The Essence of a Great Presentation
"A few months ago when I had worked with Macy in the recording studio, I found the circumstances even more daunting. Nearly every time I began to play, my mind would start churning: 'I'm not a professional musician. I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. The audience/album producer/recording engineer will think I'm lousy. I am lousy. I am going to let Macy down. Why did I think I could do this?' I'v... posted on Nov 04 2011, 15,795 reads

In the Pursuit of Happy
"Happiness is defined as a sense of well being, a feeling of joy or delight, and a state of balance and contentment. However, it is easy to confuse intensity, pursuing pleasure, and thrill seeking with joy, delight and contentment. The qualities of happiness include having a sense of freedom to make choices; being loved and giving love; acting in kind and compassionate ways; and seeing life in a c... posted on Nov 03 2011, 9,956 reads

The Potential for Design
"Design is an inescapable dimension of human activity. To adapt one of my favorite quotes by Reyner Banham, like the weather it is always there, but we speak about it only when it is exceptionally bad or exceptionally good. Design is also a powerful political tool, as pharaohs, queens, presidents, and dictators throughout history have taught us. It comes not only in very visible and traditional ap... posted on Nov 02 2011, 4,108 reads

Why Do A Billion Go Hungry?
In 1971, Frances Moore Lappe wrote a remarkable book that started a movement: "Diet for a Small Planet." Since then, people have been asking her, "Have things gotten better or worse?" She says, both. The number of hungry people has soared to nearly a billion, despite strong harvests; just four companies control three quarters of international grain trade; conditions for farmworkers remain so horr... posted on Nov 01 2011, 12,455 reads

5 Ways of Spending Time -- toward Happiness
Our search to understand what makes us happy goes back centuries. As does our enduring belief that if we just do the right thing, happiness will follow. Researchers at Stanford and UPenn have recently shown how happiness is indeed a consequence of the choices people make. So what can people do to increase their happiness? Their answer is surprisingly simple: spend your time wisely. But some of the... posted on Oct 31 2011, 37,461 reads

Karma Kitchen: The Pay-It-Forward Restaurant
Imagine a restaurant where your bill reads $0.00, because your meal is a gift and can't be paid for -- only paid forward for the person after you. How long might the chain of generosity last? At Karma Kitchen, in three cities around the United States, it has gone on for close to 25 thousand people -- and is still going. Filmmaker Katie Teague shares a thoughtful and hopeful short video portrait of... posted on Oct 30 2011, 3,198 reads

Change Yourself, Change the World
"There are 4 ideas you have to believe if you seek to "be the change you wish to see in the world: 1. Real change requires patience: It takes time to move others through love (rather than by carrot or stick), but the results are real and lasting. 2. Real change is decentralized/local: The revolution will not be provided by governments or corporations. 3. Real change cannot be traditionally measure... posted on Oct 29 2011, 30,624 reads

Reflections from a Five Day Walk
"I recently walked about 60 miles over 5 days, from Oakland to Santa Clara. This certainly isn't anything unique. In a way, I was imitating many inspirations that came before, and probably many iterations will come after. Still, 'we love to make music of this puzzle' of our artful work of life. For me, the walk was many things. It was an expression of wandering. It was a pilgrimage [...] It was a ... posted on Oct 28 2011, 8,720 reads

Giving Back Where He Belongs
When most people think of the American dream, they imagine all this country has to offer them. But for 40-year-old Hamid Chaudhry, a Pakistani immigrant and owner of a Dairy Queen in Reading, Pa., that dream isn't just for the taking. "I'm part of the society," Chaudhry tells CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman. "And when you belong somewhere, you have to give back." A few years ago, after becomi... posted on Oct 27 2011, 3,369 reads

The Decision-Making Flaw in Powerful People
The decisions made by powerful people in business and other fields have far-reaching effects on their organizations and employees. But new research finds a link between having a sense of power and having a propensity to give short shrift to a crucial part of the decision-making process: listening to advice. Power increases confidence, researchers say, which can lead to an excessive belief in one's... posted on Oct 26 2011, 11,128 reads