Ode to an Ugly Cat
"Idly is not a beautiful cat. There is something about the way he looks at you that will set you on edge and it will take you a long time to get over this feeling. The edges of his ears are jagged, a little bit frayed. Old cat ears. He has scratches on his nose. He always has something sticking to his whiskers and there is nothing you can do about that. He would rather have cat litter stuck to his... posted on Jul 19, 5576 reads

The Constant Gardener
The garden is a space defined not by its physicality but by the emotions it evokes and the connections it provokes. And the act of gardening can change the way we relate to the world around us for the better, giving us perspective and teaching us lessons about life. Our souls are gardens. Our hearts are flowers. They need to be watered, tended, fertilized and loved. Happy gardening!... posted on Jul 28, 2327 reads

Arwen Donohue: Care is a Creative Act
"I had sort of a grandiose idea that I was writing a big hybrid book--part oral history illuminated by portraiture, part graphic memoir, and part history of the peculiar role that the idea of agrarianism has played in American life. The drawings of daily life on the farm became a small part of this rangy, years-long interdisciplinary process. After I finished the year of drawing 'Landings,' I kept... posted on Aug 8, 1394 reads

How to Become a 100 Percenter
The term 100 percenter is inspired by Charly and Lisa Kleissner, tech entrepreneurs who wanted to invest their money in a meaningful way, and inspire others to do the same. That's why they started the 100 percent impact network, which brings together likeminded people who invest all of their assets into social and environmental causes. Now, these are some serious investors, but being 100 percent i... posted on Aug 21, 3101 reads

Conspiracy of Goodness
Many times throughout history there have been silent movements of goodness that have made a significant impact on humanity. Perhaps we are on the verge of the greatest one yet, and the only thing stopping it is what's under your fingers! Dr. Lynda Ulrich, a dentist turned social innovator, is the founder of Ever Widening Circles (EWC), a positive media company on a mission to prove that in spite o... posted on Sep 4, 2357 reads

Shrine
Tracey Schmidt performs her poem Shrine, an evocative poem about love, about self, and about fitting into the world. Her whole being becomes a shrine through which divisions between herself and the rest of the world recede and "then the love fits perfectly," and her life shines brilliantly.... posted on Sep 8, 1900 reads

An Antidote to the Age of Anxiety
In his 1951 book, "The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety," Alan Watts writes, "There is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity. But the contradiction lies a little deeper than the mere conflict between the desire for security and the fact of change. If I want to be secure, that is, protected from the flux ... posted on Sep 19, 4273 reads

Hummingbirds & the Ecstatic Moment
"Birds have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and hummingbirds have held a special place in my heart for the simple reason that they, early on, became personal to me. On some level, you could say I became a writer because of hummingbirds, and they have appeared in my fiction since I was very young. How to make sense of life, especially during childhood? Sometimes, what moves yo... posted on Sep 20, 915 reads

3 Steps to Build Peace & Create Change
As the child of Holocaust survivors and a World War II refugee herself, peace builder Georgette Bennett was stunned by the human toll and tragedy of the Syrian civil war. She got to work, bringing together historical enemies to build an aid pipeline from Israel to Syria -- a feat many considered impossible, but she and her organization -- the Multi-faith Alliance for Syrian refugees -- has since h... posted on Sep 23, 1588 reads

Coming to Our (Animal) Senses
"The term 'resource' always befuddles me. If we would simply drop the prefix, 're,' whenever we use the term, it would become apparent that we're almost always talking about 'sources', like springs bubbling up from the unseen depths. But when we put that little prefix in front of the word, and speak of things as 'resources', we transform the enigmatic presence of things into a reserve, a stock of ... posted on Oct 9, 1149 reads

The Blessing of Aging
This delightful video features several women and men who are facing the realities of aging with humor and vitality. They talk about the advantages that aging has brought to their lives, including the loss of inhibitions, learning new things, and focusing on what they enjoy. They are full of life, curiosity and passion. As one gentleman states, "Getting old is out. Getting older is better."... posted on Oct 13, 4158 reads

All Real Living is Meeting
Cornelius Pieztner, currently a high-impact financial professional, spent the first 45 years of his life at Camphill - a network of intentional communities co-founded by his father Carlos Pietzner. The communities were designed for children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through his interactions and work with teenagers with pronounced developmental disabilities, Cornel... posted on Oct 25, 1782 reads

Kabir Helminksi: Rumi & the Mysterion
"Kabir Helminski is co-director, with his wife, Camille Helminski, of the Threshold Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge and practice of Sufism. He is the author of Living Presence and the translator of four volumes of Rumis poetry, including Love Is a Stranger and Rumi: Daylight. His new book which we discuss on the podcast is The Mysterion: Rumi and the Secret of ... posted on Oct 29, 2108 reads

Kintsugi: The Golden Joinery of Love
Sue Cochrane was a 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, poems,... posted on Oct 31, 54829 reads

Carol Sanford: Indirect Work
Building on over four decades of her research and experience, author Carol Sanford's latest book, "Indirect Work," explores how a deep understanding of living systems can translate into "a practical human technology for daily life at home and work. Through foundational wisdom and exercises for self-discovery, this guide will illuminate your understanding of the unlimited power of regenerative chan... posted on Nov 1, 1623 reads

Cooking Up Connection
"Neighborly get-togethers have seen a steady drop since 1940. But rates of socializing outside the home have risen. We're now more likely to meet friends at a softball game or a bar than to invite them over for dinner or a barbecue. The "why" behind these trends is less clear, but the reality is stark: we are living in a cultural moment where there is a growing bifurcation between our private home... posted on Nov 8, 3185 reads

Invisible Landscapes
"Until quite recently, if doctors wanted to study human tissue from a living person, they had to remove it first. Then they'd essentially mummify it: drying, freezing, slicing, and fixing it on a slide so they could peer at its shriveled dead form under a microscope to ascertain what was happening at a cellular level. As a result, scientists and doctors were taught in medical school that collagen ... posted on Nov 18, 3494 reads

Kinship is a Verb
"In thinking about kinship, I think its important to begin with, What are the boundaries of our kin? We can go way internal and microscopic, down to the nerves that actually inform our brain more than our brain informs our bodies, right down to the microbes, not only managing our health but informing our way of being and interacting with the world. Then [we can go] all the way out, right to our ow... posted on Nov 24, 1344 reads

How Language Shapes the Way We Think
There are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world -- and they all have different sounds, vocabularies and structures. But do they shape the way we think? Cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky shares examples of language -- from an Aboriginal community in Australia that uses cardinal directions instead of left and right to the multiple words for blue in Russian -- that suggest the answer is a r... posted on Dec 5, 2408 reads

Light & Danger Through the Crack in the Door
"Multiplicity of viewpoints, described, prayed over, celebrated, sung, danced, and debated by practitioners of many spiritual practices drove the five-day convening of the Parliament of the World's Religions, held August 14-18 at Chicagos McCormick Place Lakeside Center. There are those who think of religion as a lofty preoccupation, divorced from the sorrows and suffering of the real world. But f... posted on Dec 9, 1234 reads

Hundreds of Strangers Send Gifts to Make Teens' Wishes Come True
"Excuse me while I break down," Cheri Guy's TikTok video began. Wiping away tears, the Las Vegas high school teacher shared a heart-tugging "Wishmas" list to which 950 students contributed wishes for simple items, such as a bag of chips "so I won't feel hungry," a gift card to help a parent with groceries, "slippers to protect me from the cold," and a physics book for an aspiring astrophysicist. M... posted on Dec 13, 1451 reads

It Turns Out We Were Born To Groove
Newborns are naturally jamming to their own beat, according to a groundbreaking research first conducted in 2009, which revealed that newborns can discern a beat in music. This musicality, far from being merely cultural, finds its roots deep within our biology and evolutionary history. However, the initial results sparked some skepticism, prompting the research group to revisit the study in 2015. ... posted on Jan 5, 1834 reads

3 Steps to a Purposeful Year
The beginning of the year often marks the possibility of fresh beginnings. We make resolutions to help things to change for the better. It may sound something like: "I don't love my job or where I live, so I'm going to make some changes." "As a coach, I'm happy when my people are ready for change," writes author Christine Carter. "But the best first move usually isn't an outer change to our circum... posted on Jan 8, 3542 reads

How Emotional Intelligence Levels Up Leadership
"We all know that leadership isn't just about meeting goals or hitting targets. When we picture a good leader, we think of someone who is able to inspire, motivate, guide, support, and empathize ... They're able to connect with people on a deeper level. This requires emotional intelligence," describes health writer Sanjana Gupta. According to author and leadership coach Jerry Colona, emotional int... posted on Jan 29, 2636 reads

Glacial Longings
"On the morning of our arrival, I run up to the bridge to watch Thwaites come into view. Out in the gathering light its gray margin wobbles in the gloaming. No one knows quite what to say. The words I conjurecirque, serac, cleft, torque, ski slope, rampartall slide off the surface of the ice, plopping one after the other into the bay right in front of Thwaites; a bay that had up until just a few w... posted on Feb 5, 1393 reads

An Offering of Remembrance
The world today is rapidly changing; yet, there is also a shifting landscape within each of us. Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee offers a stirring inquiry into the space between our relationship with the Earth and within ourselves. He begins, "The stories are within the words and the images, but they are also at the margins, in what is not said ... the real story that is unfolding beneath the surface is the c... posted on Feb 7, 1997 reads

Why 1,200 Widows Will Be Surprised With Flowers Today
After the birth of her fourth child, Ashley Manning started a flower business as a respite from the whirlwind of family life. On Valentine's Day in 2020, she gifted a bouquet to her son's preschool teacher, who was widowed. Months later, at the end of the school year, that teacher told her, "I just want you to know how much that meant to me, that you thought of me on that day." Inspired, for the h... posted on Feb 14, 1436 reads

Seeds of Reciprocity
How might we rekindle awe and reciprocity by remembering ourselves as extensions of the changing earth? In an era enveloped by rapid change and compounding emergencies, four vibrant individuals -- a filmmaker, author-singer, environmental justice activist, and Sufi teacher unfold a compelling conversation centering narratives of kinship amid the uncertainty of our systems today. Each discusses the... posted on Mar 5, 1944 reads

Small Town Hotel Becomes Safe Haven in an Expensive World
In Little Current, Ontario, Canada, the owners of a local hotel have transformed their lodgings into affordable apartments for those struggling to make ends meet. Denise, "D" as she's lovingly called, was an employee of the Anchor Inn for over 15 years when she and her partner purchased the property in 2017. As housing and inflation spiked costs of living, Denise's hotel vision took a heartfelt tu... posted on Feb 20, 2057 reads

Lost? Here's 4 Steps to Finding Your Path
There are moments in life when we lose our sense of direction. Whether you're faced with major life-changes, a sense of dissatisfaction, or simply feel the need for some self-reflection, UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center magazine outlines four research-backed steps to finding your path, with a focus on defining your values, identifying domains in life that matter the most to you, translati... posted on Feb 27, 3214 reads

4 Habits of Effective Communicators
"Have you ever met someone who is exceptionally easy to talk to? Someone who simply through good conversation gets you to open up? Makes you feel smarter, more interesting or just understood? These are all common traits of "supercommunicators" people who are consistently able to create authentic connections with others just by listening and talking." Journalist and author Charles Duhigg outline... posted on Mar 3, 4001 reads

Defining World Happiness
Each year, the World Happiness Report ranks 146 countries by their level of happiness. Scandinavian countries are usually found at the top of the ranks, while war-torn or deeply impoverished countries are generally at the bottom. In recent years, psychologists have been looking at how cultural bias affects these rankings. ... posted on Mar 26, 1381 reads

Transforming Stress into Self-Identity
Ever noticed how your 'stress' becomes who 'you' are? This intriguing characteristic suggests that unresolved emotions get stored in our physical and emotional bodies; and, over time, these built-up residues create a 'state'. This state, if sustained, soon morphs into our identity, becoming our new 'normal'. We start identifying ourselves with these states, for instance, 'I am an anxious person', ... posted on Mar 30, 2194 reads

When Melodies Unlock Memory Reservoirs
Candy Cohn often would speak with her late mother, Lillian, in English, with a few words here and there in Yiddish. Then, one day, Lillian "started singing a beautiful Yiddish love song called Sheyn Vi Di Levone. 'I'd never heard her sing it. I never heard her play it. The look on her face and the joy. I hadn't seen that in her in a long time,'" Candy Cohn described to WLRN Public Radio. ... posted on Mar 31, 1284 reads

Unveiling Gifts from Uncertainty
Through a poignant reflection of her father's debilitating stroke, Christie Aschwanden explores the concept of uncertainty as not just an inevitable hazard of life, but a herald of new opportunities. When her father transitions from a robust long-distance cyclist to being wheelchair-bound, she realizes that life's sudden changes knock open the door to adjusting, learning and transforming in unexpe... posted on Apr 12, 1824 reads

Luminous Darkness: A Journey Through Suffering
Mystic-poet Lucy Grace shares her profound insights around human suffering and its transformative potential. Recalling a pivotal insight at school, the day after a frightening encounter with a gang at the age of eight, she describes, "I looked at my thumb and I said to myself, 'Lucy, don't worry, it's really hard now, but this thumb is part of your future. This thumb exists on the adult that you a... posted on Apr 26, 3998 reads

ChatGPT: A Partner in Unknowing
Writer and adaptive leadership trainer Dana Karout takes us through a insightful exploration in her essay on how ChatGPT is mere a reflection of our own limited ways of viewing the world. In her work with students and in building capacity with individuals and communities to hold conflict and navigate complexity across various levels of authority, she looks into how ChatGPT gets us, humans, to what... posted on May 15, 3318 reads

What Should I Do Today?
Finding moments of meaning and purpose amidst everyday chaos can feel like a daunting task. This article serves as a compass for navigating the complexities of daily life by embracing intentionality and mindful decision-making with a simple yet profound question: "What should I do today?"  Rather than succumbing to the pressures of productivity or routine, we are encouraged to approach each d... posted on Jun 1, 3075 reads

Breathing with the Forest
'Breathing with the Forest' is an immersive digital experience that explores the illusion of separation between us and the rest of the planet, a reminder that “with each breath we exchange parts of ourselves with the wider world.” The Capinuri tree grows in the Amazon river floodplain where the Breathing experience creators photographed and collected three-dimensional scans and audio r... posted on Jun 2, 2326 reads

The Good News You Might Have Missed
We get to choose whether to despair or hope. And it is increasingly difficult to choose hope in a world with headlines about famine, war, intolerance, and disaster. That choice, however, can be made more equitable, when we also choose to widen our field of vision to include less attention-grabbing, click-oriented headlines. Angus Harvey delivers a striking reminder in his 9-minute TED2024 talk tha... posted on Jun 7, 6742 reads

Five Keys to Managing Intrusive Thoughts
"Persistent thoughts can be signals to ourselves about underlying life issues that need resolution," writes Dr. Jill Suttie. "But by drawing upon mindfulness, a self-distanced perspective, physical exercise, redirection, and social support, you can perhaps find a path forward." Dr. Suttie presents these five practices as collaborators for our internal world of thoughts, which sometimes feel like t... posted on Jun 13, 3604 reads

How Luddite Teens of New York Changed My View of Social Media
The article shares a student author’s journey of reevaluating their social media use after encountering the Luddite Club, a group of New York teens who reject digital norms in favor of more fulfilling, offline activities. Inspired by their commitment, the author deleted Instagram and TikTok, experiencing improved attention span and appreciation for creative and meaningful pursuits. This expe... posted on Jun 15, 2920 reads

Painting in the Dharma
In 1969, Rosalyn White moved from Washington D.C. to attend the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. "I was like a kid in a candy store!" she says. The hippie revolution was still in bloom and she discovered a place in Berkeley, Calif. called the Nyingma Meditation Center. That's where she met Tarthang Tulku. Little did she know how her art journey was to change. For over ... posted on Jun 25, 1547 reads

The Night I Died
Tracy Cochran describes a night when she was robbed by three men while walking down a dark street. One held her in a chokehold that can kill in less than twenty seconds. During the chokehold, Tracy had what is described as “conscious dying, or transference of consciousness at the time of death, or even a flash of enlightenment without meditation.” She describes it in exquisite detail a... posted on Jul 3, 5732 reads

How Being Distracted May Lead You to Overindulge
Researchers find that multitasking during one activity can lead to overindulgence later. For instance, eating a sandwich while using your phone can result in less satisfaction, and more snacking afterwards. They call it hedonic consumption: “that when people experience less pleasure during consumptive activities, it primes them to want to make up for that loss with compensatory consumption (... posted on Jul 16, 2568 reads

A New Strategy to Cope with Emotional Stress
How do healthcare workers, emergency responders, and anyone in high-stress environments sustain wellbeing for the long-run? A new study from MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research may have an answer. "How you think can improve how you feel," says John Gabrieli, an MIT brain and cognitive sciences professor and senior author of the paper. In the study, MIT researchers showed a series of images... posted on Jul 22, 2351 reads

The Londoners Walking Their Way to Better Mental Health
Therapists are creating walking groups to “support people outside of the therapy room, getting us outdoors, off our phones and connecting with new people.” They create intentionality by asking people to: metaphorically leave something behind; have an open mind; be mindful of their surroundings; individually choose a concern on which to focus; and the therapist walks along to help nurtu... posted on Sep 4, 1030 reads

A Sparrow's Song To Lift Up the Sky
"The sparrow heard that the sky was falling, and while all the other creatures fled, she asked herself, 'What can I do? I'm just a sparrow.' But then, in a flash of brilliance, she lay on her back, pointing her tiny feet towards the sky. 'What are you doing, Little Sparrow?' the others asked. 'Well, I've heard the sky is falling, and so I'm doing my bit to hold it up.'," Nipun Mehta recounts a sto... posted on Sep 17, 3270 reads

Can Social Media Keep Indigenous Languages Alive?
In some cases, only a few elderly speakers of the language remain among seventy Indigenous languages in Canada. Instead of written word, people are using social media to help keep the languages alive by helping people learn the way all babies learn, by speaking one word at a time. “We breathe life into languages by speaking them.” A single Indigenous word can carry “thousands of ... posted on Oct 2, 580 reads

Untitled
Greenpeace activists set up shop in a "guerrilla garage" in an abandoned building in London and started giving away free tanks of petrol to astonished motorists. The fuel wasn't gas; it was bio-diesel fuel made from crops. Greenpeace spokesperson Matthew Spence explained the giveaway was intended to drive home the point that "we can switch to green fuels right now and make a huge reduction in the ... posted on Aug 6, 887 reads