Interview: Stephen De Staebler, by Richard Whittaker
De Staebler John Toki encouraged me to interview his old friend and mentor, sculptor Stephen De Staebler. The following conversation is distilled from three meetings with the artist at his home and studio.  Stepping through the high redwood gate at his home, I found myself in another world. Several of De Staebler's ceramic figures stood around his pool, along a walkway to his studio and scattered in the landscaping as if waiting to be placed in more considered alignments. It seemed I'd stumbled upon an archeological site full of relics, ancient fragments and timeless figures halfway gone or partly restored, poised between here and now-and a distant then... posted on Aug 9 2015 (9,253 reads)

The WE-economy: Value Creation in the Age of Networks, by Peter Hesseldahl
8, 2015 Underlying the collaborative economy are a handful of very strong and general trends that are challenging the conventional business models in just about every sector of the economy—not just in the types of transactions that we usually think of as the sharing economy. Focus is shifting from selling stand-alone, physical products to creating services that enable users to make the most of the resources around them. The cost of coordinating even very small and non-standard resources to fit individual user’s needs is falling. Everyone is increasingly empowered to participate and contribute to the value creation. Everything is getting connected; ... posted on Sep 1 2015 (12,828 reads)

One Poem That Saved a Forest, by Jacqueline Suskin
can a single poem inspire? What can one verse induce? One poem can offer an outlet for healing. A distinct lyric can allow connection to occur. One poem can lead to the most unlikely friendship. A single stanza can change the fate of a forest. 2. I’m Jacqueline Suskin. The past four years I’ve performed Poem Store: a public project that consists of exchanging on-demand poetry about any subject, composed on a manual typewriter, in trade for any donation. I’ve done most of my work in Arcata at the Saturday Farmers Market. I’ve lived in and around this northern California coastal town for three years. The c... posted on Sep 8 2015 (16,103 reads)

How to Be More Patient (and Why It is Worth It), by Art Markman
gratification is hard. You may have seen the adorable videos of kids in Walter Mischel’s classic experiments, in which one marshmallow is placed in front of a child. The child is told that the experimenter will leave the room and that the child will get two marshmallows if he or she simply avoids eating the marshmallow while the experimenter is out. The children in these studies go through all kinds of gyrations to keep themselves from eating that one marshmallow. Adults also have a lot of trouble delaying gratification: People pay extra to get faster delivery from online stores. And they accept small rewards in the present rather than waiting for longer rewards... posted on Sep 18 2015 (13,368 reads)

Learning Forgiveness in an Unforgiving World, by Jill Suttie
I hear stories of people who’ve forgiven those who’ve harmed them—people like Nelson Mandela, who forgave his South African jailers, or Scarlett Lewis, who forgave Adam Lanza for killing her son at Sandy Hook Elementary School—I can’t help but be moved by the nobility of their actions. They seem superhuman in their ability to rise above their own loss and heartache in order to forgive what others consider “unforgivable.” Many of us under the same circumstances would be unable to make that emotional shift. Even when faced with minor slights—like a husband forgetting our birthday or a friend not inviting us to a party—we hold onto g... posted on Sep 16 2015 (14,344 reads)

Six Pillars of the Wholehearted Life, by Maria Popova
Palmer’s Spectacular Commencement Address on the Six Pillars of the Wholehearted Life “Take everything that’s bright and beautiful in you and introduce it to the shadow side of yourself… When you are able to say, ‘I am … my shadow as well as my light,’ the shadow’s power is put in service of the good.” In 1974, the Tibetan Buddhist teacher and Oxford alumnus Chögyam Trungpa founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado — a most unusual and emboldening not-for-profit educational institution named after the eleventh-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa and intended as a 100-year experiment of combining the best... posted on Nov 3 2015 (60,439 reads)

Neil Gaiman on How Stories Last, by Maria Popova
have shapes, as Vonnegut believed, and they in turn give shape to our lives. But how do stories like the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm or Alice in Wonderland continue to enchant the popular imagination generation after generation — what is it that makes certain stories last? That’s what the wise and wonderful Neil Gaimanexplores in a fantastic lecture two and a half years in the making, part of the Long Now Foundation’s nourishing and necessary seminars on long-term thinking. Nearly half a century after French molecular biologist Jacques Monod proposed what he called the “abstract kingdom” — a conceptual parallel to the biosphere, populat... posted on Nov 18 2015 (14,526 reads)

Eight Steps Towards Forgiveness, by Robert Enright
another person hurts us, it can upend our lives. This essay has been adapted from 8 Keys to Forgiveness (W. W. Norton & Company, 2015) Sometimes the hurt is very deep, such as when a spouse or a parent betrays our trust, or when we are victims of crime, or when we’ve been harshly bullied. Anyone who has suffered a grievous hurt knows that when our inner world is badly disrupted, it’s difficult to concentrate on anything other than our turmoil or pain. When we hold on to hurt, we are emotionally and cognitively hobbled, and our relationships suffer. Forgiveness is strong medicine for this. When life hits us hard, there isnothing as effective as forgiveness for he... posted on Aug 27 2023 (38,304 reads)

Debt as a Relationship Based in Love, by Nathan Schneider
82-year-old artist Mary Frank traces her earliest debts to the prehistoric images in books that her mother kept around the house. Their shadows have reappeared throughout her sculptures, paintings, and photographs. But she knows none of their creators’ names; there is no address where she can send a royalty check. The best repayment she can offer is the work of her own hands. Those of us who came of age in the millennial period have learned to think about debt and credit quite otherwise. Debt does not motivate so much as it inhibits and stigmatizes. We accumulate it in order to have an education, to make a home, to pay for medical necessities. (Student debt, at upward of $1.3 tr... posted on Dec 7 2015 (9,042 reads)

How To Move Beyond Pain, by Jill Suttie
still remember the shame of getting back my very first draft for a Greater Good article from the editor and seeing it filled with red ink. Immediately, my mind went to the worst-case scenarios: My editor thinks I’m stupid; I’ll never be a writer; I’m not good enough. I was almost ready to quit on the spot. Fortunately for me, I swallowed my pride, talked to my editor about my fears, and got a compassionate response in return—as well as some helpful criticism. Still, the internal concern of not being good enough haunts me, sometimes making me fearful of being found out or causing me to lash out at those who try to help. It’s a lifelong struggle. Accor... posted on Dec 26 2015 (17,962 reads)

Ten Ways To Set A Refreshing Tone For The New Year, by Carol Kuruvilla
thousands of years, humans have marked the beginning of a new year with sacred festivals. January is named after the Roman god Janus, whose two faces looked to both the past and the future. As you consider the many days ahead in 2016, take some time to reflect on the past as well. Try these tips if you're searching for ways to make this year's New Year's celebration more meaningful. 1. Choose a word of the year. Choose one word that will set the tone for 2016. Think of it like a chapter heading for the book that is your life. Print this word out and place it in a part of your room that you will see every day. 2. Be grateful. YouTube As the year co... posted on Dec 31 2015 (57,620 reads)

The Best Leaders are Insatiable Learners, by Bill Taylor
a quarter century ago, at a gathering in Phoenix, Arizona, John W. Gardner delivered a speech that may be one of the most quietly influential speeches in the history of American business — a text that has been photocopied, passed along, underlined, and linked to by senior executives in some of the most important companies and organizations in the world. I wonder, though, how many of these leaders (and the business world more broadly) have truly embraced the lessons he shared that day. Gardner, who died in 2002 at the age of 89, was a legendary public intellectual and civic reformer — a celebrated Stanford professor, an architect of the Great Society under Lyndon Johnson... posted on Jan 13 2016 (16,317 reads)

Nipun Mehta: Acting from the Heart: Point Reyes Dialogues , by Jacob Needleman
Reyes Dialogues, originates at KWMR in Point Reyes Station, California. Host Jacob Needleman explores the great questions of life and our current condition with eminent friends from the arts, science and spirituality, politics and public service. Jacob Needleman is an internationally renowned author and philosopher whose many distinguished books include A Sense of the Cosmos, The Heart of Philosophy, The American Soul and Money and the Meaning of Life. One of the central aims of these dialogues is to reawaken the art of conversation as a practice of non-egoistic listening and thinking together. Our premise is that new territories of collaboration and creativity open with the inne... posted on Feb 22 2016 (12,371 reads)

Inspiring Women Speaking Up For Women, by wearesalt.org
list of inspiring women who are championing women has been selected from Salt magazine’s May 2015 cover story, ‘100 Inspiring Women’. In the face of adversity, these 23 female change agents are making a transformative impact on the lives of women around the world. We applaud them. While the equality movement is empowered by both men and women, this article highlights the extraordinary women doing extraordinary things for equality issues. Malala Yousafzai In 2012 at the age of 15, Malala Yousafzai, was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan. The assassination attempt was a response to her stand for the right of girls to gain an education after the Taliban ... posted on Mar 4 2016 (17,796 reads)

Three Surprising Ways to Feel Less Busy, by Christine Carter
stinks. Although people tell me all the time they like feeling busy—perhaps because it makes them feel important and significant—I’m not buying it. Would you ever choose busyness over a more relaxed form of productivity? When life starts to feel hectic, here are a few ways to dial back the overwhelm. 1. Give yourself a shot of awe When researchers induced feelings of awe in people—by showing them video clips of people next to vast things like whales or waterfalls—it altered their perception of time such that the people felt like they had more time on their hands. So much time on their hands, in fact, that awestruck people become likely to give ... posted on Mar 11 2016 (38,456 reads)

How Nature Can Make You Kinder, Happier and More Creative, by Jill Suttie
been an avid hiker my whole life. From the time I first strapped on a backpack and headed into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I was hooked on the experience, loving the way being in nature cleared my mind and helped me to feel more grounded and peaceful. But, even though I’ve always believed that hiking in nature had many psychological benefits, I’ve never had much science to back me up…until now, that is. Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in nature has a profound impact on our brains and our behavior, helping us to reduce anxiety, brooding, and stress, and increase our attention capacity, creativity, and our ability to connect with other peo... posted on Mar 20 2016 (27,607 reads)

Remember to Remember: Nicholas Hlobeczy, by Richard Whittaker
had the pleasure of getting to know the late Nicholas Hlobeczy over a period of several years. He had the gift of seeing things with fresh eyes, almost like a child. And yet he was a thoroughly trained photographer having studied with the legendary Minor White. They were close friends right to the end of Minor’s life. The interview that follows is a testament to a wisdom born of experience and a long quest. We met at Nick's home in Corvallis, Oregon. Richard Whittaker: In one of my notes I have a quote you gave from Robert Henri. "The object behind every true work of art is the attainment of a state of being." Nicholas Hlobeczy: It is as he says. I bel... posted on Apr 2 2016 (10,427 reads)

Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability , by Michael K. Stone, Zenobia Barlow
by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability By Michael K. Stone and Zenobia Barlow Adapted from Michael K. Stone and Center for Ecoliteracy, Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability (Healdsburg, CA: Watershed Media, 2009), pp. 3–15, 122–127. Copyright © 2009 Center for Ecoliteracy. What can educators do to foster real intelligence?...We can attempt to teach the things that one might imagine the Earth would teach us: silence, humility, holiness, connectedness, courtesy, beauty, celebration, giving, restoration, obligation, and wildness. —David W. Orr There is a bold new movement underway in school systems across North America and around the world. E... posted on May 21 2016 (15,578 reads)

Rising to the Occasion, by Carolyn North
those great scenes in Westerns where the good guys race after the bad guys at a roaring gallop across the plains with their pistols drawn? Well, they are big fakes. Any self-respecting cowboy knows that the ground is pocked with gopher holes, and pushing a horse any faster than a trot is sure to catch a hoof and break a leg. That’s what went through my mind this week as I landed in one of those infernal ankle-twisting gopher holes, breaking my ankle – a tiny break, but you’d think I’d know better by this time. So here I sit in exile, yet again, this time with the other foot elevated. Fortunately, I’m rather bemused by my situation and wonde... posted on Jun 6 2016 (12,060 reads)

What Role Were You Born to Play in Social Change?, by George Lakey
Moyer was a streetwise, working class white boy from row-house Philadelphia, who — in the turbulence of the 1960s — went to Chicago to work for an anti-racist housing campaign. He wound up joining Martin Luther King Jr.’s national staff as an organizer. I played tag football more than once with Moyer, catching his grin as he mercilessly overwhelmed his opponents through daring and smarts. He might have been the most joyfully aggressive Quaker I’ve known. By the time he died in 2002, Moyer had given significant leadership on multiple political issues, including the national anti-nuclear movement. In California, Moyer went to graduate school to study social m... posted on Jun 27 2016 (16,365 reads)