don't even think about whether I love music or not because my connection to music is deeper than love.” ~David France At least once in our lives, most of us have been inspired through music to reach beyond what we thought was possible. For David France, music served as his bridge into a different kind of American dream. The son of immigrants from the West Indies, he was just a shy kid in school trying to find his way until one day he was introduced to the violin. Everything changed after that. As our guest on Saturday’s Awakin Call, David shared how his journey in life has blossomed in between the soulful notes of classical musi... posted on Jul 11 2014 (21,121 reads)

Unified is transforming its schools by embedding social-emotional learning into the district culture—one adult at a time. Last week, The New Yorker reported that Mark Zuckerberg’s 2010 gift of $100 million to the Newark School District hadn’t really improved the schools—with most of the money having been spent on labor contracts and consulting fees. CASEL Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), an urban district with demographics and challenges similar to Newark’s, has taken a very different tack to school reform—and it’s not costing $100 million: The district... posted on Aug 16 2014 (23,748 reads)

do children know that adults seem to have forgotten? Children are more confident, more courageous and enjoy life far more intensely than adults. Sometimes it feels that we spend our entire lives trying to return to who we were as children. Here's what we can learn from our younger selves to bring more clarity and joy into adulthood. 1. Every day is a fresh start. "Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" - L.M. Montgomery. Wasn't it always amazing how the end of a school day always felt so final, so finished? The break between June and September seemed like a lifetime. Because when you are young, every day feels li... posted on Jul 25 2014 (74,983 reads)

and psychiatry and neurology primed me, I think, to see play behavior in its evolutionary terms. So that when I had the option — fairly late in my career — of studying play in a broad sense, I started with the animals in the wild and learned a huge amount about sort of the spectrum of play behavior in the animal world. Ms. Tippett: I've looked at some projects you were involved in — an issue of National Geographic, some of the visuals, there are these remarkable images of cheetahs and cranes and bears and mountain goats who seem clearly to be playing. Dr. Brown: Well, I think there is no doubt, at least to us onlookers, that they're playing. And my gue... posted on Jul 18 2014 (32,038 reads)

loves the liver of it. You must live and life will be good to you.” The light of the world has grown a little dimmer with the loss of the phenomenal Maya Angelou, but her legacy endures as a luminous beacon of strength, courage, and spiritual beauty. Angelou’s timeless wisdom shines with unparalleled light in a 1977 interview by journalist Judith Rich, found in Conversations with Maya Angelou (public library) — the same magnificent tome that gave us the beloved author’s conversation with Bill Moyers on freedom — in which Angelou explores issues of identity and the meaning of life. Reflecting on her life, Angelou — who rose to cultural pro... posted on Jul 22 2014 (27,153 reads)

years ago, Minneapolis’s Washburn Center for Children, provider of mental health services to about 2,700 youths each year, decided a new facility was needed to replace the old building. This morning, the business journal Finance & Commerce reported on the Center’s coming Grand Opening — and on Washburn’s pioneering idea. “One of the keys to treating … children is connecting them with nature…” wrote Brian Johnson. “Large windows, abundant natural light…curved hallways, high ceilings, extensive landscaping and strong ties to the outdoors jump out at visitors… On the outside, a large playground with gra... posted on Jan 7 2015 (27,452 reads)

Kitty Edwards, left, and Patti Pansa, right] In May 2013, Patti Pansa, a professional engineer and life coach, contacted me to assist her in her journey towards death. She had taken care of all the literal preparations for death: she had spoken to her family members about her wishes for end-of-life care; her last will and testament, advanced health care directives, and medical durable power of attorney were all signed and delivered to the appropriate people; a list of her important accounts with passwords sat in a folder next to her computer. But Patti wanted more. She wanted to leave a legacy for her family and friends. Perhaps most of all, she wanted to discover way... posted on Mar 4 2015 (49,191 reads)

Babbar wanted to walk to the Freedom Tower. This cold day in New York City marked the end of her first trip to the United States. She had visited in Washington, D.C.; Reno, Nevada; the Bay Area; and now for a few days, New York. For six weeks, Gitanjali had been a U.S. Department of State Professional Fellow, broadening her already deep knowledge of sex trafficking by observing how it manifests in this country. The night before she had visited a Manhattan strip club, hoping to talk with or at least observe the interactions of the women who worked there. The workers in the strip club seemed lonely and competitive compared to women in the Indian... posted on Jun 30 2015 (10,285 reads)

poverty persists, there is no true freedom.” - Nelson Mandela What fosters true freedom? Ashoka Fellow Kim Feinbergbelieves the answer to this essential question is a holistic education: Kim Feinberg’s story starts with fostering empathy in South African school children through oral history lessons on discrimination and intolerance. But as her story unfolded, building empathy became just one component of her work to educate and empower the country’s most vulnerable, resource-starved youth. Through her organisation The Tomorrow Trust, Kim sees a way forward into true post-apartheid freedom for young South Africans. In 1997, after working for the Sho... posted on May 21 2015 (8,814 reads)

was curious to push some edges within myself by going into places where I didn’t feel comfortable, as a way of growing”, reflects Brian Bergman, a yoga teacher from Cape Town. “And prison, certainly there was a lot of fear for me going in, a big unknown of what’s going on behind those walls.” Trained in the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger, India, Brian sought to deepen his own practice by exploring opportunities for seva, Sanskrit for service. As a result, he co-founded SevaUnite, a platform that encourages service in South Africa. In the process, Brian found his own purpose in serving in prisons. It took a lot of persistence – 1.5 ye... posted on May 9 2015 (15,197 reads)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the best-known “number” in economic governance. It drives national policies, sets priorities in the social fields (e.g. there exists a ratio between GDP and how much spending in welfare is considered appropriate by many countries) and ultimately affects the societal landscape of a country (e.g. by determining labour-business relations, work-life balances and the type of consumption patterns adopted by citizens). The type of industrial model supported by GDP dominates physical and infrastructural â€‹geography, from the shape of cities and their relation with the countryside to the management of parks and natural resources. Marketing st... posted on Aug 22 2015 (13,308 reads)

unexpected invitation to Betty Peck and her daughter Anna Rainville’s home for an intimate conference on education, specifically on Waldorf education, is what led me to Ida Oberman. There were a few of us at the gathering who were not especially knowledgeable about Waldorf education, but Betty and Anna have always liked expanding the circle. For decades, Betty Peck’s weekly salon has been a meeting place for a wide range of creative individuals from a variety of perspectives in the thick of Silicon Valley culture. This particular gathering was more focused than Betty’s regular salon meetings and no less interesting for that. It was a chance both for new conn... posted on Aug 24 2015 (7,585 reads)

we create social change without money? I don't have a conclusive answer but just holding that question can raise some very interesting insights. Since we're talking about money, I thought I'd start with a story on Wall Street. One of my friends was running a venture fund on Wall Street. They had a great year, and his boss calls him in to congratulate him and offers the proverbial blank check, "What would you like?" He looks his boss in the eye and says, "What I'd love is a minute of silence before all our group meetings." Wow. The boss is thinking, "In a context where people are billing every three minutes, a minute of silence to do no... posted on Oct 28 2015 (32,809 reads)

people don’t have any problem with seeing compassion as a thoroughly commendable quality. It seems to refer to an amalgam of unquestionably good qualities: kindness, mercy, tenderness, benevolence, understanding, empathy, sympathy, and fellow-feeling, along with an impulse to help other living creatures, human or animal, in distress. But we seem less sure about self-compassion. For many, it carries the whiff of all those other bad “self” terms: self-pity, self-serving, self-indulgent, self-centered, just plain selfish. Even many generations removed from our culture’s Puritan origins, we still seem to believe that if we aren’t blaming and punishing oursel... posted on Oct 19 2015 (29,355 reads)

been covering the science of human goodness, off and on, for almost 10 years. In that time, I’ve seen a dramatic transformation in the way scientists understand how and why we love, thank, empathize, cooperate, and care for each other. This essay originally appeared (in slightly different form) in the May 2015 issue of Shambhala Sun.  Of course, “goodness” doesn’t seem like a very scientific concept. It sounds downright squishy to many people, and thus unworthy of study. But you can count acts of goodness—and all science begins with counting. It’s the counting that has started to change our understanding of human life. For example,... posted on Oct 24 2015 (15,041 reads)

are a slice of humanity: Everyone brings both their wonderful innate goodness and their challenging globby muck to the classroom. Creating a safe and supportive school culture is one of the most difficult tasks principals face as fearless school leaders. When they succeed, it helps everyone—students, teachers, and themselves—bring out the goodness and reduce the muck. Given the extraordinary complexity of this task, wouldn’t it be great to hand principals a “silver bullet” for building a learning environment in which everyone thrives? But alas, no silver bullet exists. For principals who aren’t sure where to start, the Greater Good Science... posted on Nov 11 2015 (13,802 reads)

present, experiencing one's sense of being... Art can bring you there, but if you do art to get there, you won't get there. [laughs] I hate to tell you that, but it's true. RW: To change direction, I'm wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with photography. NH: Well...there was an experience of going photographing with Minor White in a place called Lost Harbor, Maine. I couldn't find any photographs at all. It was very difficult. But there were three images I took on that day. I knew the images meant something, but I didn't know what. The only thing I knew was that I should hang on to them. This was at least ten years after having met Minor Wh... posted on Apr 2 2016 (10,308 reads)

his address to the 2016 class at DRBU, ServiceSpace founder Nipun Mehta makes a case for the power of stilling the mind, deepening awareness and practicing what he calls the 3 S's: small, service, and surrender. Framed in the context of a rapidly changing world that privileges money, fame and power, his talk is riddled with inspiring counter examples. Drawing on insights from revolutionary Do-Nothing farmer Masanobu Fukuoka, Sufi parables, stories from the White House, a bowing monk and more, Mehta's words serve as a clarion call back to humanity's universal values. Below is the transcript. Thank you, all. Thank you, President Susan Rounds, Bhi... posted on May 31 2016 (49,300 reads)

August 2016 DailyGood featured the powerful story of Buddhas On Death Row -- a multi-dimensional collaboration between two pen friends, one of them a woman in Finland, the other a man on Death Row in the United States. Here is a follow-up piece on their journey as it continues to unfold... Note: Saturday, September 24th 2016 there will be a global conference call with Maria Jain, the Finnish half of this remarkable duo. You can learn more about the call, and RSVP here. Art, inner cultivation, and friendship. Buddhas on Death Row illuminates a profound journey unfolding in the darkest of places, sending rays of light to the outside. The small street-leve... posted on Sep 21 2016 (11,122 reads)

to contrast with it, this open sky. This is why we will change the color of sky when in fact the sky has not been changed in color. RW:  You're saying this is a culturally determined thing? JT:  Yes I am. RW:  You mean, if I was a primitive man, I wouldn't have perceived that shift of color? JT:  Well, that is not exactly clear. RW:  Because it occurred to me, when I was having this experience, that part of it was due to the effects of the after -images of the blue and of the yellowish tungsten light, that these after images amplify each other. JT:  Yes, the laws of simultaneous contrast will work within any culture. That does happen. ... posted on Mar 26 2017 (15,003 reads)