WHAT WAS THAT?! WHAT JUST HAPPENED THROUGH ME?! That was 21 year old me tingling from head to toe and gaping in shocked awe at the computer screen after conducting an experiment on myself that saved, liberated and transformed my life. I had been in a place of acute hopelessness and inner anguish in which I felt so profoundly alone in the world and disconnected from even the possibility of authentic connection. Somehow amidst all that I found the wherewithal to listen to an inner prompting that urged me to try an experiment. This experiment was to allow myself to write a “bad poem” every day for a month. Writing poetry had been an important practice of m... posted on Apr 6 2022 (4,333 reads)

back on the first thirteen years of Brain Pickings, I termed my thirteen most important life-learnings “fluid reflections on keeping a solid center.” But how exactly do we locate our center and master its osmotic balance between fluidity and solidity? That is what poet, potter, and manual philosopher M.C. Richards (July 13, 1916–September 10, 1999) explores in her 1964 counterculture classic Centering: In Pottery, Poetry, and the Person (public library) — an inspired inquiry into “how we may seek to bring universe into a personal wholeness,” “to feel the whole in every part,” which popularized the n... posted on Apr 10 2022 (3,606 reads)

direct, and fearless” (American poet Dorianne Laux). She began writing poetry, as she believes many people do, from a place of heartbreak, and not knowing what to do with it. Her first book of poems, The Moons of August (Autumn House, 2014), came on the heels of a rapid succession of deep losses in her early 30s. “I’ve buried a lover, a brother, a son,” she writes early on in the collection. Poetry allowed her to become “intimate with world and life, down to the marrow.” In the process, it enabled her to lay to bed some of the grief, freeing her to go to the edge of discovering joy and pleasure once again – at the place... posted on Nov 29 2022 (2,826 reads)

asked a hundred painters and a hundred poets how to paint sunlight on the face of life Their answers were ambiguous and ingenuous as if they were all guarding trade secrets Whereas it seems to me all you have to do is conceive of the whole world and all humanity as a kind of art work a site-specific art work an art project of the god of light the whole earth and all that’s in it to be painted with light And the first thing you have to do is paint out postmodern painting And the next thing is to paint yourself in your true colors in primary colors as you see them (without whitewash) paint yourself as you see yourself without make-up without masks Then paint y... posted on Feb 9 2023 (3,970 reads)

certain dreams in life just don’t pan out, like if all you wanted growing up was to fly, but fate saw fit to furnish you with bad eyes, complete with a shot of red-green color-blindness—the sum of which can disqualify you from becoming a pilot. Grounded by such shortcomings, you may find yourself commiserating with the ratites, a motley clan of birds that includes the emu and the kiwi and the cassowary, most born sans a keel bone upon which to hang their aerial ambitions. Unlike them, you can flunk your vision test and still be cleared for takeoff; all that is required is a statement attesting to your demonstrated abilities to soundly operate an aircraft. But ... posted on Jul 10 2023 (2,635 reads)

to family members and street victims would be more than enough evidence for a non-terrestrial to condemn us for criminal disregard for the muscle fibers, fluids, and neural networks within which we live.  An alien visitor might not notice, however, that these painfully tangible wounds to the body politic are symptomatic manifestations of highly abstract ideas that rapidly gained a disproportionate amount of physical power.  While violence and greed have always been a part of human life, this century stands out for its sophisticated political, religious, and scientific justifications for sacrificing human lives in favor of complicated abstractions.  Palpable values of carin... posted on Sep 17 2023 (2,354 reads)

than any of its adherents or critics might ever have believed. Most definitely, the whole had become so much more than the sum of its parts.¹ A MOVEMENT ROOTED IN TRADITION AND AHEAD OF ITS TIME   According to popular literature and folklore, the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement began in 1958. An energetic young teacher at Nalanda College — a school for well-to-do students in Colombo, Sri Lanka — took his students to a village of the poorest of the poor to experience life on the other side of the economic and class divide. The goal was for each individual who participated to come awake in his or her own way, to perceive the suffering of their host families, know t... posted on Dec 31 1969 (38 reads)

Hayes: People ask me, “How do you do it all?” The answer is, I don’t … and there’s a good reason for that. Yesterday morning, when I finished writing for the day, I signed on to check my email. From the sea of unread messages, one stood out. The subject line, written in all caps, read: HOW DO YOU DO IT ALL? The more I write, the more I speak, the more I hear this question. It’s understandable. I paint my life as a dreamy blend of farming, cooking, home schooling, canning, lacto-fermenting, music-making, soap-making, crafting, writing, occasional travel for speaking engagements or research and, believe it or not, I even find time to knit. I&rsq... posted on Jul 26 2011 (10,203 reads)

a regular guy found some super power.   So many of us have good ideas for helping the world. But we tuck our ideas away. I did. I’d tell myself that if the idea were any good someone else would have already done it. That I’m not capable of making a difference. I’d sit on my ideas, get on with my “life,” and then feel angry at the world because the problems I cared about didn’t get solved. I had that fear of going first. Then I took my first hapless step into what I call accidental activism. In 2006, I started a project where I lived as environmentally as possible for a year—with my little family, on the ninth floor of an apart... posted on Sep 2 2011 (9,178 reads)

BJ Miller is only 40 but he thinks about death a lot. He is the new executive director of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco and a palliative care specialist at UCSF Medical Center. He is also a triple amputee, co-founder of a tea company, owner of a farm in Utah and a newlywed who still looks like the Ivy Leaguer he once was. "I have no fear of death," Miller said. "I have a fear of not living my life fully before I die." On Nov. 27, 1990, he came close to dying. Miller, then a sophomore at Princeton University, got together for drinks with two close friends he'd made on the crew team. Around 3 a.m., they were walking to a convenience store wh... posted on Oct 17 2011 (44,099 reads)

recently, meditation was a very fuzzy concept to me. Growing up in a pretty homogenous, East coast suburb, I never knew anyone who meditated. My understanding consisted of abstract and puzzling instructions, like ‘sit, quiet your mind, and think of nothing.’ “Nothing! Why would you think of nothing?! What a waste of time,” I thought. Hence, meditation wasn’t at the top of my list of things to try. But I felt a bit stuck in life. While I had many happy parts of my life, I didn’t feel a baseline of contentment. External things would unglue me more easily than I would like, and negative thoughts and emotions would too often creep into my mind. I ... posted on Feb 3 2012 (26,641 reads)

was gone for almost a year, all told. I was on a bike, in a tent, most of that year. Before leaving, I had tucked into the deepest corner of my back pannier my house keys, small jangling embodiments of a fact that served as both security blanket and threat throughout my 3,500 mile bike ride: eventually, I would go back home. When you’re in constant movement, stationary life becomes an image from memory. You can be so strung out on the curve of the road it doesn’t hit you quite right to be in a room. A room with a door is even weirder. When you walk into the room called your room, the air has a hazy shadowiness to it. It f... posted on Jul 26 2012 (13,173 reads)

This information was not gleaned from a New York Times bestseller, a renowned pediatrician, or an experienced parent. It came from a 10-year-old boy born to a drug-addicted mother, with an Individualized Education Plan thicker than an encyclopedia—a boy with permanent scars along the side of his left arm from a beating with an extension cord when he was three. Kyle [*name changed] taught me the one and only thing I really needed to know about loving a child through the challenges of life. This is my story …   It had been a difficult move. I left my family and friends and the beloved mid-western state where I’d lived most of my life. My new home ... posted on Sep 5 2012 (47,926 reads)

of ill effects, such as damaged watersheds and decreasing agricultural productivity. Most resources, such as iron ore and potential fuel sources, were scarce; firewood itself was at a premium. Even more significantly, there was very little arable land, and by the mid-18th century all the land that could be used for farming was already utilized. The period began with shortages and famine, but after two or three generations of wise regeneration, the large population was enjoying a quality of life arguably higher than in any contemporary European country. The forests had been saved, agricultural production had increased manyfold, and culture and literacy were on the rise. Beauty depend... posted on Sep 19 2012 (25,630 reads)

the case, if you spend an evening with this World Woman of Peace (1999), you get a flavor of her infectious enthusiasm, a love affair with humanity that fills Nancy's heart and surrounds her presence. "Like the in breath and the out breath," she says, "you gather the light and give it out. That's just the way it works." Discover The Love On Christmas Eve 1983, Nancy Rivard suddenly lost her father to cancer. "I wondered what life was about that it could be taken from us like that," she recalled. "I began to evaluate where I was going." Nancy purposely got herself demoted from the management track at America... posted on Oct 9 2012 (18,560 reads)

was sitting in a café when a good runner friend of his remarked, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to just run around the country?” And the idea was born. From there, they got a map (this was pre-Internet days, so an actual map), and traced out the route they thought they’d take. Then, they put it aside. The map sat on the shelf for 20 years. A deeply personal experience pushed Peace Artist to begin searching for something greater, something more out of life. “I think that all of us, in our daily lives, we experience normalness of ups and downs. But at one point, you kind of ask yourself: “What is life all about? Why are we here? Whe... posted on Oct 12 2012 (38,053 reads)

their husbands, knew about for 30 years. They have one mission and one mission only: to create happiness. And it all begins with baked goods." 3. 21 Ways to Celebrate Life: After Nancy Rothstein's son, Josh, passed away unexpectedly, she was seeking a way to offer a tribute for family and friends to honor his birthday. With each passing birthday, she adds one more item to the list.On Josh's 21st birthday, true to her tradition, Nancy shared these 21 ways to celebrate life -- and shine your light in our world. 4. J-Mac: Shot of a Lifetime: Jason McElwain, an autistic high school basketball team member in Rochester, New York, served as the team manager... posted on Nov 13 2014 (227,285 reads)

You can even copy the questions onto small pieces of paper and invite family members to each choose one for everyone to answer. May these questions help to spark the spirit of Thanksgiving!  1) What teacher are you most thankful for and why?  What did you learn from him or her? 2) What’s the season you’re most thankful for, and what’s your favorite part of each season? 3) What electronic device are you most grateful for, and what does it add to your life? 4) What musician or type of music are you most thankful for? 5) What are you most grateful for that brings beauty to your daily life? 6) What form of exercise or physical activity ar... posted on Nov 22 2012 (102,648 reads)

of the choices are poor or that the list is incomplete, but I hope it can serve as a start for young business leaders looking for literature to help them chart their careers. Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor's Handbook. Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 A.D., Marcus Aurelius is considered one of history's "philosopher kings," and his Meditations were perhaps his most lasting legacy. Never meant to be published, Marcus' writings on Stoicism, life, and leadership were the personal notes he used to make sense of the world. They remain a wonderful insight into the mind of a man who ruled history's most revered empire at the age of 40 and... posted on Dec 19 2012 (55,219 reads)

really unbelievable.” “I’m curious,” I asked her. “What’s the best part: the exercising, the reading, the cooking, or the walking?” Without hesitation she replied, “Just having time—that’s all. I’ve never gotten to slow down before and it’s liberating.” Although few of us are graced with the chance to have a sabbatical, most of us could greatly benefit from the opportunity to have more space and time in life so that slowing down could be an option. We live in a culture of speed, and although I’ve always known this, it became especially apparent to me several years ago when I traveled to Bali. ... posted on Feb 11 2013 (22,281 reads)