Living Needs Aging: A Conversation with Ashton Applewhite
In this interview ageism expert Ashton Applewhite discusses what she has learned over the course of her work. "People literally don't realize that it is no more acceptable to criticize someone on the basis of age than on the basis of anything else about themselves, I think the most important thing to think about is language-- because we live in a youth-oriented society, we tend to use young to equ... posted on Feb 22, 13899 reads

How Do We Wake Up?: A Conversation with Mark Dubois
"Nature's subtleness changed me even when I wasn't aware of it. In retrospect, I feel sort of like an insensitive oaf who got to play in the fields of the Lord and had no idea where I was, except it made all of us smile. So even if we don't have language or recognition of it, my experience is that nature works through us." Today, few people know better, or feel more deeply, our essential connectio... posted on Feb 13, 11017 reads

Removing Weeds, Tending Flowers: Reflections from a Changemaker
Last month, a remarkable gathering took place in Ahmedabad, India. Dubbed, "Gandhi 3.0" it was a retreat that brought together change-makers from around the world who aspire to drive that change from the inside out, through the power of inner transformation. One of the first speakers at the retreat was Sachi Maniar, a dynamic young filmmaker-turned-social-entrepreneur who devotes a significant par... posted on Feb 10, 13260 reads

Getting Unstuck: The Art of Possibility
We begin with grand plans for accomplishing a task, and too often end in frustration with having nothing done. What if we changed our view and looked at a rut as an opportunity instead of a problem? Rosamund Stone Zander, the author of "Getting Unstuck," helps us see the inner wisdom we all have. On her journey as a writer, slowing down is the key that opened a surge in creativity. She suggest... posted on Feb 27, 14502 reads

Gardens & the Art of Delayed Gratification
Alanda Greene grew up having spent time nurturing a deep connection with nature through gardening -- planting seeds and watching them grow. She remarks that even now, "no matter how many times I plant seeds, these small, hard beads of potential, I am thrilled when the signs of growth emerge. It is as if I never really believed it would happen this time. Seems just too improbable that those tiny ... posted on Jul 22, 10563 reads

Against the Clock: How Tech Has Changed Our Perception of Time
Alan Burdick's most recent book, "Why Time Flies: A Mostly Scientific Investigation," chronicles his quest to understand the nature of lived time. He recently joined Douglas Rushkoff, media theorist and author of "Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now," for a conversation on what we miss about the nature of time when we only think about it as a number. The conversation touches on the tension ... posted on May 23, 18424 reads

Esther the Wonder Pig
"She has a popularity rating most teenagers can only dream of. Her main Facebook page has more than 160,000 likes. Her musings about life with her two dads in Ontario, Canada, draw thousands of comments. And while she can't take selfies, her photos get forwarded around the world. Meet Esther the Wonder Pig who does more than make people laugh: evidence of what her human guardians call the "Esther ... posted on Mar 3, 22444 reads

Spotlight on Women Who Are Changing the World
While a woman's work is never done, just what that work is has changed dramatically in recent years. From financiers to social activists, inventors to world leaders, women are shaping the present and helping to build a stronger future. Together they are easing the burdens of poverty and fighting for social justice. Today marks International Women's Day. In celebration, this Daily Good Spotlight on... posted on Mar 8, 14880 reads

Greeting the Light: A Conversation with James Turrell
"I was a Quaker and then, for a while, I wasn't. And now I am again," Thus begins a deep conversation with one of the worlds most important artists. Learning to fly when he was sixteen, later he flew monks out of Tibet. "I feel like I've had several lifetimes in this life," he says. But light is this artist's subject."My grandmother told me that as you sat in Quaker silence you were to go inside t... posted on Mar 26, 15782 reads

The Newscaster Who Wouldn't Give Up On A Foster Child
For 25 years, retiring newscaster Gloria Campos has profiled foster children who were waiting to be adopted in the Dallas-Fort Worth area on the "Wednesday's Child" television segment at WFAA-TV. Campos estimates that, over the years, she has featured more than 350 children, 75 percent of whom were adopted thanks to her reporting. But of all those children, there was one young boy whose story she ... posted on Apr 19, 17795 reads

How Nature Makes Us Healthier and Happier
Studies show that communing with nature is beneficial for your health and your life socially, psychologically, and emotionally. The article in Yes Magazine discusses what these research studies have found regarding the benefits nature provides.... posted on Dec 7, 16528 reads

Billy Barr: The Snow Guardian
Who is Billy Barr and how has he single-handedly produced remarkable evidence of climate change? For the past four decades, Barr has lived alone in a cabin in the remote, ghost town of Gothic, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains, one of the United State's coldest locations. With no external incentives, or formal training in the field, he began keeping meticulous snowfall records to escape boredom duri... posted on Apr 15, 4217 reads

A Nobel Laureate on the Power of Not Knowing
"Surrender to not-knowing" was the catchphrase of poet Wislawa Szymborska who offered this as a guide to participate in the wonder of creation as an artist. Whether a scientist, poet, or everyday worker we are all artists as we become co-creators in life. As we step into each moment with the willingness to allow for the unexpected to unfold, we make art with the stuff of our lives. The alternative... posted on Apr 28, 12709 reads

This Is A Poem That Heals Fish
What is a poem? The beautiful children's book, 'This Is a Poem That Heals Fish', follows the journey of a young boy seeking to answer just that. Written by French poet Jean-Pierre Simen and brilliantly translated into English by Claudia Zoe Bedrick, the story is as moving as it is profound. Poetry, by its very nature, is often elusive, and this is reflected in the responses of the characters who a... posted on Apr 12, 18295 reads

Ask Him Anything
Mansoor Shams is a 34 year old U.S. Marine. He's also a Muslim whose family immigrated to America when he was just 6-years-old. In "Ask Him Anything: This Muslim Marine Wants to Bust Myths About His Faith" from PBS News Hour, Shams travels to 4 western U.S. cities to combat prejudice and open up a dialogue about the fears and prejudices people may have about Muslims and immigrants, often finding c... posted on May 7, 3228 reads

Brother David Steindl-Rast on Matters of Heart
When Brother David reached out to his readers of Integral Yoga Magazine in the 1970s to write him on any matter on life and the spirit, one reader responded with an inspired request on matters of the heart. What do we mean when we talk of the heart space? Is it courage? Faithfulness? In his response, Brother David illuminates his view on what it truly means to life from love - in a heart-centred e... posted on Jul 17, 11210 reads

Viktor Frankl & the Search for Meaning
Few books of the last century have had a greater impact on our quest for meaning than Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. This all-time bestseller was written by a Jewish man who had just lost everything in the Holocaust. When Frankl, emaciated from concentration camps, returned to his beloved Vienna, no one was there to meet him. His mother had been gassed at Auschwitz. His brother had been... posted on Apr 14, 58757 reads

Re-Imagining the World: An Artist's Remarkable Life Journey
They say that a creative adult is the child who survived. From an early age, Slobodan Dan Paich had a powerful awareness of his inner compass. In the decades since, it has led him across the globe and against many odds, to build community through art and to leverage the creative force for re-imagining the world. Slobodan reminds us how staying true to ourselves, and working with our fears, we can ... posted on May 11, 3259 reads

The Freedom of Real Apologies
In 2009, the U.S government quietly released the congressional resolution of "Apology to Native Peoples," hidden inside the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. In response, Layli Long Soldier authored WHEREAS, a book of pioneering poetry, which went on to receive the 2016 Whiting Award. Soldier, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, grew up in Arizona where she now teaches English at Di... posted on May 12, 6466 reads

Jeannie Kahwajy: Catching Everything As Help
"I want to catch what people are offering, catch everything as help; like Aikido. Aikido is a martial art where it doesn't matter what intention somebody is moving towards you with. I can always catch it as helpful energy -- I get to develop this redirecting skill." Jeannie Kahwajy is an executive coach and the CEO of Effective Interactions. She believes an attitude of love is the most effective w... posted on Apr 11, 15794 reads

The True Birthright of the Storyteller
As a newspaper reporter, Rajni Bakshi initially enjoyed the thrill of getting out there to write about any interesting story she could find. But that thrill faded as she began to feel that although it's important to record what is, it is also important to illuminate what can be. To Rajni, that means "making visible those people, ideas and actions that seem at first extraordinary but which actually... posted on May 10, 7326 reads

In Praise of Melancholia
The science of behavioral epigenetic explores how melancholy can be passed down through the generations at the level of our DNA. Long seen as a key element in artistic inspiration, melancholia often helps turn pain and sorrow into healing, ultimately leading to an acceptance of life's inescapable emotional sufferings and wounds. Indigenous and shamanic cultures such as that of Aboriginal Australia... posted on Jun 26, 12734 reads

Seeds of Change: Meet A Hero of the Urban Farm Movement
It began with a single tomato. Watching her own home-grown plant take form before her eyes, and tasting for herself the deliciousness, Karen Washington dove into gardening as more than just a hobby -- it became her calling. Deemed as 'the queen of urban farming', Washington is a change maker and urban revolutionist ---greening the streets of New York City's poorest areas one abandoned lot at a tim... posted on May 13, 8480 reads

How Do You Build a Sacred Space?
Can architecture actually become a prayer answered? Can a building capture and transmit a sacred response through the play of light and materials? Architect Siamak Hariri describes the transformative potential of architecture in this TED talk. Listen to his creative journey and watch the sacred geometry unfold as the first international Baha'i' temple in South America comes alive.... posted on Jul 8, 9780 reads

The Sacred Art of Pausing
When in the middle of things we can't control, our first impulse is often frantic activity; anxiously cluttering our days, our minds and our bodies. "We fill our days with continual movement: mental planning and worrying, habitual talking, fixing, scratching, adjusting, phoning, snacking, discarding, buying, looking in the mirror." In this passage, Tara Brach asks us to consider what might happen ... posted on Jul 16, 26211 reads

How Do I Love Trees? Let Me Count the Ways...
Trees are interwoven into our existence in so many ways. They give us air to breathe, shade from sun, beautiful colors in the autumn, timber to build our homes, food to eat, paper to write on, and so much more. In this ode to our wooded friends,the team at Gratefulness.org have compiled a series of quotes, stories, poems, and photographs that delve deeper into our connection to trees. Going beyond... posted on Aug 23, 28559 reads

Defining Hope: A Tribute to Nurses
In 2012, photographer Carolyn Jones was commissioned to create The American Nurse Project, interviewing, filming, and photographing over 100 nurses across the U.S., after her own fight with breast cancer. She was inspired by her chemo nurse, Joanne Staha, who not only made her feel more normal during treatment, but reminded her that eventually she would heal and her life would go back to normal. O... posted on Aug 28, 3000 reads

Want to Innovate? Become a Now-ist
In 2011, Joi Ito, Director of the MIT Media Lab, had a need to understand what was happening with an earthquake in Japan, so he created a way to find that information. He lived and acted in the present. With the world moving so rapidly, a new approach to innovation was needed. Joi calls the people changing the method now-ists for living and working from the ground up. His TED Talk features his jou... posted on Aug 31, 6256 reads

Elie Wiesel on How Our Questions Unite Us
What do leadership and loneliness have in common? What is the difference between solitude and isolation? How might we live through to the other side the intense feelings of being alone that can come upon us? Maria Popova explores these rich and subtle questions in this Brain Pickings article. She delves into a rare essay, "The Loneliness of Leadership" written by holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.... posted on Aug 21, 7211 reads

The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters
"Something interesting has been happening in recent years. Meaning has regained a foothold in our universities, and especially in an unexpected place the sciences. Many of the "meaning" researchers are working in a field called positive psychology -- a discipline that grounds its findings in empirical studies, but also draws on the rich tradition of the humanities. Positive psychology was founded ... posted on Jan 25, 36529 reads

Day Jobs for Panhandlers
With just under 400,000 residents, Tulsa, Oklahoma, has a significant homeless population. In 2016, between 6,000 and 7,000 residents lived on the streets. That number, while small in comparison to homeless populations in cities such as New York and Los Angeles, is noticeable in medium-sized Tulsa. So what did Tulsa decide to do to address this problem? Do what Albuquerque, New Mexico did -- move... posted on Jun 10, 8752 reads

Finding Joy: The Science of Happiness
We long to find more joy in our daily pursuits even though life has taught us it's not so easy. New discoveries in neuroscience offer insight into how we can develop a brighter state of heart and mind. Our choices are more than a temporary glitch in the brain, it turns out. Learn why it's better to sometimes allow love for the fractured and suffering humanity around and inside us to enter our busy... posted on Aug 29, 20395 reads

Sharing Stories in a Broken Culture
In this deeply divided culture, how can we honor people in such as way as to weave with them our common narrative and show each other respect? How do we find common ground? Simon Hodges believes that respectful relationships are a prior condition for persuasion and argues that we have the power to shape a narrative, giving voice to the voiceless and respect to all, that can bring about positive s... posted on Sep 1, 8891 reads

Confronting Death with Pets, Music and Good Hair
What can you do for someone who has less than three months to live? Those who volunteer with Dover Park Hospice (DPH) come face to face with this question on a regular basis. Sounds grim, but it's not. The volunteers provide music, massage services, food and playdates with pets for the patients to enjoy, spreading happiness with a smile, a song, a touch. It doesn't take much, and yet it means a lo... posted on Dec 31, 2859 reads

Finding Right Livelihood
In this thoughtful piece, author E.F. Schumacher argues for a set of economic principles that aligns economic progress and growth with the Buddhist ideals of nonviolence and peace. He proposes intriguing perspectives on labor, leisure, consumption, and the use of natural resources that flips modern economics on its head. Read on for fascinating food for thought.... posted on Mar 3, 18012 reads

Ready to Start Living? First Consider Death
What would you do if today was your last day alive? There's nothing more compelling than the thought of living, breathing and experiencing the playground of life when we consider that all of what we know and are may one day come to an end. Connecting with this powerful reminder will connect you to life in a way where you move from auto-pilot living to a curious, excited energy for what life can br... posted on Sep 9, 15925 reads

The Montana Moms Who Welcomed Refugees Into Their City
"Our goal is not to convince people what we're doing is right and what they're doing is wrong," she says. "Our goal is just to create a more welcoming environment for refugees to call home." This is the goal of Soft landing, a non-profit organization in Missoula Montana. When seeing the now famous photo of Aylan Kurdi, the three year old boy who drowned during his family's attempt to flee Syria, r... posted on Dec 30, 8376 reads

The Whisper of the Order of Things
A philosopher's questioning and a scientist's eye shape Enrique Martnez Celaya's original approach to art and to life. A world-renowned painter who trained as a physicist, he's fascinated by the deeper order that "whispers" beneath the surface of things. Works of art that endure, he says, possess their own form of consciousness. And a quiet life of purpose is a particular form of prophecy. Learn m... posted on Nov 12, 9507 reads

Medicine Baba: When a Man Becomes a Movement
In the aftermath of a building collapse in East Delhi, India, that left some dead and more suffering, Omkar Nath Sharma felt helpless. Before his very eyes, people in pain, some dying, needed medicine but had no money. And the local hospital could not help. Then it struck him: maybe people had medicine in their homes that they no longer needed. Though he was 80 years old, he could walk, he could t... posted on Aug 26, 2341 reads

The Remarkable Story of An Artist Who Never Spoke a Word
Judith Scott was born deaf and with Down Syndrome. She never spoke a word. Beginning at 7 years old, she spent much of her life in state institutions, up until 1986 when her sister Joyce was awarded legal guardianship. While living with Joyce, Judith discovered Creative Growth, and her love of creating art. She spent the rest of her life, up until her death in 2005, creating remarkable art that of... posted on Sep 21, 12119 reads

Kristin Pedemonti: Blower of Bubbles, Teller of Stories
Kristin Pedemonti's simplicity of spirit and open heart illuminates all whom she meets. In talking about her "leap of faith" decision to pursue storytelling full-time, she says: "When you are on a path that is the right one for you whatever that path is this clarity will appear." Kristin speaks from experience. Whether she's blowing bubbles on a subway of tired souls, giving free hugs at a busy in... posted on Sep 17, 9300 reads

Free Art -- A Conversation with Dickson Schneider
Seven years had gone by and suddenly I knew it was time to give Dickson a call. It was time to find out what had happened with his free art project. It was a radical step and when I first heard about it, I thought, "If he's still doing it in five years, its going to be seriously interesting." And now more than five years had passed. I gave him a call. "It's the best thing Ive ever done," he said. ... posted on Jul 25, 2387 reads

This Incredible Fact of Being Alive:
"I remember writing somewhere that art took me over before life did. I think of myself, and other artists, as the growing edge of a 30,000-year old body of people who made the drawings in the caves, the Pompeii murals, Sumi-e paintings, Rembrandt, Picasso, Grandma Moses. The artists before us were helping to keep the world alive, as working artists are today. We just happen to be occupying the uni... posted on Sep 19, 3197 reads

What We Measure. What We Value. And Why the Difference Matters.
This thought-provoking piece highlights the problems that can occur when we let what we measure tell us what to value. "Whether you are in business, government, non-profit or academics, the metrics that surround you drive your action. The purpose of all these metrics is to drive productive action, and if you instead interpret these metrics as a measure of value, a very different set of counter-pro... posted on Oct 17, 14967 reads

Restoration: A Conversation with Daniel McCormick & Mary O'Brien
"There's still a bit of misunderstanding about what we do," says Mary O'Brien, "When we meet with site stewards, conservation managers and scientists they're often like, "We're going to meet with an artist? Whats that all about?" The work of environmental restoration artists Daniel McCormick and Mary O'Brien is nearly always an uphill struggle, but they're passionate. They've acquired knowledge ac... posted on May 19, 1907 reads

A World Where All the Gazi's Go to School
Gazi Jalaluddin has a clear vision: a world where no "Gazi" has to stop going to school. Poverty forced him to quit school as a child. He ultimately became a taxi driver in Kolcalata. By asking passengers to donate books, old clothes or medicine, he has helped many children return to their studies. By 2012, Gazi had also created two schools for 425 students and built an orphanage. Gazi's belief in... posted on Apr 19, 11102 reads

Reimagining the Cosmos
In a conversation ranging from free will to the multiverse to the meaning of the Higgs boson particle, physicist Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and author of The Elegant Universe, invites us to a thrilling, mind-bending view of the cosmos and of the human adventure of modern science.
... posted on Dec 3, 6022 reads

How Trauma Lodges in the Body
Human memory is a sensory experience, says psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk. Through his longtime research and innovation in trauma treatment, he shares what he's learning about how bodywork like yoga or eye movement therapy can restore a sense of goodness and safety. What he's learning speaks to a resilience we can all cultivate in the face of overwhelming events -- which, after all, make up the ... posted on Oct 20, 67422 reads

The Imagination of Stonefox
In this joyful video, journey into the Imaginarium of Stonefox (artist Chuck Galvin) and his sidekick T-Ball. Stonefox reminds us that imagination is one of the most useful allies in life and that the heart is connected to everything in the body, especially the mouth. You can't help but smile as you gaze upon some of Stonefox's creations and absorb his wisdom.... posted on Nov 6, 3721 reads

5 Schools Moving the Needle on Sustainability
When it comes to formal education in schools and colleges, sustainability is too often boiled down to the technical study of environmental science in a classroom setting. But how do we teach our students to actually practice sustainable living? In the wake of the loosening environmental regulations in the United States, read about the efforts of these five colleges and universities which are commi... posted on Nov 18, 10939 reads