way to lead a joyful life is not to pursue happiness for ourselves, argues Christine Carter, but to pursue it for others “Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” –Helen Keller Money doesn’t buy happiness. Obvious, right? On some abstract level, we know that money and other outward signs of success won’t ultimately make us happy—perhaps because we know wealthy or famous or powerful people who are deeply unhappy—but on another level, we don’t really believe it… or at least we don’t belie... posted on Feb 5 2015 (37,074 reads)

been more than a decade since I started exploring the intersection between excellence in leadership and contemplative practices like meditation. The leaders I worked with, first as vice-president of a Fortune 200 company, and then in my work as executive director of the Institute for Mindful Leadership, came from different cultures, professions and backgrounds. They were influencers in small and large organizations, teams, community groups and even their own families. Despite their differences, they had some things in common. They had bright minds, warm hearts and were drawn to leadership roles because they wanted to make a difference. They were also often overbooked, overw... posted on Feb 18 2015 (28,458 reads)

a telecom exec, he has created a global network of therapeutic riding centers serving children with disabilities – free of charge. Watch a video about Charles Fletcher: Two tumultuous decades in the telecommunications industry took a toll on Charles Fletcher’s income and his spirit. When he retired in the 1990s at the age of 58, he found some peace of mind through volunteering at a Dallas-area equine therapy center for children with disabilities. The special connection he witnessed between the children and horses was both restorative and intimately familiar, as he had been around horses since he was five. But Fletcher thought the program was falling short. It... posted on Feb 19 2015 (25,421 reads)

if we measured wealth in terms of life, and how well we serve it? David Korten began his professional life as a professor at the Harvard Business School on a mission to lift struggling people in Third World nations out of poverty by sharing the secrets of U.S. business success. Yet, after a couple of decades in which he applied his organizational development strategies in places as far-flung as Ethiopia, Nicaragua, and the Philippines, Korten underwent a change of heart. In 1995, he wrote the bestseller When Corporations Rule the World, followed by a series of books that helped birth the movement known as the New Economy, a call to replace transnational corporate domination w... posted on Mar 31 2015 (18,374 reads)

TIPPETT, HOST: Mary Oliver is one of our greatest living poets, beloved and often quoted by people across ages and backgrounds. She rarely gives interviews or speaks about the life behind her writing. But she's with us, this hour. [music: “Seven League Boots” by Zoe Keating] MARY OLIVER: "Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, / the world offers itself to your imagination, / calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting— / over and over announcing your place / in the family of things." Lord knows when I started writing poetry, it was rotten. MS. TIPPETT: The poetry was rotten? MS. OLIVER: Sure. I was 10, 11, 12 years old, but I... posted on Mar 18 2015 (29,538 reads)

you want to see the brave, look to those who can return love for hatred. If you want to see the heroic, look to those who can forgive.” - The Bhagavad-Gita It was an amazing act of forgiveness, an expression of human greatness in the realm of the heart. It occurred in a courtroom in Mobile Alabama. When I read the story I wept, and set out to write a song from the inspiration I felt. Here is the story, and a link to the song it inspired—offered freely as a tribute to this unassuming mother and the beauty of forgiveness. When I read the story I wept. I felt I was in the presence of greatness, a quiet greatness of the heart. It occurred in 1981 in... posted on Mar 26 2015 (18,691 reads)

if your job didn’t control your life? Brazilian CEO Ricardo Semler practices a radical form of corporate democracy, rethinking everything from board meetings to how workers report their vacation days (they don’t have to). It’s a vision that rewards the wisdom of workers, promotes work-life balance — and leads to some deep insight on what work, and life, is really all about. Bonus question: What if schools were like this too? On Mondays and Thursdays, I learn how to die. I call them my terminal days. My wife Fernanda doesn't like the term, but a lot of people in my family died of melanoma cancer and my parents and grandparents had it. And I kept thinking, o... posted on Apr 15 2015 (31,460 reads)

Suttie knows the benefits of mindfulness, but she still doesn't practice it. What holds her back? I can’t say I’m not informed about the benefits of mindfulness. Our Mindful Mondays series provides ongoing coverage of the exploding field of mindfulness research. As a writer for Greater Good, I’ve read countless books on mindfulness and have been lucky tointerview some of the leading scientists in the world who study it. I’ve written articles about mindfulness improving health and wellbeing for kids,teachers, pregnant women, and parents. And I’ve covered its positive effects on over-eating and sexual dysfunction. I know that it’s a powerfu... posted on Apr 13 2015 (31,716 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 (193,224 reads)

deal life's challenges, we need resources. Rick Hanson explains how to find the ones that lie inside yourself. We're pleased to bring you another installment of Rick Hanson's Just One Thing (JOT) newsletter, which each week offers a simple practice designed to bring you more joy and more fulfilling relationships. We all have issues—including demands upon us, stresses, illnesses, losses, vulnerabilities, and pain. (As Alan Watts put it: “Life is wiggly.”) Of course, many of our issues—in the broad sense I’m using the word here—are related to important sources of fulfillment, such as starting a business or raising a f... posted on May 20 2015 (16,610 reads)

for Collective Wisdom - A network of people seeking to embody and radiate outward principles of collaboration, non violence, and wisdom necessary to address existential issues of life and be equipped with the tools, skills, and practices necessary to respond effectively in the world. FIVE CONDITIONS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF COLLECTIVE WISDOM 1. Deep Listening Listening with an intention that the other person feels heard and seen; creating the conditions and presence for the other to more fully come into their own highest being. Listening to what is said and unsaid. Listening with one's full self, with heart, mind, body, and soul. 2. Suspend Certainty Capacit... posted on Apr 29 2015 (24,198 reads)

Violet Little’s higher calling to serve Philadelphia’s homeless is redefining just what a “church” is. Watch a video about Reverend Violet Little On a cold day in 2006, the Reverend Violet Little walked into a public transit restroom in Philadelphia. She was exhausted. She’d been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease that causes weakness, vision problems and breathing difficulties. Unable to drive, she was dependent on the city’s transit system. Inside, she found a woman washing her hair in the sink. Another woman was attempting to dry her pants under a hand dryer. Little felt a deep empathy. They began ... posted on May 6 2015 (15,714 reads)

is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions. —Hafiz Human history is filled with stories of countless people who have been fearless. If we look at our own families, perhaps going back several generations, we’ll find among our own ancestors those who also have been fearless. They may have been immigrants who bravely left the safety of home, veterans who courageously fought in wars, families who endured economic hardships, war, persecution, slavery, oppression, dislocation. We all carry within us this lineage of fearlessness. But what is fearlessness? It’s not being free of fear, for fear is part of our human journey. Park... posted on Apr 25 2015 (19,232 reads)

Steps to A Healthier Relationship with Technology I’ve written about digital technology for 35+ years, most of the time in Silicon Valley. Over the decades our evolving devices, and what we can do with them, have dramatically transformed almost every facet of our lives -- from how we bank, travel, and shop, to more abstract realms like how we derive a sense of self-worth, how we forge and sustain relationships, and how we choose to spend our attention. I think the first step to getting a human and humane handle on this rapid transition from a nature-based to a digital-based society is for us all – individually and collectively; technologists and the public - to... posted on Apr 8 2015 (21,894 reads)

has published many stories about the gift economy and living without money. While they're often inspiring and popular, they often bring up fear of survival. People ask, “Is this really possible for ME?” or “Will I become homeless or sick and die from poverty?” Personally, I've questioned whether living in the gift economy is realistic only for privileged, healthy people. And so I tracked down Brice Royer for an interview. Brice is a young, now voluntarily unemployed entrepreneur from Vancouver with stomach cancer. He not only depends on gift exchange to survive, but helps other people survive through the gift and prosthelytizes gift culture with... posted on May 25 2015 (23,473 reads)

Senghor. Credit: http://www.ecotrust.org. All rights reserved. Shaka Senghor spent seven out of his 19 years in prison in solitary confinement, known to other inmates as ‘the hole’ or ‘administrative segregation’ in the official language of the U.S. prison system - a term eerily designed to reduce the impact of its reality. Convicted of the murder of a fellow drug dealer, Senghor was incarcerated in a bare six-foot by eight-foot excuse for human habitation. A concrete slab juts out of the wall, threatening impalement instead of offering sleep. The hole in the wall that’s intended for bodily functions gapes back at him as if to say, I will... posted on May 18 2015 (12,691 reads)

artist creates public art in communities around the world that are plagued by poverty, crime and despair. In 2004, I was unhappy as director of the Village of Arts and Humanities, the organization I co-founded in 1986 to transform North Philadelphia communities through art. I spent most of my time raising funds and managing staff. I yearned to be on the frontlines of action again, like I had been in 1994. That year, I was in Korogocho, a shantytown bordering a huge garbage dump near Nairobi, Kenya, where people experience the violence of poverty and deprivation on so many levels – filth, lack of clean water, air, opportunities and hope. Overwhelmed, I... posted on May 30 2015 (13,047 reads)

hustle of family life -- work, school, appointments, practice, homework, dinner, bed -- is constant. We move in and out of activities and commitments with ferocity. Some days, I'm certain all I really say to my children, in one way or another, is "move." As in, let's go -- now! And I know that we move with purpose, balancing meaningful work with practical considerations, valuing studies, deliberately selecting activities that matter. In our world, food, family even and free play have a firm place, often touted as sacred and protected ground. And since our life is designed to fully embrace living it, we have to be mindful of all the pieces that might creep in and occupy ... posted on Apr 17 2015 (17,957 reads)

I was about five years old, my mom gave me a Macintosh LC II and I was hooked– not to Facebook or the Internet, they didn’t exist yet, but to what it enabled a five year old kid to do that I could never do before. Like the brilliant technical visionaries of the 70’s and 80’s at Xerox PARC like Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, Alan Kay at Xerox PARC or Steve Jobs, I optimistically believed computers could be “bicycles for our minds” and amplify human potential. And they did empower us. But today, in the year 2015, “empowerment” rarely feels like my day to day experience with technology. Instead I feel constantly lured in... posted on Jun 17 2015 (15,112 reads)

new study maps what happens in our bodies and brains when we witness acts of kindness and compassion. I don’t know about you, but no matter how many times I watch It’s a Wonderful Life, I am moved to tears. Something about that moment when George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is rescued from financial and emotional ruin by the generosity of his friends gets to me, making me feel deeply moved and hopeful about our capacity for human goodness. Researchers have a name for that high we get from witnessing human goodness: “moral elevation.” And it has been shown to have many positive benefits. Past studies have found that moral elevation inspi... posted on Jun 11 2015 (15,740 reads)