are you going to be remembered for? Will people talk about the relationships you had with friends and family? The once-a-year dish everyone looked forward to? The impact you made on a company and its employees? How is a legacy created and cultivated, and what can you do to build your own legacy? These are all huge questions with small and critical answers. Here's the story of my legacy, and a few pointers on how to build yours. *The beginning will have twists and turns.* I started college wanting to be a doctor. I wanted to help people. After taking a few courses in molecular and cellular biology, I became interested in research. ... posted on Jan 16 2013 (37,229 reads)

a surgeon I have used the word “cancer” — the C-word — thousands of times in my life. I have spent my entire professional life researching it, trying to find ways to resect it, suppress it, and, whenever possible, outright annihilate it. I knew what it was. I just never imagined what it could do. I thought it was just a word. I was wrong. It’s nothing like a word. It’s a force. I tripped over it, actually. I went to sleep for what I believed was a relatively routine surgery. The details are not important but the theme is. When I awoke, I was told my procedure had been “aborted.” I was in bit of a post-anesthetic haze because I re... posted on Jan 22 2013 (51,538 reads)

novel prison program in New York City uses nature to teach inmates about life's larger lessons. Breezes carried wafts of lemon balm and mint from the herb garden, hedged by apricot and nectarine trees. Monarchs flitted around butterfly bushes, and a pair of resident ducks shuttled between a marshy puddle and a carefully tended pond. Just six miles from lower Manhattan, this small island oasis in the East River seemed almost bucolic—except, of course, for the coils of razor wire running along the high fence surrounding it and the gardeners wearing bright orange jumpsuits with DOC (Department of Corrections) stenciled across the backs. This was Rikers Island, the infamou... posted on Jan 23 2013 (11,788 reads)

world is pretty messed up. With all the violence, pollution and crazy things people do, it would be easy to turn into a grouchy old man without being either elderly or male. There's certainly no shortage of justification for disappointment and cynicism. But consider this: Negative attitudes are bad for you. And gratitude, it turns out, makes you happier and healthier. If you invest in a way of seeing the world that is mean and frustrated, you're going to get a world that is, well, more mean and frustrating. But if you can find any authentic reason to give thanks, anything that is going right with the world or your life, and put your attention there, then statistics say ... posted on Jan 24 2013 (38,202 reads)

Jabbar Asgar Zaddeh, I could not have continued writing.  I am sad that he died before I had a chance to meet him, because I’m in love with him. Jabbar was born in 1884 to an unschooled Muslim family in Erevan (Ossip Mandelstam introduced the West to this city when he wrote of Erevan: “I love the crooked Babylons of your wide-mouthed streets.”)  He was raised with other Azerbaijani children, and looked the same as they, but he was not; he questioned the assumptions, traditions and conventions around him. For he was a poet and, like all good poets, his poems were dangerous. [Poets and their poems mirror reality and are therefore considered dangerous ... posted on Feb 1 2013 (13,135 reads)

to the ones who were never normal. Never conforming. Never able to sink into the soles of a follower. Here’s to the ones who were told to stop. To give up. To quit trying. To shove themselves into a little box because the world never needed their arms stretched out wide. Here’s to the ones who refused to listen. To the negatives. To the naysayers. To pessimists and the procrastinators. Here’s to the ones who believe in Away. And Going. And Newness within Newness. And a world made to wash us and move us and sculpt us and change us. And the courage it takes to believe in all those things. Here’s to the ones who have uncovered... posted on Feb 6 2013 (24,649 reads)

much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. — Willy Wonka One key to taking care of ourselves lies in learning how to slow down. I have a friend who’s in the middle of a well-deserved sabbatical. These months represent the first chance she’s had in two decades to unwind a bit as a working, single mom. “It’s just incredible,” she remarked, “having time to exercise and read and cook meals and walk outside—it’s really unbelievable.” “I’m curious,” I asked her. “What’s the best part: the exercising, the reading, the cooking, or the walking?” Without he... posted on Feb 11 2013 (22,488 reads)

a very young age, my oldest daughter has been a gift giver. Like most children, her offerings consisted of items that adults wouldn’t ordinarily classify as gifts. Broken seashells, traumatized frogs, dying weeds, and misshapen rocks were often presented in small, dirt-laden hands beneath a wide smile. In the past two years my child’s gift giving practices have moved up a notch. Gifts are no longer found in nature; they are found in our home. Yes, it’s re-gifting at its best—wrapping barely-used items and presenting them with great love.   I must be honest; I used to cringe at the sight of my child tearing through our (multiple) junk drawers looki... posted on Feb 9 2013 (26,055 reads)

never thought I would create a day. And yet, two years ago, with a few friends, I did. It all started back in 2008 on a cold December evening like any other. I was in the New York City subway rushing home. A man I’d seen many times on the train was asking for money to help the homeless. He had a warm smile and an open demeanor, and was wearing a hat that said he was a Vietnam vet. Like everyone else on the subway car I looked down, hiding in my iPhone. A monologue ran through my head about how his story couldn’t be true, and how the smartest, best thing I could do was nothing. This wasn’t an academic question for me. Just two years before I had left the p... posted on Feb 14 2013 (19,432 reads)

1748, the British politician and aristocrat John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, spent a lot of his free time playing cards. He greatly enjoyed eating a snack while still keeping one hand free for the cards. So he came up with the idea to eat beef between slices of toast, which would allow him to finally eat and play cards at the same time. Eating his newly invented "sandwich," the name for two slices of bread with meat in between, became one of the most popular meal inventions in the western world. What's interesting about this is that you are very likely to never forget the story of who invented the sandwich ever again. Or at least, much less likely to do so... posted on Feb 21 2013 (53,933 reads)

this assignment, says Bill McDonough in a recent TED talk: Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, converts nitrogen into ammonia, distills water, stores solar energy as fuel, builds complex sugars, creates microclimates, changes color with the seasons, and self-replicates. Sound impossible? Well, nature’s already completed this one. It’s called 
a plant. And the fact that it does these things safely and efficiently is inspiring engineers and designers to reconceive the ways we manufacture such basics as soap bottles, raincoats, and wall-to-wall carpeting. The trio wrote two pivotal books—Benyus’ Biomimicry: ... posted on Feb 27 2013 (12,334 reads)

all want to lead a happy life. But in our quest for 'progress' we've been pursuing priorities that put our happiness at risk - not just for us as individuals, but for society as a whole. Our collective aim should be a society with the greatest possible human happiness and wellbeing - with policies, institutions and social attitudes that help people to lead flourishing lives. This is the spirit behind a resolutionwhich was adopted last year by all 193 United Nations member states, calling for "a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth", and one which promotes "happiness and the well-being of all peoples". To support... posted on Mar 20 2013 (24,058 reads)

Surti is an odd character. A few years ago, the angular, bearded author was invited to meet the President of India to receive a national award for literature at a ceremony in the capital, New Delhi. He politely declined. Absorbed in writing the first draft of his new novel, he cited the reason that he did not have time. But what he has made time for every Sunday for seven years now, is going door-to-door in Mira Road, a non-descript suburb of Mumbai, with a plumber in tow, asking residents if they need their tap fixed for free! As a distinguished Indian painter and author, Aabid has written around 80 books but no story so moved him as the truth about water scarcity on the p... posted on Mar 25 2013 (14,298 reads)

the past ten years there has been an escalating interest in happiness. Hundreds of books and studies have emerged to guide us toward finding the good life, but achieving personal happiness is only a part of the equation. When happiness is partnered with well-being and sustainability it takes on a whole new dimension: sustainable happiness. Sustainable happiness takes into account that happiness is interconnected with other people, other species, and the natural environment by a remarkable web of interdependence.  This means that our daily actions and decisions contribute to—or detract from—our own well-being, and that of others. Sometimes things that make us h... posted on Mar 29 2013 (41,497 reads)

up in a tough neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, Andrew LeBar learned from an early age to hold his own. When someone pushed him, he pushed back. “I had hard eyes,” recalls LeBar, who still carries the stance of a bulldog and has the square jaw to match. “If you look like a victim, you’re going to be taken advantage of.” Heading back to school at the University of Kansas in his 30s, LeBar decided to try aikido, a Japanese martial art, thinking he might pick up some self-defense techniques. At first he was intrigued by the group’s teacher—a “little old Japanese man.” LeBar had never seen anyone move wit... posted on Apr 1 2013 (16,441 reads)

leadership perspective is based on the sum total of the knowledge, experiences, and choices we made before. It defines us, shaping our thoughts, decisions, and actions. It represents the way we see ourselves and situations, how we judge the relative importance of things, and how we establish a meaningful relationship with others and everything around us.  Smart leaders tend to look at the world through colored lenses that skew or limit their perspective, which affects their decisions and actions. Some have a perspective that's narrowly focused on short-term goals, deepening their depth of knowledge in their domain of interest. Other smart leaders are guided by broadly fo... posted on Apr 2 2013 (40,351 reads)

Simon (on Insights at the Edge) Today, I speak with Julia Cameron. Julia Cameron is an award-winning writer and director. She has created feature films, movies of the week and episodic television, six full-length plays, and hundreds of articles and stories for national publications ranging from Rolling Stone to Vogue to the New York Times. She is the author of the national bestselling book The Artist's Way. With Sounds True, Julia has released Reflections on the Artist's Way, a teaching program on many of the key themes introduced in The Artist's Way, and also, along with writer Natalie Goldberg, a program called&nb... posted on May 7 2013 (26,576 reads)

matter what big cities you go off to and big opportunities you are graced with, always take time to acknowledge the little things.Never give up on the things that make you smile, because smiling is one of the most important things we can do in this world. Find time to just wander. With No Direction. No Plan. No Time Restrictions. Look for beauty everywhere you go. The ladybugs on the windowsill. The sunflowers in the backyard. The skyscrapers in a new city. The faces of strangers and family alike. Form family in every place. Form family by reaching out a hand to people who need to hold one, calling someone to brighten their day, giving up your time for others with no ex... posted on May 1 2013 (57,862 reads)

particularly exciting is the discovery that focused mental exercise can alter the brain. For example, scans of some of Tibet’s most advanced lamas found that through years of meditation they had strengthened the centers in the brain that deal with such vital life skills as attention, emotional balance, and compassion. A number of contemplative practices directly recruit the power of imagination to retrain the mind. For many people the Sanskrit word tantra may conjure images of wild sex, but a Tantric practitioner may be more concerned with visualizing a certain deity in order to strengthen her own ability to share in the divine being’s positive attributes, s... posted on May 6 2013 (105,477 reads)

Simon: Today my guest is Matthieu Ricard. Matthieu is an author and photographer who earned a PhD in cell genetics. He is also a Buddhist monk who has served as the Dalai Lama’s French interpreter since 1989. Matthieu has written several books, including The Monk and the Philosopher, The Quantum and the Lotus, as well as The Art of Meditation. With Sounds True, he has released an audio learning program based on his book called Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill. In this episode of “Insights at the Edge,” I spoke with Matthieu via Skype quite late at night while he was at his monastery in Nepal. We discussed the ski... posted on May 14 2013 (55,846 reads)