Quiet Spirituality, by Mirka Knaster
because I can talk up a storm, I love, even crave, silence. I feel safe in it. I know I won't blurt out something foolish or harmful, something I'll be sorry for. That's probably why if you ask spiritual teachers for advice on how to practice wise speech, they're likely to answer with one word: silence. Like the rain necessary for flowers to bloom, silence is essential for speaking with clarity. A Hindu adage, echoed in other cultures, reflects this relationship: If what you have to say is truthful, kind, and useful, then say it; if not, silence is best. My earliest lesson in the value of silence and the painful consequences of unkind words occurred when I was... posted on Apr 14 2019 (12,091 reads)

All My Best Words Were Hers: A Tribute to Ursula Le Guin, by Isaac Yuen
5th 2018 The messages stream in, from friends, acquaintances, strangers. “Thought of you when I heard the news.” I am grateful for their thoughtfulness and ashamed at the attention. The well wishes mount and I do not know how to contain them. I am only a fan. I never knew her personally. No matter how keen the loss felt, my relationship with her had always been one-sided, reader to author, writer to muse, apprentice to master. The impact she had on my life has been unfathomable, but so it was for countless around the world, across countries and cultures. I am only a fan. In the evening, my mom sends me a text: “Are you ok? I saw one of her quotes @Twitter:... posted on Apr 30 2019 (6,930 reads)

How to Work with the Bias in Your Brain, by Jill Suttie
the beginning of her new book, Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do (Viking, 2019) researcher Jennifer Eberhardt tells a story about traveling with her then five-year-old son on an airplane. When he points out another black passenger on their plane and wonders aloud if the man might rob someone, it stops Eberhardt cold. “Why did you say that?” she asks him, not reprimanding but curious. He responds, “I don’t know why I said that. I don’t know why I was thinking that.” This story aptly illustrates one of the main themes of her book: No one is immune from bias. Not even her black son can escape t... posted on Apr 13 2019 (6,930 reads)

10 Sharing-Focused Books to Read this Spring, by Shareable
January, we shared a list of 20 social change books to read in 2019. As was bound to happen, we’ve found more interesting books (and one report) that we want to check out, and that you might be interested in too. Some of these are from our partners like Enspiral Foundation, The P2P Foundation, and Sharing Cities Sweden. Others were recommended to us. Take a look at what we’ll be reading and let us know what you think. If you have ideas for other books we should check out, let us know at info@shareable.net. We’ll consider your submission in the next edition. Below are summaries, excerpted from each book’s website: Better Work Toge... posted on Apr 28 2019 (8,878 reads)

Discovering the Sacred in Everyday Life, by Gail Brenner
it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness.” ~ Galway Kinnell Although you may not realize it, your everyday life is already sacred. Everything arises from the one source. Everything is an exquisite expression of life, of pure being. One of my clients reported that she is starting to become more aware of things in her life she never noticed before. She loves it when someone unexpected shows up at her door. She flows through the day responding with ease to everyone and everything. And she is attuned with all her senses when she takes a walk outside. These are new experiences for her, but this deepening awareness has always been available. Things are... posted on Apr 12 2019 (8,799 reads)

God Who Weeps: A Story of Grief and Redemption, by Marilyn Lacey, RS
following is excerpted from This Flowing Toward Me: A Story of God Arriving in Strangers", by Marilyn Lacey, R.S.M, published by Ave Maria Press, 2009 Sr. Marilyn Lacey is the founder and executive director of Mercy Beyond Borders, a non-profit organization that partners with displaced women and children overseas to alleviate their poverty. The organization brings hope to more than 1,400 woman and girls annually by providing educational, economic and empowerment opportunities where there are few options to escape extreme poverty. A California native, Lacey has been a Sister of Mercy since 1966. G.K. Chesterton tells the story of a person--let's call him Joe-... posted on Apr 24 2019 (8,054 reads)

The Seasons of the Soul, by Hermann Hesse, Ludwig Max Fischer
Seasons of the Soul: The Poetic Guidance and Spiritual Wisdom of Hermann Hesse, translated and with commentary by Ludwig Max Fischer, published by North Atlantic Books, English translation and commentary copyright © 2011 by Ludwig Max Fischer.  All poems by Hermann Hesse from Sämtliche Werke, Band 10: Die Gedichte, copyright © 2002 by Suhrkamp Verlag GmbH, all rights reserved and controlled through Suhrkamp Verlag Berlin. Reprinted by permission of North Atlantic Books. Nature: Source of Strength and Solace (commentary from Ludwig Max Fischer, Phd) Nature was Hesse’s first and foremost teacher: the garden, the forest, an... posted on Jun 9 2019 (8,751 reads)

How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World, by Catriona Mitchell
Atwood describes The Gift, by Lewis Hyde, as ‘a book about the core nature of what it is that artists do, and also about the relation of these activities to our overwhelmingly commercial society.’ Bill Viola has called it ‘the best book I have read on what it means to be an artist in today’s economic world.’ Robin McKenna is the writer, director and producer of a new feature-length documentary inspired by Hyde’s bestseller. Her film, GIFT, takes us to settings as varied as the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert, a potlatch ceremony in British Columbia, and an art museum in Melbourne, to explore some contemporary ways of being wher... posted on May 23 2019 (5,467 reads)

Meet Fadak: Australia's Inspiring Refugee Advocate, by Lizzie Marton
Marton speaks with Fadak Alfayadh Fadak Alfayadh spent her childhood in Iraq—a country that shifted from one world to an entirely different, “unliveable” one seemingly overnight. 15 years ago Fadak sought refuge with her family in Australia, where they received little support from the system but were welcomed by their community in Dandenong, Victoria. Today, Fadak is paving the way for the refugees who have arrived in her wake. Her “Meet Fadak” tours combat the misperceptions that the Australian community holds about those seeking asylum and the narratives we so often hear in mainstream media, while her work as a community lawyer helps support and sett... posted on Jun 24 2019 (3,164 reads)

The Table of Voices, by Richard Whittaker
met Richard Kamler at a party. Most of the party-goers had been on the program at the 2010 Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA. Many were also listed in the Women's Environmental Art Directory. Looking around, I saw only two or three familiar faces and, intent on making new acquaintances, I found myself chatting with one person after another. Among them was an older man, slight of build, who was particularly easy to talk with. After awhile, I realized I'd heard about him before: Richard Kamler.      Didn't he have a radio program in San Francisco where he talked with artists? A friend had once suggested I contact him thinking we would hit it off, especial... posted on Jun 26 2019 (3,795 reads)

A Primer for Forgetting, by Lewis Hyde
Primer for Forgetting, out this month from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ANTI-MNEMONICS Umberto Eco writes that “once, as a joke, some friends and I invented advertisements for university po­sitions in nonexistent disciplines,” one of these being an ars oblivionalis, as opposed to the ancient arts of memory. Eco tells the story in an essay meant to prove that, from a semioti­cian’s point of view, no such art could possibly exist. Others would disagree. At one point in the Biographia Literaria,Samuel Taylor Coleridge complains about the habit of reading periodicals, suggesting that it should rightly be added to the “catalogue... posted on Jun 27 2019 (5,193 reads)

Uncomfortable Place of Uncertainty, by Margaret Wheatley
weren’t trained to admit we don’t know. Most of us were taught to sound certain and confident, to state our opinion as if it were true. We haven’t been rewarded for being confused. Or for asking more questions rather than giving quick answers. We’ve also spent many years listening to others mainly to determine whether we agree with them or not. We don’t have time or interest to sit and listen to those who think differently than we do. It is very difficult to give up our certainties -- our positions, our beliefs, our explanations. These help define us; they lie at the heart of our personal identity. Yet I believe we will succeed in changing this world only ... posted on Jul 9 2019 (9,520 reads)

Toni Morrisson: On Borders and Belonging, by Maria Popova
does home mean and where do we anchor our belonging in a of violent alienation and alienating violence? I use “alien” here both in the proper etymological sense rooted in the Latin alienus, “belonging to another,” and in the astrophysical sense of “from another planet,” “not human,” for the combined effect of a dehumanizing assault on belonging for those treated and mistreated as alien to a country or a community. That, and some hint of the remedy for it, is what Toni Morrison (February 18, 1931–August 5, 2019) — one of the titanic thinkers and writers of our time, and the first black woman to ... posted on Aug 7 2019 (7,627 reads)

A Young Poet Tells the Story of Darfur, by ted.com
was 10 years old when I learned what the word "genocide" meant. It was 2003, and my people were being brutally attacked because of their race -- hundreds of thousands murdered, millions displaced, a nation torn apart at the hands of its own government.  My mother and father immediately began speaking out against the crisis. I didn't really understand it, except for the fact that it was destroying my parents. One day, I walked in on my mother crying, and I asked her why we are burying so many people. I don't remember the words that she chose to describe genocide to her 10-year-old daughter, but I remem... posted on Aug 9 2019 (9,402 reads)

Inner Preacher vs Inner Teacher, by Maria Popova
a poem is made available to the public, the right of interpretation belongs to the reader,” young Sylvia Plath wrote to her mother as she reflected on her first poem. What is true of a poem is true of any work of art: Art transforms us not with what it contains but with what it creates in us — the constellation of interpretations, revelations, and emotional truths illuminated — which, of course, is why the rise of the term “content” to describe creative output online has been one of the most corrosive developments in contemporary culture. A poem — or an essay, or a painting, or a song — is not its “content”; it trans... posted on Sep 9 2019 (4,961 reads)

In the Presence of Elephants and Whales, by On Being
follows is the syndicated transcript of an On Being interview between Krista Tippett and Katy Payne. Krista Tippett, host:“We are made and set here,” the writer Annie Dillard once wrote, “to give voice to our astonishments.” Katy Payne is an acoustic biologist with a Quaker sensibility, and she’s found her astonishment in listening to two of the world’s most exotic creatures. She has decoded the language of elephants and was among the first scientists to discover that whales are composers of song. [music: “Seven League Boots” by Zoë Keating] Katy Payne:By golly, they’re singing, of all things. They’re doing somethin... posted on Oct 22 2019 (5,082 reads)

My Summer of the Catbird, by Virginia May-Schiros
as too many of us do, separated from  Nature, we forget that we are supported on this planet only insofar as we remain connected in relationship to Earth and all of her creatures. John Muir understood this deeply. He encouraged people to “stay close to Nature’s heart” for healing and solace. It takes patience, quiet, and a willingness to step away from the pull of technology to find the heart of Nature in real time.  He saw how Nature has been sustained over eons through storms, floods, and fires, but she will “not be saved from fools” – meaning humans who have lost their relationship with Life. This is a problem for our ag... posted on Sep 24 2019 (6,258 reads)

The Zookeeper's Wife, by Jon Espino
will always be a need to tell powerful stories from some of humanities darkest times. This rings especially true for stories about the Nazi’s and the Holocaust because we have a resurgence of the same sentiment that led to one of the worst regimes in history. Diane Ackerman wrote a story based on real life historic heroes that remind us that we can fight against oppression in a non-violent way with her book “The Zookeeper’s Wife”. With the film out this weekend, we talk with Ackerman about her novel and how it still holds up as a reminder of human kindness in a sometimes cruel world. I never heard about the story before I read your novel.  Was it hard to... posted on Sep 29 2019 (4,470 reads)

How Oral Surgery Taught Me a Lesson in Wholeness, by Andy Smallman
little over a month ago my dental hygienist pointed out to me a dark spot that had shown up on the edge of the X-ray she had just taken. She called in the dentist who recommended I have the spot reviewed by an oral surgeon as soon as an appointment could be had. A few days later, there I was, having a much more complex X-ray taken, followed by a conversation with the surgeon: “There’s no reason to think this is malignant; in fact, I’m virtually certain it’s a cyst. But it needs to come out.” “Okay, what does that entail?” “Well, I’ll detach your palate to open up a space to remove the growth.” “Detach my palate?... posted on Nov 3 2019 (4,981 reads)

No Impact Man's Guide to Activism, by Colin Beavan
article from the YES! Media archives was originally published in the Spring 2011 issue of YES! Magazine. So many of us have good ideas for helping the world. But we tuck away our ideas. I did. I’d tell myself that if the idea were any good someone else would have already done it. That I’m not capable of making a difference. I’d sit on my ideas, get on with my life, and then feel angry at the world because the problems I cared about didn’t get solved. I had that fear of going first. Then I took my first hapless step into what I call accidental activism. In 2006, I started a project where I lived as environmentally as possible for a year—with my litt... posted on Nov 18 2019 (6,475 reads)