the piece I’m creating.” It is this relationship among fear, individual, and artist that drives the project forward, making fear acceptable and tangible. The Fear of the Unknown Elman isn’t sure what makes fear so compelling. On a personal level, she says she wants to avoid dwelling in the negative and believes that fear’s universality, in contrast to the lengths we go to conceal it from others, dictates many of our choices. Ironically, still a worrier by nature, Elman understands that finding ways to push through beats the bleak alternative: “Sitting at home, curled up in a ball, avoiding that very thing that scares us most.” Fear, she ... posted on Sep 17 2015 (9,891 reads)

most acute manifestation of how memory modulates stress is post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. For striking evidence of how memory encodes past experience into triggers, which then catalyze present experience, Sternberg points to research by psychologist Rachel Yehuda, who found both Holocaust survivors and their first-degree relatives — that is, children and siblings — exhibited a similar hormonal stress response. This, Sternberg points out, could be a combination of nature and nurture — the survivors, as young parents for whom the trauma was still fresh, may well have subconsciously taught their children a common style of stress-responsiveness; but it&rsquo... posted on Sep 28 2015 (17,758 reads)

sentiment Pico Iyer would come to echo more than half a century later in his excellent treatise on the art of stillness, Pieper adds: Leisure is a form of that stillness that is necessary preparation for accepting reality; only the person who is still can hear, and whoever is not still, cannot hear. Such stillness is not mere soundlessness or a dead muteness; it means, rather, that the soul’s power, as real, of responding to the real — a co-respondence, eternally established in nature — has not yet descended into words. Leisure is the disposition of perceptive understanding, of contemplative beholding, and immersion — in the real. But there is something else... posted on Oct 15 2015 (11,280 reads)

because it hurts. “Wow, that was pretty humiliating, I’m so sorry. It’s okay though, these things happen.” There’s solid research for the idea that self-compassion helps us in good times and bad. Mark Leary and colleagues at Wake Forest University conducted a study that asked participants to make a video that introduced and described themselves. For instance, “Hi, I’m John, an environmental sciences major. I love to go fishing and spend time in nature. I want to work for the National Park Service when I graduate,” and so on. They were told that someone would watch their tape and then rate them on a seven-point scale in terms of how war... posted on Oct 19 2015 (29,585 reads)

we miss the good things that are outside of the spotlight. Something else happens as well: When we focus on bad things, we’re triggering the stress response, often below conscious awareness. If you think of the Stanford Prison experiment as a kind of model of real life—if you conceive of yourself as living in the equivalent of that basement—then you’re going to be stressed. What is stress? As another Stanford professor, Robert Sapolsky, likes to say, stress is a tool nature gave us to survive lion attacks. Of course, you’re not a primate on the African savannah menaced by lions. You’re a modern human who, for example, might be caught in a traffi... posted on Oct 24 2015 (15,293 reads)

reactivity,” or how one responds to perceived negative interactions with others. Kirch praises this work on mindfulness and is enthusiastic about its broader applications. He also points to other ways that medical schools are trying to increase physician self-reflection, including classes like the one he taught at Penn State’s medical college called “Patients, Physicians, and Society,” which had small groups do selected readings and reflect on the nature of suffering in illness—how it impacts stress in patients and their caregivers. “The course laid the groundwork to help students be better prepared for the stress they would enco... posted on Nov 14 2015 (13,158 reads)

me of a couple—graphic designer Ellen Davidson and sometime house-painter Tarak Kauff—who live in a small house just outside Woodstock, New York. It’s a place I’ve come to know over the years because of the gatherings and retreats they host for activists. To an unusual degree, I can attest that guests there feel license to act as if they were at home—to peck at the piano keys, to warm some milk and whirl it into foam. Perhaps this has something to do with the nature of its owners’ underlying debts. When they were looking for a place to live, Davidson and Kauff could’ve gotten a bank loan, but as longtime activists against corporate overreach... posted on Dec 7 2015 (9,062 reads)

the natural outcome of complex systems and improves natural healing. In other words, presence improves both relationality and enzymes, and integration is the linkage of differentiated parts.” In his psychiatric practice Siegel aims for development through secure attachment, mindfulness meditation, and effective psychotherapy, explaining that they impact a similar neural mechanism that is proven to promote wellbeing. “Imagine immersing yourself in a systematic exploration of the nature of mind that gives you a new way to experience life,” he writes in a recent blog on his website, drdansiegel.com. “And then consider that you can ‘integrate consciousness&rsqu... posted on Dec 10 2015 (25,799 reads)

“So, are you on chemo?” She felt like a human and responded with “Yes, thank you for asking, you are the first person to actually acknowledge that fact.” She gave him some “gag” business cards which listed her title as the “Supreme Commander of the Universe.” This was followed by many sweet encounters every time he came by, and he always addressed her with that title. Many years went by and she moved offices, but she never forgot his genuine nature. (More) They Got This Instead of the Bill She went out to a Sushi restaurant with two of her friends. They had a great time catching up, laughing, and enjoying each other’s comp... posted on Jan 5 2016 (36,050 reads)

than a decade after Greater Good first started reporting on the science of compassion, generosity, happiness—what we call “the science of a meaningful life”—the research in our field is acquiring ever more nuance and sophistication. New studies build on and even re-interpret findings from previous years, particularly as their authors use more exacting methods, with bigger and broader data sets, and consider additional factors to explain prior results. These nuances are clearly reflected in this year’s list of our Top 10 Insights from the Science of a Meaningful Life—the fourth such list compiled by Greater Good’s editors. Indeed, many of this... posted on Jan 7 2016 (18,725 reads)

two people who have been strangers, as all of us are, suddenly let the wall between them break down, and feel close, feel one, this moment of oneness is one of the most exhilarating, most exciting experiences in life. It is all the more wonderful and miraculous for persons who have been shut off, isolated, without love. This miracle of sudden intimacy is often facilitated if it is combined with, or initiated by, sexual attraction and consummation. However, this type of love is by its very nature not lasting. The two persons become well acquainted, their intimacy loses more and more its miraculous character, until their antagonism, their disappointments, their mutual boredom kill whatev... posted on Jan 12 2016 (18,962 reads)

a word — you use the word “mysticism” in Western culture, and people might think of something very abstract and very elite. BR. STEINDL-RAST: No, no. I believe that every one of us is a mystic because we have this experience of belonging once in a while, out of the blue, this — women often say when they give birth to a child, they have it, or when we fall in love, we have this sense of belonging. Or, sometimes, without any particular reason, suddenly out in nature you feel one with everything. And every human being has this. But what we call the great mystics, they let this experience determine and shape every moment of their lives. They never forgot it.... posted on Feb 9 2016 (20,983 reads)

acts, and so is actionable, liable. It is in the idea of action that the legal and the theatrical sources of the concept of person come together. Central to the concept of the person — unlike the character and the figure — is the idea of free will, which springs from our capacity for making choices and implies the responsibility for those choices. Rorty explains: If judgment summarizes a life … then that life must have a unified location. Since they choose from their natures or are chosen by their stories, neither characters nor figures need be equipped with a will, not to mention a free will… The actions of characters and figures do no emerge from the exer... posted on Mar 7 2016 (17,308 reads)

and problem-solving. As a result, our attentional resources become drained. When those attention resources are depleted, we become distracted and mentally fatigued, and may struggle to focus, solve problems and come up with new ideas. But according to attention restoration theory, the brain can restore its finite cognitive resources when we're in environments with lower levels of sensory input than usual. In silence -- for instance, the quiet stillness you find when walking alone in nature -- the brain can let down its sensory guard, so to speak. 3. In silence, we can tap into the brain's default mode network. The default mode network of the brain is activated when we ... posted on Mar 14 2016 (81,137 reads)

find ourselves in turbulent and unpredictable times. From the horror at the Bataclan, to the upheaval in Syria and the senseless bloodshed in San Bernardino, we live in a time of great confusion and pain. As an artist, creator and dreamer of this world, we ask you not to be discouraged by what you see but to use your own lives, and by extension your art, as vehicles for the construction of peace. While it’s true that the issues facing the world are complex, the answer to peace is simple; it begins with you. You don’t have to be living in a third world country or working for an NGO to make a difference. Each of us has a unique mission. We are all pieces in a giant, flui... posted on Mar 16 2016 (17,457 reads)

speaker, board member, role model and mentor. But what binds all these personas is Bloom’s deep and unyielding spirituality. SEPARATION PAINS “Our current world lens is that we see ourselves as separate – separate from the earth which gives us life; separate from the cosmos that gave us birth; separate from each other, and without each other life has no meaning. Ultimately, many of us are even separate from ourselves. So we have lost our connection with our inherent nature,” he says, slowly, melodiously. “But every decision we make on the basis that we’re separate is a fracture, a schism and a breakdown; while every decision based on the fact... posted on Mar 19 2016 (12,149 reads)

my wish is to be more whole—more wholly myself—I will have to include more of the complexities of my nature. Yet my behind-the-scenes hope has often been to get rid of what I don’t like in myself, so I go about my conscious life denying certain disagreeable features or squishing them into more acceptable traits. Yet there are other aspects that I approve of and freely lay claim to. If you too seek wholeness, you might want to join me as I try to look at the whole picture, warts and all. Ugh! That means we’ll have to include the wimpy self we’re ashamed of, the angry self we revel in but hide from others, the confused self we re ashamed of, and even the dow... posted on Mar 26 2016 (16,676 reads)

you at it, don't you think? RW: I'd say there's a certain feeling that perhaps I bring to the effort already, and that sometimes something happens which involves a change in my state which brings another kind of feeling that wasn't there when I was beginning my effort. NH: It's the second kind of feeling that I refer to. I start out with ordinary feelings. But if I can stay with that, the thing that makes it possible to stay with it is really something of a higher nature, something more true. I don't really know it thoroughly. I'm still exploring. I'm still discovering. I hope it remains this way always. But I do know that craft, if you pursue craft... posted on Apr 2 2016 (10,448 reads)

It's a word that has tumbled out of use and favor in today's world. And humanity has paid a high price for that loss. In this piece, eight writers, including Wendell Berry and Mary Oliver, speak up in voices that are lyrical, incisive, and urgent, drawing us back to the luminous heart of what it means to live reverently.  So ... why does reverence matter? Paul Woodruff: Because It Is A Forgotten Virtue Power without reverence is aflame with arrogance, while service without reverence is smoldering toward rebellion. Politics without reverence is blind to the general good and deaf to advice from people who are powerless. (…) Because reverence fosters lead... posted on Apr 14 2016 (38,244 reads)

good books, have good sentences in your ears,” the poet counseled in her beautiful advice on writing — Dillard asserts: The body of literature, with its limits and edges, exists outside some people and inside others. Only after the writer lets literature shape her can she perhaps shape literature. […] You adapt yourself, Paul Klee said, to the contents of the paintbox. Adapting yourself to the contents of the paintbox, he said, is more important than nature and its study. The painter, in other words, does not fit the paints to the world. He most certainly does not fit the world to himself. He fits himself to the paint. The self is the servant who ... posted on Apr 15 2016 (13,089 reads)