Daily Phrases from the World's Happiest Nation
Finland has been consistently ranked the globe's happiest nation for six consecutive years. In Finnish culture, happiness isn't flaunted; instead, the norm is to keep a low profile without ostentatious displays of wealth. Success isn't about surpassing others but about achieving personal contentment. Their secret? Embrace life's setbacks... posted on Mar 17, 2964 reads

93-Year-Old Grandmother's Secret to a Meaningful Life
When Ioanna Matsouka, 93, took up knitting in the 1990s, she had no idea she'd end up knitting over an estimated 3,000 scarves over the next three decades. At first, she gifted them to friends. As her creations grew in quantity, she began donating them to children's shelters across Greece. Through acquaintances, her warm creations have found their way to children in Bosnia and Ukraine. U.N. refuge... posted on Mar 19, 2366 reads

Never Too Late: Becoming a World Champion at 40
Deanna Stellato-Dudek, a retired figure skater, made history at the ripe athletic age of 40, becoming the oldest woman ever to win a World Figure Skating Championship. After a series of injuries pushed her to retire from skating at the age of 17 in 2001, Stellato-Dudek went on with her life -- becoming a successful aesthetician and getting married. The unfinished saga of her athletic journey, thou... posted on Mar 25, 1476 reads

World’s Largest Musical Instrument is Hiding in this Cave
A father-son trip turns out to be the beginning of a 3 year journey into inventing the world's largest percussion instrument spanning 3.5 acres across a cave, Luray Caverns, in Virgnia, U.S. In 1954, mathematician and electronics scientist Leland Sprinkle invented the Great Stalacpipe Organ. The mesmerising otherworldly sound created by the mallets striking against the perfectly tuned stalactites ... posted on Apr 25, 5676 reads

Why Multigenerational Households are Making a Comeback
Are you aware that multigenerational living is regaining popularity? As the second decade of the 21st century concludes, we're witnessing a resurgence in multigenerational households -- a trend that has taken many researchers by surprise. The socioeconomic factors from the mid-20th century that altered the nuclear family structure now seem to revert to a pre-1950s model. The disheartening climb in... posted on May 4, 1486 reads

Jane Goodall on What It Takes to Save the Earth
Jane Goodall’s address at Davos 2024 emphasized that climate change is not slowing down: yet there is reason to hope. Goodall’s Roots & Shoots program is an example of what can be done to protect the future if all of us recognize our interconnectedness with nature and each other. The energy of youth, nature’s resilience, the human intellect, and human’s indomitable spir... posted on May 10, 4420 reads

6 Ways to Make New Friends as an Adult
For most people, it’s harder to make friends as an adult than when young. This article provides the top six tips from friendship and relationship experts on how to make new friends as an adult. They include: reframing loneliness as simply an indicator of a basic need; people have different types of needs that take several friends to fulfill; purposefully look for places where interactions wi... posted on May 24, 3493 reads

When Birds Nest in the Doorway, Go Out the Window
“Lives sometimes get rearranged by all sorts of things.” Sometimes, that rearrangement includes climbing out the kitchen window by ladder for a few weeks even though the home has two working doors. This may look like eccentric, nonsensical behavior: it’s not. Author Caitlin Shetterly’s family made this intentional choice one Spring two separate bird families nested over eac... posted on May 27, 6200 reads

Conscience and Courage: A Conversation with Lee Hoinacki
A brief note only hints at the wide horizon of this former Dominican priest, professor, author, prison dishwasher -- and perhaps Ivan Illich's closest friend. One example: "From the time of Descartes on, people in the west have had increasing difficulty in being in contact with their own bodies. How many times do we even open a window?"... posted on May 31, 1762 reads

Weathering the Storm: How Horses Teach Us Community
It was going to be a particularly important day for a healing ceremony with horses. Participants would experience community for the first time in a long time due to the covid lockdown. “Many of those present were single people. They hadn’t had any human contact since the lockdown. No one to get a hug from. No one to hold their hand.” They connected again through meditation, and s... posted on Jun 4, 4814 reads

So No One Dies Alone
Alison Bunce, an award-winning nurse, has pioneered a community that aims to provide companionship to individuals in their last hours. Originating from the No One Dies Alone (NODA) program in the United States, Bunce adapted this model in the UK, calling her project Compassionate Inverclyde. What began as a palliative care initiative has evolved into a larger community service project, offering su... posted on Aug 6, 1953 reads

Dr. Frederick Sontag: A Time of Searching
"Almost 60 years ago, professor Frederick Sontag opened a door I could not have opened on my own. Perhaps it saved my life. On a visit to Claremont, California 30 years later, I proposed interviewing him. He graciously accepted. Revisiting it today, I’m amazed at its relevance, particularly as the November election is almost upon those in the US. He says, 'America has gone through odysseys, ... posted on Sep 15, 1835 reads

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In a national survey of 1,305 employed adults, 13% reported that they or their coworkers had committed an act that they would describe as "desk rage" out of stress or anger, and nearly one in five had quit a job because of stress.... posted on Jul 28, 844 reads

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Known as "the hugging saint," Ammachi, from Southern India, spends 15 hours a day spreading love and compassion through her hugs. For the past thirty years, crowds have lined up daily to experience her warm embrace. To this day, it is reported she has hugged over 20 million times.... posted on Jul 29, 1179 reads

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Did you know that 200 residents of the planet Earth have amassed a combined wealth of more than $1 trillion, while 100 million children are living on the streets? The UN's Human Development Index (HDI) reports that 1.2 billion people get by on less than a dollar a day. While the US has the world's highest gross national product, it also has high levels of illiteracy and the highest poverty rate ... posted on Jul 31, 1000 reads

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After 247 days alone at sea, circled by sharks and almost run over by a tanker, 54-year-old Jim Shekhdar becomes the first person to row across the Pacific solo. Further proof that a determined person can do whatever they decide to do.... posted on Aug 16, 590 reads

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You'd like to help a child - give them some positive encouragement and maybe a little sensible advice, but you just don't think you have the time to be a mentor. Think again - mentoring organizations are focusing on bringing together busy working adults with at risk kids - to the great benefit of both.... posted on Aug 17, 716 reads

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Specialized rescue teams from all over the world flooded into El Salvador after the big earthquake to provide hope, comfort and rescue aid to disaster victims.... posted on Aug 21, 595 reads

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Job stress costs employers more than $200 billion each year in absenteeism, tardiness, burnout, lower productivity, high turnover, worker's compensation and medical insurance costs. ... posted on Aug 29, 604 reads

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Wind is the fastest growing source of energy in the world. Windmills are non-polluting and based on renewable energy sources; they also often make economic sense. ... posted on Aug 31, 487 reads

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Scientists have observed that tears of joy, and tears from being in the vicinity of onions, have a different chemical structure.... posted on Sep 1, 570 reads

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Loneliness has been shown to double the risk of catching a cold. Lonely people are four times more likely than others to suffer a heart attack, and four times more likely to die from it. By comparison, smokers are only twice as likely as nonsmokers to die from a heart attack.... posted on Sep 2, 619 reads

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Trevor Loflin got perfect 800 scores on the SAT college admission tests - that's pretty amazing. Perhaps even more amazing is that he managed those test scores despite the fact that his family had no permanent home. And did we mention that he has no school either? The 17 year old was home-schooled - obviously quite well - while his family slept, well, wherever.... posted on Sep 3, 755 reads

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Only 37% of youth report feeling a sense of personal power, and only half feel that their life has a purpose.... posted on Sep 13, 648 reads

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Seventy-six percent of workers age 16 and older drove alone to get to their jobs, while about 11 percent carpooled.... posted on Sep 16, 513 reads

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Approximately 25 million American adults have enough hearing loss to qualify for disability payments. Yet certain Bushman tribes in Botswana and the Maabans of southern Sudan exhibit no significant hearing loss as they grow older.... posted on Sep 17, 838 reads

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Our intention behind this daily e-mail has always been to bring inspiration and to help encourage each other in being good forces in the world. Our daily actions may be small, but they have a ripple effect. With anger in the world, there is a clear need to keep increasing the love in our actions, until the ripples reach every heart on this planet. Until that time, we can always do more. If you... posted on Sep 19, 518 reads

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The internet has proven to be a valuable tool for providing information and facilitating charitable giving after the terrorist attacks.... posted on Sep 25, 1073 reads

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The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the food for itself and second stomach is for food to be shared with other ants.... posted on Oct 3, 569 reads

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A recent study determined that employees perceptions of the psychological climate at work influenced job involvement, work effort and work performance.... posted on Oct 23, 562 reads

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In 2000, firearms killed 5,285 children in the U.S. (compared with 0 in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, and 153 in Canada).... posted on Oct 29, 523 reads

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The more teenagers feel loved by their parents and comfortable in their schools, the less likely they are to have early sex, smoke, abuse alcohol or drugs, or commit violence or suicide.... posted on Nov 3, 623 reads

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If you cut a redwood tree, its root system will create "angel rings" around the stump and as many as 100 trees will grow around it in a circle.... posted on Oct 25, 465 reads

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To make one pound of honey, the bee has to tap into 2 million flowers and travel 55,000 miles.... posted on Nov 2, 491 reads

Healing Power of Doing Good
In his 1991 book, "The Healing Power of Doing Good", Allan Luks documented that serving others produced a 'helpers's high' that also functioned as an antidote to stress and other medical conditions.... posted on Nov 28, 1049 reads

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Stanford psychiatrist David Spiegel took 86 women with advanced breast cancer and gave half of them weekly psychotherapy combined with lessons in self-hypnosis. The group receiving therapy survived on average twice as long as group that received none. (Source: Ageless Body, Timeless Mind)... posted on Dec 1, 850 reads

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Two Buddhist monks, Rev. Heng Sure and Marty Verhoeven, took a pilgrimage of about 800 miles, except that after every three steps they took one full bow to the ground wishing joy for all beings. Read some excerpts from their journals online:... posted on Dec 11, 661 reads

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Larry Scherwitz, a University of California psychologist, taped the conversations of nearly 600 men, a third of whom were suffering from heart disease, the rest of whom were healthy. Men who used the word "I", "me", and "mine" most often had the highest risk of heart trouble.... posted on Dec 19, 562 reads

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The Earth is not perfectly round but is slightly flattened at the poles and bulges a little just south of the Equator.... posted on Dec 20, 388 reads

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An organization in San Francisco allows you to travel and make a difference -- Airline Ambassadors. Started by a flight attendant, you can find more online:... posted on Dec 21, 887 reads

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According to the A.C. Nielsen Co. (1998), the average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day (more than 52 days of nonstop TV-watching per year). By age 65 the average American will have spent nearly 9 years glued to the tube.... posted on Dec 28, 472 reads

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The movie 'Waking Life' is being heralded by critics as a one of a kind and is even filmed in a unique way (animation superimposing live actors). Theme of the movie -- perhaps we are all dreaming right now.... posted on Jan 1, 751 reads

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Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.... posted on Jan 9, 808 reads

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Instead of bar-hopping, there was a group that was interested in community service. So they started Single Volunteers, where singles organize volunteer activities and meet other singles with similar interests:... posted on Jan 18, 538 reads

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Pollution and traffic are big problems in many cities. City Car-Share is an innovative solution that allows you to get a car on an hourly basis. Started in San Francisco, it is now expanding rapidly.... posted on Jan 29, 496 reads

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A national directory of social change email lists and forums:... posted on Feb 1, 447 reads

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Wouldn't it be incredible if, in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, our schools offered classes about making peace? Boston-based Peace Games partners with schools to do just that.... posted on Feb 20, 537 reads

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The only son of the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire, John Robbins was groomed to follow in his father's footsteps, but chose to walk away from the immense wealth to be a spokesperson for nonviolence, vegetarianism and a sustainable Earth.... posted on Feb 12, 782 reads

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Only 33% of pantry programs and 55% of soup kitchens have any paid staff at all, which means that many programs rely entirely on volunteers.... posted on Feb 9, 2143 reads

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Penelope Cruz, often considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood, spent a week with Mother Teresa in India and later donated her entire salary of her movie, 'The Hi-Lo Country', to Mother Teresa's charity.... posted on Feb 7, 596 reads