used to ask the question, 'Am I an activist or a writer?' I don't ask that anymore. I am simply a human being engaged." "I am leaving you all my journals, but you must promise me you won't look at them until after I'm gone." This is what Terry Tempest Williams's mother told her the week before she died of cancer at the age of 54, bequeathing three shelves of colorful, clothbound volumes. Williams waited a full month after the death to open them, only to discover that each one was blank, containing page upon page of emptiness. The way she speaks mirrors her writing—fragmented, aligning pieces of ideas like a mosaic. Williams us... posted on Mar 22 2014 (12,658 reads)

Tippett, host: In a culture where we like to fix or prevent vulnerability, Brené Brown is reviving the knowledge that our struggles make us who we are. And it's based on data — social scientific research she conducted first into shame and then into qualities that distinguish lives with a strong sense of worthiness. She's frank about the resistance her own findings awakened in her, a classic American perfectionist who wore exhaustion as a status symbol. She also discovered a stark gulf between what we want to be true — and what is true — in vulnerability between men and women. And she exquisitely uncomfortably describes the difference between m... posted on Mar 21 2014 (33,782 reads)

equinox has come and gone, and I find myself thinking about spring cleaning. You’ve likely seen the emerging body of research espousing the psycho-emotional value of keeping a clean home or workspace. I agree with the notion that if we de-clutter our closets our minds will follow. I’m also fond of the stories of the Buddhist monks who make a meditative practice out of scrubbing their bowls and am intrigued by the idea that doing dishes might be a pathway to enlightenment. That said, although I love a clean space, I have never really loved cleaning, and I’ve always judged it as an unsavory ‘chore’. But after meeting Tolulope Ilesanmi, all of that is chan... posted on May 11 2014 (25,246 reads)

letting go of past hurts, we can heal not only ourselves, but our families, our communities, and our world. There were so many nights when I, as a young boy, had to watch helplessly as my father verbally and physically abused my mother. I can still recall the smell of alcohol, see the fear in my mother’s eyes, and feel the hopeless despair that comes when we see people we love hurting each other in incomprehensible ways. If I dwell in those memories, I can feel myself wanting to hurt my father back, in the same ways he hurt my mother, and in ways of which I was incapable as a small boy. I see my mother’s face and I see this gentle human being whom I loved so very much a... posted on May 6 2014 (53,246 reads)

Dad Carries His Son With Disabilities 9 Miles Every Day So That He Can Go To School Let’s all agree to extend an early Happy Father’s Day to this Chinese dad who will do just about anything to give his son with disabilities every opportunity in the world. Yu Xukang, 40, a single dad from the Sichuan Province in China, walks 9 miles every day with his son, Xiao Qiang, strapped to his back so that the boy can get an education. The 12-year-old has a disorder that has caused his arms and legs to become twisted and his back to be hunched over, and there is no public transportation available to take him to class, Central European News (CEN) told The Huffington Post in an e... posted on Apr 10 2014 (45,330 reads)

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 (21,036 reads)

Ponce de León spent his life searching for the fountain of youth. I have spent mine searching for the ideal daily routine. But as years of color-coded paper calendars have given way to cloud-based scheduling apps, routine has continued to elude me; each day is a new day, as unpredictable as a ride on a rodeo bull and over seemingly as quickly. Naturally, I was fascinated by the recent book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. Author Mason Curry examines the schedules of 161 painters, writers, and composers, as well as philosophers, scientists, and other exceptional thinkers. As I read, I became convinced that for these geniuses, a routine was more than ... posted on Apr 14 2014 (64,589 reads)

we fail at something important to us, whether in relationships, at school, or at work, it can be very painful. These experiences can threaten the very core of who we think we are and who we want to be. To cope with failure, we often turn to self-protective strategies. We rationalize what happened so that it places us in a more positive light, we blame other people, and we discount the importance of the event. These strategies may make us feel better about ourselves in the short term, but they are less likely to help us improve or avoid repeating our mistakes in the future. Research shows that people who have an overly inflated view of their performance on an academic task show... posted on Apr 16 2014 (47,503 reads)

a long term view of success is critical, and it doesn’t take a psychologist to tell you that discipline is how you get from Point A to the sometimes elusive Point B. Or as Aristotle would so aptly put it… We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. Since that’s the case, how can we actually form good habits and make them stick? If you’ve asked yourself the same question, you’re in luck—today I’ll be covering a large selection of research on the psychology of planning and keeping the habits that matter. Let’s dive in! A Big Misconception About Building Habits First thi... posted on May 14 2014 (29,768 reads)

BY Gina Murdock Gina Murdock: Can you give us a snapshot of where Khan Academy is now and where you see yourself if five years? Sal Khan: In this past month, Khan Academy has had 10 million unique viewers to the site and 10 million registered users; those numbers just happen to be the same. What people get at the site is a large collection of videos, primarily focused on math and science, but we actually have a large collection of art history videos. Actually, it’s the largest collection of art history videos. We have partnerships with folks like the Met and the Getty. We also have an interactive exercise platform, which is primarily focused on math right now, where... posted on May 15 2014 (16,255 reads)

invite you to sit with me under the wide umbrella of the old fig tree that was planted behind this house before we were born. All around us life is breaking open: the orange trees are covered in white buds, which, softened by yesterday’s rain, will release the rapturous scent that always reminds me of new beginnings and weddings. It is a perfect time to visit. I want to remind you of a way of thinking and offer you the gift of a practice. Both have helped me travel across the tumultuous terrain of learning to live the life I love and love the life I am living. I am asking you to reclaim what may have become a dusty and numb habit and transform it into a practice of breaking... posted on May 30 2014 (25,682 reads)

Treasurer is one of my favorite business authors - not just because his books are good - but because he reminds me of the Wizard of Oz - his work always offers three important elements: brains, heart, and courage. His newest book, "Leaders Open Doors" is no exception. I've been eager to talk to Bill about it and he graciously made time for an interview. BJ: I love the story behind your new book, "Leaders Open Doors." Would you share it with me again, for the benefit of my readers? Bill: For over two decades I've been a senior ranking member of the Legion of Leadership Complexifiers (LLC). We're the folks who make our living out of plumbing, parsing,... posted on Jun 21 2014 (20,319 reads)

I started this blog, I posted this on my Berkeley Community Acupuncture Facebook link. It was received very positively and so I’d like to repost here: Today, after receiving acupuncture during my donation based shift, a patient asked me why I was “giving away” such amazing treatments for free. Don’t you value your skills? She asked. Don’t you want to demand that others value your skills too? Don’t you want them to show you respect by paying you what you are worth? Then she saw my perplexed expression and then added, oh, I see you are trying to fix the world. You are trying to help people in need because they are lacking. That is good of you. ... posted on May 28 2014 (24,118 reads)

this, of course. Not a busy city street.       I used the same exercises for a while with my own students. I’d take them down to the beach in a quiet place and then go through the whole thing. Then I’d say, now pick up your cameras and walk like you’re walking on eggs and look, and see. And make a photograph of what you respond to.       It’s a very different state. You’re in a different state. I find that I still make my best images when I do that today. RW: This is very different, but I’d imagine that many students, or at least some students, would find this quite wonderful. JU: Oh, yes. Some did. But some saw... posted on May 12 2014 (22,879 reads)

Loses Son To Cancer, Starts Charity To Transport Kids To Chemo Richard Nares stands in front of one of many vans his foundation uses to transport children to and from chemotherapy treatments. Facebook, The Emilio Nares Fou Richard Nares faced a parent's worst fear when his son Emilio was diagnosed with leukemia in 1998 and died from the disease two years later. But he managed to transform his grief into charity by helping hundreds of families face the complex challenges of childhood illness, by giving them a lift. After his son died, he returned to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego and asked staff how he could help others. Their answer: transportation. Child... posted on Jul 10 2014 (19,070 reads)

Orunamamu The best teacher my children ever had growing up was in Kindergarten. Mary Beth Washington did almost everything contrary to the rules: she took the kids out walking in the rain; she slept with them during naptime; she came to school dressed like a circus performer. She was in love with birds, dancing, poetry and people. The School Board, more than once, voted to fire her, but the parents came to her defense again and again and won the day. She was about 30 years ahead of her time, a Flower Child before the era of flower children, with a genius for teaching kids. Once my own were in high school, the School Board finally had its way and kicked her out. I ran into her this ... posted on May 5 2014 (26,028 reads)

creative activities like knitting and cooking can boost your levels of serotonin and decrease anxiety. Photo by Asife/ Shutterstock. Do you consider yourself creative? If the answer is "no," you are not alone. We have been working as creativity facilitators for close to two decades, and whenever we ask people this question, shockingly few hands go up. It turns out that you don't have to be a great artist to be creative. Creativity is simply our ability to dream things up and make them happen. Cooking breakfast, planting a garden, even developing a business plan are all creative acts. But here is where the arts do come in. Participating in the ar... posted on Jun 5 2014 (1,917 reads)

of giving in, the deepest thing we can do with trauma is to transmute pain into actions that heal ourselves and help other people. A powerful meditation on love, loss, recovery and resistance.   In 1998 my wife Shoshana was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. An accomplished artist and psychotherapist who worked with Holocaust survivors (of whom she was one), the woman who once spoke eight languages could barely speak at all. Did Shoshana know who I was? There were good days and bad. During the bad days I would say that the ‘light was definitely out.’ On the good days, I would come to her and embrace her. I w... posted on Jun 15 2014 (23,868 reads)

thought he was crazy. But I also admired him for wanting to have the experience.” TRAVIS TRANI, WARDEN, COLORADO STATE PENITENTIARY IN CANON CITY © Feng Yu – Fotolia.com When Rick Raemisch, Colorado’s new Chief of Corrections, asked to spend time in solitary confinement at a prison in Cañon City, some people thought he had lost it. But Raemisch, in an effort to ignite a larger discussion about the overuse of solitary confinement, knew he needed to walk the walk in order to talk the talk. His stint – twenty hours in a cell alone – garnered national headlines and encouraged prison administration and policymakers to question th... posted on Jun 18 2014 (19,850 reads)

and day of the week accordingly. 3-4 year olds 1.It's never too early to share Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss with your children. As kids start to get a stronger grasp on the meaning of the words they're hearing, Silverstein and Seuss combine great poetry with silly sounds and ideas that all kids can relate to (not to mention some really important life lessons). 2.Play a simple rhyming game with your children. Pick up objects from around the house, or point to things in images, name them, and see if your children can come up with a rhyming word to complement that object (don't point to an orange though–that's just cruel). 3.Play “gobbledygook&r... posted on May 31 2014 (17,330 reads)