Miserable & Magical: A Graduation Speech for Paradoxical Times, by Nipun Mehta
the student body of an elite private school in Silicon Valley was given the chance to vote on who would give their graduation address this year, they chose a man named Nipun Mehta. An unexpected choice for these teenagers, who belong to what Time magazine called the "Me Me Me Generation". Nipun's journey is the antithesis of self-serving. More than a decade ago, he walked away from a lucrative career in high-tech, to explore the connection between inner change and external impact. ServiceSpace, the nonprofit he founded, has now drawn over 450,000 members across the globe. In this electrifying address that garnered a standing ovation, he calls out the paradoxical crisis of... posted on May 27 2013 (549,670 reads)

How to Change the World With Hot Cocoa & Neruda, by Hannah Brencher
up. Don’t press snooze. Sling your legs over the side of the bed. Right. Left. Turn on music. Good, good music. Like first date, new shoes, or better yet, barefoot music. You need a life soundtrack. Has anyone told you that yet? Pick out something spectacular from your closet. Feel good in your skin. Put on an item that tells some kind of story. Always have a story to tell, just a wrist or coat sleeve away. And if that yellow sweater ain’t got a story yet, vow that this will be the day it comes home with one. Wear bright cardigans on the rainy days. Rain boots on any day. And, if the sun is shining and someone asks why you are clomping around in red wel... posted on May 28 2013 (36,404 reads)

Living In The Age of Distraction, by Margaret Wheatley
years I assumed that the Titanic tragedy was a result of human arrogance, the belief in the indestructibility of the newest, largest, fastest, fanciest ship of all time. But actually the Titanic went down because of distraction. Other ships had been warning about the iceberg-filled waters for days, but the Titanic’s captain changed course only slightly and did nothing to slow the ship’s speed. When the radio operator received a call from a ship that was surrounded by ice—this was less than an hour before the collision—he responded, “Shut up, shut up, I’m busy.” By the time lookouts spotted the iceberg ahead, it was too late to... posted on Jun 7 2013 (68,526 reads)

10 Principles of Work On Purpose, by Echoing Green
Alexia Vernon's Moxie Camp 2012 by Carrie Leonard Echoing Green has performed hundreds of in-depth interviews with its social entrepreneurship Fellows over 25 years, uncovering the common experiences that led them to their world-changing careers. From their stories, they pulled forth these ten principles for identifying your purpose and putting it into action. RIGHT FOR YOU Heart + Head = Hustle Find ways to work from both your heart and your head, collapsing the divisions between these two aspects of yourself in your work as often as possible. It is the only way to achieve what we call hustle. Know What You've Got - Know What You Need Uncover your un... posted on Jun 11 2013 (67,314 reads)

Sprouting Seeds of Compassion , by Marc Ian Barasch
words have been exchanged; Now at last let me see some deeds! ...What does not happen today, will not be done tomorrow. - Goethe I can almost pinpoint the moment when I decided to save the world. It was sometime after my Mom died—my Mom who was the secret solar center of my life; whose letters always ended in exuberant sign-offs (lovelovelove, three exclamation points); who’d insisted, despite her terminal diagnosis, that I not cancel my book tour because the subject—compassion—was, for her, life’s indispensable thread. I’d begun writing my book The Compassionate Life to blow the dust off my bodhisattva vows, little suspectin... posted on Apr 13 2014 (13,394 reads)

A Romanian Truck Driver's Love of Underdogs, by Laura Simpson
driver Tamara Raab is bringing Christmas in July to thousands of animals in Romania. In a 2,000 mile round trip journey, Tamara will drive a massive load of donated dog and cat food, veterinary supplies and pet beds to animal shelters in Romania. She’s undertaken this mission a couple times before, but this time is different. This time she didn’t have the 3,500 Euros required to pay the fuel. And that’s when fate stepped in. On the recommendation of fellow animal advocate Peter Collins, Tamara sent an email to the Harmony Fund, a nonprofit that sponsors major animal protection efforts around the world, to ask for help. She was not optimistic. It simply felt li... posted on Jun 20 2013 (29,601 reads)

Coleman Barks: Rumi, Grace and Human Friendship, by Tami Simon
Simon:  Today my guest is Coleman Barks. Coleman Barks is a leading scholar and translator of the 13th century Persian mystic, Jalal Rumi. He taught poetry and creative writing at the University of Georgia for 30 years and is the author of numerous Rumi translations and has been a student of Sufism since 1977.  In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Coleman Barks and I spoke about the relationship between Rumi and his teacher, whom he called The Friend, Shams Tabriz, and how Coleman received insight into this friendship based on his own relationship with a Sufi teacher named Guru Bawa, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. We also spoke about how Coleman first began translati... posted on Dec 29 2013 (35,914 reads)

Love Your Books? 4 Ways to Share Them With Others, by Fabien Tepper, Signe Predmore
Send your books on a journey Books introduce us to fascinating strangers; they take us to places we would never visit alone. So why not send them out into the world, to share stories with new readers? Better yet, why not follow their adventures? That’s the idea behind BookCrossing. Put a tracking label on your book, leave it in a public place, and wait to see where it turns up next. The labels encourage new readers to release the books they find, and to enter where they found them on the website: train stations, park benches, and cafes across the globe. Part social networking, part world library, bookcrossing.com connects book lovers, anonymously, to the pleasure of sha... posted on Jul 6 2013 (27,108 reads)

Survival of the ... Nicest? , by Eric Michael Johnson
century ago, industrialists like Andrew Carnegie believed that Darwin’s theories justified an economy of vicious competition and inequality. They left us with an ideological legacy that says the corporate economy, in which wealth concentrates in the hands of a few, produces the best for humanity. This was always a distortion of Darwin’s ideas. His 1871 book The Descent of Man argued that the human species had succeeded because of traits like sharing and compassion. “Those communities,” he wrote, “which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring.” Darwin was n... posted on Jul 15 2013 (37,742 reads)

Find Your Moment of Obligation, by Lara Galinsky
who successfully tackle big social, environmental, and economic problems are driven by what I call a moment of obligation — a specific time in their life when they felt compelled to act. These moments become their North Star; they keep them going in a positive direction when everything seems dark. The obligation is not only to the world but also to themselves. Activists or social entrepreneurs aren't the only ones who are moved this way. We all have experiences that deeply inform who we are and what we are supposed to do. But only if we allow them to. Take Socheata Poeuv. She borrowed a bulky video camera from her office job at a television studio and ca... posted on Jul 23 2013 (23,882 reads)

5 Ways To Bring Mindfulness Into Everyday Life, by Headspace.com
does it mean to be mindful?  Essentially, mindfulness means to be present, and in the moment.  It is important that we remind ourselves of this simple fact.  All too often we can lose the true essence of mindfulness by over-complicating things or putting all our emphasis on the act of meditation alone.  Mindfulness is not something we leave at the chair, but something we can carry through our everyday lives.  If we can apply mindfulness on the chair, then why not while brushing our teeth, catching up with an old friend, or even waiting for our morning train?  All these moments present an opportunity for us to apply mindfulness,... posted on Aug 2 2013 (227,234 reads)

12 Productivity Tips From Incredibly Busy People, by Bruna Martinuzzi
Eric Schmidt to Danny Meyer: How super successful, super busy entrepreneurs organize their day "Personal productivity is a key differentiator between those who succeed in their chosen field and those who do not," says bestselling author Brian Tracy. Leaders and entrepreneurs who are at the top of their game know how to achieve what they want in less time than others. We can learn a lot from the tactics of these successful, and incredibly busy, individuals on how to better organize our own days. Here are 12 top tips worth trying out: 1. Have a single purpose focus. One thing many successful entrepreneurs have in common is the ability to focus on what matters most... posted on Aug 12 2013 (154,000 reads)

Can You Learn to Control Your Mind?, by Richard Davidson
people believe that it is not necessary to learn to control one’s own mind because they think they already have such control.  Others, based on casual introspection and analysis of forces constantly impinging upon our minds, believe that we will never have control of our own minds and that such control is simply an illusion, though it may well be an illusion with important adaptive consequences.  The view the question invites is somewhat more nuanced.  It asks whether we can learn to control our mind, and thus assumes that there is a gradient of control ranging from little to more, and that individuals may vary in where they fall along this continuum.  Furt... posted on Aug 15 2013 (61,697 reads)

'I'll Take Two, Please', by Karen Horneffer-Ginter
the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." -- Meister Eckhart When I was in Bali several years ago, I had the good fortune of visiting several temples. Before entering each one, we were asked to tie a sash around our waist as a symbolic gesture of "containing our appetites" as we prayed. It seems that the Balinese believe in the power of prayer, and even more so, in the value of asking only for what is most needed, and not more. I found this ritual and way of thinking quite striking, especially in contrast to the "abundance" mentality in our culture. For years, I've listened to public figures and moti... posted on Aug 19 2013 (34,638 reads)

Rituals for Wastelands, by Trebbe Johnson
shut ourselves away from wounded places, psychologically, emotionally, and communally, but there is a better way to heal ourselves and our world. Whenever Lisa Olson returned to her hometown in Wisconsin, she would bundle everyone into the car and drive out to the old farm that had been in the family since the 1800s. Although Lisa’s parents had sold the place years earlier, the family still felt deeply connected to it. The house that had belonged to Lisa’s grandmother stood on one side of the road. Pastures ranged over the rolling hills. Tall oak and beech woods lined both sides of the valley, and when sunlight suffused through them, they seemed as enchanted to L... posted on Aug 26 2013 (16,845 reads)

Why Compassion in Business Makes Sense, by Emma Seppala
often mistakenly think that putting pressure on employees will increase performance. What it does increase is stress—and research has shown that high levels of stress carry a number of costs to employers and employees alike. Stress brings high health care and turnover costs. In a study of employees from various organizations, health care expenditures for employees with high levels of stress were 46 percent greater than at similar organizations without high levels of stress. In particular, workplace stress has beenlinked to coronary heart disease in retrospective (observing past patterns) and prospective (predicting future patterns) studies. Then there’s... posted on Nov 25 2013 (29,717 reads)

5 Reasons To Be Kind, by KindSpring
ON KINDNESS BY POETS, SAGES & ACTIVISTS In a dominant paradigm weighted towards self-interest and self-orientation, we must make a special effort to question our mode of being. Can we afford to be narrowly self-focused? Can we grow to anywhere near our true potential if we look out only for ourselves? What role do kindness and compassion play in bridging a world that is growing increasingly fragmented? What follows are five powerful reasons to be kind, articulated by some of the greatest minds and hearts from around the globe. 1. BECAUSE THERE CAN NEVER BE ENOUGH KINDNESS IN THE WORLD Even if we do not achieve perfect peace on earth, because perfect peace is not of this... posted on Sep 3 2013 (156,263 reads)

How the Internet Helped Us Create the Sharing Economy, by Neal Gorenflo
1996, the poet and essayist John Perry Barlow published A Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace. It was the height of the cyberutopian thinking in fashion at the time. It declared, “We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth.” It foresaw a world of unfettered free speech, self-organized governance, and compassionate peer relations that needed to be kept separate from the laws of “meatspace.” Barlow didn’t anticipate how the Internet would eventually empower individuals even more offline than online. Seventeen years later, freedoms online and off ha... posted on Sep 4 2013 (18,186 reads)

The Day I Stopped Saying Hurry Up, by Rachel Macy Stafford
you’re living a distracted life, every minute must be accounted for. You feel like you must be checking something off the list, staring at a screen, or rushing off to the next destination. And no matter how many ways you divide your time and attention, no matter how many duties you try and multi-task, there’s never enough time in a day to ever catch up. That was my life for two frantic years. My thoughts and actions were controlled by electronic notifications, ring tones, and jam-packed agendas. And although every fiber of my inner drill sergeant wanted to be on time to every activity on my overcommitted schedule, I wasn’t. You see, six years ago I was blesse... posted on Sep 13 2013 (133,026 reads)

How to Focus A Wandering Mind, by Wendy Hasenkamp
research reveals what happens in a wandering mind—and sheds light on the cognitive and emotional benefits of increased focus. We’ve all been there. You’re slouched in a meeting or a classroom, supposedly paying attention, but your mind has long since wandered off, churning out lists of all the things you need to do—or that you could be doing if only you weren’t stuck here… Suddenly you realize everyone is looking your way expectantly, waiting for an answer. But you’re staring blankly, grasping at straws to make a semi-coherent response. The curse of the wandering mind! But don’t worry—you’re not alone. In fact, a&n... posted on Apr 18 2015 (152,337 reads)