Tippett, Host: Father Greg Boyle makes amazingly winsome connections between things like service and delight, and compassion and awe. Amazing because he works in an urban setting others describe in terms of crime and despair. He landed as an idealistic young Jesuit in a gang-heavy neighborhood of Los Angeles over two decades ago. Now he heads Homeboy Industries, which employs former gang members in a constellation of businesses from screen printing to a farmers market to a bakery. An op-ed in the Los Angeles Timessaid of Homeboy Industries, "How much bleaker and meaner would LA be without it?" Father Greg says service is not an end in itself but a beginning, towards f... posted on May 4 2014 (21,003 reads)

ball rolls back and forth. You couldn’t wish for a better, more condensed illustration of how difficult it is to try not to try. Our lives, Slingerland argues, are often like “a massive game of Mindball,” when we find ourselves continually caught in this loop of trying so hard that we stymie our own efforts. Like in Mindball, where victory only comes when the player relaxes and stops trying to win, we spend our lives “preoccupied with effort, the importance of working, striving, and trying,” only to find that the more we try to will things into manifesting, the more elusive they become. Slingerland writes: Our excessive focus in the modern ... posted on Jun 3 2014 (14,151 reads)

new book applies science to figuring out how to build a place where people actually look forward to work. Many of my friends really dread their jobs. They complain about employers who treat them like machinery—there to churn out whatever is required of them, regardless of the cost to their motivation, creativity or personal health. Their bosses seem to expect that they work long hours and stay glued to cell phones at night, but then show little appreciation or, worse, micromanage them. No one likes it; but what alternatives are there when employers have deadlines to meet or products to develop? Perigree, 2014, 352 pages Plenty, according to psychologist Ron... posted on Apr 21 2015 (193,218 reads)

do answers. We do questions. We deal with discovering and deepening our sense of something that is unknown. But in the spirit of your question and—as an academic thing, and in a good way—when I hear this phrase “the unknown” I think first of all of Immanuel Kant, probably the greatest modern philosopher. He defined something essential about the modern era in the Western world through an extraordinary book called The Critique of Pure Reason. This is a vast, complex work of genius; it’s like walking into a great cathedral because of the immensity of it and the depth of thought and understanding in it. To put it briefly, he argued with unsurpassed persuasive... posted on Jun 11 2016 (17,780 reads)

the middle school she brought 200 handmade gratitude cards, she spent the whole week before, cutting each one, stamping it, tying a ribbon around it and doing all this beautiful stuff. And that's kind of the way she is, that sense of wanting to offer herself; wanting to give of herself above and beyond in so many ways. She's an artist, she's an art curator, she's a wife, and the mother of two beautiful children, and she's also a speaker. She interviews beautiful souls for works & conversations magazine and also for these Awakin calls. She bakes amazing brownies and banana bread in bulk. She puts it on a beautiful plate -- always arranges things so perfectly. You ca... posted on Aug 18 2016 (14,350 reads)

created a standalone basketball court in his backyard. The next day, he waited for them to show up. Around 2:00-3:00, Tommy noticed the kids coming in and started to play basketball by himself. Noticing the kids were starting to pick up stones and throw them at him, Tommy continued to play, dribbling the ball by himself. Finally, one of the kids started to play with him and the rest soon decided to join in. That day they played a game against him and he let them win. “The purpose was working together as a team…although I am bigger and stronger, they can do it, too”, Tommy told me. From that day, a mentoring program grew. The boys started to ask “Brother Tommy... posted on May 8 2017 (9,840 reads)

Rosenberg's landmark book Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life. "By the time I read Chapter 1, it hit me that I had found what I was looking for...A set of concepts and ideas to be able to move through conflict." Thom realized instinctively that he'd found a new technology -- one that was human-oriented as opposed to building-oriented that would allow for more effective and harmonious use of energy. "I think Marshall Rosenberg's work may be the single most important discovery of the 20th century, his discovery that when we bring our attention to our universal human needs, it changes what we focus on, it changes ... posted on Jul 9 2017 (21,129 reads)

north central Washington who has been volunteering for humanitarian medical missions since 1982, when he was a young man in medical school. His first experience profoundly changed his life and he was “hooked,” he says, volunteering repeatedly for medical exchange programs in Veracruz, Mexico, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Most recently he served as the medical coordinator for Salaam Cultural Museum (SCM), a Seattle-based nonprofit conducting humanitarian and medical relief work with refugee populations in Jordan, Lebanon and Greece. After volunteering among Syrian refugees in Greece, Dienst and his fellow volunteers collaborated on a book about the experience. He is... posted on Jan 6 2018 (9,573 reads)

that cannot even be enumerated. As I slowly started to accept the truth of this assertion on counting, I found myself questioning the prevalent worldviews on profit and impact. What follows are two conversations that explore both profit and impact as metrics that are only useful if they drive productive action. “The purpose of our business is really to make money.” My friend, who I will call Scott, said this to me with a deadpan expression. I knew that Scott loved his work. He was intellectually inclined, passionate about probability theory and business economics, and a great consultant due to his attitude of service. I decided to challenge him, and said, “Re... posted on Oct 17 2017 (15,022 reads)

between Krista Tippett and Bessel van der Kolk. KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: The psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk is an innovator in treating the effects of overwhelming experiences on people and society. We call this “trauma” when we encounter it in life and news, and we tend to leap to address it by talking. But Bessel van der Kolk knows how some experiences imprint themselves beyond where language can reach. He explores state-of-the-art therapeutic treatments, including body work like yoga and eye movement therapy. He’s been a leading researcher of traumatic stress since it first became a diagnosis in the wake of the Vietnam War, and from there, was applied to ot... posted on Oct 20 2017 (67,505 reads)

van der Kolk and On Being's Krista Tippett KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: The psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk is an innovator in treating the effects of overwhelming experiences on people and society. We call this “trauma” when we encounter it in life and news, and we tend to leap to address it by talking. But Bessel van der Kolk knows how some experiences imprint themselves beyond where language can reach. He explores state-of-the-art therapeutic treatments, including body work like yoga and eye movement therapy. He’s been a leading researcher of traumatic stress since it first became a diagnosis in the wake of the Vietnam War, and from there, was applied to ot... posted on Oct 20 2017 (1,558 reads)

divorced. Then twenty years later, it dawned on me that I was well past the midpoint of life, and I realized I was afraid. I'm kind of a bull-by-the-horns kind of person, so the catalyst for the project was a comment of my partner's mother when she was in her eighties. She and her husband are booksellers. She said, "People are always asking us when are you going to retire." I liked the idea. It was very tangible and upbeat, and I started interviewing people over eighty who worked. Everything I learned about these remarkable people I was meeting and from my own research completely contradicted all these notions I had about what it would like to be that old, about immobil... posted on Feb 22 2018 (13,918 reads)

Harrod Buhner is an award-winning author of 22 books on nature, indigenous cultures, the environment, and herbal medicine. He comes from a long line of healers that include Leroy Burney, Surgeon General of the United States under Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, and Elizabeth Lusterheide, a midwife and herbalist who worked in rural Indiana in the early nineteenth century. He says that the greatest influence on his work, however, has been his great-grandfather, C.G. Harrod, who primarily used botanical medicines, also in rural Indiana, when he began his work as a physician in 1911. Buhner, who says his DNA prevents him from working for others, has been a fulltime therapist in pri... posted on Mar 9 2018 (25,026 reads)

a life as they come,” she says. Then her brother-in-law, the CEO of Monsanto at the time, gave her a gift that would transform her life: $5,000 to use as she pleased. She had always been interested in personal development and human consciousness, so when he made the suggestion that she use the money to learn from the best coaches he knew, psychologists Gay and Katie Hendricks, she jumped on the opportunity. After studying with the Hendrickses for a decade and taking their work into a business context, Chapman is now one of the world’s foremost experts on conscious leadership. In 2014, she co-authored the influential book “The 15 Commitments of Conscious Lea... posted on Feb 13 2019 (8,586 reads)

I Skype Maria, it’s one of the last warm autumn days in Melbourne, and one of the last cold nights in Brooklyn. Maria’s face appears on my screen, beaming. She is standing up, looking down at her iPad, which is resting flat on her desk. It gives me the feeling that I’m looking up through the screen, all the way into her Brooklyn apartment. “I hope it’s OK with you that I’m standing up,” she says. “It’s just that I can never work sitting down. I can’t be that still. It makes me uncomfortable.” “It’s so nice to see some sunlight,” she says. “It’s so dark and gloomy here in Brook... posted on Feb 17 2019 (9,182 reads)

which is the highest possible level. Christian currently trains correctional institutions, sports teams, and organizations in the practical application of his Yield Theory anger management program, and with Sound True, Dr. Christian Conte has written a new book called Walking Through Anger. In this conversation with Christian Conte he explains Yield Theory and the three steps: listen, validate, explore options. It sounds simple, but in my experience, it’s pretty deep work and hard to master. Here’s my conversation with a gifted guide, Dr. Christian Conte: To begin with, Christian, I’`d love if you could share with our listeners how you became an ang... posted on Feb 9 2020 (6,493 reads)

the cancer had already spread to his bones, leaving him in considerable pain. After a biopsy the surgeon said he had three to six months left to live but never one to succumb to despair, he continued to live as fully as possible for another three and a half years. During this time our love only grew as our family united in providing life sustaining love and support. Our son Aaron and his wife Jan moved across the country from Los Angeles to be present for us in New Jersey, giving up their work and their lives there, with Aaron flying home immediately and Jan driving across the country with their belongings and our two grand-dogs, Annie and Reggie, in tow. Our daughter Gail lived nearby... posted on Feb 14 2020 (4,885 reads)

is also a place of potential transformation. As you enter the bardo, there facing you is the Buddha Akshobhya. His element is Water. He is holding a mirror, for his gift is Mirror Wisdom, reflecting everything just as it is. And the teaching of Akshobhya’s mirror is this: Do not look away. Do not avert your gaze. Do not turn aside. This teaching clearly calls for radical attention and total acceptance. For the last forty years, I’ve been growing a form of experiential group work called the Work That Reconnects. It is a framework for personal and social change in the face of overwhelming crises—a way of transforming despair and apathy into collaborative action. Like... posted on Oct 1 2020 (20,790 reads)

become a supporter, please visit SoundsTrueFoundation.org. You’re listening to Insights at the Edge. Today, my guest is Mark Wolynn. Mark is the director of The Family Constellation Institute, The Inherited Trauma Institute, and The Hellinger Institute of Northern California. His book, It Didn’t Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle, is the winner of the 2016 Silver Nautilus Book Award in Psychology. Mark specializes in working with depression, anxiety, obsessive thoughts, fears, panic disorders, self-injury, chronic pain, and persistent symptoms and conditions. In this conversation, we talk about how unexplained ... posted on Dec 4 2020 (10,528 reads)

follows is the transcript syndicated from an OnBeing interview between Krista Tippett, Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows. You can listen to the audio version of the interview here.  Krista Tippett: If you have listened to On Being for any period of time, you have probably heard me invoke Rainer Maria Rilke. His works of prose and poetry are enduringly beloved — the Sonnets to Orpheus; the Duino Elegies; the Book of Hours. But none of his words have carried more persistently across time than his Letters to a Young Poet. It’s a small volume of ten letters Rilke wrote between 1903 and 1908 to a young military cadet and would-be poet, named ... posted on Jul 9 2021 (4,626 reads)