Staying Human in a Time of Climate Change: New Author on Science, Grief, and Hope, by Christopher Zumski Finke
geographer and author M Jackson, knowing climate science isn’t enough. We need to get our hearts involved too. The Exit Glacier, in Seward, Alaska. Photo by David Estrada. Author M Jackson’s While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change was released last week by Green Writers Press. In the book, Jackson’s first, she examines climate change by combining personal stories with scientific exploration. As both a scientist and a writer by trade, Jackson studied climate change and how to communicate science through writing at the Environmental Science Graduate Program at the University of Montana. "Climate change, like the los... posted on Aug 2 2015 (10,875 reads)

The Whole Child and Urban Education, by Richard Whittaker
unexpected invitation to Betty Peck and her daughter Anna Rainville’s home for an intimate conference on education, specifically on Waldorf education, is what led me to Ida Oberman. There were a few of us at the gathering who were not especially knowledgeable about Waldorf education, but Betty and Anna have always liked expanding the circle. For decades, Betty Peck’s weekly salon has been a meeting place for a wide range of creative individuals from a variety of perspectives in the thick of Silicon Valley culture. This particular gathering was more focused than Betty’s regular salon meetings and no less interesting for that. It was a chance both for new conn... posted on Aug 24 2015 (7,650 reads)

Changing Ourselves by Changing the Brain, by Patty de Llosa
mind exist?” asks neuroscientist Daniel Siegel, as he opens a two-day conference on his favorite subject, interpersonal neurobiology. Siegel is on a mission to tell the world that by working to make changes in your mind you can reorganize the neural pathways in your brain. He insists that if you work at it, you can spend more time in “Beginner’s Mind” and improve your personal relationships. Unsatisfied by the old scientific definition that the mind is what the brain does, he says that “such a view essentially reduces the mind to an MRI.” As he sketches an upside-down triangle with mind and brain at the top two corners and relationships at the ... posted on Dec 10 2015 (25,759 reads)

5 Ways to Show Kindness This Season, by Lexi Dwyer
the holiday season upon us, it's easy to feel pressure that you aren't spending enough, doing enough or otherwise keeping up with everyone else around you. If that's the case, log out of Pinterest, take some deep breaths and remind yourself that true holiday spirit can't be bought — no matter how good the bargains get. For a refreshing antidote to the consumer hoopla, check out the ad-free, volunteer-run website Kindspring.org, which is "dedicated to fostering and celebrating small acts of kindness around the world." The site, part of the nonprofit Service Space, lists hundreds of ways to show compassion for others, which are organized by theme... posted on Dec 24 2015 (13,953 reads)

The Radical Work of Healing: Fania and Angela Davis on a New Kind of Civil Rights Activism, by Sarah van Gelder
Davis and her sister Fania Davis were working for social justice before many of today’s activists were born. From their childhood in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, where their friends were victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, to their association with the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party, to their work countering the prison-industrial complex, their lives have centered on lifting up the rights of African Americans. In 1969, Angela Davis was fired from her teaching position at UCLA because of her membership in the Communist Party. She was later accused of playing a supporting role in a courtroom kidnapping that resulted in four deaths. The internation... posted on Feb 29 2016 (10,552 reads)

Ten Counterproductive Behaviors of Well-Intentioned People, by Cody Charles
article originally appeared on The Body Is Not An Apology and is reprinted by permission. More of Cody Charles’ writing can be found here. This is a follow-up to my previous piece entitled Ten Counterproductive Behaviors of Social Justice Educators. The latter was written for folks who consider equity work as their core life purpose. I wrote Ten Counterproductive Behaviors of Well-Intentioned People for the folks who consider themselves good people invested in social justice and conversations around equity, but who may show up in the ally role most often. Well-intentioned people make mistakes, lots of them. Mistakes must be expected and being held accountable has to be expected... posted on Mar 18 2016 (40,039 reads)

4 Reasons to Cultivate Patience, by Kira M. Newman
virtues go, patience is a quiet one. It’s often exhibited behind closed doors, not on a public stage: A father telling a third bedtime story to his son, a dancer waiting for her injury to heal. In public, it’s the impatient ones who grab all our attention: drivers honking in traffic, grumbling customers in slow-moving lines. We have epic movies exalting the virtues of courage and compassion, but a movie about patience might be a bit of a snoozer. Yet patience is essential to daily life—and might be key to a happy one. Having patience means being able to wait calmly in the face of frustration or adversity, so anywhere there is frustration or adversity—i.e., ne... posted on Jun 28 2023 (24,004 reads)

Rue Harrison: Beyond the Known Territory, by Richard Whittaker
following conversation took place before an audience at The Berkeley Art Center. The topic was “Art and the Unconscious.” Rue Harrison, an artist as well as a practicing psychotherapist, reflects about the subject from both sides of her own work. From the perspective of art, she talks about her relationship with the mysterious animal figure who first appeared in her paintings fifteen years ago, eventually evolving into an ongoing graphic narrative that readers of this magazine will recognize as Indigo Animal…  Richard Whittaker:  How shall we begin with this big subject? Rue Harrison:  My intention is to explore some questions I have which rel... posted on Jun 15 2016 (7,921 reads)

Living By Questions, by Jane Hirshfield
a story: A man has a burning question. He decides to seek out a famous Hasidic teacher, a man everyone says is the wisest person of his era. For a long time he walks by foot, carrying his question. He gets rained on; he gets hungry. He keeps walking. Finally, he arrives in the village where the teacher lives. The students, though, won't let him into the study house. How can this man's question be serious, when he has just arrived? They've been working for years to be found worthy of the teacher's attention. Finally, the man's question is stronger than his politeness. He breaks in, corners the teacher and asks, "What is the essence of truth?" The teach... posted on Aug 1 2016 (19,590 reads)

Six Ways Nature in Our Lives Can Reduce Violence in Our World, by Richard Louv
the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings, we’ve talked about gun laws and mental-health treatment, amid a host of other responses. But one potential tool has not been mentioned. Now, let me say right off that I don’t pretend that nature is a paragon of peace. Writer Herman Melville once challenged the idea of nature as “the grand cure,” as he put it, and asked “who froze to death my teamster on the prairie?” The violence of nature is a fact, but this is also true: by assaulting nature, we raise the odds that we will assault each other. By bringing nature into our lives, we invite humility. “In our studies, people with less access to natur... posted on Nov 14 2016 (18,834 reads)

Small is Better: Lessons from a Horsewoman, by Kelly Wendorf
my children were babies, I worried about every cough and fever. I frantically thumbed through my dog-eared copy of How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor (a powerfully helpful book written by an iconoclast pediatrician dedicated to the empowerment of parents), and spent hours on the Internet to assuage my anxiety. It was then I stumbled upon the miracle of homeopathy. Precisely how homeopathic medicines work remains a mystery, and yet, nature is replete with mysteries and with numerous striking examples of the power of extremely small things. Packed into tiny sugar balls the size of cupcake sprinkles, this natural form of nanopharmocology dilutes remedies to t... posted on Sep 25 2016 (15,422 reads)

The Navajo Notion of Justice, by Robert Yazzie
January 2000, the Navajo Nation Council decided to revamp the Navajo Nation Criminal Code. The Council eliminated jail time and fines for 79 offenses, required the use of peacemaking in criminal cases, and required that the courts see to the rights of victims. The Council also incorporated the traditional concept of nalyeeh into the criminal code. Nalyeeh refers to the process of confronting someone who hurts others with a demand that they talk out the action and the hurt it caused so that something positive will come of it. This decision represents a serious challenge to the courts of the Navajo Nation, whose jurisdiction includes tribal members in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Navaj... posted on Nov 1 2016 (17,321 reads)

Mark Nepo: Holding Nothing Back, by Tami Simon
Simon: You’re listening to Insights at the Edge. Today my guest is Mark Nepo. Mark is a poet and philosopher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over 35 years. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. A New York Times #1 bestselling author, he has recorded eight audio projects and published thirteen books, including The Book of Awakening, which made the list of Opera’s “Ultimate Favorite Things.” With Sounds True, Mark has created an eight-session audio program called Staying Awake: The Ordinary Art, where he... posted on Dec 10 2016 (26,856 reads)

How Mindfulness Can Defeat Racial Bias, by Rhonda Magee
article is the third in a series exploring the effects that unconscious racial biases have on the criminal justice system in the United States. Officer Tina Latendresse of the Hillsboro Police Department in Oregon meditates during a mindfulness training program for police. Benjamin Brink/The Oregonian When I was promoted to tenured full professor, the dean of my law school kindly had flowers sent to me at my home in Pacific Heights, an overpriced San Francisco neighborhood almost devoid of black residents. I opened the door to find a tall, young, African-American deliveryman who announced, “Delivery for Professor Magee.” I, a petite black woman, dres... posted on Jan 5 2017 (11,884 reads)

12 Questions Around Volunteerism, by Nipun Mehta
year, about fifteen of us had a breakout call with some visionaries of World in Conversation and Laddership Circles, around working with volunteers.  Below is a glimpse of the Q&A that emerged, on the call and afterwards.] Our efforts attracts many volunteers, but we don't use them effectively. What do you suggest? The most fundamental design principle is our mindset. Typically, volunteers are used as a means to an end -- this is our mission, we need this stuff done to achieve our mission, and you can help us do these chores. ServiceSpace doesn't work that way. For us, volunteer experience is an end in itself. We believe that if a volunteer ha... posted on Jan 12 2017 (19,791 reads)

Jeannie Kahwajy: Catch Everything As Help, by Awakin Call Editors
want to catch what people are offering, catch everything as help; like Aikido. Aikido is a martial art where it doesn't matter what intention somebody is moving towards you with. I can always catch it as helpful energy -- I get to develop this redirecting skill." Jeannie Kahwajy is an executive coach and the founder of Effective Interactions.. She believes an attitude of love is the most effective way to show up for all our interactions. It's a theory she's put to the test (often with jaw-dropping results) in challenging encounters with diverse personalities, including a purse-thief on board a moving train, a seemingly biased employer, a cocky student, and a rud... posted on Apr 11 2017 (15,740 reads)

Spotlight on Kids Who Are Changing the World, by Shari Swanson
live in challenging and stressful times and may wonder how our children must be feeling when we are struggling ourselves. But, even as we try to shelter and protect them, we discover that kids are remarkably resilient and that the things that help us to cope in difficult situations are often the very things that make challenges more bearable for them as well. Moving from a sense of helplessness toward action, using our failures and struggles to reach out to others, and pushing ourselves against our limitations all make us stronger, more compassionate people. The same is true for our children-- often in remarkable ways. In this Daily Good Spotlight on Remarkable Kids, w... posted on May 26 2017 (10,006 reads)

Charles Halpern: Cultivating Wisdom for Justice, by Awakin Call Editors
Halpern is a public interest pioneer and an innovator in legal education. Author of Making Waves and Riding the Currents: Activism and the Practice of Wisdom, he has made multiple big waves in the public sector – as the "father" of the public interest law movement, as a social entrepreneur, and as a pioneer in the movement to bring mindfulness to the law and social justice efforts.  The outer waves of social transformation that Charlie has supported have been enabled by his inner waves of personal transformation.  And those inner waves are supporting him on his latest challenging quests: working for the mindful transformation of the criminal justic... posted on Jul 13 2017 (6,796 reads)

Stanford University Mindfulness Classroom, by Stephen Murphy - Shigematsu
University Mindfulness Classroom by Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu. Tokyo: Kodansha. (2016) Fresh out of college, without a job, and needing some money to pay the rent I became a substitute teacher in the Cambridge, Massachusetts public schools. Substitute teaching in inner-city public schools in the United States is a horrible job. $25 for a day in hell. Teach? Just surviving to the end of the day was the goal. The tough, city kids were too much for me, or maybe any substitute teacher—they ate me up from the ring of the opening bell and spit me out when the bell mercifully rang after last period, signaling that the punishment was over. I was desperate for anything t... posted on Aug 24 2017 (14,292 reads)

Sharing Stories in a Broken Culture , by Simon Hodges
late-April 2017 the French Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron stunned supporters of Marine Le Pen, his opponent, by directly engaging with them on a picket line. Macron handed the microphone to union members whilst arguing that closing borders would do nothing positive for the economy, and might well harm it. This was a rare act of engagement in western politics, where debates are characterised by the frothing of deeply divided sides. If Macron’s argument had been transmitted indirectly via the media it would probably have fallen on deaf ears, dismissed as more ‘fake news’ or standard ‘liberal bias.’ But he managed to create a relationship with people ... posted on Sep 1 2017 (8,862 reads)