Annie Dillard on Generosity and Art, by Maria Popovs
most demanding part of living a lifetime as an artist,”Anne Truitt observed in her ceaselessly insightful diaries, “is the strict discipline of forcing oneself to work steadfastly along the nerve of one’s own most intimate sensitivity.” But if locating that nerve weren’t hard enough, contacting it can be terrifying and staying with the excruciating vulnerability of that contact for a lifetime can feel next to impossible. And yet great artists have managed to make the seemingly unimaginable the raw material of their art. What it takes to master that vulnerable-making discipline is what Annie Dillard — one of the finest writers and most radiant... posted on Apr 15 2016 (13,002 reads)

10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation, by ted.com
follows is the transcript of Celeste Headlee's Ted talk: All right, I want to see a show of hands: how many of you have unfriended someone on Facebook because they said something offensive about politics or religion, childcare, food? (Laughter) And how many of you know at least one person that you avoid because you just don't want to talk to them? (Laughter) You know, it used to be that in order to have a polite conversation, we just had to follow the advice of Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady": Stick to the weather and your health. But these days, with climate change and anti-vaxxing, those subjects are not safe either. So this world that we live in... posted on Apr 18 2016 (105,262 reads)

How to Cultivate Global Compassion, by Greater Good Science Center
psychologist Paul Ekman explains how to extend compassion beyond our circle of family and friends. Paul Ekman is Professor Emeritus in Psychology at the University of California, San Francisco, and an expert on emotion recognition. His work in identifying the muscular underpinnings of facial expressions has been instrumental in helping us understand the universality of emotion and its place in our social lives. In 2009, he was named by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world, and his work even entered popular consciousness when it led to a popular TV show—Lie to Me. In recent years, Ekman has had a growing interest in applying his knowledge of e... posted on Apr 24 2016 (11,616 reads)

The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers, by ted.com
years ago, a student came to me and asked me to invest in his company. He said, "I'm working with three friends, and we're going to try to disrupt an industry by selling stuff online." And I said, "OK, you guys spent the whole summer on this, right?" "No, we all took internships just in case it doesn't work out." "All right, but you're going to go in full time once you graduate." "Not exactly. We've all lined up backup jobs." Six months go by, it's the day before the company launches, and there is still not a functioning website. "You guys realize, the entire company is a website. That's literally all ... posted on Apr 28 2016 (29,119 reads)

The Strange Beautiful Side Of Death, by Leah Pearlman
no surprise to anyone who knows my family well (or perhaps anyone who has a teenage daughter themselves) that growing up, my mom and I had a strained relationship. Simply put, she insisted that I sit at the table for dinner, go to bed at nine, periodically clean my room and go to church. She ran the whole house, had a full time job, and was frequently stressed. My dad, on the other hand, seemed totally relaxed to my child eyes. He would secretly take me for donuts before school, or McDonald’s after. He would let me stay up late when mom was gone. He cracked hilarious jokes with waiters, librarians, flight attendants, and everyone else, which both delighted and embarrassed... posted on May 5 2016 (24,478 reads)

How Imaginative Storytelling Expands Our Scope of the Possible, by Maria Popova
must always take sides,” Elie Wiesel urged in his spectacular Nobel Prize acceptance speech. “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” And yet part of the human tragedy is that despite our best intentions and our most ardent ideals, we often lull ourselves into neutrality in the face of injustice — be it out of fear for our own stability, or lack of confidence in our ability to make a difference, or that most poisonous foible of the soul, the two-headed snake of cynicism and apathy. How, then, do we unmoor ourselves from a passivity we so masterfully rationalize, remember that “injustice ... posted on May 7 2016 (9,707 reads)

How One Woman's Food Redistribution App is Feeding Thousands, by Cat Johnson
Ahmad is solving what she calls the "most unnecessary problem of our time." Photo: Facebook Komal Ahmad was a student at UC Berkeley when she experienced a life-changing moment. She had just returned from summer training for the U.S. Navy when she met a homeless veteran on the sidewalk. He hadn’t eaten in three days. Yet, across the street, thousands of pounds of uneaten food was being thrown away by her school. This was unacceptable to Ahmad, so she did something about it. “Those who have and are wasting and those who need and are starving — and they’re both living quite literally right across the street from each other,” she ... posted on May 22 2016 (20,396 reads)

Translating Meaning Into Life: A Taoist Parable, by Alan Briskin
a time of great drought, a Taoist master was asked by members of a village if he could help bring rain to their dry fields. They confessed trying many other approaches before reaching out to him, but with no success. The master agreed to come and asked for a small hut with a garden that he could tend. For three days, he tended the garden, performing no special rituals or asking anything further from the villagers. On the fourth day, rain began to fall on the parched earth. When asked how he had achieved such a miracle, the master answered that he was not responsible for the rain. However, he explained, when he came to the village, he had sensed disharmony within himself. Each day, ... posted on Dec 29 2020 (44,275 reads)

Reflecting on Mindfulness Through the Joy of Coloring, by Ellie Cross
Breathe Curious” is a mother-daughter collaboration that emerged from Anne’s growing interest in mindfulness and meditation and her daughter Ellie’s belief that art is a powerful tool for change. The project began when Anne developed a list of words to help with mindfulness during sleepless nights. Starting with “Allow” on the in-breath, the list grew over time to include all of the letters of the alphabet. She shared the idea with her daughter Ellie, whose mind instantly swirled with accompanying images. They decided to combine their passions to create a coloring book of postcards, in which each word is elaborated by Anne with a phrase and a unique... posted on Jun 1 2016 (17,408 reads)

The Great Unknown Is Me, Myself: A Conversation with Jacob Needleman, by Richard Whittaker
Needleman’s voice has been prominent in the conversation about man’s inner possibilities for some forty years. Turning away from a career in medicine toward philosophy while at Harvard, he went on to Yale, and then moved west when a position opened up at San Francisco State University. While teaching there, he found himself more and more drawn toward man’s perennial questions. Making a decision not to confine himself to academic writing, he chose to share his own meditations with a broader audience. His bookThe New Religions, originally published in 1970, was a ground-breaking study of alternative spirituality in America. Many influential volumes followed, including&n... posted on Jun 11 2016 (17,576 reads)

Optimism in the Dark Night, by Gayan Macher
story is about the creation of a song.  Its title is Earth on Fire, Hearts on Ice.  The song was born out of anguish and anger about our despoiling of the natural world. In the end it had become a prayer. I am hopeful by nature.  But I needed to get some things off my chest, things weighing heavy on my heart.    And it has been a healing balm to make this song.  I imagine it must have felt this way to black slaves releasing their sorry in their soulful gospel. In the process of writing this song I was made to look deeply into the nature of optimism in the face of dire facts.   Is optimism naïve, simplistic? &nb... posted on Jun 12 2016 (14,366 reads)

Life Comes From It: Navajo justice, by Chief Justice Robert Yazzie
"vertical" system of justice is one that relies upon hierarchies and power. That is, judges sit at the top presiding over the lawyers, jurors, and all participants in court proceedings. The justice system uses rank, and the coercive power that goes with rank or status, to address conflicts. Power is the active element in the process. A decision is dictated from on high by the judge, and that decision is an order or judgment which parties must obey or face a penalty. Parties to a dispute have limited power and control over the process. The goal of adversarial law is to punish wrongdoers and teach them a lesson. Adversarial law and adjudication offer only a win-lose solut... posted on Jun 30 2016 (22,373 reads)

Thinking Outside the Box, by Elyse Wanshel
is an idea that really delivers. ZubaBox is a shipping container converted into a solar-powered internet café or classroom for people in need living in remote areas — including refugee camps. Inside the Lab The interior of the box can accommodate up to 11 individuals at a time and gives people in traditionally marginalized communities a sense of inclusion while widening their opportunities. “The ZubaBox is used to break a cycle of exclusion and gives [people] a space that they deserve to improve their learning experience and achieve their goals,” Rajeh Shaikh, marketing and PC donations manager at Computer Aid International — ... posted on Jul 3 2016 (16,789 reads)

Why We Should Teach Empathy to Preschoolers, by Shuka Kalantari
the fall of 1979, Yalda Modabber had just moved from Iran back to her birthplace in Boston. Her timing was bad: Just weeks later later, a group of armed Iranians took more than 60 U.S. citizens hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran. As a result, her fellow students bullied her ruthlessly. Golestan Education's Yalda Modabber “It was nonstop for two years,” says Modabber, who has dark curly black hair and a warm smile. “That period in my life was so hard that I blocked it out. I don’t even remember my teachers’ names. The entire class turned on me.” Modabber is now the principal and founder of Golestan Education, a Persian-language prescho... posted on Jul 8 2016 (33,176 reads)

How Anxiety Reduces Empathy, by Kira M. Newman
afternoon in Dublin, I found myself running through the airport, convinced I was about to miss a flight for the first time in my life. My anxiety surged at the sight of a long security line, but luckily an airport official ushered me to the front. I didn’t care how the waiting passengers felt about my preferential treatment, and I don’t remember much about the people I encountered during that nerve-wracking afternoon. I was thinking only about my goal: to get home. In short, my empathy for others plummeted as my anxiety mounted—and a recent paper helps explain this phenomenon by linking anxiety to egocentrism. In doing so, it provides yet another rea... posted on Jul 12 2016 (22,561 reads)

Paying Attention, Discovering Joy: A Conversation with Barbara Crooker, by Margaret Rozga
CROOKER’s poems have appeared widely, in magazines such as The Green Mountains Review, Poet Lore, The Potomac Review, Smartish Pace, The Beloit Poetry Journal, Nimrod,The Denver Quarterly, and anthologies such as The BedfordIntroduction to Literature, Good Poems for Hard Times (Garrison Keillor, editor), and Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania. Her poetry has been read on the BBC, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company), and by Garrison Keillor onThe Writer’s Almanac, and in Ted Kooser’s column, American Life in Poetry. A highly awarded poet, her prizes include the 2007 Pen and Brush Poetry Prize, ... posted on Jul 26 2016 (11,278 reads)

The Big Idea Behind Integrative Medicine, by Alan Briskin
medicine is an ecosystem of support for pursuing your own health and well-being. Inside that ecosystem is someone who cares about you. Integrative medicine is emerging from a successful history of treating physical ailments that often eluded Western modalities of care to become an ecosystem of support for health and wellness. Possibly the most visible sign of this development is the increasing attention of integrative medicine to primary care, where prevention and regard for the whole person is most critical. What distinguishes integrative medicine as an approach is that it distances itself from the traditional model of a patient dependent on an expert. Rather, it embraces a g... posted on Aug 4 2016 (16,390 reads)

Buddhas on Death Row: A Bridge of Art & Friendship, by Moyo
on Death Row was born out of the collaboration of two pen friends, based in the United States and Finland. Their names: Moyo and Maria What follows is the transcript of a letter Moyo typed out to Maria from Death Row.  Using the pages of a discarded atlas for stationery, he answers her questions regarding his relationship to art, shares his perspective on solitary confinement, and conveys with dignity and eloquence, the transformation that the human spirit is capable of even in the midst of darkness... I was always fascinated with art and how others were able to make pictures but my idea of art before and well into my incarceration ... posted on Aug 9 2016 (15,860 reads)

Can Science Help You Become Wise?, by Jenara Nerenberg
Tippett is the creator and host of the award-winning radio program and podcast On Being, which features a combination of scientists and spiritual leaders taking on today’s biggest and most pressing questions. Tippett was a foreign correspondent for the New York Times and the BBC in Berlin in the 80’s before studying divinity at Yale and launchingOn Being for NPR. In 2014, the White House awarded her a National Humanities Medal for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence.” Her new book is called Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living: The question of what it means to be human is now in... posted on Aug 15 2016 (12,124 reads)

Reclaiming Friendship: A Visual Taxonomy of Platonic Relationships to Counter the Commodification of the Word 'Friend', by Maria Popova
C.S. Lewis believed, “like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself … has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” But the poetic beauty of this sentiment crumbles into untruth for anyone who has ever been buoyed from the pit of despair by the unrelenting kindness of a friend, or whose joys have been amplified by a friend’s warm willingness to bear witness. Illustration by Maurice Sendak from a vintage ode to friendship by Janice May Udry I often puzzle over the nature, structure, and function of friendship in human life — a function I have found to be indispensable to my own s... posted on Sep 1 2016 (14,897 reads)