Rebecca Solnit: Falling Together, by On Being
follows is the audio and transcript of an onbeing.org interview between Krista Tippett and Rebecca Solnit. MS. KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: Rebecca Solnit describes her vision as a writer like this: “To describe nuances and shades of meaning, to celebrate public life and solitary life…. to find another way of telling.” She is a contributing editor to Harper’s magazine and the author of profound books that defy category. She’s emerged as one of our great chroniclers of untold histories of redemptive change in places like post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. She writes that so often, “when all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people... posted on Jun 25 2016 (10,894 reads)

What Science Taught Me About Compassion, Gratitude and Awe, by Dacher Keltner
is a transcript of a talk that Dacher Keltner delivered at an Awakin Circle in Santa Clara, CA.  As a a world renowned psychologist and researcher, Dacher is credited with expanding the field of science to include emotions like compassion, gratitude, and awe. As the author of many books and over 100 papers, he has offered thought leadership that can shift our cultural narrative towards kindness and care. As an advisor to companies like Facebook, he has applied his research into systemic implementations. As the founder of Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, he has started many projects that put these insights into the societal circulation.  His most rec... posted on Nov 4 2016 (31,031 reads)

Ellen Langer: Science of Mindlessness and Mindfulness, by On Being
following is the audio and transcript of an onbeing.org interview between Krista Tippett and Ellen Langer. ELLEN LANGER: We have these categories, work, life, and we have brains, brawn, so on. All the different distinctions that we make. We make them mindfully, and then we start to use them mindlessly, forgetting that when we’re at work, we’re people. We have the same needs we had when we were on vacation. And you should get to the point where you’re treating yourself whether you’re at work or at play in basically the same way. [music: “Seven League Boots” by Zoe Keating] KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: Ellen Langer is a social psychologist wh... posted on Mar 28 2016 (25,865 reads)

The Science of Mindlessness & Mindfulness, by On Being
unconventional studies have long suggested what neuroscience is now revealing: Our experiences are formed by the words and ideas we attach to them. Naming something play rather than work — or exercise rather than labor — can mean the difference between delight and drudgery, fatigue or weight loss. What makes a vacation a vacation is not only a change of scenery, but the fact that we let go of the mindless everyday illusion that we are in control. Ellen Langer says mindfulness is achievable without meditation or yoga. She defines it as “the simple act of actively noticing things.” What follows is the transcript of an On Being interview between ... posted on Apr 2 2018 (17,576 reads)

Bronnie Ware: Living Without Regrets, by Tami Simon
Ware is an author and speaker whose bestselling book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, is based on her time as a palliative care worker. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Bronnie outlines these five major life regrets with Tami Simon and discusses the experiences in end-of-life care that inspired them. Bronnie explains how most regrets arise from a lack of courage and why people are willing to share so openly during their last days. Tami and Bronnie speak on the healing power of sharing our most vulnerable selves, even if it's in a letter that we never send. Finally, they talk about maintaining trust in the flow of life and why happiness is ultimately a choice. Tuesda... posted on Aug 12 2019 (13,450 reads)

How to Protect Kids from Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Jill Suttie
kids spend less and less time outdoors, and it’s taking a toll on their health and well-being. Research has shown that children do better physically and emotionally when they are in green spaces, benefiting from the positive feelings, stress reduction, and attention restoration nature engenders. No one has brought attention to this issue more than Richard Louv, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Children & Nature Network and author of Last Child in the Woods, The Nature Principle, and, most recently, Vitamin N: 500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of Your Family & Community. Louv has written eloquently about the impor... posted on Nov 23 2016 (16,369 reads)

Can We Design Cities for Happiness?, by Jay Walljasper
itself is a commons to which everyone should have equal access. That’s the view of Enrique Peñalosa, who is not a starry-eyed idealist given to abstract theorizing. He’s actually a politician, who served as mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, for three years, and now travels the world spreading a message about how to improve quality-of-life for everyone living in today’s cities. Peñalosa’s ideas stand as a beacon of hope for cities of the developing world, which even with their poverty and immense problems will absorb much of the world’s population growth over the next half-century. Based on his experiences in Bog... posted on Aug 24 2012 (21,137 reads)

In the Flow of Abundantly Happy Moments, by Anne-Marie Bauer
at a one-day Awakin retreat in Princeton NJ, we were asked to reflect on the notion of abundance and scarcity. And in particular, in which ways these notions manifested in our lives. The theme was carried throughout with various readings, shares and again during a writing exercise, when we were asked to think of a gift that had been given to us and how this gift had an impact on our lives. One personal reflection of mine, took me down memory lane to about seven years ago, to a time when I was experiencing some hardships that wanted to come in a sequence of one after the other. At the time, I had started a job in a city that was new to me, and as a fairly new n... posted on Oct 4 2013 (30,947 reads)

Books on How to Lead a Meaningful Life, by Diana Divecha, Kira M. Newman, C. Brandon Ogbunu, Elise Proulx, Jill Suttie
year, Greater Good’s editorial staff read a wide variety of books, making it tough to narrow down our favorites. That’s why this year’s list is a little longer than usual. Many of this year’s choices help us to survive and thrive in a turbulent world—some on a societal level, by providing a greater understanding of human behavior, social divisions, and the difficulties that new generations face; and others on a personal level, by showing us how to have better marriages, raise happier children, stay resilient, and find meaning in life. All of the books are well-written and engaging. Here are our picks for our favorite books of 2017. The All-or-... posted on Nov 27 2018 (15,029 reads)

How to Hardwire Resilience into the Brain, by Rick Hanson, Forrest Hanson
winter, I went camping with my friend Bob in the backcountry near Sequoia National Park. After spending the day slogging uphill through deep snow, we were exhausted but needed to make camp. As the temperature rapidly dropped, Bob began shivering uncontrollably. He had poured out so much energy without refueling himself that he was sliding into hypothermia, the first stage of freezing to death. We hurried to set up the tent, get into our sleeping bags, light the stove, drink hot water, and eat hot food—and soon Bob’s teeth stopped chattering. Luckily, we had just enough resilience to turn this misadventure around. Mental resources like calm, grit, and courage kept us goi... posted on Apr 24 2018 (26,650 reads)

Kindness Emotions, by David DiSalvo
Survival of the Fittest: It Is Kindness That Counts A psychologist probes how altruism, Darwinism and neurobiology mean that we can succeed by not being cutthroat. Why do people do good things? Is kindness hard-wired into the brain, or does this tendency arise via experience? Or is goodness some combination of nature and nurture? Dacher Keltner, director of the Berkeley Social Interaction Laboratory, investigates these questions from multiple angles, and often generates results that are both surprising and challenging. In his new book, Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life, Keltner weaves together scientific findings with personal narrative to uncover th... posted on Oct 19 2013 (26,987 reads)

Empathy Heroes: 5 People Who Changed the World By Taking Compassion to the Extreme, by Roman Krznaric
heard of “empathy marketing”? It’s the latest business buzzword. The idea is that if companies can look through their clients’ eyes and understand their desires, they will be better able to tailor their offerings and gain a competitive advantage. To me, this is stepping into someone else’s shoes just to sell them another pair. I believe that the best use of empathy is not in the commercial world but in the social one, where it allows us to challenge prejudices and create political change. And if you look through history, there are some extraordinary figures who have harnessed this power by engaging in what I think of as “experiential empa... posted on Jan 15 2015 (29,639 reads)

A Modern Elder Muses on Gratitude in Silicon Valley, by Chip Conley
of the unexpected pleasures of getting older is learning to cultivate and harvest gratitude more readily. Maybe it’s the fact that we recognize that wanting what we have (gratitude) creates more happiness than having what we want (gratification). After two dozen years running my own boutique hotel company, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, I sold it at the bottom of the Great Recession in 2010 and didn’t know what was next for me. I did appreciate having space in my life to experience “collective effervescence” at religious pilgrimages from the Hindu Maha Kumbh Mela in India to the Sufi Mevlana Whirling Dervish Festival in Turke... posted on Nov 14 2018 (6,300 reads)

All In On Love, by The Huffington Post
following speech was delivered on May 19, 2014 as part of the University of Pennsylvania's commencement ceremonies. Thank you. Thank you so much. Good morning. And congratulations! Now I'll try to be brief this morning. As a musician, this is about 10 hours before I normally go to work, so I'm gonna need a nap soon. And you've got degrees to receive. And I also have a feeling some of you are already tired of me. The thing about pop radio in America, somehow they've scientifically determined that the public is only capable of liking the same 10 songs at any given time, so they simply play those songs over and over and over until you're fina... posted on Jun 29 2014 (30,188 reads)

5 Ways Science Says Kindness Will Change Your Life, by Birju Pandya
kindness just an old-fashioned value celebrated in kindergarten and then soon forgotten as one grows older and more ambitious --- or is there more to it? As increasing numbers of people look to live a purpose-driven life, research is beginning to reveal the tremendous rewards that come with living kindly. What follows are some of the most compelling recent studies on the topic of kindness, and the ramifications they hold for ourselves and our world. 1: Kindness rewires our minds for greater health: “The biggest news is that we’re able to change something physical about people’s health by increasing their daily diet of positive emotion, and that helps us get... posted on Sep 23 2014 (143,037 reads)

A Fun Way to Stop Buying Things You Don't Need, by Tracy Loeffelholz Dunn
few years ago, illustrator and editorial cartoonist Sarah Lazarovic felt like she was buying too much junk. So she stopped shopping for a year, then documented her withdrawals and, eventually, all the lessons and tips and tricks she learned about not buying things. Instead of buying the items she coveted, she made paintings of them. During that time, instead of buying the items she coveted, she made paintings of them. That led to the illustrated book calledA Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy. It also led to doing that same “covet counseling” for others. She calls her project the “Office of Divestment.” She will draw the thing you want to buy. You get t... posted on Sep 9 2016 (18,730 reads)

Lessons in Resilience: The Stories We Tell and Why They Matter, by Emily Rose Barr
you ever wondered what makes it easier for some to bounce back after a tragedy than others? Or why hundreds facing the same life-changing event wind up on drastically different paths? Imagine a young woman whose childhood was rife with trauma: perhaps she grew up in impoverished conditions, where she experienced chronic abuse, and lacked a proper support system. Now imagine this same young woman went on to earn an advanced degree and developed a nonprofit organization to help youth living in poverty. Though not often so cut and dried, stories like this are not uncommon. But unfortunately, neither are their counterparts. Imagine this woman had a sister, who began using drugs at an... posted on Mar 1 2018 (39,610 reads)

Pico Iyer Chooses Stillness, by Nathan Scolaro
SCOLARO: So I wanted to begin by asking you what thoughts you’ve been having lately. What’s been on your mind? PICO IYER: Well, after a very crowded and congested year, I’ve managed to steal the last two weeks in almost absolute silence here in Japan. So I suppose I’ve been thinking about the folly of knowing, the virtue of seeing how little we know, and the beauty of just taking a deep breath. Which I’ve written about before, but I haven’t always practised! I’m getting to spend just a few days reading, writing, taking long walks, playing ping-pong every day. And sitting on my terrace in the blazing November sunshine, usually with a cu... posted on May 11 2018 (12,342 reads)

The Only Real Antidote to Fear, by Maria Popova
is what love seeks,” Hannah Arendt wrote in her superb 1929 meditation on love and how to live with the fundamental fear of loss. “Such fearlessness exists only in the complete calm that can no longer be shaken by events expected of the future… Hence the only valid tense is the present, the Now.” Half a century before her, Leo Tolstoy — who befriended a Buddhist monk late in life and became deeply influenced by Buddhist philosophy — echoed these ancient truths as he contemplated the paradoxical nature of love: “Future love does not exist. Love is a present activity only.” That in love and in life, freedo... posted on Apr 4 2021 (7,521 reads)

9 Steps to Achieving Flow in Your Work, by Leo Babauta
not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” - Buddha Have you ever lost yourself in your work, so much so that you lost track of time? Being consumed by a task like that, while it can be rare for most people, is a state of being called Flow. In my experience, it’s one of the keys to happiness at work, and a nice side benefit is that it not only reduces stress but increases your productivity. Not bad, huh? When I wrote about called The Magical Power of Focus, I promised to write more about how to achieve Flow, a concept that is very much in vogue right now and something mo... posted on Apr 30 2012 (34,671 reads)