My Brother & The Power of Milk Moments
""I hate you, Aditi! I hate you!" my little brother screamed to me just minutes after my college graduation. As I pressed the outside corner of my eye to prevent a tear from escaping, I reminded him not to use hurtful words when he feels upset. Together we searched for the source of his frustration and then addressed it: we would get "New York" pizza once the crowds cleared. At the time, my little... posted on Jan 02 2013, 24,257 reads

Mary Oliver On Mornings
Mary Oliver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet whose body of work is largely filled with imagery of the natural world -- cats, opossums crossing the street, sunflowers and black oaks in the sunshine. Her most recent collection is entitled "A Thousand Mornings"...Mornings with the notebook are part of a regular ritual for Oliver, though. "Most mornings I'm up to see the sun, and that rising of the li... posted on Dec 30 2012, 8,304 reads

Finding Healing for the Healers
"Seventeen years ago in the Boston Globe Magazine, a dying man issued a plea for greater compassion in medicine. He worried that medical professionals faced increasing work demands that prioritized efficiency over empathy. Kenneth Schwartz died of lung cancer two months later, but not before founding an organization that would bring increased attention to the importance of human interactions in me... posted on Dec 29 2012, 6,602 reads

A Good Day In Haiti
Lovely Avelus graduated from kindergarten this past June in Haiti..."It was a big day for little Lovely, now 5. Two years ago, she was buried in the rubble of the two-storey house her family rented a room in by the 7.0 Richter earthquake that smashed this already broken country into shards. Lovely was counted among the dead who, by the end of it all, measured some 300,000. She emerged unblemished... posted on Dec 28 2012, 3,349 reads

Solar Sisters Spreading Light in Africa
"In Uganda, some 90% of the population lives without access to electricity, according to World Bank figures. Enter Solar Sister -- a group aiming to eradicate energy poverty while creating economic opportunities for women. Using an Avon-style women's distribution system, Solar Sister trains, recruits and supports female entrepreneurs in East Africa to sell affordable solar lighting and other green... posted on Dec 22 2012, 4,531 reads

Landfill Harmonic: An Orchestra Like No Other
A cello made from an oil can and pieces of wood thrown in the garbage; a saxophone made of spoons and buttons. These are the instruments crafted by Nicolas, a recycler with no previous experience making musical instruments, living hand-to-mouth by the garbage dump in Catuera, Paraguay. Inspired by this initiative and creativity, Maestro Luis Szaran, director of "Sounds of the Earth," formed a "rec... posted on Dec 21 2012, 4,210 reads

In response to Newtown, A Call for Spiritual Activism
Rev. Charles Howard, chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania, offers a reflection on the recent tragedy in Connecticut. In his own search for how to respond, he comes to the intersection of inner transformation and social activism: "I am fasting for the next 27 days. One day for each life lost in Newtown -- including the gunman's. Fasting has been a part of my spiritual life for some time, bu... posted on Dec 17 2012, 13,397 reads

What I've Learned From the Children in My Life
In 1989, eighteen-year-old Shaheen Mistry arrived in Mumbai for a visit from the United States. After a poignant encounter with the city's street children she called her parents in the US and announced her decision to stay in India for good. Shaheen went on to found the inspiring non-profit Akanksha, dedicated to educating and empowering children from underprivileged backgrounds. Today she heads T... posted on Dec 16 2012, 21,008 reads

Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon
"All over the world grandmothers are forming activist groups to tackle intractable issues: poverty, illiteracy, environmental degradation, disease, injustice and violence. Never before have grandmothers campaigned so vigorously or universally to make the world a better place." Paola Gianturco spent three years interviewing and photographing 120 activist grandmothers across 15 countries on 5 contin... posted on Dec 15 2012, 16,536 reads

The Elephant Whisperer
Lawrence Anthony, the acclaimed South African conservationist passed away this March. His funeral turned out to be as extraordinary as his life. Two herds of wild elephants traveling single-file through the bush turned up at his home after he died. Elephants are known for mourning their dead. During his lifetime Anthony had managed to enlist Africans wanted as war criminals to protect northern whi... posted on Dec 09 2012, 10,819 reads