Tehven thought he needed to leave his home state of North Dakota to have a meaningful life.  But when he went to college, he discovered the art of applying small town values to a university setting.  This began a trajectory of service - Pay it Forward Tours with college students; Students Today, Leaders Forever; world travel; and ultimately a return to North Dakota where he co-founded Emerging Prairie, a startup news and events organization.  Greg is the curator of TEDx Fargo and hosts  1 Million Cups , an organization that supports entrepreneurs. He is an adjunct professor at North Dakota State University's College of Business.  He is a husband and ... posted on Jan 2 2019 (3,199 reads)

recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. James Doty who is the founder and the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at the Stanford University School of Medicine of which the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor. He also happens to be a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford and the New York Times bestselling author of “Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart” that has been translated into 22 languages. Dr. Doty also is an inventor with multiple patents and is a well-known entrepreneur who at one-time was the CEO of Accuray, a company... posted on Feb 1 2017 (11,896 reads)

E. F. SCHUMACHER LECTURES OCTOBER 2004, STOCKBRIDGE, MA EDITED BY HILDEGARDE HANNUM Judy Wicks is one of my heroes. She is a single woman who built and runs a financially successful business, which at the same time is socially responsible and ecologically accountable. The White Dog Cafe not only serves regionally grown organic food but actively supports the network of farmers who grow that food. Staff share in profits and decision-making. The White Dog Cafe hosts community discussions around global issues of peace, renewable energy, rights of workers in countries around the world, hab... posted on Apr 17 2018 (7,493 reads)

story of how a poor Ghanaian carpenter built an improbable friendship with an American woodworker and how their shared values led to the birth of a vibrant organization dedicated to bringing the opportunity for a better life to rural West Africans. An Unlikely Start Not only is friendship one of life's great treasures, but sometimes the least likely friendships are the most powerful. When Abubakar Abdulai (Abu), a poor Ghanaian carpenter, began emailing Jeffry Lohr in 2007, trying to find a way to attend Jeff's woodworking school in Schwenksville, PA, Jeff was justifiably skeptical. He regularly receives communications from individuals trying to find their way o... posted on Sep 13 2015 (12,344 reads)

the old days, no one ever stole. Those who were well off always shared what they had. If there was any thing someone wanted, that person had only to ask the owner and that thing would be given. And no one minded if someone borrowed something and then brought it back to its owner later. But when the sacred elk dogs, the horses, came, they brought with them new problems. It was not so easy to give away a horse, unless it was a special occasion. As a result, some people began to borrow horses that belonged to others without permission. They would bring them back, but sometimes many moons passed before that horse was returned. So the matter was brought to the Elk Society and they put fort... posted on Aug 16 2011 (36,024 reads)

person’s identity,” Amin Maalouf wrote as he contemplated what he so poetically called the genes of the soul, “is like a pattern drawn on a tightly stretched parchment. Touch just one part of it, just one allegiance, and the whole person will react, the whole drum will sound.” And yet we are increasingly pressured to parcel ourselves out in various social contexts, lacerating the parchment of our identity in the process. As Courtney Martin observed in her insightful On Beingconversation with Parker Palmer and Krista Tippett,“It’s never been more asked of us to show up as only slices of ourselves in different places.” Today, as Whitman’... posted on Mar 7 2016 (16,669 reads)

every time you go on a pilgrimage, you are on a search. Sometimes you don’t know what you are searching for, but it will develop. On your walk, it will show up—the answer for your search, if you keep going. --Petra Wolf What follows is the edited transcript of a conversation between Richard Whittaker and Petra Wolf. A longer version is available here. Richard Whittaker:   You made reference to your husband who’s been gone 11 months. This is a big thing. Would you mind telling me a little about how you met him? Petra Wolf:   I met my husband in 2003 on the Camino de Santiago, but my pilgrim’s life started in 2001.  ... posted on Aug 3 2019 (5,780 reads)

show each other the way out at San Francisco’s Delancey Street. In early May 1995, Margie Lewis sat on a bench at the Delancey Street Foundation, a residential education center for addicts and ex-convicts in San Francisco, awaiting intake. Until that moment, her life had been defined by institutions—teenage years in the California Youth Authority and long stays in jail as an adult. Enrollment in the program was her last chance—her only alternative to the life sentence that would otherwise be mandated by the state’s new “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law. Lewis was filled with optimism. At Delancey, she saw no paid professional social wo... posted on May 24 2013 (11,388 reads)

was a photographer with a heart — always caring, compassionate and kind towards those in need. Now his family has chosen to honour his legacy in a unique way. On a fateful day in August 2011, Nimesh Tanna, a 22-year-old photographer, boarded a crowded local train to make his way to a meeting in Mumbai. He never made it to the meeting or to his home that day. A pole, located dangerously close to the tracks, hit him hard the moment he put his head out of the train. Nimesh fell off the fast moving train and died on the spot. “We were best friends since childhood. We went to the same school and attended the same college. We even worked together in the same company before h... posted on Nov 4 2015 (15,461 reads)

after signing my contract as a store assistant for a well known low-cost German supermarket company, I came across a nasty reality that seemed not to bother the rest of my colleagues: every day, at a sleepy four o’clock in the morning, a random employee has to do the “waste inventory.” This consists of scanning all the products that can’t be sold anymore, one by one, and then throwing them out into a blue container. The resulting mountain of food is impressive—around seventy bakery items, a hundred pieces of fruit, and fifteen trays of meat. Over two hundred food items start the morning at the bottom of the garbage container, every single day. ... posted on Nov 27 2016 (12,851 reads)

master’s degree in theology from Harvard University and a master’s in social work from the University of Toronto, Stephen Jenkinson was the director of counselling services in the palliative care department at a major Canadian hospital  in  Toronto for several years, where he encountered the deep “death phobia” and “grief illiteracy” that most of his patients and their loved ones brought to their deathbeds. This work motivated Jenkinson to encourage people to prepare for their death well before its arrival so that they might be free to “participate emotionally in their deaths as they participate in other major life even... posted on Apr 26 2019 (20,847 reads)

Korean shop owner and her wares. Photo: David Stanley. What do coffee growers in Ethiopia, hardware store owners in America, and Basque entrepreneurs have in common? For one thing, many of them belong to cooperatives. By pooling their money and resources, and voting democratically on how those resources will be used, they can compete in business and reinvest the benefits in their communities. The United Nations has named 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, and indeed, co-ops seem poised to become a dominant business ... posted on May 30 2012 (9,474 reads)

Letters from la Pineta" by DailyGood volunteer Jane Jackson is more than a book -- it is a living gesture of love that wings its way between the visible and invisible world. A book that embodies hospitality in its deepest sense. For to truly welcome love and all its bright gifts we are required to keep our hearts open when grief's shadow descends. And that is exactly what Jane does in this book letter by heartfelt letter.  Written in the years following her beloved husband Blyden's passing, the letters are addressed to him, and to Jasmine their granddaughter who arrived on this Earth after he had "changed address." She writes them from Mornese -- the It... posted on Feb 14 2020 (4,680 reads)

For You, Tomorrow For Me.” This is the meaning behind ayni, a living Andean philosophy and practice that awakens a balanced and harmonious relationship between nature and man.  In Andean cosmology, this is expressed through complementary opposites such as male/female; sun/moon; gold/silver. Their interaction is a form of reciprocity called ayni.  One of the guiding principles of the way of life of the Quechua and Aymara people, this equilibrium of exchange and mutuality, which has been practiced since ancient times (since before the Incas), creates a cycle of connectivity and support essential to social and spiritual wellbeing. Anthropologist Catherine Allen... posted on Sep 4 2020 (4,934 reads)

the past five years, I haven’t lived anywhere for more than six months. I spent 28 days in Lisbon, three months in Bali, and a random half-year in downtown Las Vegas. With just two suitcases in tow, I was lucky enough to scuba-dive in Thailand, explore the ruins of Pompeii, and do karaoke with a Korean movie star. According to Melody Warnick, author of the new book This Is Where You Belong, that makes me a Mover with a capital M. And I have plenty of company: These days, the average American moves nearly 12 times in their lifetime, and 12 percent of Americans move in a given year. But moving continuously has its downsides, according to Warnick. Research sho... posted on Aug 31 2016 (14,837 reads)

things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.” --Harold Kushner Top 10 Kindness Stories of 2018 By KindSpring.org Every year KindSpring shares the top 10 most inspiring kindness stories that were featured on our website or weekly newsletter throughout the year. These stories range from chance encounters of anonymous acts of kindness to deliberate, thoughtful ways that ordinary people choose to make the world a better place for those around them. Here are some of our favorites from 2018! When Her Bike Got Stolen and Humanity Found It “My bike was stolen a week ago Saturday. It was half my fault, half ... posted on Jan 23 2019 (22,072 reads)

Earth is best known for its gorgeous organic chocolate products, the kind that satisfy beyond the tastebuds. I’d been an eater for some time, but it wasn’t until I got to chat with the founder Scott Fry that I came to understand where all the depth and richness of the product was coming from. The Loving Earth story began in 2007 when Scott and his partner Martha returned to Melbourne from Mexico with ingredients they’d ethically sourced to create raw chocolate. They set up shop in their apartment, creating creamy, cacao-y goodness, and it wasn’t long before the brand became a mainstay on the supermarket shelves. Loving Earth now make all kinds of food produc... posted on May 19 2019 (5,274 reads)

article first appeared on TruthAtlas. The boy is crouched over in the back of a van. Drops of blood from the cut on his head stain his shirt—he’d been hit with a bottle when he got into a fight. Stanislas Lukumba, a tall, good-looking, fortyish nurse, checks for shards of glass as the driver shines his cell phone on the wound. For the last eight years, Stanislas has made nightly runs in the van, a mobile clinic that operates in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He stops in neighborhoods where street kids hang out, and those in need come inside the van for help. Kapeta Benda Benda accompanies him, but his mission is different. When the va... posted on Jan 6 2015 (15,312 reads)

follows is the syndicated transcript of an Insights at the Edge podcast from SoundsTrue, with Tami Simon and Mark Nepo. You can listen to the audio version of the conversation here. Tami Simon: In this episode of Insights at the Edge, we have with us a beloved poet, storyteller, spiritual teacher, and friend, Mark Nepo. Let me tell you a little bit about Mark. He’s been called—you ready for this? — one of the finest spiritual guides of our time, and I think it’s true. In his 30s, Mark was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma, a struggle which helped to form his philosophy of “experiencing life fully while staying in relationship to an unknowab... posted on Jul 16 2023 (3,652 reads)

Ghandi once said “be the change that you want to see in the world”. This week Margaret O’Keeffe meets an inspirational businessman who has used obstacles as a means to create positive change for himself and his community. “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back. " - Albert Camus I have walked in the semi-wilderness of Hampstead Heath in London for many years. One of the roads I use to enter the heath starts at the... posted on Sep 30 2016 (13,794 reads)