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 (3,220 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 (4,701 reads)

TIPPETT, HOST: Elizabeth Gilbert’s name is synonymous with her fantastically best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love. But she started out writing for publications by men and for men. Eat Pray Love was borne of a moment of total collapse in her life. And you can call it “chick lit” — but it’s inspired millions to move forward with their lives differently. Through the disorienting process of becoming a global celebrity, Elizabeth Gilbert has reflected deeply on the gift and challenge of creativity. She defines creativity — in life as in art — as choosing the path of curiosity over the path of fear. This has resonance for our co... posted on Sep 5 2016 (16,756 reads)

conversation took place in March 2024.Guest: Mary Ann BrussatHost: Janessa Gans WilderModerator: Charles GibbsJanessa: Welcome, everyone. My name is Janessa, and I will be hosting today's Awakin call. Thank you for joining us from wherever you happen to be in the world and here from sunny California. The intention behind these calls is to plant seeds of awareness and transformation within ourselves and our communities through conversations with individuals whose journey and work inspire us.Awakin Calls is an initiative of ServiceSpace, a distributed, global, all-volunteer community committed to the principle that by changing ourselves, we change the world. Behind each of these calls is ... posted on May 5 2024 (2,528 reads)

follows is the transcript of an interview between Pico Iyer and On Being's Krista Tippett MR. PICO IYER, GUEST HOST: This is On Being and I’m not Krista Tippett. I’m Mr. Pico Iyer. I’m a writer and a traveler and a former guest on this show and today I’m seeing if I can turn the tables a little by asking some questions of Krista Tippett. Krista is the author of Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living. I spoke with her recently about her New York Times bestselling book at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Our conversation was so fun and so illuminating, we thought we might share it with a... posted on Jul 10 2016 (14,044 reads)

does it mean to live wisely and well and what does it take? How can we cultivate qualities such as love, wisdom, kindness, and compassion?”  Our guest today, Dr. Roger Walsh, addresses these questions. A man with an eclectic past, Roger has explored contemplative life as a professor, physician, therapist, celebrated author, spouse, spiritual practitioner, and inquisitive human being.   He is a former circus acrobat, as well as a record holder in the fields of high diving and trampolining. Roger claims to have no final answers about life and meaning; yet through a combination of spiritual wisdom and practical tools, he offers hope and healing for us all, individually... posted on Jan 17 2019 (6,193 reads)

midwife in Oslo, Norway. | Karen Beate Nøsterud/norden.org via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.5 DK. "Who is there in this world but Mother? I am Mother, you are Mother, Mother is mine, Mother is yours, Everything is Mother." Traditional Baul Song from Bengal. Since 2012 I have walked thousands of miles throughout the United Kingdom and spoken with people around the world, asking them to share their experiences of love and connection. What are the loving narratives of their lives? What does love mean to them? As the journey has grown so the experiences have deepened, and the sharings with others have deepened too. What started as a personal jour... posted on May 14 2019 (5,593 reads)

Saturday, Cynthia Li and I had the privilege of hosting an incredibly inspiring and illuminating Awakin Call with Shay Beider. Shay Beider had a moment of clarity while still a pre-med college student at UCLA. Shadowing doctors at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and watching a girl tremble with fear before surgery, she suddenly awakened: “It doesn’t have to look like this.” Shay realized she could serve children and their families with something she’d already been delivering—healing touch. To put herself through college, Beider had been working as a massage therapist. Why not bring gentle, caring touch directly into healthcare? Beider would ev... posted on Dec 31 1969 (149 reads)

follows is the transcript of an Awakin Call with Shay Beider. You can watch and/or listen to the recording of the conversation here. Cynthia Li:  I am delighted to introduce you all to Shay Beider. She feels like a soul sister. Shay is the founder of the nonprofit organization, Integrative Touch for Kids. She is a true visionary in pediatric integrative medicine for the past 15 years. Integrative Touch for Kids was born from a moment of clarity when Shay was a college student at UCLA. She was a pre-med major at the time, focused on becoming a pediatric surgeon. And one day when she was shadowing doctors at Children's Hospital, she watched a young girl freeze in terro... posted on Mar 16 2023 (2,589 reads)

time to upgrade our view of love. First and foremost, love is an emotion, a momentary state that arises to infuse your mind and body alike. Love, like all emotions, surfaces like a distinct and fast-moving weather pattern, a subtle and ever-shifting force. As for all positive emotions, the inner feeling love brings you is inherently and exquisitely pleasant -- it feels extraordinarily good, the way a long, cool drink of water feels when you’re parched on a hot day. Yet far beyond feeling good, a micro-moment of love, like other positive emotions, literally changes your mind. It expands your awareness of your surroundings, even your sense of self. The bound... posted on Dec 13 2014 (33,061 reads)

the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives.” Although Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used Christian social ethics and the New Testament concept of “love” heavily in his writings and speeches, he was as influenced by Eastern spiritual traditions, Gandhi’s political writings, Buddhism’s notion of the interconnectedness of all beings, and Ancient Greek philosophy. His enduring ethos, at its core, is nonreligious — rather, it champions a set of moral, spiritual, and civic responsibilities that fortify our hum... posted on Jul 20 2015 (22,188 reads)

I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison. – Nelson Mandela To love our enemies does not mean that we suddenly become their friends. If it is our enemies we are to love, they must remain enemies. Unless you have enemies, you cannot love them. And if you have no enemies, I wonder if you have any friends. The moment you choose your friends, their enemies become your own enemies. By having convictions, we make ourselves the enemies of those who oppose these convictions. But let’s be sure we agree on what we mean by terms like Friend, E... posted on Apr 17 2017 (15,985 reads)

follows is the syndicated transcript of an On Being interview between Krista Tippett and Esther Perel. Krista Tippett, host: Esther Perel has changed our discourse about sexuality and coupledom with her TED talks, her books, and her singular podcast, Where Should We Begin? There, listeners are invited into emotionally raw therapy sessions she conducts with couples she’s never met before. Episode after episode lays bare the theater of relationship, which is also the drama of being human. And that’s what I take up with her this hour. What does “erotic intelligence,” one of her terms, have to do with the human condition writ large and t... posted on Dec 18 2019 (10,518 reads)

Scolaro speaks with Rachel Callander Rachel Callander has a room of healthcare workers in tears when I hear her speak for the first time. I’m at the Gathering of Kindness—an annual conference founded by Dumbo Feather alumni Catherine Crock about bringing more empathy and compassion into healthcare—and Rachel is sharing the story of her daughter Evie, who was born with a rare chromosomal condition. Named Evie Amour, which for Rachel and her family means, “Life is possible because of love,” Evie was constantly in and out of hospitals for tests and procedures, and Rachel became attuned to the varying ways medical staff communicated her daught... posted on Jan 16 2022 (3,819 reads)

sculpture by Robert Indiana in New York. Photo from Wikimedia commons. Can love be a positive force for change in the public sphere as well as in our private lives? If not, Transformation is in trouble: openDemocracy’s new section has staked its future on demonstrating that radical changes are possible in politics and economics when approached in a spirit of human connection and solidarity.  At first glance, there’s an obvious problem with this thesis: can we really “love our enemies,” or even our friends and colleagues who we don’t know very well? Is there any scientific basis for believing that love can stretch beyond the boundaries of our ... posted on Oct 17 2013 (23,217 reads)

the conclusion of Valarie Kaur’s Jan. 4 electrifying keynote address at the College Conference at Montreat, the tandem lines on either side of Anderson Auditorium were at least ten deep with students all but on fire to have her respond to their questions. In fact, “fire” was an operative word for Kaur, an American interfaith leader, lawyer, filmmaker, Sikh activist, and founder of The Revolutionary Love Project based at the University of Southern California. She had so galvanized the conference by charging her listeners “to have the courage to walk through those flames of hatred and bigotry and rage, and love anyway,” that attendees were eager to stay well... posted on Mar 10 2017 (12,967 reads)

is much more than a medical event. It is a time for important psychological, emotional and spiritual work – a time for transition. To a large extent, the way we meet death is shaped by our habitual response to suffering, and our relationship to ourselves, to those we love, and to whatever image of ultimate kindness we hold.” - Frank Ostaseski Frank Ostaseski is a Buddhist teacher, international lecturer and a leading voice in contemplative end-of-life care.  He is the Guiding Teacher and visionary Founding Director of Zen Hospice Project, the first Buddhist hospice in America, in San Francisco, and also author of  The Five In... posted on Jan 26 2018 (31,105 reads)

follows is the transcript of an On Being interview between Krista Tippett and Michael McCarthy: KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: I have rarely discovered a book that so delighted and galvanized me at once. The Moth Snowstorm: Nature and Joy is written by the English naturalist and journalist, Michael McCarthy. “The sudden passionate happiness which the natural world can occasionally trigger in us,” he writes, “may well be the most serious business of all.” We could stop relying on the immobilizing language of statistic and take up joy as a civilizational defense of nature. With a perspective equally infused by science, reportage, and poetry, he reminds u... posted on May 28 2018 (6,557 reads)

Ware is an author and speaker whose bestselling book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, is based on her time as a palliative care worker. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Bronnie outlines these five major life regrets with Tami Simon and discusses the experiences in end-of-life care that inspired them. Bronnie explains how most regrets arise from a lack of courage and why people are willing to share so openly during their last days. Tami and Bronnie speak on the healing power of sharing our most vulnerable selves, even if it's in a letter that we never send. Finally, they talk about maintaining trust in the flow of life and why happiness is ultimately a choice. Tuesda... posted on Aug 12 2019 (13,166 reads)

from Be Love Now by Ram Dass, Rameshwar Das Imagine feeling more love from someone than you have ever known. You’re being loved even more than your mother loved you when you were an infant, more than you were ever loved by your father, your child, or your most intimate lover—anyone. This lover doesn’t need anything from you, isn’t looking for personal gratification, and only wants your complete fulfillment. You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success— none of that matters. No one can tak... posted on Dec 24 2019 (23,326 reads)