Rituals for Wastelands
"We shut ourselves away from wounded places, psychologically, emotionally, and communally, but there is a better way to heal ourselves and our world." As earth-bound beings, when we witness the destruction of the natural environment, we find the darker parts of our humanity staring back at us. How do we heal our relationship with the land and with ourselves when such destruction can be so difficul... posted on Aug 26, 16918 reads

A Romanian Truck Driver's Love of Underdogs
Truck driver Tamara Raab has made a couple of 2,000 mile round trip journeys to drive a massive load of donated dog and cat food, veterinary supplies and pet beds to animal shelters in Romania -- a global hot spot for animal cruelty and neglect. But this time she didn't have the 3,500 Euros required to pay the fuel. So she sought support from a nonprofit that sponsors major animal protection effor... posted on Jun 20, 29700 reads

6 Ways to Find Work You Love
"The idea of fulfilling work -- a job that reflects our passions, talents, and values-- is a modern invention. Open Dr. Johnson's celebrated Dictionary, published in 1755, and the word "fulfillment" doesn't even appear. But today our expectations are higher, which helps explain why job satisfaction has declined to a record low of 47 percent in the U.S., and is even lower in Europe. If you count y... posted on Aug 8, 52410 reads

Can Patriotism Be Compassionate?
Patriotism can be a tricky word in a world where love of one's country can sometimes be streaked with a fear or intolerance of other nations. But that's not the whole story..."When the Greater Good Science Center analyzed the results of its "connection to humanity" quiz, it found plenty of people who identified with both country and humanity. They are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, so far the res... posted on Jul 4, 20512 reads

Elizabeth Gilbert: Beyond Eat, Pray, Love
"I think I have more compassion than if I had led a life where everything worked out exactly as I had planned or if I had never been wounded or if I had never been betrayed or I had never been harmed. I don't think I would be as good a person. I'm still aspiring to be a better and better person, but I think those disappointments have made me gentler with other people and their disappointments, the... posted on Sep 30, 23692 reads

Gaze Even Here
How do we look upon the brokenness of ourselves and the world, and in fixing our gaze, relinquish our desire to fix or change? Is it possible to just be with what is broken, to look, and in looking, come to love? Click here to walk with Trebbe Johnson through the clearcut forests of Vancouver, and journeys towards an acceptance of the world as it is.... posted on Jan 10, 8469 reads

Soul Surfer: Braving Life's Sharks
Kara Holden, screenwriter of the film "Soul Surfer" offers an eloquent reflection inspired by a conversation with Bethany Hamilton on whose life the film is based. Bethany is a surfer who lost her arm in a horrific shark attack. She valiantly returned to surfing less than a month after the incident and would go on to win numerous championships. In this piece the author probes into the reasoning be... posted on Jul 20, 42799 reads

10 Keys for Happier Living
We all want to be happy. And, happiness is the one thing we wish most for those we love. So, why is it so difficult? And, why aren't we working harder to make happiness our priority? "If you want to feel good, do good" -- this is just one of the many brilliant points carried forward by the Action for Happiness, a group of like-minded individuals from all walks of life who are intent on creating th... posted on Oct 16, 122142 reads

Joanna Macy: A Wild Love for the World
Joanna Macy is best known today as a Buddhist scholar and activist. She also translated the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. Her adventurous life included working for the CIA in Cold War Germany, then, as a young mother, she moved with her husband to post-colonial India, where she cared for Tibetan refugees, joining the young, newly exiled Dalai Lama. Later, she became an environmental activist. Lear... posted on Nov 3, 35473 reads

What Are The Secrets To A Happy Life?
With so many self-help books and articles out there posing different theories about what leads to happiness in life, and so many passing fads and trends, how do we know when we've found the right tools that will lead us to a lifetime of joy? Since 1938, The Grant Study has followed 267 sophomores from Harvard University as their lives have unfolded, with the aim of documenting the key factors that... posted on Oct 23, 67182 reads

21 Blessings in Disguise
"It's easy to give thanks for the blessings that we do have. Love, family, friends, bounty. These are the hugs and warmth and praises analogous to a soothing back rub or an aromatic cup of tea. For these, we are thankful daily. They make us feel good and we expect and receive them with little to no toll." But then there are the things that do take a toll -- like our insecurities, flaws, sadness, a... posted on Nov 18, 62331 reads

Haircuts for Hugs
"Each Wednesday, barber Anthony Cymerys sets up his chair in the shade of an oak tree in Hartford's Bushnell Park. His clients line up on park benches, some of them also turning out for free meals provided on Wednesdays by a local church. One by one they take a seat in a folding lawn chair above a car battery Cymerys uses to power his clippers. For longtime clients, the homeless, or those just do... posted on Jan 5, 9999 reads

Chai With Love
Meet R. Sekar, a reserved man who sells tea for a living in his little tea shop in India. With his meagre earnings, this man with a golden heart shows us that you do not have riches to help others. "I am happy with what I have and can do with even less. I do not need more. What will I do [with more]?" he asks. Read about how this big-hearted man touches the lives of those who visit his tea shop.... posted on Feb 15, 28071 reads

The Man in the Red Bandana: A 9/11 Hero
Welles Crowther began carrying a red bandana when he was 6 years old. It soon became his signature, and a link between father (his dad carried a blue one) and son. When Welles turned 16, he signed up as a junior firefighter at the local fire station -- Empire Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1. On September 11, 2001, Welles was working as an equities trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the Worl... posted on Sep 11, 5840 reads

Cancelled Wedding Turned Feast for the Homeless
Willie and Carol Fowler's daughter was getting ready to walk down the aisle. The wedding venue, food, and decorations were all in order. But forty days before her big day, she canceled her wedding. Willie and Carol were left with a fully paid event -- but no guests. What they did next was an unscripted act of radical kindness: they invited 200 homeless people as their honoured guests. The event, w... posted on Feb 21, 14111 reads

Transformative Organizing: A Labor of Love
Elizabeth Flores played a pivotal role in the quest for equal rights of undocumented workers. Her passionate work helped persuade Governor Jerry Brown to sign the "California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights" into law. Flores' approach was one of 'transformative organizing' -- a way of combating injustice, that emphasizes creating change through how we are as individuals, how we relate to one anoth... posted on Jan 9, 15522 reads

Two Children Teach the World About Love
Trenton and Lindsay Cochran are best friends, brother and sister, support and inspiration. 10-year old Lindsay, who suffers from Spinal Muscular Atrophy, has been in a wheelchair since she was 2. Trenton understands deeply that his life would have been very different if he didn't have a disabled younger sister. Not only is this mature 12-year old a helper and protector, he is an advocate and amba... posted on Apr 11, 13843 reads

How To Turn Your Brain From Anger To Compassion
Why do we need compassion? Are we so genetically compelled to alleviate the suffering of others, that our minds are momentarily able to shift from 'self' to 'selflessly?' Or, is it possible that acting with compassion helps to relieve our own pain, as well? The Buddhist tradition offers, "Just like me, you want to be happy; just like me, you want to be free of suffering" -- thus, reinforcing the b... posted on Jan 26, 25373 reads

Grateful: A Love Song to the World
Inspired by the 21-Day Gratitude Challenge, talented musicians Nimo Patel and Daniel Nahmod brought together dozens of people from around the world to create this beautiful, heart-opening melody -- a celebration of our spirit and all that is a blessing in life. For 21 Days, over 11,000 participants from 118 countries practiced exactly that, learning that 'gratefulness' is a habit cultivated consci... posted on Nov 27, 11392 reads

The Real-life Courage of Harry Potter Fans
When teacher, Andrew Slack, finally conceded to the pleadings of his students - he had no idea what he was getting into. They had been begging him to read the Harry Potter series -- an enchanting story about a teenage wizard who uses his magic to conquer the dark forces world. At first, Slack was mesmerized by the stories -- captivated by the notion that one boy could do so much good. And then on... posted on Feb 25, 30545 reads

Contemplating Mortality
Nobody looks forward to dying. It's good to be thinking about life and living as long and as well as possible, but we shouldn't assume that death is only about suffering and its avoidance or its suppression. There are also experiences, interactions, opportunities, that are of profound value for individuals and all who love them. ... posted on Feb 14, 8628 reads

The Marriage of Love & Power
Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit that raises charitable donations to invest in companies, leaders, and ideas that are changing the way the world tackles poverty. In this interview, she talks about her revolutionary approach to philanthropy that has impacted the lives of over 100 million people, what moved her to leave her safe world of banking to work with t... posted on Feb 6, 22767 reads

The Nature of the Self: How We Know Who We Are
Our emotions, beliefs, and ideals are constantly changing, and most cells in our bodies are completely renewed every seven years. How, then, do we know who "we" are? Over the past ten years, the emerging field of experimental philosophy has examined this paradox, along with its many related questions about morality, happiness, love, and how to live. In this fascinating video, Yale University profe... posted on Mar 13, 28980 reads

A Radical Homemaker Celebrates 40
Shannon Hayes, mother and homemaker on a family farm, used to spend birthdays mourning the passing of another year. But on her 40th she decides instead to spend the day in celebration and joy by giving herself an important gift. In this touching piece, Shannon shares how she learned that turning 40 meant being "grown-up enough, confident enough, fearless enough to face my deepest, most secret drea... posted on Mar 30, 18107 reads

I'm Just Like You
Videographer Ellie Walton flew to Liberia to film a documentary highlighting the beauty and strengths of the children of the Hope for the Deaf School -- children who face immense discrimination and are often abandoned by their families. Coincidentally, she arrived in Monrovia on the same day as Hip Hop artist Chad Harper (aka Famus), whom she had met the month before in India. Chad had come to exp... posted on Mar 16, 3656 reads

The Love of Stuff
Nick Thorpe asks, "If Western consumer culture sometimes resembles a bulimic binge in which we taste and then spew back things that never quite nourish us, the ascetic, anorexic alternative of rejecting materialism altogether will leave us equally starved. Who, then, can teach me how to celebrate my possessions with the mindful, celebratory spirit of a gourmet?"... posted on May 10, 7391 reads

Lessons From My 93-Year-Old Kindergarten Teacher
Mary Beth Washington is the stuff that kindergarten dreams are made of. "She did almost everything contrary to the rules: she took the kids out walking in the rain, she napped with them during naptime, she came to school dressed like a circus performer. She was in love with birds, dancing, poetry and people." Now in her 93rd year, she is as spirited as ever and still going strong with her walking ... posted on May 5, 25991 reads

Owen & Haatchi: A Boy And His Dog
"The day that Haachi met Owen was utterly incredible. It was electric. It was spiritual...they immediately understood they were going to work together as a team," Colleen Drummond, Owen's stepmother. Owen is a 7-year old boy with a rare syndrome that leaves his muscles in a constant state of tension. Haatchi is an Anatolian Shepherd that was left to die on the railroad tracks, but managed to escap... posted on Apr 12, 4708 reads

The Woman Who Saved 200 Sloths
"Monique Pool first fell in love with sloths when she took in an orphan from a rescue centre. Since then many sloths have spent time in her home on their way back to the forest -- but even she found it hard to cope when she had to rescue 200 at once. It all began in 2005 when Pool lost her dog, and called the Suriname Animal Protection Society to see if they'd found it. They hadn't, but they told ... posted on Apr 6, 10652 reads

The Laundromat with a Big Heart
The Indian Express laundry shop resembles an average laundromat in the bustling metropolis of Mumbai, India. The piles of neatly folded clothes and smiling faces of the shop's workers reflect their expert and efficient service in cleaning people's garments since 1940. A closer look, though, reveals a softer, warmer side to the shop: cats. Big and small, these furry creatures are often rescued from... posted on Jun 9, 15666 reads

Three Young Activists & Their Causes
Olivia, Madison, and Xiuhtezcatl are fierce love warriors who are fighting for causes they believe in -- and none of them are older than 13 years of age! Learn about the stories behind these powerful beings who are taking charge and making a difference in the areas of habitat restoration, voting rights, and environmental protection.... posted on Jul 4, 14096 reads

Eating Outside the Box
We love the convenience of a prepackaged meal. But, at what cost? Did you know that in the U.S. alone, packaging materials constitute 32 percent of the municipal solid waste stream? Sadly, school lunches contribute significantly to this problem -- generating between 45 and 90 pounds of Ziploc bags, foil pouches, and other packaging waste each year. That's roughly equivalent to the weight of an ave... posted on Aug 14, 15887 reads

How We Grieve: Learning To Live With Loss
John Updike wrote in his memoir, "Each day, we wake slightly altered, and the person we were yesterday is dead. So why, one could say, be afraid of death, when death comes all the time?" And yet even if we were to somehow make peace with our own mortality, a primal fear rips through whenever we think about losing those we love most dearly -- a fear that metastasizes into all-consuming grief when l... posted on Aug 18, 47490 reads

Look With Your Heart: Lessons From My Grandmother
Mia Tagano visits her 94 year old grandmother -- who now has dementia -- and discovers a whole new, less verbal, way of communicating her love through heart, hands and hugs. To her surprise, when she brings this approach to her grandmother's roommate who has suffered a stroke, it radically transforms their communication and opens up both women profoundly. This heart-warming story shares more...... posted on Jul 29, 0 reads

Elizabeth Gilbert On Big Magic
"Have you ever felt shivers on the back of your neck and goose bumps on your arms when you hear an idea that makes you want to follow it? Or felt as though something is laying a path for you? The sense that I have is that we live in a world that's constantly being swirled and encircled with ideas. Ideas are these non-embodied spirits that want nothing more than to be made manifest. And the only wa... posted on Sep 16, 24243 reads

A Guide To Love, Loss ... and Lucky Socks
As Mark Twain once said,"What is joy without sorrow? What is health without illness? You have to experience each if you are to appreciate the other. There is always going to be suffering. It's how you look at your suffering, how you deal with it, that will define you." With these words in mind, join author Shannon Hayes on her enlightening journey as she copes with a trip to a hospital, a friend's... posted on Sep 7, 18020 reads

Newtown Victim's Dream Becomes A Reality
"It was just in her soul," said Jenny Hubbard, describing her late daughter's love of animals. "She didn't care if it was fuzzy or slimy." Six-year-old Catherine Violet Hubbard was sadly one of 20 first-graders killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Before she died, young Catherine worked tirelessly towards her dream - a dream of one day opening her own animal refuge. At first,... posted on Sep 9, 16930 reads

Dad Invents Bionic Pancreas For Diabetic Son
Inspired by his son David's experience living and managing Type 1 diabetes, Ed Damiano, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, has invented a bionic pancreas that helps people with Type 1 diabetes manage their blood sugar. Read more to hear how the power of a parent's love has the potential to change the lives of millions of people living with diabetes.... posted on Oct 31, 5872 reads

The Giving Keys
When singer-songwriter and actress Caitlin Crosby got on stage with her hotel key conveniently draped on a makeshift chain around her neck, she had no idea that this would eventually open a door and lead to "The Giving Keys". This organization unlocks human potential through a circle of passed-on keys inscribed with inspiring words like "courage", "trust", and "love". Both givers and recipients o... posted on Nov 30, 19538 reads

Why a Culture of Compassion Matters
"What is companionate love?" To Sigal Barsade, a Wharton School management professor, it is when workers "who are together day in and day out, ask and care about each other's work and even non-work issues...They are careful of each other's feelings. They show compassion when things don't go well." Not surprisingly, Barsade and a colleague found that this important aspect of one's workplace ultimat... posted on Dec 2, 22466 reads

The Healing Power Of Joy
Laughter is a natural medicine - it lifts our spirits and makes us feel happy. Laughter is contagious. It brings people together and helps us feel more alive and empowered. Laughter therapy aims to use the natural physiological process of laughter to help relieve physical or emotional stresses or discomfort. There are over 70 organizations committed to the healing power of laughter around the worl... posted on Nov 4, 3892 reads

Finding Those Three Magical Words
How easy is it to "love your neighbor" when your intoxicated neighbor wakes you up in the middle of the night and insults you? For people dedicated to the path of nonviolence, like Arun Dada and his wife Mira Ba, it's not only the right thing to do, it's the only thing you can do. Instead of getting angry, they chose to try and transform the relationship through compassion. And in doing so they i... posted on Nov 27, 36733 reads

How One Woman's Love Is Transforming Delhi's Brothels
G.B. Road houses a total of 77 brothels. Home to 4,000 women, and 1,500 children, it is the largest red light district in Delhi, India. An area no woman would go voluntarily. Or so you'd think. But a few years ago, Gitanjali Babbar walked right in. She quite literally knocked on the brothel doors, walked up the narrow staircases, and talked to the people there -- sipped tea with the brothel owners... posted on Dec 12, 42638 reads

The Deaf & Blind Artist Who Never Gave Up
The story of Emilie Gossiaux, a native of New Orleans who now lives and works in New York City, is nothing short of extraordinary. At the age of 5, Gossiaux began to suffer from an untreatable disorder that caused her to start losing her hearing. Years later, in yet another cruel twist of fate, Gossiaux was in an accident that left her blind. Remarkably, she continued to follow her love of art and... posted on Feb 24, 19085 reads

Just One Thing: Be Amazed
Sometimes noticing the little things make us realize how truly amazing life can be. Showing love, being forgiving and taking time to be awed by things we take for granted, like the beauty of a butterfly or the power of a hug, can be powerful reminders to be grateful. Read further to be reminded of how beautiful life can be.... posted on Jan 13, 25872 reads

The Forgiveness Of Unforgivable Acts
As a child, Sujatha Baliga experienced repeated abuse at the hands of her own father. The deep pain and trauma of her experience would spur her towards victim advocacy. She enrolled in law school determined to become a prosecutor and help punish the perpetrators of such crimes. But a personal crisis in India followed by a serendipitous sit-down with the Dalai Lama himself, changed everything. "Ho... posted on Jan 27, 45053 reads

It Is Now That My Life Is Mine
Imagine beginning a practice of gratitude that would someday help transform another's world. In 2008, and in the midst of her own personal challenge, Hailey Bartholomew did just that -- snapping one photo each day of something she was grateful for. This simple act led to the creation of 365.com -- a site which would soon inspire thousands. Among them, a young mother named Amy Gill - who, in the mi... posted on Feb 14, 5708 reads

The Gift Of Invisible Kindness
With a deep recognition of the legacy of kindness her parents passed on to her, Audrey Lin has made a life out of creating and sharing her own random acts of love and generosity. It is an approach that she says creates, "some giddiness in my heart." Read more on Audrey and her ongoing journey, including stories about a meaningful conversation with a homeless man, a three-day walking pilgrimage, an... posted on Feb 17, 21403 reads

My Father's Gift
'Gift' is a short film that conveys a profound message on the importance of giving, and the true value of wealth. It illustrates how we touch others when we selflessly give of our time, love and kindness. 'Gift' is about a boy who grew up believing that his father was poor, unintelligent and unsuccessful. After his father's death however, the son discovers the true reach of his parent's generosit... posted on Mar 21, 6813 reads

Why We Love Music
What is our fascination with music? And, why is it that it sometimes invokes such a deeply emotional response? Scientists have been pondering this question for years, and now -- with fMRI technology they are able to visualize the brain's musical connection. "Music affects deep emotional centers in the brain," shares neuroscientist, Valorie Salimpoor. "It's very powerful." How powerful? In one stu... posted on Mar 6, 30806 reads