Eight Keys to End Bullying, by Signe Whitson
we stop bullying? Signe Whitson says yes—by consistently reaching out to both children who bully and those who are bullied. Everyone has a story when it comes to bullying. As a licensed social worker, school counselor, and national educator, I have heard many first-hand accounts of bullying, from triumphant efforts to end unwanted aggression to heart-wrenching stories of relentless torment. I am routinely appalled by how ubiquitous cruelty has become. Yet, despite the pain, I am hopeful. I believe we have an opportunity to change the culture of bullying among young people and I think the answer begins with those who live and work with young people every day. It is... posted on Oct 25 2014 (22,161 reads)

7 Ways to Exercise Your Brain - And Why You Really Need To!, by MICHELE ROSENTHAL
brain function peaks in our early fifties, but staying mentally active can prevent brain loss in the years to follow. If you’re over 40, you’re not going to like this (and if you’re not yet 40, get ready for a reality check): Early in your fifth decade, researchers believe, your cognitive brain performance peaks. From there, it’s a downhill slide for the remaining years of your life. The good news is that the brain is highly adaptable; it responds to experiences. In particular, “spaced practice” (repetitive exercise) helps the brain learn, grow, strengthen, and develop. As we age there are ways to combat the reduced function of suc... posted on Oct 20 2014 (165,818 reads)

Daily Bread: A Simple Idea That's Feeding The Hungry, by Audrey Lin
can be disarming. That’s what Carolyn North discovered. It started with an impulse to save the leftover Thanksgiving turkey her neighbor had discarded as trash. Thirty years later, she and a rotating team of friends-turned-volunteers have been quietly recovering surplus food and delivering it to free food shelters and pantries across the San Francisco Bay Area. At the surface, it’s a simple labor-of-love initiative called Daily Bread. Last year, its 90 local volunteers delivered 32 tons of food with little overhead and virtually no budget. For volunteers, it’s a straightforward weekly routine that takes less than an hour to complete. For food donors, it&... posted on Oct 30 2014 (16,583 reads)

Mary Oliver: Listening to the World, by On Being
TIPPETT, HOST: Mary Oliver is one of our greatest living poets, beloved and often quoted by people across ages and backgrounds. She rarely gives interviews or speaks about the life behind her writing. But she's with us, this hour. [music: “Seven League Boots” by Zoe Keating] MARY OLIVER: "Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, / the world offers itself to your imagination, / calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting— / over and over announcing your place / in the family of things." Lord knows when I started writing poetry, it was rotten. MS. TIPPETT: The poetry was rotten? MS. OLIVER: Sure. I was 10, 11, 12 years old, but I... posted on Mar 18 2015 (29,112 reads)

Leadership for Collective Wisdom, by Alan Briskin, co-author The Power of Collective Wisdom
for Collective Wisdom - A network of people seeking to embody and radiate outward principles of collaboration, non violence, and wisdom necessary to address existential issues of life and be equipped with the tools, skills, and practices necessary to respond effectively in the world. FIVE CONDITIONS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF COLLECTIVE WISDOM 1. Deep Listening Listening with an intention that the other person feels heard and seen; creating the conditions and presence for the other to more fully come into their own highest being. Listening to what is said and unsaid. Listening with one's full self, with heart, mind, body, and soul. 2. Suspend Certainty Capacit... posted on Apr 29 2015 (24,000 reads)

17 Ways You Can Work For Social Justice, by Nina Flores
present, question assumptions, and be loud! Social transformation starts with everyday people working for change. If you're feeling inspired by the Supreme Court's historic same-sex marriage decision, then do your part to help build and sustain forward momentum toward justice for all. Legalizing same-sex marriage is a huge victory, but it is not the finish line of justice. Inequality takes many forms, and people are still waiting on their ability to live freely, safely, or, just to live. 1. Organize Support community and issue-based organizations. Be part of front-end planning processes and not just the end-game celebrations. Help develop short-term and long-term stra... posted on Aug 20 2015 (13,974 reads)

Six Ways to Help People Change, by Art Markman
in life, you may find yourself trying to help other people change. Whether you’re acting as a mentor, a parent, or a well-meaning spouse, you hope to exert a positive influence and assist someone in reaching their goals. What’s the best way to do this? If you want to influence other people’s behavior, then you need to develop trust. The core of trust in persuasive interactions is authenticity—the degree to which people think that the public face you have adopted fits who you really are inside. When people feel you are telling them things you truly believe, they are less likely to be skeptical of their interactions with you. Thus you have to see yourself as... posted on Mar 22 2016 (26,755 reads)

Anne Veh: The Art of Making the Mundane Magical, by Awakin Calls
left to right Anne Veh, with her Kindergarden teacher, Betty Peck, and ServiceSpace volunteer, Audrey Lin Audrey: There are so many stories of Anne. She has anchored kindness circles in different schools where a group of volunteers will go into a school and spend the day engaging on the theme of kindness and then doing acts of kindness. Last month she was at a middle school, and at the end of the day Anne gave this gift to the principal and it was a pomegranate; it was a very weathered pomegranate that she had saved. It was special because it was given to her by a dear friend, Mark DuBois, a past Awakin Call guest and quite an environmental legend. So Anne said to herself "... posted on Aug 18 2016 (14,251 reads)

5 Ways to Build Solidarity Across Our Differences, by Peroline Ainsworth, Kiran Nihalani
victory of Brexit in the UK has provoked a confrontational atmosphere, characterised by some as a growing gulf between left-leaning pro-Europe liberals and groups of poor and disenfranchised people voting against the ‘establishment.’ The former accuse the latter of prejudice and/or ignorance. The latter see the former as elites who don’t understand their situation and are reluctant to oppose the status quo. Prejudice and self-interest are likely part of the picture on both sides. But binary decision-making processes like referendums reflect positions on one issue at one point in time, not whole people with complex lives. Simplistic versions of eve... posted on Feb 17 2017 (12,276 reads)

Kay Pranis: The Art of Holding Circle, by Awakin Call Editors
Pranis learned about peacemaking circles through her work in restorative justice in the mid-1990s.  Her initial teachers were First Nations people of Yukon.  Since her initial "accidental" exposure to indigenous people's use of peacemaking circles, the circle has become the center of all of Kay's work: "The circle became a way for me to see how humans can live more successfully with each other and the natural world, balancing group and individual needs and gifts," Kay says. "The circle became a way to move to a kind of world that I want to live in." What follows is the edited transcript of an Awakin Call interview with Kay P... posted on May 17 2017 (22,062 reads)

The Freedom of Real Apologies, by On Being
TIPPETT, HOST: A single voice of integrity can be a window into many worlds. Layli Long Soldier is a writer, a mother, a citizen of the United States, and a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation. She has a way of opening up this part of her life, and of American life, to inspire self-searching and tenderness. And I had no idea, until I discovered Layli Long Soldier that the U.S. government offered an official apology to Native peoples in 2009. But it was done so quietly, with no ceremony, that it was practically a secret. Now, Standing Rock is in our midst as a new shorthand for layers of history we scarcely know how to talk about. Layli Long Soldier’s lyrical first book,&n... posted on May 12 2017 (6,437 reads)

7 Simple Ways to Cultivate Comfort, by Colette Lafia
comfort can be found in the context of daily living. It is a grace. We just need to open our arms and receive it. Comfort is a shelter, a warm blanket, a refuge. Fortunately, we do not need to do anything extraordinary to produce comfort, because it is something that already exists within each of us and all around us. Real comfort can be found in the context of daily living. It is a grace. We just need to open our arms and receive it. We just need to open our arms and give it. Recently, on a warm Sunday afternoon, my husband and I were spending time in our garden, pruning plants, watering flowers, and sweeping up dry leaves. We began talking about my mother and father, who had... posted on Feb 25 2018 (33,492 reads)

Skateboard Parks and the Power of Relationship, by Awakin Call Editors
following is the edited transcript of an Awakin Call with Ulrike Reinhard. You can listen to the full recording of the call here. Preeta Bansal: It's my pleasure to welcome Ulrike Reinhard as our guest this week! Ulrike Reinhard: Yeah, thanks a lot and hello to everyone out there! Preeta: Ulrike is a German publisher, author, a Futurist and she's been involved in a lot of global development efforts throughout her lifetime. Currently, she lives mostly in India, in rural India, where she is the woman behind a skateboard park, that’s in a village; the park has been upending notions of caste and gender, and empowering a community economically. She's been also ... posted on May 18 2019 (3,647 reads)

The Spirit of Restorative Justice: An Interview with Sujatha Baliga , by Sebastian Robins
Baliga found herself sitting in a room with a murderer and his victim’s parents, who had come seeking something more than punishment for their child’s killer. Sujatha, and the process of Restorative Justice, was uniquely positioned to help. She came to that meeting through rigorous academic training, and also through harrowing personal experience. She grew up in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania where she experienced ongoing sexual abuse by her father. As an adult, after several emotional breakdowns related to the early childhood traumas, she decided to travel to Dharamsala, India to visit the Dalai Lama. Through slim odds, she was granted an audience with the exiled leader. Aft... posted on Mar 5 2018 (18,817 reads)

What Borders Are Really About, by On Being
follows is the transcript of an On Being interview between Krista Tippett and Luis Alberto Urrea KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: The wonderful writer Luis Alberto Urrea says that a deep truth of our time is that “we miss each other.” We have this drive to erect barriers between ourselves, and yet this makes us a little crazy. He is the warmest and wisest — the most helpful person with whom I’ve pondered the deep meaning and the problem of borders — what they are really about, what we do with them. The Mexican-American border, as he likes to say, ran straight through his parents’ Mexican-American marriage and divorce. He was Luis to his Tijuan... posted on Jul 15 2018 (9,090 reads)

Unity and the Power of Love, by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
holds the essential vision that we are one living, interconnected ecosystem—a living Earth that supports and nourishes all of its inhabitants. If we acknowledge and honor this simple reality, we can begin to participate in the vital work of healing our fractured and divisive world and embrace a consciousness of oneness that is our human heritage. This is the opportunity that is being offered to us, even as its dark twin is constellating the dynamics of nationalism, tribalism, isolationism, and all the other regressive forces that express ‘me’ rather than ‘we.’ Oneness is not a metaphysical idea but something essential and ordinary. It is in every breath... posted on Nov 7 2018 (9,105 reads)

Daring to Dream: Religion and the Future of the Earth, by Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim
is a dawning realization from many quarters that the changes humans are making on the planet are comparable to the changes of a major geological era. The scientific evidence says we are damaging life systems on Earth and causing species extinction (20,000 species lost annually) at such a rate as to bring about the end of our current period, the Cenozoic era. No such mass extinction has occurred since the dinosaurs were eliminated 65 million years ago by an asteroid. Our period is considered to be the sixth major extinction in Earth’s 4.7 billion-year history, and in this case humans are the primary cause. Having grown from two billion to six billion people in the twentieth cen... posted on Dec 17 2018 (6,738 reads)

The Geography of Sorrow, by Tim Mckee
a man who specializes in grief and sorrow, psychotherapist Francis Weller certainly seems joyful. When I arrived at his cabin in Forestville, California, he emerged with a smile and embraced me. His wife, Judith, headed off to garden while Francis led me into their home among the redwoods to talk. I had wanted to interview Weller ever since the publisher I work for, North Atlantic Books, had agreed to publish his new book, The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief. Over the previous few years my father, grandfather, grandmother, father-in-law, and sister-in-law had all died, and I’d also moved across the country and was missing the friends and... posted on Feb 26 2019 (62,089 reads)

At-One-Ment: In Conversation with Rabbi Michael Lerner, by Leslee Goodman
Michael Lerner has been synthesizing his spiritual and social justice yearnings since adolescence, when he found a mentor and guide in Abraham Joshua Heschel, of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Lerner began his own legacy of political activism in 1964 when, as a student at UC Berkeley pursuing a Ph.D. in philosophy, he served on the Executive Committee of the Free Speech Movement, advocating for civil rights and an end to the war in Vietnam. Eventually, however, the shortcomings of the activist movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s inspired him to earn a second Ph.D., in psychology, from the Wright Institute, to gain a deeper understanding of the motivations underlying American societ... posted on Mar 30 2019 (9,039 reads)

Working for Peace in a Violent World, by Matthew Legge
eats life.” — Joseph Campbell Joseph Campbell studied spiritual traditions from around the world and found that the violence inherent in life is one of the uncomfortable truths they all grapple with. Life eats life. Our world is perpetually destructive and creative. Can peace be consistent with such a violent world, or is it a total fantasy? In his article “On Staying Sane in a Suicidal Culture,” Dahr Jamail describes his personal struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder after working as a war correspondent in Iraq: “I was unable to go any deeper emotionally than my rage and numbness. I stood precariously atop my self-righteous anger about... posted on Aug 5 2019 (6,681 reads)