Freed: Cat With Head Trapped in Jar for 6 Days, by Laura Simpson
by Sarah Loeb of Pennsylvania I feel like I have experienced a truly blessed event. A member of my feral colony, usually one of the friendlier cats, got a plastic jar stuck on his head. His entire head enveloped in hard plastic, he was completely unable to eat or drink. I first saw him this way on a Saturday night. I spent hours trying to get him to trust me to get close enough so that I could remove the jar. But, completely vulnerable and positively panicked, the cat was far too skittish to permit me to get near. The next evening, I tried throwing a towel, then a heavy blanket over him in order to disorient him, hoping that might allow me to get a solid grasp, but the cat... posted on Aug 5 2012 (24,001 reads)

Free Money Day: Sharing is Common Cents, by Donnie Maclurcan and Janet Newbury
September 15, 2011, at over 60 locations worldwide, people handed out their own money to complete strangers, two coins or notes at a time, asking recipients to pass half on to someone else. Here are our reflections on the event, including why and how it happened. Life Beyond Economic Growth Most of the world’s transactions do not involve finance. From parenting, caregiving, growing and sharing food, volunteering, and borrowing library items to doing household chores and exchanging ideas on the Internet, aspects of the informal economy are familiar to us all. A brief historical look also reminds us that our current monetary systems aren’t all we’ve ever kno... posted on Sep 14 2012 (14,244 reads)

The Habit of Starting, by Leo Babauta
biggest reason people fail at creating and sticking to new habits is that they don't keep doing it. That seems obvious: if you don’t keep doing a habit, it won’t really become a habit. So what’s the solution to this obvious problem? Find a way to keep doing it When you look at it this way, the key to forming a habit is not how much you do of the habit each day (exercise for 30 minutes, write 1,000 words, etc.), but whether you do it at all. So the key is just getting started. Let me emphasize that: the key to forming a habit is starting each day. What do I mean by starting? If you want to form the habit of meditation, just get on the cush... posted on Oct 1 2012 (23,272 reads)

Why We Stink At Taking Breaks, by Karen Horneffer-Ginter
of my favorite ways to take a break is to lie on a hammock, so much so that, several years ago, I purchased a metal frame in order to set one up in my backyard. When I'm on it, gently swaying back and forth and looking up at the open sky and occasional passing birds, I can feel miles away from the items on my to-do list, as well as everything else for that matter. Ironically, when I'm on my hammock, I'm not really that far away from anything. It sits only a few steps from my backdoor, and once I'm settled into the hammock's worn rope, my butt rests, at most, about a quarter inch off the ground. It's close enough that I often wonder if I'll end up with grass... posted on Oct 6 2012 (14,064 reads)

Wings of Love, by Nipun Mehta
in action. We've all heard the cliche a million times but there's something about the way Nancy Rivard says it, that makes it reverberate in your heart for days to come. Maybe it's because she actually walks her talk and speaks with the confidence of experience; maybe it's because there is an uncanny sincerity in her demeanor; or maybe it's impossible to pinpoint any one particular reason. Whatever the case, if you spend an evening with this World Woman of Peace (1999), you get a flavor of her infectious enthusiasm, a love affair with humanity that fills Nancy's heart and surrounds her presence. "Like the in breath and the out breath,&quo... posted on Oct 9 2012 (18,883 reads)

Finding Peace with Uncertainty, by Leo Babauta
of an uncertain future: it can stop us from doing great things, and it can keep us holding onto things that are hurting us. For example: you might be holding onto clutter for reasons of comfort and security, even if the clutter gives you anxiety and costs a lot of money. And: you might be staying in a job you don’t like, because you’re afraid of taking the plunge, because you’re afraid of failing. And again: you might not travel to a country that feels very unfamiliar because you don’t know what will happen — and miss out on an amazing life-changing experience. This is just the start of how fear of an uncertain future affects our liv... posted on Oct 17 2012 (32,642 reads)

Lessons in the Old Language, by Matthew C. Bronson
the very earliest time When both people and animals lived on earth A person could become an animal if he wanted to and an animal could become a human being. Sometimes they were people and sometimes animals and there was no difference. All spoke the same language That was the time when words were like magic. The human mind had mysterious powers. A word spoken by chance might have strange consequences. It would suddenly come alive and what people wanted to happen could happen-- all you had to do was say it. Nobody could explain this: That's the way it was. -- Nalungiaq, Inuit woman interviewed by ethnologist Knud Rasmussen in the early twentieth cent... posted on Oct 28 2012 (15,648 reads)

Heart of Darkness, by Megan Feldman
when he spots a round-faced man with spectacles striding into a sun-dappled courtyard on the campus of San Diego State University. Like Khamisa, the man wears a pressed white shirt and polished black dress shoes. The two embrace. They’re here to deliver an unusual talk, one that, over the years, they have presented to millions of students across the country. Minutes later, inside a warmly lit amphitheater, Khamisa takes the stage. “I’d like to introduce to you a very special man in my life,” he says. “My brother, Ples Felix.” When introducing Felix, he always uses that word: brother.  Khamis... posted on Dec 4 2012 (29,820 reads)

Is It Time to Forgive?, by Gail Brenner
holds the possibility for expanding our capacity to love. There is only one reason to forgive. If we want to be free, if we want to live as the full and unlimited expression of ourselves, if we want our hearts to open, then we are being invited to put an end to all stories that keep us closed and contracted. Consider also these benefits of forgiveness: less stress, lower heart rate, lower blood pressure, improved sleep, greater psychological well being. What exactly is forgiveness? When we are in the state of unforgiving, we are holding on to a grudge. A grudge is a story of hurt and resentment that we believe to be true and repeat over and over in our thoughts. I... posted on Jun 7 2021 (61,052 reads)

The Power of Whimsy, by Kelly McCartney
spaces serve multiple functions for society and, more and more, they are being utilized in ever-creative ways. In many of these cases, whimsy seems to be at the heart of the matter, even if it is not the main driver. For instance, in a bid to improve public health by encouraging more people to use the stairs instead of the escalator, The Fun Theory (a Volkswagen initiative) transformed a set of Stockholm subway stairs into piano keys — each step a person took played a note. As a result, 66 percent more people took the stairs than the escalator. In another example, a Dutch railway company had a slideinstalled atop one of the stairways leading down to a station i... posted on Jan 9 2013 (21,797 reads)

The Incomparable Naomi Shihab Nye on Kindness, by Kim Rosen
poems of Naomi Shihab Nye have an uncanny way of showing up at exactly the right moment to summon you below the surface of your life. The child of a Palestinian father and an American mother, her poems speak a language deeper than culture, history or religion. Through the portal of the everyday—a grocery store, an olive press, the headlines—she draws us into the most profound questions and revelations of the soul. In addition to writing poetry, Nye writes fiction, essays and children’s books, and has edited several anthologies.  KIM ROSEN: What do you feel is the role of poetry, especially in these times? NAOMI SHIHAB NYE: Poetry helps us imagine one ano... posted on Jan 10 2013 (27,614 reads)

The Wisdom of Forgetting Everything You Know, by Gail Brenner
now, and in every now-moment, you are either closing or opening. You are either stressfully waiting for something – more money, security, affection – or you are living from your deep heart, opening as the entire moment, and giving what you most deeply desire to give, without waiting.” ~David Deida Just for a minute, can we please stop frantically trying to control, plan, and delude ourselves into thinking we know what we don’t know? Do you spend your time preparing for every possible outcome and worrying about all the negative consequences that could befall you? We are so afraid to let go, to just be, to allow the unfolding of this marvelous ... posted on Jan 29 2013 (31,114 reads)

The Art of Slowing Down, by Karen Horneffer-Ginter
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 (22,532 reads)

Everything I Need To Know I Learned In The Forest, by Vandana Shiva
ecological journey started in the forests of the Himalaya. My father was a forest conservator, and my mother became a farmer after fleeing the tragic partition of India and Pakistan. It is from the Himalayan forests and ecosystems that I learned most of what I know about ecology. The songs and poems our mother composed for us were about trees, forests, and India’s forest civilizations. My involvement in the contemporary ecology movement began with “Chipko,” a nonviolent response to the large-scale deforestation that was taking place in the Himalayan region.     In the 1970s, peasant women from my region in the Garhwal... posted on Feb 13 2013 (16,958 reads)

The Science of Storytelling, by Leo Widrich
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 (54,030 reads)

Who's On Your Fridge?, by Peter Bregman
was lifting weights at my gym, a community center in New York City, when he caught my attention. His name, I later found out, was Marvin Moster. He stood a few inches over five feet, mostly bald with some white hair on the sides of his head, sporting a mustache, and wearing a light blue shirt and dark blue shorts. In the obvious ways, he was unremarkable. And yet, I couldn’t help noticing him. He was older — I guessed in his seventies — and he was boxing with a trainer, punching in a rhythm they had obviously practiced before, ducking his head whenever the trainer threw a hook. Two things struck me: he was in excellent shape — evidenced by his balance, hi... posted on Mar 22 2013 (17,371 reads)

The Stubborn Gladness of Elizabeth Gilbert, by Karen Bouris
Eat, Pray, Love was a movie and a travel tour, it was a memoir by the award-winning writer Elizabeth Gilbert, whose story of losing and finding herself resonates with just about every woman who looks in the mirror. With Eat, Pray, Love and its follow-up, Committed, Gilbert’s connection to readers has been immediate and enduring. What woman hasn’t sobbed in secret on the bathroom floor, after all? Yet Gilbert is more than these two books. Her collection of short stories, Pilgrims, was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and her debut novel, Stern Men, was a New York Times Notable Book. Her 2009 TED Talk on creative genius, where she claimed mysticis... posted on Apr 7 2013 (32,611 reads)

How Imagination Shapes Your Reality, by Gabriel Cohen
you have a lemon in your kitchen? Put this magazine down for a moment, go cut the fruit in half, and squeeze some juice into your mouth. Notice how you react. Don’t have a lemon? Try this little thought experiment: Imagine that you have one. Picture yourself slicing through the bright yellow rind, exposing the translucent fruit inside. See yourself holding it up, squeezing it, and letting a stream of tart juice splash onto your tongue. Can you feel yourself puckering and salivating—not in your mind’s eye, but in “real life”? Western thinkers have tended to draw a line between reality—that which we “actually” experience—... posted on May 6 2013 (105,656 reads)

Holding a Piece of the Pain, by Rachel Stafford
blog post, “Giving a Gift That Matters,” was recently published on DailyGood.org. The editor ofCourageous Creativity saw the article and was intrigued. She contacted me in hopes that my nine-year-old daughter would be interested in writing a piece about her uninhibited gift-giving practices. As I read the editor’s message, the nine-year-old in mebecame giddy. Although I wanted to respond with a whole-hearted yes, I knew that would not be appropriate. Just because this would have been mydream as a child, it may not be my daughter’s. I hoped she would accept this unique opportunity, but I decided I would not pressure her; it would be entir... posted on May 19 2013 (35,289 reads)

Poet Jane Hirshfield on The Mystery of Existence, by Kim Rosen
the ’90s, I had an inner opening that shifted my entire worldview. Though I’d not been drawn to poetry for years, I found myself turning to Rumi, Kabir, and Mirabai. But I hungered for poems that spoke to the stuff of the world I was living in as well as the timeless truths of the mystics. Luckily, I discovered the work of Jane Hirshfield. In addition to her seven books of poetry, Hirshfield has published several classic books of essays and played a major part in bringing the words of women mystics to modern audiences through the anthologies she edited and co-translated, which include Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women and Mir... posted on May 23 2013 (17,116 reads)