What is Holding it Together?
"Words are delicious, but cannot say much. They often lose the water of meaning before it is delivered. But they can be stirred to form descriptions of the breath, glances, gestures, and pulses between...
View ArticleHis Back Pocket & Other Poems
Mick Cochrane is a professor of English and a longtime teller of stories. His published works include novels, short stories, essays, and poetry. His work is compelling, candid, and cuts straight to the...
View ArticleBeing Simply Beautiful
We are surrounded by the stuff that we think is so valuable and important, but take it all away and what is left? The real you is left. Or at least the journey to the real you without all the stuff...
View ArticleRetriever of Souls
"At night, only at night, her mind grows timber-thickso dense and brambled, there's no way to find her, let alone bring her back to bed. Gone, then, is the tumbleweed-haired, half-feral kid who rode...
View ArticleTime Management for Mortals
"Journalist Oliver Burkeman has made a delightful and important philosophical, spiritual, and practical investigation of all that is truly at stake in what we blithely refer to as 'time management.' At...
View ArticleTracking Wonder
"In a world obsessed with work and productivity, many people feel broken by distraction, disengagement, and a default reactivity to life's surprises, but can rediscover their innate genius to lead a...
View ArticleOn Generosity
"Twice this week I was rendered speechless by the power of unexpected generosity. The first was an actual gift from someone I barely knew, and the second was a story of survival that took such courage...
View ArticleThich Nhat Hanh: Ten Love Letters to the Earth
"Dear Mother Earth, I bow my head before you as I look deeply and recognize that you are present in me and that I'm a part of you. I was born from you and you are always present, offering me everything...
View ArticleYou Are the Kind of (S)hero We Need
This inspirational video of the song "Hero" by the Makepeace Brothers shines a light on the qualities of (s)heroes, both those who are famous and those lesser known, who live their lives inspiring...
View ArticleFrom the Oldest Forest in Montana
"I had to go into the old forest seventy times before I heard it speak, and then it was only one word, 'urgency'. Each time, I had been listening, hoping I'd hear something, as I walked carefully...
View ArticlePracticing Rehumanization as We Move Into Uncertainty
"This is a powerful practice that was shared with me by John Paul Lederach. John Paul is a sociologist and specialist in conflict transformation. He has served as a peacebuilder in Nepal, Somalia,...
View ArticleThe Cloud Appreciation Society
"Gavin Pretor-Pinney is the founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society (CAS), which aims to foster understanding and appreciation of clouds, and has over 50,000 members worldwide from 120 different...
View ArticleAlicia Doyle: Fighting Chance
"My boxing career doesn't have the typical fairy tale ending. I quit after my first and only professional match. I never won a world title or a championship belt in the pros. The crescendo of my story...
View ArticleThe Gurukul System of Training: An Indigenous Pedagogy
"It all began with a simple yet deep dissatisfaction when I was 20. On the first day of my first job, I spurned the possibility of how my time would be spent. With a clear intuition that I did not want...
View ArticleTrauma, the Body and 2021
"When Krista Tippett interviewed the psychiatrist and trauma specialist Bessel van der Kolk for the first time, his book The Body Keeps the Score was about to be published. She described him then as...
View ArticleHargila: A Story of Love & Conservation
In an age of massive global extinctions, a remarkable wildlife biologist in Indias Northeast shows the life-saving impact of simple, direct local action. When Dr. Purnima Devi Barman decided to...
View ArticleThe Power of Placebos
"Since the 1800s, the word placebo has been used to refer to a fake treatment, meaning one that does not contain any active, physical substance. Today, placebos play a crucial role in medical studies...
View ArticleThe Really Terrible Orchestra
"Some years ago, a group of frustrated people in Scotland decided that the pleasure of playing in an orchestra should not be limited to those who are good enough to do so, but should be available to...
View ArticleRobert Lax: A Life Slowly Lived
"Robert Lax was an American writer and poet who developed a unique style of abstract poetry, described by Jack Kerouac as 'one of the great original voices of our time'. He was also a contemplative...
View ArticleSurprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation
"There are plenty of books that teach how to influence the behavior of others, but anyone who's set a personal goal knows it's a lot tougher to apply those lessons inward. Ayelet Fishbach, a behavioral...
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