness as a result, we can feel pleasure in our hearts even before receiving their gratitude. Our empathic neuro-circuitry allows us to take pleasure from the joy we see in others; this primes us to be prosocial beings and balances the more self-serving aspects of human nature. We are wired for empathy and are driven by it – that is; provided the neurological blueprint for empathy has been nurtured in childhood. No-one is born to be un-empathic. But if the c... posted on May 15 2021 (43,113 reads)

I was working on The Art of Possibility—a book about changing one’s story rather than battling the world as it appears through the lens of that story—I used to go on weekends in fall and winter to a cabin south of Boston to do the writing. The cabin is on a pond, in front of a cranberry bog, and surrounded by acres of conservation land. It provided everything I needed to get my work done: freedom from interruptions, a relaxed atmosphere, beauty, and quiet. As I looked forward to my very first weekend in my recently purchased hideaway I was extremely excited. I was going to spend three days in an environment in which nothing would disturb my concentration. That ... posted on Feb 27 2017 (14,318 reads)

as testament to her belief. This year will see the release of "Herd", an award-winning film on Liz and the transformational work of the Equinisity retreats. Brilliantly shot, and documenting a group of retreat attendees from the time of their arrival to the end of their stay, "Herd" poignantly captures the light and shadows of individual journeys and the gentle miracles that unfold between the people, the land and the animals. It has always been second nature to Liz to transform her love into art -- not just through words but also images. In addition to writing, producing the film, managing the retreats and caring for her animals, she has been a pub... posted on Mar 9 2017 (16,635 reads)

likelihood, our propensity for gratitude really does have deep evolutionary roots, and it will be up to us to find out how deep they go. We often blame our worst tendencies, like aggression and competition, on our evolutionary history. It’s important to remember that some of our most positive qualities like empathy and gratitude are also a part of this history. When we discover these traits in our closest relatives, it’s a powerful reminder that the “good” in human nature is deeply rooted, as well. ... posted on Mar 24 2017 (11,117 reads)