The Attention Economy
For all the sophistication of a world in which most of our waking hours are spent consuming or interacting with media, we have scarcely advanced in our understanding of what attention means. Attending is closely connected to anticipation. Soldiers snap to attention to signify readiness and respect. Teachers shout 'Pay attention!' at slumped students whose thoughts have meandered, calling them back... posted on Jun 04 2014, 6,014 reads

Trying Not To Try: Cultivating the Art of Spontaneity
"The best way to get approval is not to need it" Hugh MacLeod memorably counseled. We now know that perfectionism kills creativity and excessive goal-setting limits our success rather than begetting it -- all different manifestations of the same deeper paradox of the human condition, at once disconcerting and comforting, which Edward Slingerland, professor of Asian Studies and Embodied Cognition a... posted on Jun 03 2014, 13,867 reads

A Blessing For One Who Is Exhausted
"You have traveled too fast over false ground; Now your soul has come to take you back." In this poem, John O'Donohue, Irish poet, author, and philosopher, beautifully expresses the process of slowly returning to oneself that can heal the heart after times of suffering.... posted on Jun 02 2014, 162,434 reads

6 Mindfulness Practices For Leaders (And Everyone, Really)
As Jon Kabat-Zinn puts it, mindfulness "wakes us up to the fact that our lives unfold only in moments." If we're not fully present for those moments, we may miss what's most valuable in our lives, both personally and professionally. Simply put, mindfulness is about not living in your head all the time and is about paying attention to where you are, what you're doing, or who you're talking to so th... posted on Jun 01 2014, 143,193 reads

The Importance of Poetry in Childhood
"Growing up isn't what it used to be. Today, our kids, from even the youngest of ages, are bombarded with stimuli far exceeding what we, or any of the generations preceding us, ever had to cope with. How do we keep our kids grounded in the midst of iPads and pop up ads, TV screens and Twitter memes?" Preschool teacher and poet David Griswold offers that poetry may hold at least part of the answer.... posted on May 31 2014, 16,874 reads

An Invitation: Practicing Wonder
"Wonder is how we open 'the hand of thought.' It can lift our minds out of the mud of rational resignation and open them into wild relational cartwheels of insight. Wonder is the place where prejudices fall away and our capacity to notice life increases. You have known how to do it since you were a child." As deeply embedded and reflexive wonder is in our early life, somehow the capacity to be in ... posted on May 30 2014, 25,228 reads

Freely vs Free: A Healer's Perspective
The deeper truths that reside within us sometimes surface when we least expect it. Thuy Nguyen was a little more than taken off guard when a woman in her donation-based acupuncture session asked her why she gave away her work for free. Was she trying to fix a "broken world"? She didn't know where to begin to respond, and the woman's question stayed with her. Eventually it led her to a beautiful di... posted on May 28 2014, 23,461 reads

The Heart of Urban Resilience: Trust Not Tech
"We are facing an uncertain future as a result of climate change; disasters do seem to be happening all too often. But does our emerging notion of resilience, as a result, become an alternate way of thinking about disaster management rather than a longer term means to consider how to make our cities more robust and flexible in the face of uncertainty?" Leo Hollis answers this question and more in ... posted on May 27 2014, 10,904 reads

Ed Johnson: Beauty & Science
"Passion...is the element that makes it possible for a real breakthrough in thought to take place. And beauty...goes a long way in establishing the bona fides of the results of scientific experiments." If these sound like interesting thoughts to be coming from a molecular biologist, you may want to read on to hear the full conversation between interviewer Richard Whitaker and remarkable researcher... posted on May 26 2014, 10,868 reads

Sow Much Good
When Robin Emmons first helped her struggling brother transition to a mental health facility, she never imagined that his physical health would so drastically decline. The residents were existing on a diet of canned and sugary foods, the only diet the facility could afford. This is an all too common reality for many living in low income areas. They are cut off from access to fresh, wholesome foods... posted on May 25 2014, 12,612 reads