Becoming a Blessing
"A good story is like a compass, it points to something true and invites us to orient our own direction according to it and perhaps to live a little better." With these words Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen proceeds to tell stories that enthrall and enchant and indeed help to orient us and guide us to seek to live better. She shares stories of her grandfather, whom she calls a "flaming mystic," that were t... posted on May 3, 4500 reads

Heroines of Health
This moving documentary shares "three of the many untold stories that hold the key to unlocking better health for more people around the world." The three women, one a medical doctor and teacher from India, another a midwife assistant from Indonesia, and the third the director of a community health center in Kenya, though worlds apart, share a common journey to bring hope to women and children in ... posted on May 17, 1887 reads

Coastal Communication: A Mother and Son's Moving Collaboration
When New York based author and social activist, Jane Jackson suffered an aneurysm, it affected both her memory and language skills. Over the months that followed she recovered through the unconditional support of her family, and the power of poetry. As a way to promote healing and reestablish language skills, she and her son began writing poems together. The poems were crafted line by line in emai... posted on Jun 29, 9349 reads

The Lost Words: Reclaiming the Language of Nature
"In early 2015, when the 10,000-entry Oxford children's dictionary dropped around fifty words related to nature -- words like fern, willow, and starling -- in favor of terms like broadband and cut and paste, some of the worlds most prominent authors composed an open letter of protest and alarm at this impoverishment of children's vocabulary and its consequent diminishment of children's belonging t... posted on Jul 23, 12504 reads

Gratefulness Embraces Parkinson's
"I was diagnosed with Parkinson's just over three years ago when I was 50. Receiving the diagnosis from a matter-of-fact doctor was a traumatizing experience, and I felt that my life and my family's identity had collapsed. Life was difficult and still is difficult, yet something amazing is beginning to happen. I have slowly started to shift my attitude from the anger, fear, and loneliness brought ... posted on Aug 4, 6770 reads

Toni Morrison: On Borders and Belonging
"What does home mean and where do we anchor our belonging in a world of violent alienation and alienating violence? I use "alien" here both in the proper etymological sense rooted in the Latin alienus, "belonging to another," and in the astrophysical sense of "from another planet," "not human," for the combined effect of a dehumanizing assault on belonging for those treated and mistreated as alien... posted on Aug 7, 7628 reads

Janwaar Castle: A Modern Skate Park in Rural India
When is a skatepark more than a skatepark? When it is Janwaar Castle, a local playground in Janwaar village. Between 50-60 children visit the park every day where they learn English, music, dance, painting, 3D modelling, and general life skills. It is a place where Adivasis and Yadavs, boys and girls, and all age groups play together. There are two rules: no school no skating and girls first. Sinc... posted on Sep 10, 4191 reads

Inner Preacher vs Inner Teacher
Between message and meaning, "Art is co-created by artist and audience, by writer and reader." In this Ursula K. Le Guin essay, Maria Popova explores the questions of where to find strength and hope, what is a writer's calling in this time and place, what work will make a difference, and how we might create a community of purpose. To each, Le Guin's answer is in trying to write well. Writing is no... posted on Sep 9, 4961 reads

Protect. Restore. Fund.
Climate activists Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot talk about solutions to the problem of anthropogenic global warming: a combination of leaving fossil fuels in the ground and protecting and restoring living ecosystems like forests, mangroves, swamps and seabeds that can pull enormous quantities of carbon from the air and store them safely, naturally. Current government subsidies around the world... posted on Sep 27, 1929 reads

While I Yet Live
The quilters of rural Gee's Bend, Alabama, many of whom are descendants of slaves, learned to quilt from their mothers and grandmothers. They also learned, sitting under the quilting table as small children, valuable life lessons, and the hopes and dreams their families had for them. Their brightly colored quilts speak of love, peace, joy, and the value of hard work. Like their mothers and grandmo... posted on Oct 20, 2815 reads

Paying It Forward: An Interview with Nipun Mehta
"For more than 20 years, Nipun Mehta and his parents have been opening his doors to friends and strangers every Wednesday evening, creating a space for people to sit in circle together, meditate, share thoughts, and enjoy a meal. The invitation is to "wake up to wisdom in stillness and community," a simple gesture of service and connection that now takes place in people's living rooms across the g... posted on Nov 19, 7775 reads

Alone But Not Lonely
"We live in a rural farm in India, don't have a TV at home, and have bought our son a total of two toys. Most of his clothes are gifted by family and friends. He doesn't eat cookies, chocolates, carbonated drinks, or fast food. He must be one miserable kid, right? If I say, 'No,' one might respond with, 'Well, he doesn't know what he is missing and he is being brought up in an extremely protective... posted on Apr 26, 47858 reads

Square Peg Foundation: Putting Human Dignity First
"So the question comes up why horses? Here's the thing-- a horse never sees potential in any one. A horse sees you for exactly who you are and a horse offers you the dignity of that. The dignity to be scared, the dignity to be dis-regulated, the dignity to be curious, or kind, or excited.The dignity to just be you...Square Peg was dreamed up by a young mother with a child that needed to move and t... posted on Aug 20, 6547 reads

Welcoming the Gifts of Anxiety
"Your anxiety helps you identify problems and opportunities, and it brings you the energy and focus you need to face them. Anxiety also helps you complete your tasks and projects, and it gives you the push you need to meet your deadlines. Yes, you need skills to work well with your anxiety, but your anxiety is a valuable and brilliant emotion that's essential to pretty much everything you do." Kar... posted on Sep 11, 0 reads

Judith Blackstone on Trauma & The Unbound Body
As a professional dancer in the wake of a devastating back injury Judith Blackstone found herself lying on the ground in a state of prayerful grief, and desperation. It was then that, by releasing her weight to the ground, she discovered subtle currents of energy could be felt arising from the floor, moving her body organically towards balance. Since childhood she had been aware of a numinous pres... posted on Oct 16, 5892 reads

Heroines of Health
This moving documentary by Lisa Russell shares "three of the many untold stories that hold the key to unlocking better health for more people around the world." The three women, one a medical doctor and teacher from India, another a midwife assistant from Indonesia, and the third the director of a community health center in Kenya, though worlds apart, share a common journey to bring hope to women ... posted on Nov 11, 2051 reads

A Reset for Unprecedented Times
"We are currently living amid a planetary climate emergency, a global pandemic, uprisings against state violence upon Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples, and a failing economic system the world over. Pandemic lockdowns have forced major lifestyle changes: shifting consumption habits, realizing how deeply connected we are to each other and the environment, and focusing more on the non-material as... posted on Jan 20, 4709 reads

The Reverence Movement
Growing up the youngest of 10 siblings in a Watts, Los Angeles housing project, and a member of the famed Crips gang, Aqeela Sherrills witnessed from the inside the pain and devastation of the countrys most violent urban street gang war, which would proceed to claim 30,000 lives between 1983-2003. By 1992, he and his brother and a few other key community players had brokered a historic peace agree... posted on Feb 19, 6298 reads

They Sang with a Thousand Tongues
"Might I venture to say that our most compelling imperative today--if one is permitted to speak in those ways--is to reclaim the thickness of our tongues and learn the names and faces of our neighbours; it is to realize that our worldview is just a tittle in a never-ending sentence; it is to see that there are more ways to learn than school and polished degrees could ever accommodate and more ways... posted on Apr 25, 6724 reads

To Heal the Human Heart
The science of empathy is now one of the most celebrated subjects of psychological and neuro-psychological enquiry and it has the potential to transform human society in spectacular ways. For instance, if a human being's central nervous system carries blueprints for empathy, and if the health and vitality of one's empathy circuits depend on one's environment from conception through adulthood, what... posted on May 15, 43235 reads

Of People, Plants and Place
"Our ancestors knew the places where they lived: every inch of land, every kind of plant, every sign of life. They made use of everything. They were intimately involved with their surroundings, immersed in the ebb and flow of the seasons. Their attention was anchored to the here and now as they watched with anticipation the gradual emergence of shoots and stems, flowers and fruits, waiting patient... posted on Aug 26, 2768 reads

Building Belonging: Being an Ambassador to the Earth
"john a. powell is the director of the Othering & Belonging Institute and a professor of law, African American studies, and ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He previously directed the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at the Ohio State University, and the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. He is also the author of Racing to Jus... posted on Aug 31, 3473 reads

The Well of Being
The Well of Being is an exquisite 'children's book for adults,' one that encompasses the journey of life from the Big Bang, to this very moment that we find (or lose) ourselves in. Jean-Pierre Weill spent three years writing and illustrating this book about himself-- and perhaps everyone. Playful and profound in its approach to the human condition, Weill's words and whimsical drawings reveal the ... posted on Dec 2, 3408 reads

While I Yet Live
The quilters of rural Gee's Bend, Alabama, many of whom are descendants of slaves, learned to quilt from their mothers and grandmothers. They also learned, sitting under the quilting table as small children, valuable life lessons, and the hopes and dreams their families had for them. Their brightly colored quilts speak of love, peace, joy, and the value of hard work. Like their mothers and grandmo... posted on Dec 10, 2308 reads

An East-West Approach to Transformation
This film chronicles a coming together of U.S. and China leaders in the consciousness and wellbeing sector, led by Mina Lee. At the heart of Minas life and work is the permission to be stretched by love. She is guided by the question of how to bridge cultural and intergenerational divides the ways in which we dehumanize each other through misunderstanding, whether between investors and investees,... posted on Dec 14, 1625 reads

Legendary Cellist Pablo Casals, at Age 93, on Creative Vitality
"Long before there was Yo-Yo Ma, there was Spanish Catalan cellist and conductor Pablo Casals (December 29, 1876-October 22, 1973), regarded by many as the greatest cellist of all time. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the U.N. Peace Medal for his unflinching dedication to justice and his lifelong stance against oppression and dictatorship, Casals was as much an extraordinary... posted on Jan 20, 4234 reads

You Are Not Alone Across Time
"Remember, Bryan Doerries likes to say in both physical and virtual gatherings, you are not alone in this room and you are not alone across time. With his public health project, Theater of War, he is activating an old alchemy for our young century. Ancient stories, and texts that have stood the test of time, can be portals to honest and dignified grappling with present wounds and longings and cal... posted on Feb 27, 3167 reads

Rediscovering the Earth Emotions
"Glenn Albrecht is a philosopher and environmentalist who for many years was Professor of Sustainability at Murdoch University in Western Australia, and is now an Honorary Associate at the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney. In his book 'Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World,' he argues that we have lost awareness of our deep and long-lasting connection with nature, and no longe... posted on Mar 3, 2713 reads

Experiments with Wild Grace
"I had been in a place of acute hopelessness and inner anguish in which I felt so profoundly alone in the world and disconnected from even the possibility of authentic connection. Somehow amidst all that I found the wherewithal to listen to an inner prompting that urged me to try an experiment. This experiment was to allow myself to write a 'bad poem' every day for a month. Writing poetry had been... posted on Apr 6, 4475 reads

Monkey Stories, the Best Kind of Stories
"When the monkeys come we have to quickly close all the windows and close the doors that lead to the balconies because if we don't, the monkeys will come in and steal all our stuff. With their crinkly hands and perfect little finger-nails they reach in and grab whatever they can--safety pins, fruit, glass beads. If the doors are open they walk in and take entire bunches of bananas off of the dinin... posted on Jun 29, 3664 reads

Ada Limon: Trust Poetry
"I am most free when I am writing poems. Theres a quote from C.D. Wright that says It is a function of poetry to locate those zones inside of us that would be free and declare them so. There is so much we hold in every day. Going to the post office and smiling through the small aches of human existence, trying to acknowledge the suffering of the world while still buying dinner and admiring the win... posted on Jul 14, 1949 reads

What Is Wanting to Find Expression Through You?
"I've learned the hard way, there's something in us that always knows what's right for us. And I can say quite literally, if I need to decide what is appropriate for me in any life situation, ranging from practical problems to large questions of life, I sort of put it inside and wait for an answer. And it always comes back to me I've imagined a bunch of little folks running around inside the solar... posted on Oct 1, 4453 reads

Michael Singer: Living Untethered
"Michael A. Singer is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, and The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Lifes Perfection. His most recent book is Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament. In 1971, while pursuing his doctoral work in economics, he experienced a deep inner awakening and went into seclusion to focus on yoga and meditat... posted on Feb 3, 6006 reads

Vivek Murthy: To Be a Healer
"We need a modicum of vitality to simply be alive in this time. And were in an enduringly tender place. The mental health crisis that is invoked all around, especially as we look to the young, is one manifestation of the gravity of the post-2020 world. How to name and honor this more openly? How to hold that together with the ways weve been given to learn and to grow? Who are we called to be movin... posted on Apr 14, 4019 reads

Transforming Food
"Weaving webs around the highways of northeast England, the REfUSE van was collectively funded by 315 people. They gave amounts ranging from fifty-pence pieces to four-digit sums until the great day when we could finally drive it off the lot and park it next to its newly installed electric charger. Each month it intercepts around thirteen tons of in-date food, otherwise destined for the dumpster, ... posted on May 15, 1281 reads

Question Everything: Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
"So what does it mean to think outside the box? All of us live and swim within a world of concepts. And our first very powerful concept is who we are, who we think we are. You have ideas about who you are that you want everyone else to know about. We identify with our gender, our nationality, race, social class, education and then we're somebodys brother or sister, husband or wife, mother or fathe... posted on May 25, 1892 reads

Excavating Ancestral Wisdom
"Stephen Lewis, a social catalyst of community transformation and healing, was shaped by the classroom and medicine making activities that existed within his grandparents' kitchen. Without a college education, Stephen's grandparents held degrees in the practice of hospitality, leadership formation, and business. They were wise elders, farmers, food alchemists, educators, and community healers who ... posted on Jul 7, 1230 reads

Thomas LeGrand: The Politics of Being
Author and sustainable development leader Dr. Thomas LeGrand invites us to co-create a new development paradigm focused on "being" and human flourishing instead of a materialistic "having." Through his work as a social scientist, spiritual search, and 20 years of professional experience in microfinance and sustainability for the UN and other public and private sector entities, Thomas has come to b... posted on Sep 7, 1187 reads

The Middle Way in Medicine & Healing
Dr. Akil Palanisamy is the Department Chair for Integrative Medicine at the Sutter Health Institute for Health and Healing, and has treated thousands of people living with chronic diseases.
A widely known speaker and educator, he is the author of two books, The Paleovedic Diet: A Complete Program to Burn Fat, Increase Energy, and Reverse Disease -- a customized Paleo diet that incorporates ... posted on Sep 12, 1650 reads

Janet Adler: Into the Light
Janet Adler (1941-2023) is the founder of the Discipline of Authentic Movement, and the author of "Offering from the Conscious Body. A book that delves into the, "theory and practice of a unique body-based process that is cathartic, creative, healing, and mystical...This Western awareness practice encourages the individual to experience the evolving relationship with oneself, another, the collecti... posted on Sep 18, 4333 reads

Saying Hi to the Moon
"Lots of times I talk with him. Especially when he gets big and I can see the expression on his face. 'Hi, Moon!' I say, so happy to see him always, 'What's up?'" Jane Wodening is an American artist, writer and the mother of five grown children. She spent ten years living alone, "in a tiny cabin with no amenities at ten thousand feet altitude...During this time I played and thought and hiked, enjo... posted on Sep 27, 3237 reads

Welcoming the Gifts of Anxiety
"Your anxiety helps you identify problems and opportunities, and it brings you the energy and focus you need to face them. Anxiety also helps you complete your tasks and projects, and it gives you the push you need to meet your deadlines. Yes, you need skills to work well with your anxiety, but your anxiety is a valuable and brilliant emotion that's essential to pretty much everything you do." Kar... posted on Oct 5, 19448 reads

The Radical Act of Savoring Pleasant Moments
Describing her childhood in wartime Iran, Ari Honorvar says, "We were attacked from the outside and from within. There was an actual war, with daily funerals, random bombings, and missile attacks. We were so on the edge that a door would slam too loudly and someone would have a heart attack.Children started getting gray hair. And then there was a war on Joy that hurt in a different way. Our favori... posted on Oct 8, 3825 reads

Telling is Listening
"Every act of communication is an act of tremendous courage in which we give ourselves over to two parallel possibilities: the possibility of planting into another mind a seed sprouted in ours and watching it blossom into a breathtaking flower of mutual understanding; and the possibility of being wholly misunderstood, reduced to a withering weed. Candor and clarity go a long way in fertilizing the... posted on Nov 13, 3139 reads

The Bridge We Were Meant To Cross
"My brother and I were driving home together and became engrossed in a conversation. Because of this distraction, my brother took a wrong turn. Unfortunately, the wrong turn took us towards a bridge and we had no way to turn back. Grudgingly, my brother paid the bridge toll and drove on. He was clearly frustrated by the mistake and the needless waste of $4. We eventually reached an exit slip-way a... posted on Dec 21, 3705 reads

Extraordinary Ordinary People
Around the world, an army of unsung heroes are upon us. These are not saints, but very human individuals, who, bolstered by their engaged spirituality, have surfaced deep contributions to the fabric of their communities, fields, and the world at large. "A lot of the reporting on religion is often negative. It's about abuse, it's about corruption, it's about the decline of a particular institutiona... posted on Jan 13, 2075 reads

Be-The-Change Corporations
Jay Coen Gilbert explores leadership questions of the heart during his address at Gandhi 3.0 in January 2024, sharing his own story about the friction he experienced when he found himself “tethered and constrained” to “somebody else’s dharma” and how that led to exploration with like-minded leaders. Gilbert confronts the systemic beliefs prevalent today including a &l... posted on Apr 16, 1944 reads

The Inner Sense Driving Your Thoughts
While hiking and allowing his mind to wander, Alex Messenger suddenly started to notice his body. "My breath quickened, my eyes widened, my pulse doubled immediately, my airways opened." It took some time for his conscious brain to catch up in time to see a 600 pound bear that "swatted him to the ground with a blinding blow to the head." Alex survived and, looking back, wondered how his body knew ... posted on Apr 23, 1818 reads

The Cities Stripping Concrete for Plants
Communities in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the US are organizing efforts to replace unnecessary concrete and infrastructure with plants and soil. These efforts help reduce flooding, prevent toxic runoff, and add shade that helps keep people cool during heatwaves. The local availability of mini green spaces may also improve mental health, and benefit bees and other wildlife. While communities ne... posted on May 21, 1048 reads

If You Haven’t Found Your Purpose, How to Feel Good Anyway
Finding your life purpose can often feel like an elusive quest, but it doesn't have to define your happiness. Adriana Paez argues that the true essence of living with purpose isn't about discovering a singular calling. Instead, it’s about aligning daily actions with your values and desires. Paez shares her journey of feeling lost and misaligned despite a successful career and tireless search... posted on Jun 8, 1931 reads