Sincerely Enthusiastic, by Gretchen Rubin
wanted to laugh more, I wanted to show more loving-kindness, and I also wanted to be more enthusiastic. I knew that it wasn't nice to criticize but it was fun. Why was it so deliciously satisfying to criticize? Being critical made me feel more sophisticated and intelligent — and in fact, studies show that people who are critical are often perceived to be more discerning. In one study, for example, people judged the writers of negative book reviews as more expert and competent than the writers of positive reviews, even when the content of both reviews was deemed to be of high quality. Another study showed that people tend to think that someone who criticizes them i... posted on Jun 18 2015 (13,979 reads)

Kentaro Toyama: Beyond Technological Utopianism, by Audrey Lin
12 years at Microsoft, 5 of which were spent in India, applying electronic technologies for international development, Kentaro Toyama came to one conclusion: technology is not the answer. In our digital age of exponential tech innovation—where the average American adult spends 11 hours a day on electronic media, the majority of the nation’s cell phone owners sleep with it by their side, and companies like Google and Levis are coming up with ‘smart jeans’— the undercurrents of mainstream culture seem to be marching to the beat of a drum far different from Kentaro’s—one that toots technology as an indefatigable sign of progress.  ... posted on Aug 12 2015 (14,370 reads)

"I Teach To Learn": Compassion In Education, by Nipun Mehta
Ward Mailliard’s students had a chance to visit Desmond Tutu in South Africa, one of them asked, "Bishop Tutu, what was it like to hold Nelson Mandela's hand as he was introduced as the first president of post-Apartheid South Africa?" "Oooo, that's something you can't describe," Desmond Tutu spontaneously remarked. And then quietly added, "I had a conversation with God and said, 'This is enough. Thank you.'" How can we engage with that which can't be described? In our incredibly rich circle of 40 educators, we probed into the question of "Cultivating Compassion Quotient." The challenge with a qu... posted on Aug 14 2015 (20,339 reads)

Why These Filmmakers Ate Nothing But Trash for Six Months, by Liz Pleasant
the new documentary "Just Eat It," filmmakers Grant Baldwin and Jenny Rustemeyer swear off grocery shopping for six months and eat only food that would otherwise be thrown out. Photo courtesy of Pure Souls Media. After learning that nearly 50 percent of the food grown in North Americaeach year is thrown out, filmmakers Grant Baldwin and Jenny Rustemeyer decided to stop buying groceries and only eat food that would otherwise be thrown away. The pair’s exploration into the wastefulness of the industrial food system—and their experience with life-sustaining dumpster diving—is documented in their film Just Eat It. Nearly 50 percent of ... posted on Jul 30 2015 (10,023 reads)

Stop Worrying About How Much You Matter, by Peter Bregman
many years — almost as long as he could remember — Ian* owned and ran a successful pub in his small town in Ireland. Ian was well-known around town. He had lots of friends, many of whom he saw when they came to eat and drink, and he was happy. Eventually, Ian decided to sell his establishment. Between his savings and the sale, he made enough money to continue to live comfortably. He was ready to relax and enjoy all his hard work. Except that almost immediately, he became depressed. That was 15 years ago and not much has changed. I’ve seen a version of Ian’s story many times. The CEO of an investment bank. A famous French singer. The founde... posted on Jul 21 2015 (48,609 reads)

Why We Do What We Do, by Tony Robbins
Thank you. I have to tell you I'm both challenged and excited. My excitement is: I get a chance to give something back. My challenge is: the shortest seminar I usually do is 50 hours. (Laughter) I'm not exaggerating. I do weekends -- I do more, obviously, I also coach people -- but I'm into immersion, because how did you learn language? Not just by learning principles, you got in it and you did it so often that it became real. 0:36    The bottom line of why I'm here, besides being a crazy mofo, is that -- I'm not here to motivate you, you don't need that, obviously. Often that's what people think I do, and it's ... posted on Aug 4 2015 (17,689 reads)

5 Reasons To Be Mindful, by KindSpring.org Editors
In today’s era of high-speed travel, incessant texting, and digital distractions, it's not society's defining trait. And we're all to blame. Because we’ve all been there. Driving to work while making a phone call. Eating dinner while writing tomorrow's to-do-list. Watching a movie while texting and eating popcorn. The list goes on. In a hyper connected world, bombarded by multiple forms of stimulation, how do we remain aware of the quiet gifts that the present moment has to offer? Cultivating a mindfulness practice can be a powerful way to train our minds and tune into the beauty of here and now. There are&nbs... posted on Aug 18 2015 (26,731 reads)

Cooking with Love, by T. Wayne Waters
Kitchen founders Helen Ashe (left), Director, and twin sister Ellen Turner, Manager, are delighted to still be serving up food and love at the Love Kitchen after 25 years. It’s a little past 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and 82-year-old twin sisters Helen Ashe and Ellen Turner are in the kitchen cracking eggs into wide-mouth wooden bowls. Brewing coffee infuses the air with an earthy aroma. Ellen gets a handheld electric mixer, plugs it in, and dips its shiny beaters into the yellow egg yolks in the bowl. A soft whirring sound signals the start of scrambled eggs. Helen meanwhile turns her attention from the eggs to white rounds of biscuit dough she begins to lay out on ... posted on Sep 5 2015 (12,333 reads)

Can People Change?, by Matthieu Ricard
day, after a talk I had given on altruism, a person in the audience got up and said in an irritated tone: “What are you hoping for by encouraging us to cultivate altruism? Look at the history of humanity! It’s always the same thing! An uninterrupted succession of wars and suffering. That’s human nature, you can’t change anything about that!” But is this truly the case? We have seen that cultures can evolve. For example, we have gone from regarding torture as an entirely acceptable public spectacle and war as noble and glorious, to tolerating violence less and less, and increasingly regarding war as immoral and barbaric. But can the individual change? ... posted on Sep 9 2015 (15,878 reads)

The Fear Project, by Alexa Strabuk
illustrations by Julie Elman. Julie Elman, like many artists, struggles with fear of the blank page. The creative process demands risk-taking, resilience, and messiness. An associate professor of visual communication at Ohio University, Elman understood the expectation to practice what she preached. To move beyond her fear and to explore what she was teaching her students, she conceived the Fear Project. People submit their fears to the project’s website, and Elman visually interprets them, bringing them to life. Perhaps the most interesting part, aside from the striking visuals, is the resulting effect. The venture brings different fears together on one interface, normal... posted on Sep 17 2015 (9,825 reads)

Wendell Berry On How To Be A Poet And A Complete Human Being, by Maria Popova
power corrupts, poetry cleanses,” John F. Kennedy proclaimed in his touching tribute to Robert Frost, celebrating poetry as “the means of saving power from itself.” And although poetry itself exerts a singular power over the human spirit, as one of the greatest poets of all time observed, it is hardly a power that comes easily to the poet: “Writing poetry is an unnatural act,” Elizabeth Bishop wrote when she was only twenty-three. So how, then, does one come to master this unnatural power — how does one become a Poet? That’s what the wise and wonderful Wendell Berry (b. August 5, 1934) — a man of great wisdom on solitude, love, a... posted on Oct 17 2015 (14,803 reads)

Four Activities for Building a Positive School Climate, by Vicki Zakrzewski
are a slice of humanity: Everyone brings both their wonderful innate goodness and their challenging globby muck to the classroom. Creating a safe and supportive school culture is one of the most difficult tasks principals face as fearless school leaders. When they succeed, it helps everyone—students, teachers, and themselves—bring out the goodness and reduce the muck. Given the extraordinary complexity of this task, wouldn’t it be great to hand principals a “silver bullet” for building a learning environment in which everyone thrives? But alas, no silver bullet exists. For principals who aren’t sure where to start, the Greater Good Science... posted on Nov 11 2015 (13,863 reads)

10 Ways to Become More Grateful, by Robert Emmons
Keep a Gratitude Journal. Establish a daily practice in which you remind yourself of the gifts, grace, benefits, and good things you enjoy. Setting aside time on a daily basis to recall moments of gratitude associated with ordinary events, your personal attributes, or valued people in your life gives you the potential to interweave a sustainable life theme of gratefulness. 2. Remember the Bad. To be grateful in your current state, it is helpful to remember the hard times that you once experienced. When you remember how difficult life used to be and how far you have come, you set up an explicit contrast in your mind, and this contrast is fertile ground for gratefulness. 3. Ask Yourse... posted on Nov 17 2015 (48,916 reads)

Desert Solitaire: A Love Letter to Solitude, by Maria Popova
the desert offers no tangible riches, as there is nothing to see or hear in the desert,” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in his exquisite memoir of what the Sahara Desert taught him about the meaning of life, “one is compelled to acknowledge, since the inner life, far from falling asleep, is fortified, that man is first animated by invisible solicitations.” No one captures this invisible animation of inner life more bewitchingly thanEdward Abbey in Desert Solitaire (public library) — a miraculously beautiful book, originally published in 1968, which I discovered through a passing mention by the wonderful Cheryl Strayed. (How right Laurence Sterne was t... posted on Nov 25 2015 (11,608 reads)

Flowered Dresses from the Flour Mills: A Story of Kindness, by Kindness Blog
times gone by, amidst widespread poverty, the flour mills realized that some women were using sacks to make clothes for their children. In response, the flour mills started using flowered fabric… With the introduction of this new cloth into the home, thrifty women everywhere began to reuse the cloth for a variety of home uses – dish towels, diapers, and more. The bags began to become very popular for clothing items. As the recycling trend looked like it was going to stay, the manufacturers began to print their cloth bags – or feedsacks – in an ever wider variety of patterns and colors. Some of the patterns they started using are shown below Ove... posted on Dec 11 2015 (38,180 reads)

The 'Magic Strings' of Mitch Albom, by Knowledge@Wharton
a new novel, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, Mitch Albom, bestselling author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, tells the story of a guitarist who can change people’s lives through the power of his musical talent. Albom recently was a guest lecturer in the Authors@Wharton series. While Albom was on campus, Wharton management professor Adam M. Grant spoke with him about why he wrote the book, his choice to pursue writing, and how we can each discover and share our greatest talent. An edited transcript of the conversation follows. Adam Grant: What inspired you to write the latest book? Mitch Albom: Ever since I wrote Tuesdays with ... posted on Dec 21 2015 (15,288 reads)

The 'Magic Strings' of Mitch Albom, by Knowledge@Wharton
a new novel, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, Mitch Albom, bestselling author ofTuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, tells the story of a guitarist who can change people’s lives through the power of his musical talent. Albom recently was a guest lecturer in the Authors@Wharton series. While Albom was on campus, Wharton management professor Adam M. Grant spoke with him about why he wrote the book, his choice to pursue writing, and how we can each discover and share our greatest talent. An edited transcript of the conversation follows. Adam Grant: What inspired you to write the latest book? Mitch Albom: Ever since I wrote Tuesdays with Morrie, ... posted on Dec 21 2015 (3,833 reads)

What Does a Grateful Brain Look Like?, by Adam Hoffman
Does a Grateful Brain Look Like? Evidence is mounting that A team at the University of Southern California has shed light on the neural nuts and bolts of gratitude in a new study, offering insights into the complexity of this social emotion and how it relates to other cognitive processes. “There seems to be a thread that runs through subtle acts of gratitude, such as holding a door for someone, all the way up to the big powerful stuff like when someone gives you a kidney,” says Glenn Fox, a postdoctoral researcher at USC and lead author of the study. “I designed this experiment to see what aspects of brain function are common to both these small feelings of a... posted on Jan 2 2016 (16,191 reads)

Have Wheels Will Shower: Lava Mae Brings Bathroom Buses to Homeless, by Lexi Dwyer
courtesy Lava Mae)  If you woke up this morning and showered in the privacy of your own bathroom, consider yourself lucky: America's nearly 600,000 homeless people often don't have a clean place to clean up. But in San Francisco, where the number of homeless has risen seven percent in the last decade, a non-profit organization is putting bathrooms on wheels and driving them to those in need. The group Lava Mae, whose name loosely translates to "wash me" in Spanish, is retrofitting decommissioned city buses with ensuite bathrooms and bringing them into neighborhoods like the Castro, the Mission and the Tenderloin, currently... posted on Jan 6 2016 (11,574 reads)

How Strong Friendships Defy Dementia, by Marcus Harrison Green
Padilla’s laugh cut through the air at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo. Fresh off an hour-long exhibit tour, she and 16 other friends sat in the zoo cafeteria, snacking on sugar cookies and mocking current bestsellers. The group could appear to be just another cluster of friends visiting the zoo. But they were there for another purpose, too: to provide joy as much as support. Part of a program called Momentia, more than half of the people in the group have dementia. The day was, in effect, an act of defiance for the 63-year-old Padilla, who was diagnosed with dementia two years ago. By living wholly in the present, Padilla is fighting a disease that threatens to rob her of h... posted on Jan 17 2016 (11,405 reads)