Three Lessons from a Kindness Challenge
In this first person account, author Thao Phi reflects on some of the unique and important things she discovered after partaking in a 30-day kindness challenge. For one, she learned that people must be courageous in their acts of kindness to strangers, and secondly, to never overlook doing good deeds to those that are closest to you. And last, but certainly not least, make sure you are kind to the... posted on Feb 7, 42922 reads

We Are Connected In Mysterious Ways
"In some mysterious way I am you and you are I. Certainly, I don't feel that I've understood this as deeply as it may be possible to understand it. But there is some way in which I have to be able to listen to you if I want to move in the direction of the kind of life that's possible for us here. There is nothing sentimental about that. There is something mysterious, I would say." In this powerful... posted on Apr 3, 21513 reads

Giftivism: Reclaiming Our Priceless Inheritance
"Giftivism: the practice of radically generous acts that transform the world. History has seen giftivists in all corners - Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and so forth. People who believed that when we change ourselves, we can fundamentally change the world. But this ability isn't restricted to social change giants. The seeds of giftivism lie in each of us. But to tap int... posted on Jan 15, 90240 reads

Helpful Tips For Your Inner Critic
Many believe that being hard on themselves will make them better people. However, research does not support this belief. Self-criticism has been shown to reduce motivation, increase procastination, and increase rumination. This article from the Greater Good Science Center summarizes some of the scientifically-proven healthier ways to take an honest look at yourself and learn from your mistakes. Fr... posted on Apr 16, 47470 reads

My Mother's Last Words To Me
They say, a mother's greatest gift is the love that she shares -- unconditional in presentation, and with the capacity to permeate even our deepest wounds. When fear and adversity threaten our place, still a mother's love is there. In this beautiful article, author Sohaib Alvi graciously shares his dying mother's final words. And, in doing so, so brilliantly captures the essence of what it means t... posted on Feb 19, 40591 reads

A 29-Year-Old's Undying Legacy of Love
He wasn't famous in the usual sense. But no one who met him ever forgot him. Raghu Makwana lost his legs to polio as a child. But he did not let that stop him from serving the world. When a group of students found him he was a young runaway arranging people's footwear outside a local temple. Struck by his luminous spirit they arranged to have him join a non-profit at the Gandhi Ashram in India. In... posted on Feb 10, 35778 reads

The Difference Between Meaning & Happiness
Philosophers, researchers, spiritual leaders -- they've all debated what makes life worth living. Is it a life filled with happiness or a life filled with purpose and meaning? Is there even a difference between the two? Recently some researchers have explored these questions in depth, trying to tease apart the differences between a meaningful life and a happy one. Their research suggests there's m... posted on Mar 28, 35252 reads

The 3-Year-Old Who Decided To Donate Her Hair
Emily James is a typical three-year-old princess. She loves nail polish, frilly dresses, and her Rapunzel doll, Dolly. When her hair got too long for a busy little girl, her parents suggested that she cut her hair off and donate it for wigs for cancer patients. Emily was excited to "share her hair"... on the condition that Uncle "Maffew" cut Dolly's hair too. "I don't want any kids to be sad that... posted on Mar 10, 4930 reads

Because I'm Happy
It's a fun fact that the Oscar-nominated song from a movie about a bad guy (Despicable Me 2) actually turns out to be something positive. And not just positive but absolutely jivin'! Pharrell Williams' "Happy" is an anthem to sharing your light and letting your energy burst through your seams. And it's fast becoming a movement. Watch this video that defies you to stay still or glum for more than a... posted on Mar 20, 13425 reads

The Power of 1% Shifts: Or How One Coach Beat the Odds
Imagine a scenario where you set your goal to win the Tour de France in five years time--and instead, you do it in three, and win it twice in a row. Not only that, your team goes on to win 70 percent of the Gold medals at the Olympics in the very same year you break your record for the Tour de France. Sound like a dream? This is what happened for the British cyclists on Team Sky when instead of fo... posted on Apr 4, 82394 reads

12 Habits of Productive People
Practicing "selective perfectionism," ordering their to do lists, and not being chained to email are just three habits of highly productive people. Read on for these and other insights from productivity gurus Robert Pozen of the Harvard Business School and Adam Grant of the Wharton School.... posted on Jun 11, 50412 reads

Freely vs Free: A Healer's Perspective
The deeper truths that reside within us sometimes surface when we least expect it. Thuy Nguyen was a little more than taken off guard when a woman in her donation-based acupuncture session asked her why she gave away her work for free. Was she trying to fix a "broken world"? She didn't know where to begin to respond, and the woman's question stayed with her. Eventually it led her to a beautiful di... posted on May 28, 24062 reads

How To Become Productively Generous
A vital part of a rewarding life involves contributing to and caring for others. Unfortunately, some end up sacrificing their own well-being when answering this call, setting them back on their own responsibilities, becoming burned out, and losing the drive that led them to practice generosity in the first place. In this piece, Wharton Professor of Management Adam Grant debunks common myths about ... posted on Apr 24, 30887 reads

The Honest Truth About Dishonesty
"Most major betrayals within organizations -- from accounting fraud to doping in sports -- start with a first step that crosses the line, according to Dan Ariely, a leading behavioral economist at Duke and author of 'The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone -- Especially Ourselves.' In this interview with Wharton management professor Adam Grant, Ariely helps leaders understand h... posted on Apr 8, 25455 reads

Grace Hearth: Soul-Warming Food & A Community Movement
Keri Keifer and Jocelyn Jackson found cooking as a way to create change by engaging their local community while nourishing their creative souls at the same time. Their distinguished catering company in Oakland, California, sources from local farmers and community gardens. Grace Hearth provides soul-warming foods which expresses their passion for bringing people into their hearth to nourish them wi... posted on May 17, 2631 reads

Today I Will Do Nothing
"Today I will do nothing..." A rare declaration that just might be an antidote for the frenzy and stress of a fast-paced world and never-ending To-Do lists. Read on for a whimsical and wonder-filled comic from artist Grant Snider detailing the marvelous possibilities that unfold when we dedicate ourselves to the openness of doing "nothing". ... posted on Aug 10, 89238 reads

Transforming Trauma Into Creative Energy
Shoshana had her share of trauma. As a young Jewish women, she fled Antwerp during Hitler's rise to power in Europe, and thus survived the war. Years later, the trauma was deep inside, and it began to surface mysteriously when she took to weaving. Instead of ignoring the pain she felt, she courageously decided to complete her healing by working with others experiencing trauma as a psychotherapist.... posted on Jun 15, 23808 reads

This Is Your Brain On Food
Should the Hippocratic maxim "Let food be thy medicine" apply to mental health care? According to recent research on the effect of diet and nutrition on the health of the brain, the answer may be, "Absolutely!" After more than half a century of depending primarily on prescription drugs for relief, the medical and psychiatric community is rediscovering the numerous connections between food and ment... posted on Aug 21, 52761 reads

The Power of Patience
Images flash at us from every direction--from our social media accounts to advertisements on the road, and we have little time to take in anything. So, it is rather radical that Harvard art history professor Jennifer Roberts asks her students to sit--not for half an hour, but for three hours with a work of art before writing anything about it. While some may think that this sounds excessive at fir... posted on Aug 8, 10115 reads

The Dalai Lama: On Why I Laugh
Those who have had the chance to be in his presence, know him -- in part --- by his infectious laugh. "I have been confronted with many difficulties throughout the course of my life, and my country is going through a critical period. But I laugh often, and my laughter is contagious." In an excerpt from his book, "My Spiritual Journey", the Dalai Lama shares his beliefs regarding the healing power ... posted on Jun 27, 64584 reads

David Whyte On Being At The Frontiers Of Your Identity
In this interview Sounds True founder Tami Simon speaks with the poet and author David Whyte. Their conversation explores "how each of our lives unfolds as a great conversation with reality, which is the source of originality. David also shares some of his poetry, and explores how our innate sense of exile is actually a core human competency, how vulnerability enhances our perception, and what it ... posted on Jul 7, 40929 reads

How To Cultivate Practical Wisdom
"A wise person knows when and how to make the exception to every rule... A wise person knows how to improvise...And finally, perhaps most important, a wise person is made, not born. "These are the words of psychologist Barry Schwartz, who together with political scientist Kenneth Sharpe explores how to find the "right" course of action in their new book, Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the R... posted on Jun 13, 18077 reads

The Importance of Poetry in Childhood
"Growing up isn't what it used to be. Today, our kids, from even the youngest of ages, are bombarded with stimuli far exceeding what we, or any of the generations preceding us, ever had to cope with. How do we keep our kids grounded in the midst of iPads and pop up ads, TV screens and Twitter memes?" Preschool teacher and poet David Griswold offers that poetry may hold at least part of the answer.... posted on May 31, 17295 reads

A School In The Cloud
Five years ago, Shahrukh Khan, an Indian schoolboy struck up an unlikely friendship with a retired teacher in London -- and with her help he is now studying to be a doctor. Even though they live thousands of miles apart and have never met, they can't imagine life without each other. Khan is just one of many children who've benefitted from the work of academic Sugata Mitra. Mitra gave children in a... posted on Jun 22, 5648 reads

The Far Shore of Aging
As life-prolonging technologies continue to lengthen our stay on earth, we still are learning how to confront the challenges of longer lives. How do we preserve human dignity and joy as our bodies struggle with the inevitable decline of age? Jane Gross and Krista Tippett explore this, and many other facets of what it means to grow old in today's world in this interview.... posted on Jul 2, 28547 reads

Meditations On An Apple
As you hold an apple, remember that the ancestor of all apple trees arose in southwestern Asia, in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and all across the Caucasus Mountains. Protected and nourished by observant stewards for thousands of years through their system of agriculture, their culture of the land, the apple contains their vision. We are all dependent on the living soil for o... posted on Jun 28, 21644 reads

5 Constraints That Help Me Innovate
"A kite flies because of pressure dynamics in the air, but the string facilitates that condition. Cut the string and it will crash. In other words, constraints can be guides." Placing limitations on processes is not normally associated with innovation. However, as explained in this article, setting boundaries and playing within them can foster creative solutions to complex problems, encourage a se... posted on Sep 5, 7709 reads

The Realness of Who We Are: Thoughts On Life & Crafting
"For a long time I hesitated to call myself an artist. I mean artist in the most playful, experimental, fearless way. I believe we are all born creative. If we weren't meant to have some creative capacities, the human race would have failed by now. Creating is innate. Handcrafts were a natural extension of the artistic interests I've cultivated and as a way of expressing two things: what it means ... posted on May 3, 15284 reads

10 Creative Rituals To Learn From
Sustained creativity doesn't just happen -- it's the result of hard work, and daily habits which help us tap into inspiration and cultivate success. But, what are those habits and, more importantly, how might they help? In this article, 99U interviews some of the most successful, creative minds to determine their wonderfully unique routines. ... posted on Aug 13, 38695 reads

Guiding Rage into Power
Jacques Verduin is painfully aware of the ugly statistics: one in 107 Americans are in prison; one in 28 children have an incarcerated parent; and within 18 months, 64% will be back behind the walls. Thankfully, Verduin has shown that the empowerment and transformation of prisoners is a big part of what prison reform can look like, and with it has created a successful social experiment that is one... posted on Jun 30, 23266 reads

Maya Angelou On Identity & The Meaning of Life
Through the sheer tenacity of her character and talent, despite being born into a tumultuous working-class family, abandoned by her father at the age of three, and abused in her childhood, the late Maya Angelou became a cultural phenomenon. This interview from 1977 brings us timeless wisdom from this phenomenal woman, as she explores issues of identity and the meaning of life. ... posted on Jul 22, 27667 reads

The 6 Essential Conditions of Creativity
“Surprise is not easily defined. It is the unexpected that strikes one with wonder or astonishment. What is curious about effective surprise is that it need not be rare or infrequent or bizarre and is often none of these things. Effective surprises … seem rather to have the quality of obviousness about them when they occur, producing a shock of recognition following which there is no l... posted on Jul 31, 21533 reads

Big Questions From Little People
Do animals like sheep and cows have accents? Why do we cry? Is new technology always good? The art of asking big questions often comes from brave little people who are innocent to the complexities of the answers. Sometimes, it takes a whole book and the world's leading experts to respond to these simple yet profound inquiries about life, nature, and the cosmos...... posted on Sep 1, 15564 reads

Teaching Kids About Living Systems
"If you cut a cow in half, do you get two cows?" That is the simple question Linda Booth Sweeney likes to ask young people in her efforts to try and teach them the concept of living systems. It is a notion that she says even four-year-olds will shout out, "No way!" as they recognize that the cow has parts that belong together to make a whole. Join Lisa Bennett, communications director for the Cent... posted on Jul 5, 19376 reads

America's Most Tenacious Gardeners
Camden, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, has about the worst of any city in America. It's been ranked at various times as both the poorest and the most dangerous. As so many flee the violence and crime, it may seem strange that others are literally putting down roots. A recent study revealed that Camden's gardens may be the fastest growing in the country. The city needs fresh food... posted on Jul 19, 14411 reads

How We Grieve: Learning To Live With Loss
John Updike wrote in his memoir, "Each day, we wake slightly altered, and the person we were yesterday is dead. So why, one could say, be afraid of death, when death comes all the time?" And yet even if we were to somehow make peace with our own mortality, a primal fear rips through whenever we think about losing those we love most dearly -- a fear that metastasizes into all-consuming grief when l... posted on Aug 18, 47528 reads

Why The Capacity For Boredom Is A Good Thing
When was the last time you were bored -- truly bored -- and didn't instantly spring to fill your psychic emptiness by checking Facebook or Twitter or Instagram? The last time you stood in line at the store or the boarding gate or the theater and didn't reach for your smartphone seeking deliverance from the dreary prospect of forced idleness? But boredom might not be as not as bad as it seems; in f... posted on Jul 9, 39937 reads

Towards A Psychology of Hope
Hope is among the strongest human emotions. Research shows it's good for our physical and emotional well being. And it's often the 'thread' that pulls us through. Traditionally hope has been thought to be one of those things that you either have...or, you don't. But, what if hope can be learned? According to Anthony Scioli, a professor of psychology and author of The Power of Hope, this human emot... posted on Aug 5, 46657 reads

The Science of Play
Psychiatrist Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play suggests that the rough-and-tumble play of children actually prevents violent behavior and that play can grow human talents and character across a lifetime. Read more of his thoughts about what he calls the science of play.... posted on Jul 18, 32343 reads

How To Make Hard Choices
The push and pull of different options can often be impulsive at best, and agonizing at worst. In this thoughtful TED Talk, Ruth Chang explains why sizing one choice against the other -- for example, a home in the country versus the city, or a major in philosophy versus in law -- presents a false dichotomy of the vast range of possible options that exist to become the person that we want to be. Ra... posted on Sep 6, 33014 reads

Because I Said I Would
Alex Sheen keeps his promises. One year after his friend Charlie Cordell killed Vincent Canzani while drinking and driving, Alex stood outside of a busy bar with a sign telling those leaving that he was ready to drive them home that night and even take them back to their cars in the morning. And he did it for free, because he had a promise to keep. When someone snuck him a tip, he donated it to "M... posted on Aug 26, 7913 reads

Look With Your Heart: Lessons From My Grandmother
Mia Tagano visits her 94 year old grandmother -- who now has dementia -- and discovers a whole new, less verbal, way of communicating her love through heart, hands and hugs. To her surprise, when she brings this approach to her grandmother's roommate who has suffered a stroke, it radically transforms their communication and opens up both women profoundly. This heart-warming story shares more...... posted on Jul 29, 0 reads

Julia Cameron On How To Get Out Of Your Own Way
"Art is a spiritual transaction. Artists are visionaries... Art is an act of faith, and we practice practicing it." For anyone interested in the ineffable grasping and spiritual practice of the artist, Maria Popova of brainpickings.org summarizes Julia Cameron's seminal text The Artist's Way, "exploring its gateways, its obstacles, and how we can get out of our own way."... posted on Sep 3, 25391 reads

From Hero To Host
For too long, too many of us have been entranced by heroes. Perhaps it's our desire to not have to do the hard work, to rely on someone else to figure things out. But perhaps it's time for us to face the truth of our situation -- that we're all in this together, that we all have a voice -- and figure out how to mobilize the hearts and minds of everyone in our workplaces and communities.... posted on Aug 28, 35369 reads

Good Night Margaret: A Love Story Against The Odds
Take a moment to enjoy this short documentary film from the New York Times entitled, "Good Night, Margaret." It is the uplifting story about Margaret "Muffi" Lavigne and Chris Plum, both of whom have muscular dystrophy. But this story focuses not on their disabilities. Instead, it focuses on something they both feel incredibly lucky to have discovered...love. As Chris so poignantly states in the f... posted on Sep 8, 19949 reads

Kids Making A Mark On The World
Riley De Graff, a resourceful student from Sun Valley Elementary School in San Rafael, CA, effected positive change for the earth by asking a parent to help her recycle used markers in her school. By creating a petition through Change.org, the school collected over 90,000 signatures and mobilized a used color markers recycling campaign which is now supported by the Crayola company and Dixon Ticond... posted on May 2, 2444 reads

Radical Kindness: The Banker Who Gave It All Away
On the surface, Philip Wollen does not look like the radical type. Named as one of the top-wanted executives in Australia, he was a vice-president of Citibank when he was 34 and a general manager at Citicorp. Around 1990, however, Philip decided to give away 90% of his capital. His aim, he says, is to die broke; to give away all he owns with "warm hands." Now, his Winsome Constance Kindness Trust ... posted on Aug 30, 9502 reads

Marina Keegan & The Opposite of Loneliness
Marina Keegan's posthumous writings are moving, sensible and funny. Her parents, with the help of her college professor, put them together to honor Keegan's loving, compassionate spirit after her tragic death. By doing so, they transformed their anger, sadness and grief into a force for positivity and forgiveness that will inspire you. ... posted on Sep 15, 0 reads

Bridging the Clothing Divide
Developmental organizations typically work on food, education, health care, and economic opportunity, but very few address the need for clothing. For materially poor people, however, clothing is shelter. Anshu Gupta shares, "In earthquakes, the shake kills people; in a tsunami, the water kills people; but in winter, the cold does not kill people. It's the lack of proper clothing. Why don't we cons... posted on Oct 23, 13812 reads

Perfect Pairing: Young People Teaching Seniors About Technology
"Seniors who feel like today's technology has left them in the dust are hitching a ride with a philanthropic gaggle of students who, in their spare time, are helping older generations return to the fast lane with their iPods, iPads, smart phones and computers. A group of teenagers who never knew a world before computers launched Wired for Connections/Mentor Up...designed to help senior citizens un... posted on Oct 2, 39457 reads