A Special Kind of Grace: The Remarkable Story of the Devadosses
He was a writer and an artist whose captivating pen-and-ink drawings, books and greeting cards reflect the beauty of southern India. His wife helped compose his work. What makes their story extraordinary? Manohar Devadoss was near blind. His art was produced through a painstaking process of extraordinary will-power and dedication. His wife Mahema was paralyzed below the shoulders, the result of a ... posted on Dec 27 2022, 0 reads

On Hope: A Conversation with Jacob Needleman
"When we're in touch with another kind of consciousness, or level of understanding, that is what brings hope. It's not because it hopes for money or pleasure, or anything like that. Yes, that's a possible part of it. But it's the element--maybe even the most essential part of ourselves as human beings--it's this part that can be awakened by great ideas that speak about great questions of meaning, ... posted on Dec 26 2022, 1,773 reads

George's Best Friend: A Christmas Story
A new neighbor moved in next door. His name was George, and he was an older gentleman. He always nodded a greeting when he saw us. It was around Thanksgiving when we saw him park in his space near ours. We were bringing in groceries, and my mom asked him if he had plans for the holiday. When he said no, that he would spend it alone, my mom mentioned her open house on Christmas Eve. 'Please join us... posted on Dec 25 2022, 18,944 reads

Grace Before Dinner
"Twenty five years ago I started Greens restaurant in San Francisco, then left to live in Rome, where I began writing on food and cooking. I departed Rome just as the Slow Food movement took root there in 1986, and I didnt become formally involved for another ten years. (Among other things, I now run Slow Foods Santa Fe chapter). But I was informally supporting Slow Food concepts all along. My dee... posted on Dec 24 2022, 1,738 reads

That's My Jazz
A father's love is center stage in this magical video of reflections from the renowned pastry chef Milt Abel II as he describes his relationship with his father, legendary Kansas City jazz musician Milt Abel, Sr. This relationship formed Milt as he strove to be the best in his chosen field just like his father, "a great man, someone to aspire to be just like," was in his own field. The memories of... posted on Dec 23 2022, 1,123 reads

Vanessa Machado de Oliveira : Hospicing Modernity
"Within modernity, we are conditioned to want to cover everything with a heavy blanket of fixed meanings, to index reality in language, to word the world. Carl Mika, a Maori philosopher and friend, suggests that instead of "wording the world," when language manifests as an entity, it "worlds the world" and this opens other possibilities for experiencing existence within the world. There are signif... posted on Dec 22 2022, 1,197 reads

Bill Plotkin: The Butterfly and the Cocoon
"'The world is not well tended or engaged with by people who dont know what they are for, who dont know why they were born.' Steve Wheeler speaks with depth psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin about the metamorphoses of the soul in times of ecological crisis."... posted on Dec 21 2022, 2,150 reads

Carol Sanford: No More Feedback
"I will admit from the start that this is a contrarian view of a subject that I love to hate: Feedback. People are often shocked that I would critique something that they think must be good for them and certainly good for others, no matter how much they dislike participating in it. After all, without feedback, how would we know how others see us? How would we get better at what we do? My answer to... posted on Dec 20 2022, 2,097 reads

The Most Radical Thing You Can Do
"Long ago the poet and bioregionalist Gary Snyder said, The most radical thing you can do is stay home, a phrase that has itself stayed with me for the many years since I first heard it. Some or all of its meaning was present then, in the bioregional 1970s, when going back to the land and consuming less was how the task was framed. The task has only become more urgent as climate change in particul... posted on Dec 19 2022, 2,174 reads

The Heartbeat of Trees
Peter Wohllenben is a forester in the best sense of the word. He is the author of a number of books, including The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate -- Discoveries from a Secret World, which was a New York Times bestseller. His latest book, The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bonds with Forests and Nature, was released in June 2021. In this interview he speaks ab... posted on Dec 18 2022, 2,282 reads