at Occupy Portland, October 21, 2011. Flickr/K.Kendal via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0. Personal transformation is usually an experience we actively seek out - not one that hunts us down. But in the twenty-first century, becoming a caregiver is a transformation that comes at us because today the ‘call to care’ is at odds with the imperative of work and the call to individual achievement. Being a caregiver is not something most people think or dream about, let alone prepare for, even though it’s a role many of us will inhabit, since there are approximately 43 million informal caregivers in the United States and 6.5 million caregivers in t... posted on Jun 6 2019 (10,236 reads)

aren’t known for being contemplative. By definition they are trying to change something beyond themselves, and the stereotype of an outgoing extrovert with a megaphone exists because in part, it’s true. That kind of campaigning attracts admiration and often appears as the visible face of change. But what if collective introspection made us into better campaigners by improving our ability to listen and learn, especially from those we disagree with? Who we interact with, and how, have became urgent concerns for campaigners, as opinions become more polarised around us. The challenge of reaching people we don’t agree with is especially important at a time when th... posted on Jul 16 2019 (10,379 reads)

members of the group are developing decentralized alternative technologies based on solar energy, while others are creating open source blueprints that enable people without specialist knowledge to construct simple plastic recycling machines all over the world. Continuing the work of Standing Rock, the last two gatherings focused on thwarting oil drilling threats in Portugal, and each included an aerial art action in which participants used their bodies to form giant images alongside messages to "Stop the Drilling." These actions strengthened the growing resistance in Portugal to fossil fuel extraction, which won a significant victory in October 2018 whe... posted on Jul 2 2019 (6,776 reads)

Marton speaks with Fadak Alfayadh Fadak Alfayadh spent her childhood in Iraq—a country that shifted from one world to an entirely different, “unliveable” one seemingly overnight. 15 years ago Fadak sought refuge with her family in Australia, where they received little support from the system but were welcomed by their community in Dandenong, Victoria. Today, Fadak is paving the way for the refugees who have arrived in her wake. Her “Meet Fadak” tours combat the misperceptions that the Australian community holds about those seeking asylum and the narratives we so often hear in mainstream media, while her work as a community lawyer helps support and sett... posted on Jun 24 2019 (3,155 reads)

met Richard Kamler at a party. Most of the party-goers had been on the program at the 2010 Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA. Many were also listed in the Women's Environmental Art Directory. Looking around, I saw only two or three familiar faces and, intent on making new acquaintances, I found myself chatting with one person after another. Among them was an older man, slight of build, who was particularly easy to talk with. After awhile, I realized I'd heard about him before: Richard Kamler.      Didn't he have a radio program in San Francisco where he talked with artists? A friend had once suggested I contact him thinking we would hit it off, especial... posted on Jun 26 2019 (3,783 reads)

       “I know,” I chagrined, “I told you it wouldn’t rain.”  I tried to smile as I admitted my over-active sense of success to Deborah Stewart, brave soul who was watching her Breast Cancer Survivor Weekend plans dissolve in the forecast.  In the midst of a dry spring season on the Mid-Atlantic coast, we met on a grey-cloud-filled sky afternoon, in the hour our first participants were to arrive.  We were desperately revising our scheduled outdoor activities, humor and optimism spilling together as retreat leader, amateur naturalist and survivor-volunteers put five heads together to scrape a meaningful experienc... posted on Jul 22 2019 (5,023 reads)

not every day you find yourself chatting with a former Olympian, let alone one whose discipline and determination on the ice has translated effortlessly into shifting the mental health landscape as we know it. Last month, I was privileged to speak with Rachael Flatt, a former competitive figure skater who took seventh place at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Down-to-earth and deeply insightful, it’s no surprise that the 26-year-old, aptly known as “Reliable Rachael”, has already made quite a name for herself. At the time of our call, Rachael had just completed the first year of her Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina... posted on Jul 1 2019 (4,480 reads)

in aikido and other martial arts fosters confidence, strength and awareness, but to be whole people we need more. We need to learn how to be in relationship with the world without dominating or being dominated. Our martial confidence can give us personal strength but it is the open heart, the intention and capacity to protect and include the attacker that will allow for connection and appreciation. The open heart gives us the possibility of transcending our survival instinct. The element of compassion changes the frequency of the shared field. Compassion has a strength quite different from that of muscle power; it is not only open and inclusive; it also has a blade like aspect th... posted on Jul 18 2019 (9,303 reads)

care not only saves smiles, it saves lives. Yet millions of Americans can’t afford to go to a dentist. They may not have health insurance that covers dental care, or they may live far from a dentist or one who accepts Medicaid patients. In Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America, Mary Otto describes how American dentistry came to the point of producing Hollywood smiles for some while leaving enormous gaps in care for others. In this excerpt, she describes a model of accessible, affordable dental care that is used successfully in other countries and now, in some parts of the United States. Dental health aide therapists, or DHATS... posted on Jul 30 2019 (4,408 reads)

still on the pilgrim path?                   Petra:   I can say I did three major Christian pilgrimage destinations. To Santiago, that was the first one; to Rome, that was the second one; and then to Jerusalem. That was the last, the biggest one. We walked across America and then flew from New York to Lisbon and walked to Jerusalem. RW:   If you think about each of your pilgrimages what comes to you as some of the most important, or memorable, parts you would want to share? Petra:   I think the first one, for sure, was that I realized I could not stay in my j... posted on Aug 3 2019 (5,864 reads)

my circumstances may not be exactly as I wish, I still have reason to be grateful. Right now, as I sit in my cell, it’s hot and the air is stale — but I hear a little bird chirping happily somewhere outside my window. ~ Scott Zirus, TX Does gratefulness truly make us happy? How does gratefulness serve us during difficult times? What is your experience of gratitude as a person who is incarcerated and denied so many of the freedoms and privileges associated with happiness?These are some of the questions we explored through Grateful Anyhow, a recent project in partnership with Prisoner Express (PE) that engaged approximately 350 incarcerated men and women ... posted on Aug 28 2019 (5,691 reads)

conversation is presented courtesy of TheGreenInterview.com, a website that has produced more than 100 feature-length interviews with many of the world's greatest environmental thinkers and activists. More about the site here.  Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger, botanist, medical biochemist, writer and broadcaster, combines medical training with a love of botany. She is an expert on the medicinal, environmental and nutritional properties of trees, and author most recently of The Global Forest. When her parents died, she was raised by an uncle who taught her everything from physics to Buddhism and Gaelic poetry. She was one of only ... posted on Sep 12 2019 (6,861 reads)

follows is the transcript of an Awakin Call interview with Sr. Marilyn Lacey in August of 2019. You can listen to the recording of the entire call here.  Mercy Beyond Borders Micro-Ent moms in Uganda grateful for their business loans Pavi Mehta: Now it's my pleasure to introduce Sister Marilyn, who just flew in from Haiti six hours ago and graciously joined us this morning. Sister Marilyn Lacey is the Founder and Executive Director of Mercy Beyond Borders, a nonprofit organization that partners with displaced women and children overseas to alleviate their poverty. She's been a Sister of Mercy since 1966 and holds a Master's degree in Social Work from ... posted on May 6 2021 (3,514 reads)

as too many of us do, separated from  Nature, we forget that we are supported on this planet only insofar as we remain connected in relationship to Earth and all of her creatures. John Muir understood this deeply. He encouraged people to “stay close to Nature’s heart” for healing and solace. It takes patience, quiet, and a willingness to step away from the pull of technology to find the heart of Nature in real time.  He saw how Nature has been sustained over eons through storms, floods, and fires, but she will “not be saved from fools” – meaning humans who have lost their relationship with Life. This is a problem for our ag... posted on Sep 24 2019 (6,196 reads)

from the book Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche by Bill Plotkin. Published by New World Library, 2013 www.newworldlibrary.com. It’s time to take another look at ourselves — to re-enliven our sense of what it is to be human, to breathe new life into ancient intuitions of who we are, and to learn again to celebrate, as we once did, our instinctive affinity with the Earth community in which we’re rooted. We’re called now to rediscover what it means to be human beings in a wildly diverse world of feathered, furred, and scaled fellow creatures; flowers and forests; mountains, rivers, and oceans; wind, rain, and snow; Sun and Moon. Our I... posted on Sep 25 2019 (8,278 reads)

perhaps overrepresented, the setting for about half of the book’s selections. Europe and Asia are represented by seven entries each, and Australia features prominently in two essays. Just a handful of selections have ties to countries in Africa and South America. Pieces speak to each other in complex, surprising ways. A sense of interconnectedness is one of the anthology’s most striking features. In addition to the typical themes of identity, community, and place, other thematic images emerge and echo throughout. These include gardens; beehives; trees as companions; tigers; architecture; fathers and rivers; dreams and dreamscapes. The resulting concatenation creates a rich co... posted on Oct 5 2019 (4,898 reads)

Sun-hee finely crushes eggshells, dries and saves her coffee grounds, and separates large vegetable offcuts into smaller pieces. Later, the 55-year-old professional translator will bury them in her backyard, in rotating plots of earth that are given ample time to compost before being replenished. She will plant tomatoes, basil and corn in the resulting soil. She has a raft of little tricks to make it all work: In the summer, for example, her husband dices up the rinds of every watermelon he eats in order to make the composting process faster. “When we lived in an apartment, I would throw away all my food waste into the shared collection containers,” Chung said. “Bu... posted on Oct 24 2019 (10,166 reads)

Quilty is like any other human being: complex, flawed, obvious, messy, courageous, funny. As one of Australia’s best-known and internationally acclaimed artists, his public profile as an “artist activist” can invite intense public scrutiny. He gets fairly and unfairly described as all kinds of things, yet his modus operandi is humanity and compassion. In 2002, Ben won the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, and was a finalist in the Wynne and Archibald prizes. His success continued: he won the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 2009 with a portrait of Jimmy Barnes, and in 2011 he won the coveted Archibald Prize with a portrait of artist and mentor, Margaret... posted on Nov 20 2019 (4,791 reads)

Accountability for Social Change is a monthly series on Giving Compass exploring feedback in philanthropy with practical steps for donors. It serves as a primer for the 2020 publication of David Bonbright’s (co-founder and chief executive, Keystone Accountability) book on the emergence of mutuality — working on relationships and not just in them — as a breakthrough approach to philanthropy and social change. The stories and advice are based on a 40-year journey to mutuality craft. Part Five of this series has been syndicated below. As one of the world’s most famous moral leaders, Nelson Mandela’s larger-than-life struggle against aparth... posted on Nov 8 2019 (4,548 reads)

Runkle is an author, an activist, an investor, and a nonprofit leader. He founded Mercy for Animals when he was 15 years old and, at the time, was part of a beginning of a plant-based farm animal advocacy group movement that has now become the largest plant-based environmental advocacy organization in the world. This came out of an experience Milo had when he was young, growing up in rural Ohio, where a teacher brought in a baby piglet for dissection. That baby piglet was not fully dead and he saw it recklessly thrown against the floor in standard factory farming practices to kill it. He wanted to press charges around that treatment of the animal.  Seeing that the legal system woul... posted on Dec 5 2019 (4,879 reads)