with Dr. Ted Schettler is probably unlike any conversation you have had with your physician. Raise the topic of breast cancer or diabetes or dementia, and Schettler starts talking about income disparities, industrial farming, and campaign finance reform. The Harvard-educated physician, frustrated by the limitations of science in combating disease, believes that finding answers to the most persistent medical challenges of our time—conditions that now threaten to overwhelm our health care system—depends on understanding the human body as a system nested within a series of other, larger systems: one’s family and community, environment, culture, and socioeconomic... posted on Nov 15 2012 (13,486 reads)

plugged in and constantly juggling tasks at work and at home, many of us feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the things we need to do. But wouldn’t it be awesome to feel like you had more time? In fact, a new study suggests that experiencing awe—which psychologists define as the feeling we get when we come across something so strikingly vast in number, scope, or complexity that it alters the way we understand the world—could help us do just that. What’s more, awe might make us more generous with how we spend our time and improve our overall well-being. In one part of the study, researchers induced feelings of awe in pa... posted on Dec 3 2012 (14,501 reads)

when he spots a round-faced man with spectacles striding into a sun-dappled courtyard on the campus of San Diego State University. Like Khamisa, the man wears a pressed white shirt and polished black dress shoes. The two embrace. They’re here to deliver an unusual talk, one that, over the years, they have presented to millions of students across the country. Minutes later, inside a warmly lit amphitheater, Khamisa takes the stage. “I’d like to introduce to you a very special man in my life,” he says. “My brother, Ples Felix.” When introducing Felix, he always uses that word: brother.  Khamis... posted on Dec 4 2012 (30,041 reads)

speech given at St. Mary's College, Moraga, California on May 20, 2012. Six months after leaving grad school, I found myself at a rocket launchpad for one of the very first private enterprise rocket companies. Our business manager was doing the countdown. 5-4-3-2-1, oh, BLEEP. The rocket blew up! That explosion, that failure, launched my career in a completely new direction as an entrepreneur. By being part of an incredibly bold venture, well a bold failure (that didn't kill me or anybody), I became open to becoming an entrepreneur myself. Returning to the Bay Area, I started my own rocket company. It failed. I ended up helping start seven high tech c... posted on Dec 12 2012 (15,232 reads)

grandmothers are different from mine. My grandmother lived a mile away. I played under her bushes where spring violets grew. She baked a dollop of meringue on a saltine cracker as a treat for me—and prepared delicious Sunday dinners: chicken that my grandfather caught and vegetables that she grew in her garden. Her bathtub had feet and her phone had a party line. She folded Christmas wrappings to use again. She kept her money in a safe inside a kitchen cabinet. Coal was heaped high in the basement to heat her house. She wore housedresses and braided her hair into a pigtail she could sit on. Contrast a contemporary grandmother in Argentina who told m... posted on Dec 15 2012 (17,036 reads)

imagine that many of us who travel on public transit had a similar commute home on Friday afternoon.  Shaken spirits while trying to hold on to a shaking subway train.  Tragedy on our minds.  No one saying “Thank God it’s Friday”.  Just “Why God?” and “Please God.”  All of us reading the news on our phones as if we all shared one mind.  One heart.  One deep sadness at hearing, reading, seeing, and feeling the news coming out of Newtown, Connecticut. I called my wife to see how she was holding up and through tears of her own, she told me that when picking up our girls from their elementary school (whic... posted on Dec 17 2012 (13,651 reads)

credit: Andrea Scher She may not be a household name just yet, but when you refer to “the woman who talks about vulnerability,” the seven million viewers of her TEDTalks videos know you mean Brené Brown. A research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, Brown has been studying shame, fear, and vulnerability for 12 years. She has presented her findings in three books, on national television, and in lectures across the country. A mix of no-nonsense Texan and best-friend warmth, Brown shines a light into the inner chambers of our hearts—and illuminates a reason to hope. She discusses her new book, Daring Greatly: How th... posted on Dec 20 2012 (55,520 reads)

holds the possibility for expanding our capacity to love. There is only one reason to forgive. If we want to be free, if we want to live as the full and unlimited expression of ourselves, if we want our hearts to open, then we are being invited to put an end to all stories that keep us closed and contracted. Consider also these benefits of forgiveness: less stress, lower heart rate, lower blood pressure, improved sleep, greater psychological well being. What exactly is forgiveness? When we are in the state of unforgiving, we are holding on to a grudge. A grudge is a story of hurt and resentment that we believe to be true and repeat over and over in our thoughts. I... posted on Jun 7 2021 (61,241 reads)

hate you, Aditi! I hate you!” my little brother screamed to me just minutes after my college graduation. As I pressed the outside corner of my eye to prevent a tear from escaping, I reminded him not to use hurtful words when he feels upset. Together we searched for the source of his frustration and then addressed it: we would get “New York” pizza once the crowds cleared. At the time, my little brother, Anand, was not so little – he was thirteen.Anand was born with cataracts, faced some developmental delays while growing up, and at the age of twelve with the onset of severe seizures, was diagnosed with both autism and epilepsy. I coordinate Ana... posted on Jan 2 2013 (24,654 reads)

days ago, I was in China, speaking to a bunch of influential business leaders. One of them posed a challenge: "You speak about Vinoba Bhave, the spiritual heir of Gandhi, and how he walked 80K kilometers across India and inspired people to donate 5 million acres to their neighbors. Yes, it might've been an unprecedented feat in the history of mankind, but really, how many people remember Vinoba today? Instead, think of how many people remember Steve Jobs and the legacy he left behind." From a short-term impact point of view, it's a thoughtful dilemma. In fact, Forbes magazine did a piece which reflected similarly, asking the question: "Who has changed the world ... posted on Jan 7 2013 (75,151 reads)

are you going to be remembered for? Will people talk about the relationships you had with friends and family? The once-a-year dish everyone looked forward to? The impact you made on a company and its employees? How is a legacy created and cultivated, and what can you do to build your own legacy? These are all huge questions with small and critical answers. Here's the story of my legacy, and a few pointers on how to build yours. *The beginning will have twists and turns.* I started college wanting to be a doctor. I wanted to help people. After taking a few courses in molecular and cellular biology, I became interested in research. ... posted on Jan 16 2013 (37,462 reads)

a surgeon I have used the word “cancer” — the C-word — thousands of times in my life. I have spent my entire professional life researching it, trying to find ways to resect it, suppress it, and, whenever possible, outright annihilate it. I knew what it was. I just never imagined what it could do. I thought it was just a word. I was wrong. It’s nothing like a word. It’s a force. I tripped over it, actually. I went to sleep for what I believed was a relatively routine surgery. The details are not important but the theme is. When I awoke, I was told my procedure had been “aborted.” I was in bit of a post-anesthetic haze because I re... posted on Jan 22 2013 (51,755 reads)

novel prison program in New York City uses nature to teach inmates about life's larger lessons. Breezes carried wafts of lemon balm and mint from the herb garden, hedged by apricot and nectarine trees. Monarchs flitted around butterfly bushes, and a pair of resident ducks shuttled between a marshy puddle and a carefully tended pond. Just six miles from lower Manhattan, this small island oasis in the East River seemed almost bucolic—except, of course, for the coils of razor wire running along the high fence surrounding it and the gardeners wearing bright orange jumpsuits with DOC (Department of Corrections) stenciled across the backs. This was Rikers Island, the infamou... posted on Jan 23 2013 (11,970 reads)

world is pretty messed up. With all the violence, pollution and crazy things people do, it would be easy to turn into a grouchy old man without being either elderly or male. There's certainly no shortage of justification for disappointment and cynicism. But consider this: Negative attitudes are bad for you. And gratitude, it turns out, makes you happier and healthier. If you invest in a way of seeing the world that is mean and frustrated, you're going to get a world that is, well, more mean and frustrating. But if you can find any authentic reason to give thanks, anything that is going right with the world or your life, and put your attention there, then statistics say ... posted on Jan 24 2013 (38,457 reads)

Jabbar Asgar Zaddeh, I could not have continued writing.  I am sad that he died before I had a chance to meet him, because I’m in love with him. Jabbar was born in 1884 to an unschooled Muslim family in Erevan (Ossip Mandelstam introduced the West to this city when he wrote of Erevan: “I love the crooked Babylons of your wide-mouthed streets.”)  He was raised with other Azerbaijani children, and looked the same as they, but he was not; he questioned the assumptions, traditions and conventions around him. For he was a poet and, like all good poets, his poems were dangerous. [Poets and their poems mirror reality and are therefore considered dangerous ... posted on Feb 1 2013 (13,351 reads)

to the ones who were never normal. Never conforming. Never able to sink into the soles of a follower. Here’s to the ones who were told to stop. To give up. To quit trying. To shove themselves into a little box because the world never needed their arms stretched out wide. Here’s to the ones who refused to listen. To the negatives. To the naysayers. To pessimists and the procrastinators. Here’s to the ones who believe in Away. And Going. And Newness within Newness. And a world made to wash us and move us and sculpt us and change us. And the courage it takes to believe in all those things. Here’s to the ones who have uncovered... posted on Feb 6 2013 (24,868 reads)

much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. — Willy Wonka One key to taking care of ourselves lies in learning how to slow down. I have a friend who’s in the middle of a well-deserved sabbatical. These months represent the first chance she’s had in two decades to unwind a bit as a working, single mom. “It’s just incredible,” she remarked, “having time to exercise and read and cook meals and walk outside—it’s really unbelievable.” “I’m curious,” I asked her. “What’s the best part: the exercising, the reading, the cooking, or the walking?” Without he... posted on Feb 11 2013 (22,688 reads)

a very young age, my oldest daughter has been a gift giver. Like most children, her offerings consisted of items that adults wouldn’t ordinarily classify as gifts. Broken seashells, traumatized frogs, dying weeds, and misshapen rocks were often presented in small, dirt-laden hands beneath a wide smile. In the past two years my child’s gift giving practices have moved up a notch. Gifts are no longer found in nature; they are found in our home. Yes, it’s re-gifting at its best—wrapping barely-used items and presenting them with great love.   I must be honest; I used to cringe at the sight of my child tearing through our (multiple) junk drawers looki... posted on Feb 9 2013 (26,324 reads)

never thought I would create a day. And yet, two years ago, with a few friends, I did. It all started back in 2008 on a cold December evening like any other. I was in the New York City subway rushing home. A man I’d seen many times on the train was asking for money to help the homeless. He had a warm smile and an open demeanor, and was wearing a hat that said he was a Vietnam vet. Like everyone else on the subway car I looked down, hiding in my iPhone. A monologue ran through my head about how his story couldn’t be true, and how the smartest, best thing I could do was nothing. This wasn’t an academic question for me. Just two years before I had left the p... posted on Feb 14 2013 (19,608 reads)

1748, the British politician and aristocrat John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, spent a lot of his free time playing cards. He greatly enjoyed eating a snack while still keeping one hand free for the cards. So he came up with the idea to eat beef between slices of toast, which would allow him to finally eat and play cards at the same time. Eating his newly invented "sandwich," the name for two slices of bread with meat in between, became one of the most popular meal inventions in the western world. What's interesting about this is that you are very likely to never forget the story of who invented the sandwich ever again. Or at least, much less likely to do so... posted on Feb 21 2013 (54,273 reads)