Askew’s life took an unexpected turn in 2005 when a lucid daydream to pick up a film camera and use it in a profound fashion consumed him and dissolved any internal doubt. He describes this moment as one of “knowing” what he just had to do, as opposed to “believing” or "wanting” something. He describes this pathfinding shift – from being an eclectic explorer and Managing Director in business, to filmmaker – in a poem he wrote, The Tree of Dreams. Since that day, Nic has used this camera to capture bare human presence, taking his film subjects beyond the experience of mind – and into their inner, wiser, more intuitive and ... posted on Oct 17 2021 (4,535 reads)

of colonialism. Translators do not live in a vacuum. We are not immune to the forces of structural racism. But why is it that Rijneveld had to renounce the commission as an individual? Why does this recent story become about individual actions, rather than the entrenched patterns of operation of publishing houses like Meulenhoff? To achieve equity, transformation must be structural — it cannot fall on the shoulders of one translator alone, making them a fall guy for the business of books as usual. The directors and CEOs of dominant global (read: Western) publishing companies are predominantly white. Which begs the familiar question: what if editorial boards reflec... posted on Nov 23 2021 (3,421 reads)

that have transpired and continue to transpire on our planet. These are the attitudes that can arise in the period of dusk. That’s where we seem to be at this moment. So what happens now? For the last twenty years or more, the science has been clear that our current lifestyle is having a devastating impact on the planet—and yet this has been mostly ignored. The papers from the Nobel laureates were just filed away. The prognosis was too inconvenient, so it’s been “business as usual.” It’s up to ordinary people, then, to step forward to support the Earth and its inhabitants. Let’s be kind, let’s be compassionate, let’s be moral&mdas... posted on Dec 3 2021 (4,806 reads)

a formidable list of proponents — Buddha, Lao Tzu, the Prophets Jesus and Muhammad (PBUH), and the Sufi masters. Art, along with poetry and music, employs gentleness in a more pragmatic fashion — by observing subtle emotions, nuances of colours and form. Gentleness made a comeback through moving images on television sets across the world, of health workers comforting Covid patients, especially those dying without their families around. The world has clearly moved away from business as usual. Aggressive wars, global corporate speculation, damage to the climate and inequality, have left people anxious and hurt. Corporate Social Responsibility, microfinancing and formulati... posted on Dec 22 2021 (5,022 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 (3,841 reads)

are plenty of books that teach how to influence the behavior of others, but anyone who’s set a personal goal knows it’s a lot tougher to apply those lessons inward. Ayelet Fishbach, a behavioral science and marketing professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, has written a new book that can help. Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, which was released in January, offers a framework for setting and attaining goals, working through roadblocks, and keeping the temptation to quit at bay. “It’s really important to set goals that are not so abstract that you cannot come up with a plan,” Fishba... posted on Feb 15 2022 (3,263 reads)

that my mother had become an ancestor. As I finally released her, she became part of me. And my sadness became part of the river of grief that pulses deep inside me, hidden from view but informing my life, my whole life. Our struggles usually begin when we don’t attend sufficiently to the painful, strong emotions which can flood us after the loss of a loved one, the loss of a patient, the loss of a way of life. It’s easy for to become consumed in the urgent “busyness of business” right after the experience of loss. But grief has gifts to offer us, hard as it may be to see this when we are in the thick of the experience. This is like the mother I heard abo... posted on Feb 21 2022 (11,190 reads)

I must and that I will die. But then, after that, how could I not quit my job when I’ve seen and done so little? And it’s not really the traveling that I mean, though that’s what comes first to mind. It’s the deep, deep grooves that I’ve driven into my life by staying at the same job for so long. Even if I never left Iowa, I would have so much more to see, so many more people to meet, so much more to know and be curious about than the little corner of my own tiny business that I’ve been sweeping and tidying for almost half of my life. And I don’t even think I’m particularly good at doing what I’m doing, which isn’t to say that&rsq... posted on Mar 21 2022 (20,369 reads)

really think that it does much good, but it does; it is profitable. The person who is actually loving what they do and watching something grow, whether it is a plant or a person, or an animal, there is something about that. That touches again—we go back to, what is soul anyway? I never was able to answer that very well, but the soul recognizes when you are doing something that matters; it feels that you are adding to life in a positive way, or you’re creating something, your business is creating something that’s going to help people. And there is something about whether you get more mellow inside or more resentful inside, depending on whether you feel you have made ... posted on May 9 2022 (3,965 reads)

a wonderful visit from my favorite studio mate in Thailand… Over the past two months it’s been a joy to be with my parents in Bangkok. In our precious time together, I am acutely reminded of my familial lineage, what is passed on to us, and what lives on through us. My mother was the first to teach me about finding and creating beauty in everyday life. She continually called my attention to the smallest of details and always pointed me in the direction of refinement. Of course, as a wild tomboy of a child and even more rebellious teenager, I found this all just too annoying. I could not be bothered with being so picky about appearances or how food was always plated an... posted on May 26 2022 (3,425 reads)

Gratefulness.org Here in our Stories of Grateful Living, we honor the voices of our community as we invite people to share their personal experiences with gratefulness. Join us in appreciating the explorations, reflections, and insights of fellow community members as we collectively learn what it means to live gratefully. In the short poetic video Iyore, Imuetinyan Ugiagbe shares her powerful story. Every moment offers an opportunity to be grateful. When we choose to be grateful, our soul glows. My name is Imuetinyan Ugiagbe and I am a visual storyteller who happens to be visually impaired. The title of the piece I am sharing with you is Iyore (pro... posted on May 12 2022 (3,414 reads)

we ‘floor the pedal’ in our daily tasks, our exercises, our educational growth. Daniel Kahneman, in his bestseller Thinking, Fast and Slow, emphasises the need for both fast thinking — often automatic actions, such as judging distances when driving — and slow thinking — deliberation to thoroughly examine a matter, to understand all possibilities, before coming to any conclusion. It may be as simple as parking a car in a tight space or making a decision about a business strategy. Thinking fast means the mind will turn to prior solutions. Thinking slow allows new ideas to emerge. There is a general perception that slowing down is wasting time or indicates ... posted on Aug 4 2022 (3,772 reads)

multiple intersections of our historical precedents, our respective lineages & storylines, and what future beings to come (including ourselves) require for reconciliation and healing.  This book is a direct result of these working lines, the fabric of relationships we steward, and our ongoing inquiries. What we have written in these pages is informed by our engagement with funders, activists, social movements, elders, cosmologists, anthropologists, economists, financial investors, business leaders, policy wonks and others. In addition, we conducted ongoing research of critical discourse in the space, hosted and led funder gatherings, and interviewed over a hundred people to inf... posted on Sep 20 2022 (4,516 reads)

says Nikos. “The world can absorb a certain amount of ignorance. But things are now out of hand, so we need to think in a new way. We have become used to thinking in a certain way, but that way is out of sync with nature.” Drive by agendas, such as development, growth, and innovation, we practice “spiritual materialism,” disconnecting us from reality and distorting it through a narrow view of conquest consciousness. In this epoch of “endarkenment,” business and political “leaders” even insist that our need for a thriving, just world is not “realistic,” even though we—and they—all know that our well-being depen... posted on Oct 19 2022 (3,748 reads)

and remember? How to venerate the world? More and more, I think a solution is awe. As Dacher Keltner’s work shows, awe seems to orient us to things outside of our individual selves. It suggests our true nature is collective. Studying narratives of awe in cultures across the world, Keltner and colleagues found that a common part of natural awe is the sense that plants and animals are conscious and aware. I try and listen again. Perhaps slime molds just want to go about their damn business. How? On dead wood, debris, twigs, leaves, all the stuff we tidy away judiciously and ignorantly, not realizing that we are destroying exquisite jewels. As our systems fail and break down,... posted on Feb 5 2023 (3,667 reads)

Zachary Shore was a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, he called his parents to tell them he was dropping out. Legally blind by age 16, his vision had continued to deteriorate, and he found himself socially isolated, fearful, and debilitated by eye strain. After an encounter on campus with a fellow blind student who had just returned from a solo excursion with seeming ease, Zach had a moment of awakening: “My problem wasn’t my blindness. It was my lack of skills and confidence.” He would indeed come to find a remarkable set of skills and confidence — eventually earning a doctorate from Oxford University, becoming a distinguished scholar of internat... posted on Feb 8 2023 (1,961 reads)

that is, when you look at this graph, it’s maximal uncertainty. This is why I think it’s so hard and why the journey of Sounds True that you have inspired ever-so-many people with and certainly interpersonal neurobiology, it feels like it’s coming to that place that when you open to uncertainty, you release the possibility of connection. And this is I think, this is this really incredible moment in our human family to do this. There’s a window to make a change in business as usual. Joanna Macy calls it “The Great Turning,” and anything that we can do to actually bring this Great Turning, which means instead of just the solo self of separation, we r... posted on Mar 10 2023 (2,349 reads)

there it goes, you know? And there it goes. Cynthia: Beautiful. It's incredible. I was getting a sense, as you were talking -- you were very embodied -- and I was getting a sense of what it might look like in these sterile hospital rooms with this team of -- well, are you all women? Is your team all women? Shay: It's not all women, no. Cynthia: Ok, females and males almost like dancing and communicating in nonverbal ways, and outside the door is hospital business as usual. I love it. I love it. And it gives me hope that these kinds of healings are happening and have been happening, you know, sort of hidden in plain sight for decades now. So that's... posted on Mar 16 2023 (2,634 reads)

really doing is pointing to the fact that we belong to each other and there's no condition." So then to another question, which was: “Why Soul Biographies? Why black and white?” I didn't know what I was doing. But when you're following this way of life taking hold of you and living itself through you, it's a pain in the backside, to be honest, sometimes, physically, because you're not in control. You're just not in control. You can't stick a business model on it as such. You can't do any of that. I don't think you can. I've tried many times. I've tried. It has a life of its own because it's life living itself through y... posted on Apr 11 2023 (3,122 reads)

           of age. Centuries of pleasure before us and after us, still right now, a softness like a worn fabric of a nightshirt,  and what I do not say is: I trust the world to come back.              Return like a word, long forgotten and maligned               for all its gross tenderness, a joke told in a sunbeam, the world walking in, ready to be ravaged, open for business. [Music: “Molerider” by Blue Dot Sessions] Tippett:So the poem you wrote, “Joint Custody.” You get asked to read it. It’s wonderful. And I want you to read... posted on Apr 22 2023 (3,205 reads)