values might be different. You might be more of an animal person. Or someone who thinks we can’t go further as a society without learning how to be more vulnerable. The point is: if you can’t articulate the things that are most important to you, how can you ensure you’re focussing your energies in the best way? A good way to discover what you care about is by doing volunteer work. If you know which area you want to volunteer in—children, homelessness, environment, education, health etc.—then you’re sorted. If you don’t, try a few new projects until you’re hooked on something. From this, a list of values should emerge. 2. Align yo... posted on Aug 21 2023 (3,084 reads)

and addressing institutional racism and injustice, flaws in our public health networks and economies, we also must pay attention to how any action or change we institute will affect the natural world. Climate change and climate injustice must be at the center of everything we do, every policy and plan we make from now on if we are to continue to have an earth that sustains life. Helen and I have created a website to accompany our exhibit: www.theflowersareburning.com.  It provides education, resources, art/science collaboration, activism....and HOPE for being present to the increasing threat we all face. Our mission is to encourage people to focus on what they love and care abo... posted on Sep 26 2023 (3,398 reads)

follows is the transcript of an Insights at the Edge interview between Tami Simon and Deb Dana. You can listen to the audio version of the interview here. Tami Simon: Welcome to Insights at the Edge, produced by Sounds True. My name is Tami Simon. I’m the founder of Sounds True. And I’d love to take a moment to introduce you to the new Sounds True Foundation. The Sounds True Foundation is dedicated to creating a wiser and kinder world by making transformational education widely available. We want everyone to have access to transformational tools, such as mindfulness, emotional awareness, and self-compassion, regardless of financial, social, or physical chall... posted on Nov 12 2023 (5,490 reads)

can bounce back better from a disappointment if we pay more attention to our internal dialogue. All of us have experienced disappointment, sadness, and setbacks at work. A few years ago, Julien served as an academic leader at a regional university for three years. He gave his full heart and soul to the role. He was on a mission to do good. At the same time, the university was undergoing a budget crisis that culminated with the global pandemic. The university had no choice but to restructure, and, when it did, Julien lost his role and returned to the faculty.  In the crucible of organizational change, Julie hit a crossroads after dedicating 15 years to building an impactful organiz... posted on Apr 3 2024 (4,421 reads)

to do? When the great Naomi Klein gets asked this question, she answers: “Stop thinking of yourself as an individual.” I would add to that one small word: “only.”Stop thinking of yourself only as an individual.Second shift: there’s no one right way to be a changemakerHonour what makes you, you. Instead of judging it as imperfect, see how you might use it in a way that connects to something bigger: to community, to democracy, to business and finance, culture, education… to whatever and with whomever you belong. Who can you team up with to learn, divest, inspire, re-imagine, include? Who can you listen to, and how can you use your voice to influence ... posted on Apr 10 2024 (2,079 reads)

am I going to do with my life? What really matters to me? How will I leave my mark? These questions can fill us with hope, inspiration, and direction when we have some sense of what the answers may be. If we don’t, they can fill us with confusion, frustration, and irritation. Leading a life of purpose, or making an enduring commitment to contributing to the broader world in personally meaningful ways, is associated with a range of benefits, including better physical health, enhanced psychological well-being, superior academic achievement, and enriched social connections. Despite these advantages, leading a life of purpose is rare, as researcher William Damon describes in his 200... posted on May 1 2024 (4,376 reads)

moving, altogether forming a great witnessing conscious­ness, in every detail and part infinitely finer and higher than my own. There are no words for the majesty and radiance of what I glimpsed and how it made me feel, lifted, seen, accepted into a vast whole. A particular being drew very close, looking down at me from above with love that had a gravity and grace unlike anything I known. It proceeded to search me, brushing aside everything I thought I knew about myself—my name, my education, all my labels—as if it was not just unimportant but unreal. I once came up with an awkward personal metaphor for the urgency of this part of my experience: fire fighters searching a b... posted on Jul 3 2024 (5,657 reads)

Miracles happen serendipitously. Today, when so much in our world seems so uncertain, I want to share two stories of neighbour to neighbour development that I have long treasured. These are stories of people who reached out to neighbours, even on the other side of the world, and people who developed practical food solutions that their neighbours happily adopted. These two stories are my lodestone for practical, neighbour to neighbour, solution-focused, low cost, caring international development. Though Jeff Lohr prefers to call it a story of how some ordinary Joes helped some other ordinary Joes in another country. Mr. Jeffry’s Third World Machine Shop Jeff and Linda Lohr were ... posted on Jul 7 2024 (2,390 reads)

apparent to an outside observer. Once you have a clear idea of the status structure of the group, here’s the next question: “How do we redistribute and broaden that status to other members who don’t have the identified characteristics?” If it’s the people who speak up the most who have the most status, then how do you develop other mechanisms to share ideas with the group, like surveys, forms, message boards, or listservs? Or perhaps it is status markers like educational level, professional background, or social connections that afford members status in your group. If so, how can you create a “blind” process when deciding on roles or elevating ... posted on Aug 9 2024 (1,982 reads)