out and include our attacker inviting them into our flow line. When we execute a technique the entire field flows along the line of the form. What does this soft fluid power imply for how we can live our lives? How can the understanding and insights we glean from engaging in physical pressure and the intensity of attacks in the dojo inform the way we interact off the mat? What I appreciate about this state of inclusiveness is that it is equally effective in martial as well as domestic and work situations—which can be equal or more challenging than attacks in training sessions. Some people can keep cool and calm on the mat but become violent in traffic. For a long time it has b... posted on Jul 18 2019 (9,615 reads)

in intelligence and agency. Poems might have legs. Wind might ask questions. Myths might enact themselves.  Seasoned or intrepid explorers of the imaginal might return to the everyday world with images or experiences that make no sense to the ordinary mind, but which nevertheless become guiding, even life-altering, encounters. Carl Jung’s The Red Book documents his explorations in the imaginal – his “fantasies”– from which he wove his life’s work. The imaginal world is breached or reached through the organ of perception called imagination – a mode of perception that lost value as the Western world privileged rational th... posted on Jul 25 2019 (8,466 reads)

28th, 2018 One morning I woke up with no voice, just a faint, breathy whisper. This would be upsetting anytime, but on this particular day it felt as if I were in a fairy tale. In a matter of hours, I was supposed to tell a story and teach mindfulness meditation at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan. And I couldn’t make a sound. In the middle of the working day, in a softly lit theater in a museum in New York, more than a hundred people of different age, gender, and realities were going to sit down and be still together.  The stories and guidance I wanted to offer were simple: I wanted to help them remember that that they were alive. Sati, the Pali word for mindful... posted on Aug 1 2019 (7,840 reads)

Morrison reflects on the notion of foreignness and the traversing of borders in light of our own disquieting feelings of otherness, whatever our national origin and citizenship, and the tremors of our crumbling belonging in an increasingly chaotic world: Excluding the height of the slave trade in the nineteenth century, the mass movement of peoples in the latter half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first is greater now than it has ever been. It is a movement of workers, intellectuals, refugees, armies crossing oceans, continents, immigrants through custom offices and hidden routes, speaking multiple languages of trade, of political intervention, of persecuti... posted on Aug 7 2019 (7,755 reads)

lives,” writes pioneering researcher Robert Emmons in his book Thanks! His studies suggest that gratitude can improve our health and relationships—making it one of the most well-studied and effective ways to increase our well-being in life. But prescribing gratitude to everyone is a problem: Most of what we know about it comes from studying Americans—and, specifically, the mainly white American college students from the campuses where researchers work. That creates a cultural bias in the science, and that’s why more and more researchers are exploring what gratitude looks and feels like in a range of cultures. They are studying how chi... posted on Aug 11 2019 (10,296 reads)

world than I will ever be. Childs honors the weight and magnitude of his encounters with creatures large and small, preserving the distance and mystery that comes with each meeting. He strives to convey in words what cannot be expressed in words, and in each essay I see one who does what I wish to do myself: To connect with respect, to speak for the voiceless, to bear witness to life and death in their eternal splendor. *** When I was in Primary One, the teacher handed out a worksheet that tasked us to group things as “animal”, “plant”, or “other.” It seemed like a simple enough task. With my black and yellow Staedler pencil, I quickly ... posted on Aug 15 2019 (5,663 reads)

them.” As far as tree plantation is concerned, he says, “Lagane wale bohot hai, bachane wale nahi. (There are many who plant, none to conserve).” Although he has managed to grow and nurture 40,000 trees, he has bigger plans, “If I get some official support and regular water supply, I would like to increase the number of trees to 40 lakh. These are my life, and till my death, I want to take care of them.” His message through his life’s work is to teach people to not cut trees. There are many who attempt to cut trees and steal the timber and Bhaiyyaram has to be alert at all times. This has raised the question of who would be respons... posted on Aug 26 2019 (8,748 reads)

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 in an exploration of the transformative power of gratefulness.  As part of the project, prisoners received articles, scientific studies, stories, and practices on gratefulness, along with questions for reflection from A Network for Grateful Living via PE. In response, participants were encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences in writing via letters that were mailed back to PE. The perspectives and stories that... posted on Aug 28 2019 (5,837 reads)

dramas change daily, survival belongs to the agile not the idle. We may think of play as optional, a casual activity. But play is fundamental to evolution. Without play, humans and many other animals would perish. Art by Christian Robinson from Leo: A Ghost Story It is hardly happenstance that the word “play” was central to how Einstein thought of the secret to his genius — he used the term “combinatory play” to describe how his mind works. Ackerman considers what it is that makes play so psychologically fruitful and alluring to us, plunging into its ancient cultural history: The world of play favors exuberance, license, aban... posted on Sep 16 2019 (6,749 reads)

used to believe that I was a very accepting person. But a few weeks ago, something happened at my workplace that made me recognize my own brokenness -- it helped me see the disconnect between my values, and how I respond in certain moments. I work at the front desk of a hotel. On multiple occasions over the past couple of weeks, a sex-worker reserved a room on our property. Sitting at the front desk I'd see her interacting with people in the corridor, I'd see her check-in and check-out. And I would have this incredibly palpable feeling of disgust come up whenever she walked by. Just catching sight of her would make me feel so low. I'd have this urge to get out of there or look ... posted on Sep 4 2019 (7,403 reads)

gone were the sobbing sessions in clothing store dressing rooms, curled up in a fetal position on the floor; gone were the hundreds of Friday nights spent at home with his parents instead of with friends. Instead, he waltzed out of a dressing room wearing a tuxedo when it was time for prom. He went to hear bands or hang out around backyard fire pits with friends. He started dating for the first time in his life. Always an extraordinary student, he began to approach his college-prep coursework with unparalleled focus and determination. To top it all off, he also started training for a marathon. One night, watching from the balcony of a theater as he performed at the piano on stage, I g... posted on Sep 11 2019 (14,746 reads)

long after one silo with a dangerous but captivating tilt had given way to the elements, there were times when, in spite of myself, I cited it as a landmark. The sense of displacement that a lost traveler feels is sometimes shared by the locals—which is what the actor David Strathairn found some years ago when he was on location in Nebraska for a television production of Willa Cather’s O Pioneers! Road names were being changed from family surnames to numbers, and the work was still in progress. "East of downtown Lincoln, the landscape rolls and rolls like a gigantic quilt with wind underneath it," he told me. "The roads cut at right angles heading o... posted on Sep 22 2019 (3,908 reads)

but didn’t know what else to say. I mentioned that I had this vague recollection of talking to her after the surgery, asking her if I could find out who the donor was so I could thank this person’s family (and maybe know whose bone was at that moment starting to merge with my face). She laughed, “Yes, you did ask about that. We really have no way of knowing.” And with that, there was really no more to say other than pleasantries. I thanked her for her good work and left the office, a place close enough to where I live that I could easily walk home. Outside, it was overcast with a bit of drizzle, a pretty stereotypical fall day in Seattle. One foot in... posted on Nov 3 2019 (5,067 reads)

can be stressful. Whether it’s the stress that comes with having too much work to do in too little time, fulfilling caregiving obligations, or dealing with a major illness or setback, sometimes it can be hard to cope. In response to stress, many people today are turning to meditation or mindfulness apps (myself included). But not all mindfulness practice is equally effective for combatting stress, a new study suggests. It’s possible that some of our practices may be missing a vital ingredient: acceptance. In this study, researchers randomly assigned 137 stressed adults of various ages and ethnicities to one of three programs: an eight-week Mindfulness-Ba... posted on Nov 6 2019 (8,160 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 (4,676 reads)

Why do we keep summoning Mister Rogers? And why is now the time for a feature film about his influence? “We need him now,” people often say to me. “There’s no one like him these days,” I often hear. “If only he were around…” There’s a heavy dose of nostalgia at play here. But nostalgia, while pleasant, is static. It doesn’t heal any ills or bind any wounds. It certainly doesn’t build neighborhoods of care, which is the work Fred Rogers was all about. Nostalgia suggests that there was a simpler time, that Mister Rogers was a simple man, that Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was a simple show where we could... posted on Nov 27 2019 (13,029 reads)

some fifth-grade girls had made for me at the end of last year. It was an 8 ½” by 14” picture of the library, with shelves filled with books and the words, “I love the library,” and “Thank you, Ms. Lafia!” written down the middle. The drawing made by fifth-grade girls expressing their love for their library and librarian. Lately, I’ve noticed how grateful my husband and I feel when we come through our front door after a long day at work. I often spontaneously  say, “I’m so grateful to be home.” And my husband usually echoes the thought with, “Me, too.” And on the weekends, when we have time to ... posted on Dec 7 2019 (6,662 reads)

I took for granted as a kid were miraculous gifts. I mean, if you need reasons to appreciate your boring family, go read Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, or Educated by Tara Westover. The predictable, loving, and comfortable home in which I grew up may have scuttled my hopes of writing a bestselling memoir about my tortured childhood, but I wanted Mom to know that, as a mother myself, I understood the hard work that had gone into creating our stable home life. In fact, it was the solid reassurance of my mom’s permanence that allowed me to pursue my goal to get the hell out of my upstate New Yor... posted on Dec 9 2019 (8,811 reads)

headed into his secret chambers to suit up, to transform himself. “What’s your secret identity?” Sam asked me once, and I had to admit that I didn’t have one. I was forced to confess to being just plain old Daddy, always and everywhere. But when Zorro would rear back on Tornado, his cape unfurled and blowing in the midnight California wind, Sam sometimes gave me a grinning thumbs-up. It was so cool. So, okay, I admit it. When I came home after a long day at work and Sam invited me, as he did from time to time, to don one of his capes, I almost always obliged him. Sometimes I wondered what the neighbors in our close-set houses might think if they caught a... posted on Feb 2 2020 (5,468 reads)

and getting elected to the local school board.  He died not long after doing his last pruning of the apple and peach orchard on the hillside above the farmhouse, where he had quietly lived his whole adult life, and lived it well. So I’ve been thinking a lot about the wisdom of taking on what is right in our world instead of waging war on what is clearly wrong. I prefer the idea of hitching rides on magic carpets, dreaming dreams with other folks who know how to work hard and play hard, creating a much more interesting world than what we’ve been handed. I know that’s where the real action is, anyway, where effective change is happening, and where ... posted on Feb 4 2020 (7,576 reads)