Reconnecting to the Soil, to Heal Ourselves and the Planet
"For thousands of years Black people have had a sacred relationship with soil that far surpasses our 246 years of enslavement and 75 years of sharecropping in the United States. For many, this period of land-based terror has devastated that connection. We have confused the subjugation our ancestors experienced on land with the land herself, naming her the oppressor and running toward paved streets... posted on Mar 3, 6821 reads

The Price of Free
In this film about Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, his journey to liberate every child from slavery is told in triumphant and devastating detail. "The Price of Free" follows Satyarthi and his team of activists around the world on secret raid and rescue missions as they hunt for missing children and work to reunite them with their families. Watch this heartbreaking, inspirational film in it... posted on Mar 4, 2170 reads

Mary Oliver: Poet of Awe
Mary Oliver was in a class by herself. Distinguished with a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, she was viewed with suspicion by literary critics for her status as a kind of rock star poet. For those of us who read her like a daily liturgy, her name is synonymous with other such essential words: mystery, wild, awe, terror, devotion, gratitude, grace. All of them come alive in her simple poem... posted on Mar 24, 24902 reads

Jacob Needleman: I Am Not I
Among the great questions of the human heart, none is more central than the question, "Who am I?" And among the great answers of the human spirit, none is more central than the experience of "I Am." In fact, in the course of an intensely lived human life--a normal human life filled with the search for Truth--this question and this answer eventually run parallel to each other, coming closer and clo... posted on Mar 25, 9481 reads

Holding Circles of Healing
"In 2017, we released our labor of love film, "TeachMeToBeWILD: A Story of Hurt Children and their Animal Healers". This film is a universal healing story that brings together many interconnected elements: children, animals, nature, silence and the power of safe, non-judgemental listening spaces. One of our greatest inspirations to make the film was witnessing how Steve Karlin and John Malloy do n... posted on Mar 20, 8580 reads

Befriending Our Despair
Joanna Rogers Macy is an environmental activist, author, and scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. In this short video she advises that pain alerts us to what needs attention. Pain is not the enemy of cheerfulness, but tells us there is suffering. When we face suffering, our hearts and eyes open to beauty. We are not alone in our despair and when we have the courage to spe... posted on Mar 31, 3560 reads

Caregiving: A Nascent Social Revolution
Caregivers and receivers are modeling how to integrate health care into daily life at home. They are the innovators, and creators of dynamic communities of support. "Community and care are inexorably linked. Care can never fully be rendered only by expert providers in formal settings but by a growing recognition that care is a democratic act that is about what we 'give', what we 'receive', and wha... posted on Apr 11, 6710 reads

How to Work with the Bias in Your Brain
None of us is immune to bias. From our education systems to our justice systems, bias exists in many forms. Where does it originate and what can we do to prevent it? The answers aren't simple. In this article by psychologist Jill Suttie, the root causes of bias are explored through the lens of researcher Jennifer Eberhardt's new book, Biased. Suttie considers how our implicit bias is at times adap... posted on Apr 13, 7018 reads

Julian Norwich and the Process of Transformation
What might a medieval recluse teach us post modern activists about transformation? All will be well! is the underlying message from the 1300's Julian of Norwich. Author Veronica Mary Rolf shares the deep mystical experiences of Julian after a near death experience and how that shaped her life. Julian of Norwich teaches that through deep contemplation and becoming ever more aware of being aware, we... posted on Apr 21, 14680 reads

Mary Webb and the Joy of Motion
Mary Webb, an English writer of the early 20th century was an acute observer of nature and her multi-dimensional splendor.Diagnosed with Graves' disease at the age of 20, Webb soon discovered that nature played a powerful role in her periods of recovery. 'The Spring of Joy'compiles a series of essays on nature, penned by Webb with the aim of bringing comfort to'the weary and wounded in the battle ... posted on Apr 10, 6098 reads

The Jai Jagat Journey
This spring, 17 children from six slums in India are embarking on a one-of-a-kind journey to share a message of love and oneness with the world. The Jai Jagat Show they will present is a 90-minute dance, drama and musical production celebrating the values that Mahatma Gandhi embodied. The show includes inspiration from other global heroes, like Malala Yousafzai, Wangari Mathai, Masahisa Goi, Yusra... posted on Apr 22, 1835 reads

George Orwell: Why I Write
When George Orwell was sixteen, he discovered the joy of words while reading Paradise Lost. In this essay, Orwell considers his motivations for writing. In general, he believes writers are motivated by four reasons-- sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, and political purpose. It is the age in which a writer lives that provides the reason. By 1936, Orwell was firmly grounded in p... posted on May 25, 6210 reads

Solar Sister
Solar Sister is an organization that believes women are an important solution to the problems of economic equity and environmental change. Women in rural Africa are provided with opportunities to access solar powered products to help them run small family businesses, to cook without using harmful fuels, and to educate children. Solar Sister's Communications Director Fid Thompson shares in this upb... posted on May 22, 6378 reads

How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World
"Margaret Atwood describes The Gift, by Lewis Hyde, as 'a book about the core nature of what it is that artists do, and also about the relation of these activities to our overwhelmingly commercial society.' Bill Viola has called it 'the best book I have read on what it means to be an artist in todays economic world.' Robin McKenna is the writer, director and producer of a feature-length documentar... posted on May 23, 5536 reads

Sleep is Your Superpower
Sleep is your life-support system and Mother Nature's best effort yet at immortality, says sleep scientist Matt Walker. In this deep dive into the science of slumber, Walker shares the wonderfully good things that happen when you get sleep -- and the alarmingly bad things that happen when you don't, for both your brain and body. Walker shares the research on how quality of sleep impacts our immun... posted on Jun 16, 26032 reads

The Work of Love is to Love
"My own time on earth has led me to believe in two powerful instruments that turn experience into love: holding and listening. For every time I have held or been held, every time I have listened or been listened to, experience burns like wood in that eternal fire and I find myself in the presence of love. This has always been so. Consider these two old beliefs that carry the wisdom and challenge o... posted on Jul 26, 9297 reads

Deepening Our Comfort with Uncertainty
While many of us associate uncertainty with discomfort and fear, there is an exquisite beauty to be found in the transformation that takes place when we can welcome the unknown. Kristi Nelson, the Executive Director of A Network for Grateful Living, examines what it means to surrender to the unpredictable nature of our days and the rewards that manifest as a result. "Much of our freedom depends on... posted on Jun 15, 0 reads

The Gift of Humility
The act of receiving a gift from another requires recognition of our dependence on those around us. Yet it can be difficult for us to live in a space where we're confronted with the notion of giving up control. "From the air we breathe, to the body we each inhabit, we are living a profound gift, and yet, we can struggle to see and relate to life as a gift," writes Colette Lafia, a San Francisco-ba... posted on Jun 23, 6849 reads

Three Ideas. Three Contradictions. Or Not.
Hannah Gadsby skewers the straight world's dismissal and outright hostility toward the LGBTQ community in her stand-up sets, stage performances and television shows. Her groundbreaking special "Nanette" broke comedy. In this 2019 TED Talk about truth and purpose, she shares three ideas and three contradictions. Or not.... posted on Feb 11, 6474 reads

How Conformity Can Be Good and Bad for Society
Conforming to the ideas or opinions of others is a loaded concept for many of us, resulting in some instinctual "not me, not ever" reactions. However, without some conformity, the dance where individuals create and evolve successful societies is impossible. Becoming a good dance partner means knowing how to match steps with those around you while at the same time staying in touch with your interna... posted on Jun 17, 3952 reads

How to Have Difficult Conversations
What if collective introspection would help us to better persuade, to better advocate for a more beautiful world? What are the tools we need to disagree better? How can we improve our ability to listen and learn - especially from those we disagree with? Marcela Lopez Levy asks powerful questions to inspire us and perhaps even entice us in having more difficult conversations. Join her on this journ... posted on Jul 16, 10495 reads

What Does it Take to Be Racially Literate?
Few people really believe that race does not affect their lives in some way, but most of us are unwilling to admit it. We avoid discussing these differences and do ourselves a disservice. Priya Vulchi and Winona Guo are two high school students who decided it was time to bring this discussion out in the open. The key, they say, is to face the issue with both our hearts and our minds, for our minds... posted on Jul 3, 2835 reads

Jane Wodening: The Lady Orangutan
What connects our human experience to the experiences of other species? There are many ways to respond to that question, and while each of them might hold some merit, all of them would be incomplete. Some questions cannot be answered, they can only be leaned into. And sometimes, a single meeting can communicate a world of both mystery, and meaning. In this riveting, real-life story from Jane Woden... posted on Feb 20, 2928 reads

Rachael Flatt: From Olympic Rink to Research Lab
There's little Rachael Flatt, former Olympic figure skater, can't achieve on or off the ice. Flatt's impressive skating career includes being the 2008 World Junior champion, a winner of four silver medals on the Grand Prix series, and the 2010 U.S. national champion. Flatt went on to represent the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver during her senior year in high school and plac... posted on Jul 1, 4573 reads

How Space Can Heal What Divides Us
The Overview Effect is the experience many astronauts describe after seeing the Earth from space. "There, devoid of territory lines and set in the vast backdrop of the universe, this spectacle gives them a new perspective on our need to come together as a global society. For most, it is profoundly life-changing." Two years ago, MaryLiz Bender was so inspired by this phenomenon that she sold her be... posted on Sep 5, 2316 reads

Gathering as a Form of Leadership
Priya Parker is an author, strategist, and the founder of Thrive Labs, a company devoted to helping organizations create intentional and transformative gatherings. She is also the author of, 'The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters.' In this interview she speaks to how we can forge stronger connections and more meaningful experiences through gatherings -- whether it's a birthday party... posted on Sep 19, 7365 reads

The Work that Reconnects
In this hour-long tribute to "The Work the Reconnects," Pat van Boeckel explores the stories of activists who have used Joanna Macys writings to enhance and support their service and their lives. Van Boeckel does not flinch in describing the devastation now facing the world or equivocate on the justification for despair. Despite the trauma inflicted on the earth and ourselves, she gently leads us ... posted on Jul 13, 2336 reads

How Cultural Differences Shape Gratitude
"Most of what we know about it [gratitude] comes from studying Americans--and, specifically, the mainly white American college students from the campuses where researchers work. That creates a cultural bias in the science, and that's why more and more researchers are exploring what gratitude looks and feels like in a range of cultures." This article shares more.... posted on Aug 11, 10239 reads

The Quality of Mercy
What is Mercy? In this essay offered by Lee Van Laer - we can see it from many perspectives. Shakespeare calls it an attribute to God himself, and according to the Sufi's mercy is God's greatest and most powerful quality. Van Laer points out that, "In practical terms, Mercy isn't just an idea or a concept; in its metaphysical and esoteric sense, it's a substance.That is to say, it's of a material ... posted on Sep 13, 4757 reads

The Bad Kids
Vonda Viland is a mother figure, coach, cheerleader, and counselor. She has to be. As the principal of Black Rock Continuation High School on the edge of California's Mojave Desert, Ms. V--as she's known to her 121 at-risk students has heard countless stories of personal or familial alcohol or drug addiction, chronic truancy, and physical and sexual abuse. Over 90 percent of the school's students ... posted on Sep 6, 5512 reads

Diane Ackerman on Deep Play
In this moving piece, poet, essayist, and naturalist Diane Ackerman's reverence for play is brought to life through selections from her book, "Deep Play". While others have easily dismissed play as trivial or time-consuming, Ackerman asserts, "Opportunities for deep play abound. In its thrall we become ideal versions of ourselves... [Its] many moods and varieties help to define who we are and all ... posted on Sep 16, 6721 reads

The Atomic Tree
This moving video takes us on a journey into the memories of one of the world's most revered trees, a 400 year old Japanese white pine bonsai. The tree's rings hold stories from its inception as a tiny seed, through its early years surrounded by monks who prayed in the surrounding forest. It holds memories of sunlight and purifying rain. Tended by the loving touch and care of five generations of t... posted on Oct 26, 2485 reads

Look With Your Heart: Lessons from My Time with My Grandmother
In 2003 theater artist Mia Tagano relocated to California from NYC to be with her grandmother who was living with dementia. Over the next sixteen years she would navigate the poignant territory of loving and caring for someone she could not build shared memories with, someone who would open Mia's heart to life's deepest lessons, someone she would learn to love tenderly, diligently, and uncondition... posted on Sep 1, 50320 reads

The Beginner's Guide to the End
“If you knew that you were going to die tomorrow, would you still be holding on to those grudges? Have you healed the old wounds with people that you love in your life?” These are questions that Shoshana Berger asked a captive audience after her book, "A Beginner's Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death" was published. Co-authored by BJ Miller, the book exp... posted on Mar 7, 3853 reads

On Language and Landscape
"Light does not use syntax. Robins do not speak in syllables as we would recognize them. And so, language is always late for its subject in nature. I'm fascinated by language's affordance when it comes to thinking about and shaping our relations with place and what we might uneasily call nature; I'm also interested in the binds that it places us within." Robert Macfarlane shares more.... posted on Dec 19, 2868 reads

In Pursuit of Silence
In this thought-provoking piece, George Prochnick, author of "In Pursuit of Silence", calls on us to examine our relationship with the sounds, or their absence, around us. Drawing on the wisdom of Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, and others, Prochnick proposes that by shutting ourselves off to the noise of our surroundings, we shut ourselves off to the world, effectively losing our place with... posted on Oct 19, 4725 reads

Beyond the Dark Night of the Soul
Note from the Editor: The story that was featured on October 29th, 2019 was run by mistake. As a rule DailyGood does not promote specific health supplements or treatments. This particular article was centered around an individual's positive experience with NAD, a specific form of therapy for addiction. There are significantly conflicting opinions on efficacy and other aspects of the therapy that c... posted on Oct 29, 3202 reads

Kintsugi: The Golden Joinery of Love
Sue Cochrane is a former family court judge who sought to bring more love into the practice of law. The forces she battled were not confined to the court room -- among them, poverty, violence, addiction, abuse, a terminal diagnosis and more. In this powerful piece, she explores kintsugi -- a stunning Japanese art form in which broken pottery is repaired by filling the cracks with gold. Kingtsugi, ... posted on Dec 26, 0 reads

Where Climate, Architecture and Kindness Intersect
Many of us want to be "good ancestors"; to give our children and succeeding generations a better world, more opportunity, more abundance than what we enjoyed in our lives. But the course humanity is on does exactly the opposite. For Pete Gang, architect, educator and reluctant climate activist "it just feels so wrong to me to be depriving future generations of at least a liveable planet". Listen t... posted on Oct 18, 2691 reads

Humanizing Aid with Dignity
A small but increasingly influential British NGO called Refugee Support aims to deliver what it calls "aid with dignity" by adding a sense of normality and respect to its food distribution efforts. Refugee Support co-founders Paul Hutchings and John Sloan met in 2015 in Calais' notorious Jungle camp. They were both drawn to help alleviate the suffering of the thousands of migrants and refugees liv... posted on Oct 13, 1763 reads

No Impact Man's Guide to Activism
"In 2006, I started a project where I lived as environmentally as possible for a year--with my little family, on the ninth floor of an apartment building in the middle of New York City--to attract attention to the world's environmental, economic, and quality of life crises.I had no experience as an activist. Yet suddenly my project caught fire. My book and film, both titled No Impact Man, ended up... posted on Nov 18, 6545 reads

The Mindfulness Skill That is Crucial for Stress
Mindfulness is known to have many advantages, including reducing stress, increasing awareness, improving physical health, and more. However, when it comes to lowering stress levels, without also practicing acceptance, we might not see the results we hope for. "Mindfulness practices that specifically emphasize acceptance teach us a nonjudgmental attitude toward our experiences -- meaning, learning ... posted on Nov 6, 8120 reads

The Lost Words
"It had come to our attention that words were slipping out from the mouths and the minds of children, but it was only once the book was complete and beginning to make its way out into the world that this really hit home. In a class full of children I asked who knew what a wren was. Wren, that small brown bird, feathers small as splinters with a sharp song so loud that threads its way through hedg... posted on Dec 12, 6964 reads

Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results
"James Clear is the founder of the Habits Academy and author of the New York Times bestselling book Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with James about the mechanics of habit changespecifically through careful, incremental daily improvements. James shares the dramatic story of the sports injury that ... posted on Jan 2, 9936 reads

Healing Conflict: Listen, Validate, and Then Explore Options
"Christian Conte, PhD, is a mental health specialist and leading authority on anger management. With Sounds True, Christian has published Walking Through Anger: A New Design for Confronting Conflict in an Emotionally Charged World. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon talks with Christian about his Yield Theory of emotional management, focusing on the process of listen, validate, ex... posted on Feb 9, 6453 reads

METAdrasi: Escorting Children to Freedom and Hope
"3,788 unaccompanied refugee children are currently located in Greece, having been violently separated from their families. For these children there are only 1,635 places in proper accommodation facilities, while the rest remain in Reception and Identification Centers, police stations, camps, even in the street. The National Center for Social Solidarity (EKKA) places unaccompanied children in acco... posted on Dec 29, 4278 reads

Late Migrations: A Jeweled Patchwork of Nature and Culture
"The 112 essays in Renkl's first book, Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss, range from seven lines to just over four pages in length. Together they create a jeweled patchwork of nature and culture that includes her own family. This woven tapestry makes one of all the world's beings that strive to live and which, in one way or another, face mortality." This piece from NPR shares mo... posted on Jan 1, 3148 reads

The Sound of One Hand Clapping

"One morning in a local coffee shop, I was surprised to see a man at work on a little painting at a table nearby. It wasnt a place where artists gathered. I walked over, took a peek, and was surprised again. It was really good. I complimented the stranger on his work. He seemed to welcome the interruption, and I asked him a few questions. He was just passing through town and living from h... posted on Jan 4, 4347 reads

The Reason I Jump: A Book by a 13-Year-Old Boy with Autism
"The thirteen-year-old author of this book invites you, his reader, to imagine a daily life in which your faculty of speech is taken away. Explaining that you're hungry, or tired, or in pain, is now as beyond your powers as a chat with a friend. I'd like to push the thought-experiment a little further. Now imagine that after you lose your ability to communicate, the editor-in-residence who orders ... posted on Jan 10, 4498 reads

How to Overcome a False Growth Mindset
"It all started when my Australian colleague Susan Mackie informed me that she was seeing more and more false growth mindset. This is when educators think and do all sorts of things that they simply call growth mindset. And then I started noticing it, too. Here's what I saw." Pioneering researcher and author of "Mindset: the New Psychology of Success, " Carol Dweck shares more about some of the mo... posted on Jan 20, 7044 reads