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, 6024 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, 67423 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

As Worthy as You Are
"When I look at babies, I see how worthy we all are. I see that each individual is an artist, ready to paint something soul-fulfilling on the palette of existence. I see how we start out completely innocent and deserving of love.Then we begin to grow, finding our way in a sometimes challenging world. Navigating lifes difficulties sometimes alters our perception of self-worth." In this short, eloqu... posted on Sep 14, 15997 reads

The Why Behind Asking Why: The Science of Curiosity
Curiosity is a fundamental human trait. Everyone is curious, but the object and degree of that curiosity is different depending on the person and the situation. Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio was so curious about curiosity that he wrote a book about it titled, 'Why? What Makes Us Curious.' He shares more about what he learned in the process here. ... posted on Sep 25, 12432 reads

The Man Who Created a Broker-Free Market for Farmers
Prateek Sharma was born to a family of farmers in a village close to Bhopal, India. He started farming as a child along with his family but eventually left his village and accomplished a successful career in the city as a chief manager of a prominent Indian bank. What prompted him then to quit his lucrative job to return to tending to the earth as a community farmer? Sharma's inspiring journey as... posted on Dec 27, 12557 reads

What Fear Can Teach Us
We all have fears, some of which can be quite vivid for those with active imaginations. As children, we’re encouraged to think of fear as a weakness, something we must conquer, fight, or overcome. In this TED Talk, Karen Thompson Walker invites listeners to conceptualize their fears in a different way: as stories. Fear is an unintentional form of storytelling, she argues, with characters, p... posted on Sep 23, 16547 reads

Richard Rohr: From Being Driven to Being Drawn
Knowing that there will be sadness, there will be challenges, that things aren't always smooth sailing, do you find yourself saying 'yes' to life? When we accept the uncomfortable experiences, we realize that joy and sadness can coexist, and by choosing our focus, we change the direction of our lives. The foundation of 'yes' to all that occurs does not mean we relinquish our strength and boundarie... posted on Nov 7, 21227 reads

The Greatest Danger
"Thich Nhat Hanh was asked, "what do we most need to do to save our world?" His answer was this: "What we most need to do is to hear within us the sounds of the Earth crying."...What disintegrates in periods of rapid transformation is not the self, but its defenses and assumptions. Self-protection restricts vision and movement like a suit of armor, making it harder to adapt. Going to pieces, howev... posted on Dec 9, 60596 reads

Having it Out With Melancholy
With great care and attention, make a hot cup of tea. Take it to a room with a window. Sit down, take off your glasses and exhale slowly. Listen to this hauntingly beautiful recording of Jane Kenyon's poem read aloud by Amanda Palmer. Listen again. Let the understanding, pain and relief wash over you. Then, after a moment, explore the rich context of Maria Popova's introduction to this Brain Picki... posted on Nov 29, 13103 reads

How I Became an Entrepreneur at 66
After being fired at age 64, Paul Tasner spent the next two years consulting in the same business he had worked continuously for the past 40 years. Although dissatisfied with the work, he was unable to retire. So, when he had an idea that matched his concern for the environment, he decided to become an entrepreneur. In the five years since he started his own business, his revenues have doubled eve... posted on Feb 6, 0 reads

The Powerful Stories that Shaped Africa
Speaking of Africa, Gus Casely-Hayford, in his 2017 TED talk, maintains that "no other continent has nurtured, has fought for, has celebrated its history more concertedly. The struggles endured and the sacrifices made to hold onto narrative in the face of enslavement, colonialism, racism, wars and so much else has been the underpinning narrative of our history." He tells us about the Mali Empire, ... posted on Jan 28, 10250 reads

At the Tip of Time's Arrow
Close your eyes and imagine this moment, right now, as the tip of an arrow called eternity. What do you see? What do you imagine? What do you sense but have no words for? Dive into this meditation on time by Nicos Hadjicostis and look through his eyes into the infinity of time and what implications is has for how you live this very day.... posted on Dec 6, 8051 reads

Social Bite: Cafes Helping People Out of Homelessness
In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it's easy to forget about our homeless population. In the United States alone, in just one night there are over half a million homeless people, a quarter of whom are children. Worldwide, an estimated 100 million people are homeless, with a total of 1.6 billion are lacking adequate housing. Scottish entrepreneur Josh Littlejohn wanted to make a difference in ... posted on Dec 10, 12703 reads

Living from a Place of Surrender
Michael Singer is a spiritual teacher, entrepreneur, and the bestselling author of the spiritual classic The Untethered Soul. In this conversation, Michael speaks about the core idea of his teachings: that it is only through complete surrender to the essence of the moment that we experience life's full potential. The discussion is rich, detailed, and pragmatic, including what this sense of surrend... posted on Dec 22, 48242 reads

Seeing is Not Thinking
Artist and thinker Jeanne de Salzmann writes: "The question is not what to do but how to see. Seeing is the most important thingthe act of seeing ... it is truly an act, an action that brings something entirely new, a new possibility of vision, certainty and knowledge. This possibility appears during the act itself and disappears as soon as the seeing stops." ... posted on Dec 20, 8048 reads

What It Means to Hold Space & 8 Tips to Do it Well
"To truly support people in their own growth, transformation, grief, etc., we can't do it by taking their power away (ie. trying to fix their problems), shaming them (ie. implying that they should know more than they do), or overwhelming them (ie. giving them more information than they're ready for). We have to be prepared to step to the side so that they can make their own choices, offer them unc... posted on Aug 9, 47888 reads

The Songs of Trees
We look at trees every day. What if we paused long enough to "listen"? Could you hear a song if you put your ear to the bark? If one tree can sing a solo; what kind of symphony would come forth from a forest of trees? Dive into these questions on a long cold day with a warm cup and Maria Popova's review of the book "The Songs of Trees" by David George Haskell. Give yourself the gift of lingering s... posted on Jan 4, 16288 reads

Mark Nepo: Where To Now?
How often, in a moment of stark clarity, have you asked yourself "How did I get to this place?" and then "Now what?". This short beautiful poem by Mark Nepo unfolds just such a moment with compassion for the journey and peace in the answer. Stop whatever you believe you must hurry to do next, and give yourself the gift of sitting with this poem for a moment or a lifetime.... posted on Apr 8, 27247 reads

A Fifty-Year Friendship Catalyzed By Kindness
"My parents came to the U.S. in the 1960s, along with the first wave of immigrants from India. My father came to Kansas, which is where he was getting his Ph.D. Six months later, my mother came with the three of us kids -- my sister, my brother, and me. We were just two, four and five years old. It was the very first winter we were in Kansas. It was cold. We didn't yet have heavy coats. We didn't ... posted on Mar 24, 16388 reads

A Doctor For Life: Ann Petru
Dr. Petru was just starting out as a young doctor when the AIDs epidemic began. She recalls, "As I started seeing a few kids with HIV, my boss and mentor in Infectious Disease at Children's Oakland said, 'I take care of the Department. I run the show. You figure out what to do for these kids.'" Petru couldn't imagine not taking care of these kids, she told me. 35 years later, Co-Director of Pediat... posted on Jan 21, 2695 reads

Seneca on the Antidote to Anxiety
With elegant rhetoric the great first-century Roman philosopher Seneca examines worry, both real and imaginary, and the mental discipline of overcoming fear. In Letters from a Stoic, he points out to a young friend that, "Some things torment us more than they ought; some torment us before they ought; and some torment us when they ought not to torment us at all. We are in the habit of exaggerating,... posted on Mar 18, 19807 reads

It's Never Too Late to Grow a Garden
Some people in public service make changes and start organizations on a large scale, affecting many lives. All of this is good, but so is change made on a smaller scale. Mary Ellen Graham's life is testament to this. She is the founder and first executive director of My Place Germantown - a community-based permanent housing residence for homeless men in the City of Philadelphia. It is a small scal... posted on Feb 12, 12253 reads

The Happiness Multiplier Effect
Happiness is something we all strive for, yet can be difficult to define. Dictionary.com defines happiness as "good fortune, pleasure, contentment, or joy." And in fact many people associate having more money with being happier. However, studies released in 2008 and 2010 show that there is a threshold for which money can bring happiness. Beyond being pulled out of poverty to a comfortable income... posted on Aug 20, 11913 reads

Remarkable Beings
Where would you turn to learn about familial love, cooperative community and walking through life with peace and gentleness? Expand your horizons and understanding in this essay on what the desert elephants of northern Namibia reveal about belonging on a cosmic scale. Eleanor O'Hanlon shares what she has learned from these remarkable beings in an article for Parabola magazine.
... posted on Mar 25, 16891 reads

Books on How to Lead a Meaningful Life
Looking to curl up with a good read? Check out this list of 2017's best books on how to stay resilient and live a meaningful life. Covering topics that range from how to raise responsible, mature, and empathic children in an increasingly digital age, to why compassion matters in the workplace, this list offers something for everyone. Thought-provoking, engaging, and insightful, your next great rea... posted on Nov 27, 15203 reads

For 11 Years She Taught 250 Kids For Free
Getting access to education for children in rural communities is a problem faced by countries across the world. In India, there is a program launched by the government in 1975 focused on bringing healthcare, education, and nutrition to rural communities through an anganwadi, or 'courtyard shelter.' Anganwadis are vital to these populations, pulling children young enough to attend preschool from he... posted on Dec 10, 6412 reads

Literature's Legacy of Honorable Failure
Somewhere between a critic's necessary superficiality and a writer's natural dishonesty, the truth of how we judge literary success or failure is lost. It is very hard to get writers to speak frankly about their own work, particularly in a literary market where they are required to be not only writers, but also hucksters selling product. What makes a good writer? Is writing an expression of self, ... posted on Mar 14, 12352 reads

No Better Place to Meet Yourself
Moussa Ag Assarid, an avid and gifted storyteller, was born in the Sahara desert in a nomadic camp of Touaregs in the north of Mali, where for generations his family has lived the simple desert life of herding "camels, goats, sheep, cows and donkeys in a kingdom of infinite and of silence." Describing the desert as the perfect "place to meet yourself," Assarid reminisces that there, "every little... posted on Mar 22, 11775 reads

Spirit of the Earth: Indian Voices on Nature
It is indigenous communities who often bear the biggest brunt of environmental crisis -- and who continue to put their bodies on the frontline to protect the Earth, and all of us. Samuel Bendeck Sotillos reminds us that as things are getting worse, they are being uncovered. This is where our hope lies. Amidst the death throes of a dysfunctional paradigm on its way out, it is the First Peoples' tim... posted on Mar 12, 11080 reads

Photographing the Beauty of Life in the Shadow of War
While violence might be the only thing depicted in times of trouble or war, its not the whole picture. Thats what photographer Ami Vitale learned in places like Kosovo and Gaza. At the age of 26, Vitale quit her office job in Manhattan to go abroad and make a difference. There, she got a job as a photographer for a business journal when war broke out nearby, instantly altering her course and putti... posted on Feb 15, 2861 reads

The Dumpster
One day, Meredith Sabini found a large dumpster in front of her neighbor's house, packed with all her treasures and belongings. The widow had passed on and her family members quickly loaded her possessions and left the dumpster behind. Ms. Sabini, founder of The Dream Institute of Northern California in Berkeley whose mission is to restore the dream as a cultural resource, muses: "It is common the... posted on Apr 1, 3889 reads

Three Lessons of Revolutionary Love in a Time of Rage
"Revolutionary love is the choice to enter into labor for others who do not look like us, for our opponents who hurt us and for ourselves. In this era of enormous rage, when the fires are burning all around us,...revolutionary love is the call of our times." In this TEDWomen 2017 talk, Valarie Kaur gives us the antidote to rising nationalism, polarization and hate. In her journey from the birthing... posted on Mar 31, 4568 reads

The Sacred Ordinary in Healthcare
Sacred acts. This is how Dr. Venu Julapalli would describe the seemingly mundane, at times unglamorous, services performed by a team of caregivers looking after his mother who, after the sudden rupture of an aneurysm in her brain, was largely unable to care for herself. These caregivers saw the human behind the hospital gown, and treated their patient with the tenderness and compassion a loving fa... posted on Mar 20, 18984 reads

From Mindfulness to Heartfulness
"Heartfulness seeks to overcome limitations to the kind of mindfulness that is used for the pursuit of profit and pleasure and doesnt challenge materialistic beliefs, values, or practices. Mindfulness can enable other virtues, but if we remain on the purely cognitive level, or stay narrowly focused on stress reduction, we are missing its true power. While the science focus is extremely convincing... posted on Mar 8, 14111 reads

Betsy Damon: Living Water
"Water is Betsy Damon's passion, living water -- water, as the Chinese say, that has gone up and down the mountain ten thousand times. After many years of studying water her question became, "How can we teach people how nature takes care of water?" Fast forward a few years and she's in China, an unattached visitor. But she's talking with everyone she meets about water. And where this story leads, ... posted on Mar 23, 3926 reads

The renowned poet David Whyte has learned to walk on the borders
"One of the dynamics I'm working with at the moment is the art of asking beautiful questions, and I think you can ask beautiful questions of yourself as well as of life and of circumstances. I have this under the heading, "Solace". You find solace, which is not only comfort but also a place in the greater scheme of things, when you ask beautiful questions in quite often un-beautiful circumstances.... posted on May 23, 22436 reads

9 Scientists Share Their Favorite Happiness Practices
Where do you seek happiness? In your relationships? Your work? Your hobbies? This highly sought after feeling can be elusive and hard to hold on to. Once we do obtain it, the good feelings it brings are often fleeting and we begin our quest all over again. What if you could bring happiness into your life in more lasting ways? In this article, 9 scientists share their favorite practices for increas... posted on Aug 8, 23817 reads

Creating a Compassionate Economy
Clair Brown is a professor of economics and director of the Center for Work, Technology, and Society at the University of California, Berkeley. Her recent book, Buddhist Economics: An Enlightened Approach to the Dismal Science, draws upon simple Buddhist ideas to argue for an economic system based on environmental stewardship, shared prosperity, and care for the human spirit.... posted on Jun 22, 9244 reads

How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds
"Last fall Alan Jacobs published a slim book with a bold title: How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds. Jacobs is a professor of English literature, but in this book he joins a growing chorus of social psychologists who warn that enlightenment anthropology -- what Jamie Smith memorably calls the "brains-on-a-stick" model of human persons -- falls woefully short of reality. Rather, as ... posted on May 21, 1645 reads

Nature is Medicine -- Even in a Prison Cell
Nalini Nadkarni, a biology professor at the University of Utah who has pioneered techniques for studying tree canopy communities in tropical and temperate forests, started "Moss-in-Prisons," a project in which prisoners joined a research/conservation effort to counteract the destructive effects of collecting wild-grown moss from old-growth forests for the floral trade. "We learned that the inmates... posted on Jul 2, 11419 reads

Are You Walking Through Life in an Underslept State?
Why should you get the World Health Organization's recommended 8 hours of sleep? Matthew Walker, director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of the new book, "Why We Sleep", answers that question and more in this NPR interview. Read on to find out why sleep is important, how our environment affects our sleeping patterns, and tips for improvi... posted on Jun 4, 14966 reads