The Powerful Stories that Shaped Africa, by Gus Casely-Hayford
the vast sweep of history, even an empire can be forgotten. In this wide-ranging talk, Gus Casely-Hayford shares origin stories of Africa that are too often unwritten, lost, unshared. Travel to Great Zimbabwe, the ancient city whose mysterious origins and advanced architecture continue to confound archeologists. Or to the age of Mansa Musa, the ruler of the Mali Empire whose vast wealth built the legendary libraries of Timbuktu. And consider which other history lessons we might unwittingly overlook. Now, Hegel -- he very famously said that Africa was a place without history, without past, without narrative.Yet, I'd argue that no other continent has nurtured, has fough... posted on Jan 28 2018 (10,092 reads)

The Empty Promise of Productivity and the Art of Slowing Down, by Emily Rose Barr
is more to life than increasing its speed. – Mahatma Gandhi It’s the status symbol no one talks about, woven into our work, play, homes, and family lives. It takes up space on our calendars, to-do lists, and endless roster of appointments and meetings. It can leave us exhausted or invigorated, constantly tugging at our drive to do more, give back, and leave our mark. It can be a source of increased stress and frequent complaints one minute, and unbridled joy the next. Busyness is the new currency by which we measure our success, our fulfillment, and ultimately, the richness of our lives. “In certain cultures, spending your time relaxing, spending your ti... posted on Dec 26 2017 (21,197 reads)

Literature's Legacy of Honorable Failure, by Zadie Smith
makes a good writer? Is writing an expression of self, or, as TS Eliot argued, 'an escape from personality'? Do novelists have a duty? Do readers? Why are there so few truly great novels? Zadie Smith on literature's legacy of honourable failure January 13, 2007: 1. The tale of Clive I want you to think of a young man called Clive. Clive is on a familiar literary mission: he wants to write the perfect novel. Clive has a lot going for him: he's intelligent and well read; he's made a study of contemporary fiction and can see clearly where his peers have gone wrong; he has read a good deal of rigorous literary theory - those elegant bluepri... posted on Mar 14 2018 (12,185 reads)

Paul Hawken: Solutions Man, by Livia Albeck-Ripka
Albeck-Ripka on Paul Hawken On May 3, 2009, Paul Hawken stood before the graduating class of the University of Portland. He’d been asked to deliver a commencement address that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling and graceful.” No pressure, he joked to his audience. Rousing the spirits of a few hundred young people embarking on a century of climate change, terrorism and extinction was, he knew, no small feat. “You are graduating to the most amazing and stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation,” he told them. When Paul was a young man, the world had other problems, many of which persist today: the w... posted on Apr 13 2018 (13,791 reads)

Taking an Empowered and Creative View Towards Technology, by Tami Simon
Simon: This program is brought to you by SoundsTrue.com. At SoundsTrue.com, you can find hundreds of downloadable audio learning programs, plus books, music, videos, and online courses and events. At SoundsTrue.com, we think of ourselves as a trusted partner on the spiritual journey, offering diverse, in-depth, and life-changing wisdom. SoundsTrue.com: many voices, one journey. You're listening to Insights at the Edge. Today, my guest is Tiffany Shlain. Tiffany is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, author, and public speaker. Regarded as an internet pioneer, Tiffany is the founder of the Webby Awards, and co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Scienc... posted on Aug 11 2018 (6,208 reads)

Nature is Medicine -- Even in a Prison Cell, by Nalini Nadkarni
“Moss-in-Prison” project helped me bring my love for trees and forest to men and women in the deepest windowless reaches of the prison system. “We learned that the inmates who viewed nature videos committed twenty-six percent fewer violent infractions than those who did not view them, a convincing result for the prison officers and administrators—and for ourselves.” Photo by Samuel Zeller/Unsplash When one is in love—especially with something as huge and beautiful and complex as trees—there is an urge to share this emotion with everyone, especially to those who have no opportunity to experience s... posted on Jul 2 2018 (11,349 reads)

Myron Eshowky: A Deeper Listening, by Awakin Call Editors
I was 6 years old, I began to go for an hour every day, before school had started, to work with a speech therapist who taught me to put my hand on her throat, and my throat, and then focus on matching her vibration as she would make a sound, because I had to learn how to talk. One of the things I noted right away was that when we matched vibration, I became really connected with her. It was a feeling of connection in my heart, a feeling of love that I would feel for her in those moments." Myron Eshowsky is a shamanic healer, mediator, consultant and author who was born with congenital severe hearing loss that he learnt to adapt into a skill for deep listening. He serves curre... posted on Oct 8 2018 (9,872 reads)

In the Business of Change , by Elisa Birnbaum
from: In the Business of Change: How Social Entrepreneurs are Disrupting Business as Usual (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018, and is reprinted with permission from the publishers) Disruptive. Innovative. Creative. An increasing number of social entrepreneurs have come to realize that moving from ideation to success often requires going beyond the usual, the traditional, the expected. They need to shake   things up, turn ideas upside down and infuse their solutions to challenges with a creative twist, new technology and/or a bold rethink. Of course, innovation is not an approach unique to social entrepreneurs. It’s a popular tool for any entrepreneurs who... posted on Aug 10 2018 (7,900 reads)

How Seeing the Good in People Can Help Bridge our Differences, by Jill Suttie
USA Today poll revealed that many voters consider their political opponents to be hateful, stupid, or racist. What are the solutions? There are many, no doubt, but here’s one to consider: moral elevation. That’s the “warm, uplifting feeling that people experience when they see unexpected acts of human goodness, kindness, courage, or compassion,” according to psychologist Jonathan Haidt, now the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at the NYU-Stern School of Business. Take, for example, the undocumented immigrant in Paris who saved a child dangling from a balcony. Or the boy who raised over a million d... posted on Aug 28 2018 (10,349 reads)

Sacred Imperfection, by Bonnie Rose
is the transcript of a talk that Rev. Bonnie Rose delivered at an Awakin Circle in the summer of 2018.] I think I am going to speak about 'Sacred Imperfection' today. I was sitting here meditating, thinking why did I pick something so hard?  It occurred to me that my whole life, particularly as a minister, there's been a lot of pressure to be a certain way my whole life. I've been trying to get it right and finally be perfect enough to be a really good minister. And what I've discovered in the last couple of years as I've grown more and meditated more deeply -- also through a lot of the values that I've practiced because of ... posted on Sep 4 2018 (8,819 reads)

Raise Your Children to Be Happy, Healthy, Complete, by Ariane de Bonvoisin
children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.” —Kahil Gibran Parents today are overwhelmed with demands on how to raise their kids. We want the very best for our kids. We want them to be smart, athletic, healthy, kind, happy, polite, disciplined, creative and more. We want to give them everything! And before everything, we focus on getting them into good schools so that they can have the best possible education. Kids on the other hand, are growing up bombarded by technology, needing to compete in every way, comparing themselves with others, trying to be perfect and please their parents, wanting to fit in... posted on Oct 15 2018 (40,614 reads)

Why Activism Must Be More Generous, by Frances Lee
want to be a member of a thriving and diverse social movement, not a cult or a religion. Occupy Love, Hella Love Oakland March, February 14 2012. Credit: Flickr/Glenn Halog. CC BY-NC 2.0. As an intersectional activist who is concerned about the future of our movements, I’m really worried that social justice activism in the West is stuck in a dangerous state of disrepair. Ideological purity has become the norm. Social justice movements, which were originally about freeing marginalized people from oppressive institutions and social structures, have become imbued with their own narrow framework of morality. Our knowledge base is made up of reactionary think-pieces, self-rig... posted on Oct 24 2018 (8,383 reads)

The Dinner Party, by Lennon Flowers
with a gathering of friends in 2010, The Dinner Party (TDP) has grown to include thousands of people engaged in the mission of transforming life after loss, from an isolating experience into one marked by community support, candid conversation, and forward movement. Today, in over 90 cities and towns worldwide there are 234 Dinner Party tables bringing together people mostly in their 20s and 30s who have experienced significant loss. TDP helps to create space for supportive, in-person connections, at local potluck gatherings by recruiting and training members of their community to be hosts, matching guests with available tables, and serving as a resource for powerful, enriching, an... posted on Oct 10 2018 (9,732 reads)

9/11 BroughtThem Together. They'veBeen Preaching Love Ever Since, by Sarah van Gelder
story from the YES! Media archives was originally published in the Winter 2007 issue of YES! Magazine. A rabbi, a minister, and an imam walk into a bar. No, really. Since 9/11, three religious leaders in Seattle have been meeting for sometimes “vigorous” discussions, lecturing together, and even doing joint spiritual teaching. Rabbi Ted Falcon is founder of Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue, Reverend Don Mackenzie is minister and head of staff at the University Congregational United Church of Christ, and Jamal Rahman is a Muslim Sufi minister at the Interfaith Community Church. And that time they walked into a bar? It was to discuss a book they co-authored, Getting to th... posted on Oct 13 2018 (6,026 reads)

The Abundance of Less, by Andy Couturier
The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan by Andy Couturier, published by North Atlantic Books, copyright © 2017 by Andy Couturier. Reprinted by permission of publisher. Introduction to the 2017 Edition Much of what you will read in this book was originally published in 2010 under the title A Different Kind of Luxury. This revised version with its new format and many new photographs has been updated at the end of each person’s profile with how their lives have changed in the intervening years. Given the book’s setting in Japan, and the environmental activism of the people in it, I felt it important to write about how they have understood and... posted on Nov 28 2018 (9,030 reads)

Nuggets of Wisdom from 10 Everyday Heroes, by Gayathri Ramachandran
this year winds to a close, volunteers suggested that it might be fun for me to do a post with excerpts/nuggets from 10 memorable Awakin Calls of this past year. The idea resonated, so here is my list. Needless to say, these 10 were rather difficult to choose since there is something resonant or meaningful in almost every call we’ve had. And as all members of the Awakin Calls scribe and editing team can attest -- as we spend a lot of time soaking in these calls, even the calls that first seem to be at the outer limits of our sphere of interest unveil some talisman, that we then hold on to, for nourishment. So with that caveat in place (and the invitation to please spend... posted on Jan 21 2019 (7,063 reads)

Matthew Sanford Transforms Loss, by Nathan Scolaro
Sanford says deepening the connection between mind and body is more than a personal health strategy; it is a practical shift in consciousness that can transform the world. Everything he does flows from his daily yoga practice—an opportunity, as he sees it, to bring awareness to his inner world and feel into the sensations within. It’s inevitable, Matthew says, that from this consciousness, a more compassionate path follows, because we become more attentive to the connections that sustain us. Matthew has been paralysed from the chest down since 1978 when he was in a devastating car accident at just 13 years old. For a long time, he was taught by his caregivers to concen... posted on Jan 30 2019 (9,207 reads)

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez: Break Free, by Kari Auerbach
IN WINTER 2018 For the last 11 years, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez has been in the public eye for his activism, movement building, work with Earth Guardians, and youth empowerment. In 2013, President Obama awarded Xiuhtezcatl the United States Community Service Award. Xiuhtezcatl was the youngest of 24 national change-makers chosen to serve on the president’s youth council.  He is the recipient of the 2015 Peace First Prize; the 2015 Nickelodeon Halo Award;  the 2016 Captain Planet Award; the 2016 Children’s Climate Prize in Sweden; and the 2017 Univision Premios Agente de Cambio Award. He has addressed the UN General Assembly, given TED Talks, been ... posted on Jan 22 2019 (6,815 reads)

Drinking the Tears of the World: Grief as Deep Activism, by Francis Weller
have written often of the value and importance of grief. In the context of this section on resistance, I would like to amplify the essential importance of this often-neglected emotion and situate It squarely in the heart of our capabilities to respond to the challenges of our times. Denise Levertov has a brief, but illuminating poem about grief. She says, To speak of sorrow works upon it moves it from its crouched place barring the way to and from the soul’s hall. It is our unexpressed sorrows, the congested stories of loss, when left unattended, that block our access to the soul. To be able to freely move in and out of the soul’s inner chambers... posted on Oct 22 2023 (50,701 reads)

A Hyperrealist Artist Draws The Dying To Understand Life, by Katherine Brooks
BICEN, DANIEL - PENCIL ON DRAWING AND TISSUE PAPERS - 30” X 22” “Introduced through Hospice by the Bay, Daniel and I met weekly in his room in a high-rise SRO block in San Francisco’s SOMA. A graduate of Harvard University and friends with Spanish royalty, Daniel lost all of his wealth when he was cut out of his father’s business empire and struggled with mental health issues. Now sharing hallways with the city’s most disenfranchised residents, Daniel would still go for caviar and champagne once a week using money from his estranged son. Daniel was adamant that death did not trouble him and that he was simply letting the “gentle flow o... posted on Apr 9 2019 (13,287 reads)