20 Amazing Pictures from Outer Space
As humans have begun to explore the mysteries of outer space, both by sending unmanned probes and physically traveling beyond the Earth's atmosphere, a vast number of amazing pictures have been collected. Often photographs of outer space are recorded for the purposes of science, but are also often breathtakingly beautiful images revealing the wonders of the universe. This post brings together 20 o... posted on Nov 09 2015, 384,256 reads

An Illustrated Love Letter to Canine Companions
There's something deep nestled within a dog's unconditional love, that prompts humanity's abiding devotion to these gracious,four-legged beings. In our worst of times, they are always there -- cold nose pressed firmly to heart, reminding us that we are not alone. In her beguiling book, Beloved Dog, artist Maira Kalman brings to life the deep bond between humans and their canine companions.... posted on Nov 08 2015, 14,391 reads

A Small Town's Beautiful Gift to a Child
At two, Evan Leversage was diagnosed with brain cancer. In the five years since then he has been through extensive chemo and radiation treatments. When the family recently learned that his tumor had grown, and that there were no guarantees on how much time he had left, they had Evan make a bucket list. On it was a trip to Niagara Falls, a movie and his favorite restaurant. Also: Christmas. When ... posted on Nov 07 2015, 10,980 reads

Battling Bullying With Positive Post-Its
When Caitlin Prater-Haacke received a message on her Facebook page telling her to kill herself, she didn't retaliate -- she got positive. She took out a marker and some post-it notes and stuck positive messages on every locker in her high school. When that action didn't sit well with school officials of George McDougall High School, who reprimanded Caitlin for littering, the entire community show... posted on Nov 06 2015, 3,556 reads

Goethe's Poems for the Skies
"Since the dawn of our species, the water cycle's most visible expression in the skies --[clouds]-- has bewitched artists, poets, and scientists [...] as a beautiful natural metaphor for the philosophy that there in an inherent balance to life, that what we give will soon be replenished." Here, we read about the "singular quality of prayerfulness to clouds -- a certain secular reverence undergird... posted on Nov 05 2015, 16,095 reads

The Couple Who Feeds Hundreds Each Day
After the heartbreaking loss of their only son, Pradeep and Damyanti Tanna, a couple from India, transformed their lives in a beautiful effort to honor their son Nimesh's giving spirit. Family friend Kintan Parekh sums up their ongoing endeavor as such, "There couldn't be a better tribute to Nimesh. He was a person with a golden heart." Read on to learn how this couples' generosity has touched hu... posted on Nov 04 2015, 15,614 reads

Six Pillars of the Wholehearted Life
In what has been named as one of the best commencement speeches of all time, Parker Palmer, author, educator, and founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal, shares six pillars of a wholehearted life. The first, be reckless in matters of the heart: "Fall madly in love with life. Be passionate about some part of the natural and/or human worlds and take risks on its behalf, no matter how vulnerab... posted on Nov 03 2015, 59,861 reads

Slowness is an Act of Resistance
"The four horsemen of my apocalypse are called Efficiency, Convenience, Profitability, and Security, and in their names, crimes against poetry, pleasure, sociability, and the very largeness of the world are daily, hourly, constantly carried out. These marauding horsemen are deployed by technophiles, advertisers, and profiteers to assault the nameless pleasures and meanings that knit together our l... posted on Nov 02 2015, 8,761 reads

The Power of Gift Culture
"I read a book called The Gift by Lewis Hyde. I think it struck me on several levels. The book has many layers; it's about creativity and art...having gifts that come to us from somewhere outside our own willpower, something we can't completely control; how creative work wants to be shared as a gift; how this "circulation of gifts" co-exists uncomfortably in a market economy, in transaction cultur... posted on Nov 01 2015, 12,649 reads

Two Little Pieces of Chocolate
Francine Christophe was born in 1933, the same year that Adolph Hitler took power in Germany. When she was eight years old, she and her mother were deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In this interview for "Human," a film project directed by photographer, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, she recounts an extraordinary tale of generosity at a time of great privation. ... posted on Oct 31 2015, 6,353 reads