the next 3 weeks, I will post a chapter from my new book release, Beyond Hope: Letting Go of a World in Collapse to give you a taste of what lives inside. This week, I offer you the powerful Introduction. If you dare, read on. *********** This book began as something very different than what you now hold in your hands. Originally conceived as a testament to the “beautiful new world” my heart still believed was possible, the working title for this masterpiece was, Revolution 3.0. Revolution 3.0 would be the ultimate transformation in consciousness that inspired the reclamation of wholeness leading us back to the very essence of who we are: the int... posted on Aug 25 2020 (8,513 reads)

earlier version of this essay was published in T’ai Chi: The International Magazine of T’ai Chi Ch’uan, September 1997 All natural things curl, swirl, twist, and flow in patterns like flowing water. Thus we sense something similar in clouds, smoke, streams, the wind-blown waves of sand on the beach, the pattern of branches against the sky, the shape of summer grasses, the markings on rocks, the movement of animals. Even solid bones have lines of flow on their exterior and in their spongy interior. Spiders build their webs, caterpillars their cocoons in water-like spirals. The rings in an exposed log look like a whirlpool. And looking up in the night sky we ca... posted on Aug 17 2020 (9,625 reads)

touch the earth is to move into harmony with nature.” --Oglala Sioux Shamans, Native Americans, and wisdom teachers all over the world see the earth as a giant, conscious, living being. They say pollution sickens her in the same way cancer spreads slowly through a human body. Debilitated though she may be, our Mother Earth still retains tremendous power to heal. When we physically ground ourselves on her surface we are gifted with her vital energies. The science behind it is simple: The water in your body acts as an electrical conduit to earth’s negative ionic charge so you feel better when any part of you touches it. Charged particles that come orig... posted on Sep 9 2020 (15,112 reads)

from Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, The New Press, 2016            I have lived most of my life in the progressive camp but in recent years I began to want to better understand those on the right. How did they come to hold their views? Could we make common cause on some issues? These questions led me to drive, one day, from plant to plant in the bleak industrial outskirts of Lake Charles, Louisiana, with Sharon Galicia, a warm, petite, white single mother, a blond beauty, on her rounds selling medical insurance. Unfazed by a deafening buzz saw cutting vast sheets of steel, she bantered... posted on Sep 23 2020 (5,400 reads)

do business and spirituality meet? How does one use creativity to unite? How might we walk our unique path in solving problems outside and dissolving the ego inside?    A weekday brand-consultant, a weekend rock-climber, author during nights and a lifetime seeker of Truth -- Kiran Khalap’s journey is a striking example of a life of emergence which defies linear planning.  At the early age of 17, when most are concerned about grades and friends, Kiran’s strongest yearning was “to know the Truth”. He read most contemporary philosophers and ancient scriptures, but finally it was J Krishnamurti’s words which c... posted on Sep 25 2020 (4,601 reads)

Breathing slowly, deeply, can de-escalate a full-blown panic attack in a matter of minutes. Remembering to breathe throughout the day de-stresses you, and helps you install calm as your real baseline, not stress as the new normal. Hand on the heart. Neural cells around the heart activate during stress. Your warm hand on your heart calms those neurons down again, often in less than a minute. Hand on the heart works especially well when you breathe positive thoughts, feelings, images of safety and trust, ease, and goodness into your heart at the same time. Meditation. Sylvia Boorstein’s book Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There, speaks to our instinct... posted on Oct 21 2020 (11,602 reads)

week I told you about my red winter coat—how it helps to keep me warm not only by what it’s made of but also by what’s on it: signatures of people who believe in the power of community; who understand that their lives are bound up with the lives of others; who know that they belong—or who want to belong and are struggling to find a way. Entering pandemic winter in South Dakota, isolated and socially distanced, I realized that my coat would have no signers this year, unless I had some extraordinary help. So I invited you to sign by proxy. “Drop me an email,” I said, “and tell me how to inscribe your name. I’ll be happy to carry you ... posted on Nov 7 2020 (5,129 reads)

water from there and the rose oil from the village have been added to our blessing water today. The rose and its Eastern equivalent, the lotus, are the pattern for the sacred mandala, or cosmic wheel. A mandala is a circle that speaks of wholeness. In Sanskrit it means “to be in possession of one’s essence”. The round moon is a mandala, and so is an egg, and a nest, a fully open rose, the cycle of the seasons, and a rose window. Carl Jung suggested we meditate on these images to center ourselves as a path to peace. On the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France is a mandala in the form of a labyrinth.  It is a metaphor for our journey through life. Walking it ... posted on Nov 15 2020 (8,094 reads)

the very earliest time When both people and animals lived on earth A person could become an animal if he wanted to and an animal could become a human being. Sometimes they were people and sometimes animals and there was no difference. All spoke the same language That was the time when words were like magic. The human mind had mysterious powers. A word spoken by chance might have strange consequences. It would suddenly come alive and what people wanted to happen could happen— all you had to do was say it. Nobody could explain this: That’s the way it was. -- Nalungiaq, Inuit woman interviewed by ethnologist Knud Rasmussen in the early twentieth century. The ... posted on Dec 5 2020 (7,734 reads)

be a spiritual warrior, one must have a broken heart; without a broken heart and the sense of tenderness and vulnerability, your warriorship is untrustworthy.” ~Chögyam Trungpa Destructive wildfires rage in California where I live and throughout the Western region states, darkening the sky with smokey orange light. Fires also blaze through the Amazon forests. Ice is permanently melting in the artic poles, threatening to alter ocean and weather patterns upon which the stability of our civilization is built. In the U.S. and around the world there now seems to be a growing poverty and decline in health and wellbeing on myriad levels. More visible now are the links betwee... posted on Dec 10 2020 (6,242 reads)

truth, hidden truth, old truth, self-evident truth, relevant truth, rational truth, impotent truth, indifferent truth, mathematical truth, half-truth, absolute truth, and factual truth. There is no “the truth,” only truth in reference to something particular. The adjectives she attaches to truth transform the concept into something worldly. In The Origins of Totalitarianism, different forms of truth recur in reference to particular points that Arendt is arguing - that images distort the truth, for example, or that political rhetoric by necessity is an act of distortion, a re-figuring of our common understanding of truth. In politics one hears phrases like ‘th... posted on Jan 7 2021 (6,682 reads)

the wake of disturbing recent events in America's capital, community leaders, activists, authors, artists and teachers are speaking up for justice and peace. Here we share timely reflections, resources and inspiration from various voices that DailyGood has featured over the years. Parker Palmer: Author, educator, activist Wed., Jan. 6, 2021, is now engraved in American history as yet another date that reveals how fragile our democracy is—and how strong. Like a KKK rally, the insurrection brought us face-to-face with an evil that has lived among and within too many Americans from the start of this country. Many have been laid low by this latest edition of u... posted on Jan 9 2021 (9,004 reads)

Dr. Peniel Joseph was growing up in New York City during the 1980s and 1990s, a child of a Haitian immigrant single mother, he learned about how the civil rights movement had transformed America, ended legalized segregation, secured black voting rights and moved the nation closer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a "beloved community." Yet his own lived experience involved fielding racial slurs at his mostly white high school in Queens, and in other ways absorbing the racial divisions that persisted in the social, political and cultural landscape of New York City in that day. This included an incident that shaped his early life, in which a black man was chased to d... posted on Jan 12 2021 (2,774 reads)

Cole-Dai's ​poem entered my heart as a balm a gift that seemed specially crafted for my losses. But I know all who read these words​--​ that arrived from the dream world​--​will be moved deeply. This stunning book will serve as a life raft to carry you to the other side of your journey of grief​. --​Maryanne Murphy Zarzana, poet "For the Sake of One We Love and Are Losing" is a remarkable poem. Its origins lay in a powerful dream that writer Phyllis Cole-Dai had just before the pandemic hit the United States. Don't miss the PDF of the poem available for download and sharing at the end of this... posted on Jan 28 2021 (13,500 reads)

who speak in spiritual terms routinely refer to God as creator but seldom see "creator" as the literal term for "artist". I am suggesting you take the term "creator" quite literally. You are seeking to forge a creative alliance, artist-to-artist with the Great Creator. Accepting this concept can greatly expand your creative possibilities." --Julia Cameron, "The Artist's Way" Through a 'not-so-smart' smartphone mishap, the Universe tapped me on the shoulder recently and invited me into the Universal Flow of abundance and creativity. I'd meant to send a text message to a certain Julia I know, but my smartphone... posted on Feb 9 2021 (7,043 reads)

me set the scene: I walk up to five men skateboarding by the statue in Prospect Park, they are hanging with each other and I approach and I say, "Hey, I wrote a poem about you, for you, can I read it to you?" All five of them look up at me like, what, what the hell is happening here? And then one by one they say, "Yeah, sure, do it." My phone has 1% battery left. It might die before I even begin. I am a white queer woman in her 40s wearing layers dressed to go running and only my eyes are visible. They are five young men of color, in their 20's, all masked. This scenario is admittedly the kind of thing you'd make fun of. By all means, do. I almost walked... posted on Feb 11 2021 (10,218 reads)

Tree in Chianti, Italy, photo by Jim Glaser Poetry—my father quoted it frequently, my grandmother collected it in scrapbooks –cards from friends, I memorized snatches of it in school. Poetry really came to me as a young father when my family and I needed to move across the country away from our best friends. It was an unsettled, lonely. time and  I started taking walks in the evening to relax. It was spring.  Lemon blossoms.  Amazingly, I felt something in me wanting to flow out and dance-- and words-- short poems tumbled out of me.  I was surprised, encouraged, and felt happily hooked. Then one day I serendipitously discovered another poet, and t... posted on Feb 22 2021 (5,125 reads)

my early 20s, I apprenticed myself to the The Queen Mothers of Kroboland in Ghana with the hope of understanding more about my cultural heritage. Early one morning, I arrived at the compound of Paramount Queen Mother Manye Nartike, who was particularly animated by a rumor she had heard about our diasporic practices in relation to land. In disbelief she admonished me, “Is it true that in the United States, a farmer will put the seed into the ground and not pour any libations, offer any prayers, sing, or dance, and expect that seed to grow?” Met with my ashamed silence, she continued, “That is why you are all sick! Because you see the Earth as a thing and not a being.&rdqu... posted on Feb 23 2021 (5,326 reads)

by Ariel Burger What follows is a transcript syndicated from On Being, of an interview between Krista Tippett and Ariel Burger. You can listen to the audio of this interview here. Transcript Krista Tippett, host: I’m Krista Tippett, and this is On Being. Ariel Burger is a rabbi, as well as an artist and teacher. He’s the author of Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom. I love this description he gives of Wiesel’s face: “It looks like a map of the world, if the world had been wounded but still managed to laugh.” Ariel Burger’s own religious sensibility was formed in part by the contrast between the two home... posted on Feb 25 2021 (6,499 reads)

Begin With, the Sweet Grass" Will the hungry ox stand in the field and not eat     of the sweet grass? Will the owl bite off its own wings? Will the lark forget to lift its body in the air or     forget to sing? Will the rivers run upstream? Behold, I say—behold the reliability and the finery and the teachings     of this gritty earth gift.                                              2. Eat bread an... posted on Feb 27 2021 (26,943 reads)