The Heartwarming Sidewalk Project
Once a month for the past several years, with the help of a makeshift ice cream cart and an old-fashioned sewing machine, Michael Swaine has taken up a spot on the sidewalk in one of San Francisco's neediest neighborhoods. His mission? Mending clothes, people ... and a community, one stitch at a time. "Meeting these strangers is really an interesting part of what I find special about being alive."... posted on Jun 09 2015, 27,993 reads

The Science of Productivity
In our perpetual rush to be productive, we often are undermining our very ability to consistently perform at peak levels. To unlock the secrets of sustained productivity, there's nowhere better to turn than the habits of the world's most productive people (many of whom sleep more than the average person). Read on to learn more about the Science of Productivity from Gregory Ciotti.... posted on Jun 08 2015, 19,253 reads

The Music In You
With those who say, 'I can't carry a tune,' music cognition expert Elizabeth Margulis begs to differ. Psychologists discover that nearly all of us are musical experts in quite a startling sense... So why don't we realize how much we know? And what does that hidden mass of knowledge tell us about the nature of music itself?... posted on Jun 07 2015, 8,412 reads

Nature Needs A New Pronoun
Singing whales, talking trees, dancing bees, birds who make art, fish who navigate, plants who learn and remember. We are surrounded by intelligences other than our own, by feathered people and people with leaves. But we've forgotten. There are many forces arrayed to help us forget -- even the language we speak.... posted on Jun 06 2015, 17,594 reads

Joseph Campbell on How To Find Your Bliss
Joseph Campbell's dictum, "Follow your bliss," has come to encapsulate his philosophy of life. Decades before the screaming tyranny of work/life balance reached its modern crescendo, Campbell heard the soul's cry and identified with enormous elegance and precision the root of our existential dissatisfaction.... posted on Jun 05 2015, 19,229 reads

Once-Homeless Man Revolutionizing Care for the Homeless
"Barsema remembered what it was like to be homeless and at the end of his rope. He'd faced a series of challenges early in life -- he'd lost everything after a struggle with alcoholism cost him his marriage, his home, and his real estate business. That led him to a mountaintop in Alaska, where he meant to commit suicide." Luckily, Barsema's parents took him in and helped him slowly bounce back. Fi... posted on Jun 04 2015, 14,042 reads

Life Starts at the Edge of Our Comfort Zone
"The sounds of a dance tune blast through the carriage and the man erupts into dance. Half smiles, awkward glances. But then one lady gets up and joins him. A man joins them. Others stand up, hesitantly at first but then exploding into uninhibited dance. Soon virtually everyone is up dancing. Smiles shine out as strangers dance through the train. Barriers drop, fears evaporate and joy emanates." V... posted on Jun 03 2015, 23,826 reads

Change Leader, Change Thyself
When an association begins to start thinking about organizational change, whether it be a company, a school, or maybe even a community, many groups simply roll out a list of performance objectives and initiatives. But what is most often overlooked in this process is the one that is the most crucial: the awareness of leaders to make changes within themselves. This thought-provoking article delves i... posted on Jun 02 2015, 8,647 reads

Michael Lerner: Whispers of a Wounded Healer
Meet Michael Lerner, one of the founding members of Commonweal -- an organization founded on the principle of engendering hope through service. "We can't know what the future will actually be," he shares. "but living in service and doing what we can engenders a form of hope, a form of resilience that is part of creating a global consciousness that can move us through these very difficult times." R... posted on Jun 01 2015, 32,088 reads

Pilot Inspires Compton Kids To Fly
Robyn Petgrave is teaching kids to reach for the sky -- literally. Troubled by the large percentage of Compton children falling victim to gang violence and drugs, Robyn created Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum. The aeronautical program, designed for youth to learn flying, inspires its participants, and teaches responsibility. To participate, kids must maintain a good grade point average, stay out of... posted on May 31 2015, 1,712 reads