National Treasures: Wild Horses, Wild Kids
Jean Albert Renaud sleeps in a barn. His bedroom shares a wall with the stall of a stallion named Incitatus. On winter nights, he can hear the wind whistling across the hills, but Renaud (or Jar, as he is known) is warm in the company of his eight horses. He sleeps there because he wants to. Jar's life has never been conventional, but today it is focused on his noblest effort yet -- preserving and... posted on Oct 04 2011, 7,925 reads

Connected: Love, Death, & Technology
"From the beginning of time, every new technological advancement has brought with it a complex mix of positive and negative repercussions as well as unintended consequences. I set out to make a film that addresses the potential of our twenty-first-century technologies and the importance of harnessing their powers. I also wanted to examine what can happen when these new technologies take over and s... posted on Oct 03 2011, 21,144 reads

Third Way Leadership
"Cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien suggests we're shifting from an either/or to a both/and culture -- one that requires opening the aperture of our irises to better perceive the truth that surrounds apparent paradox. Though two conflicting views may seem irreconcilably opposed, when we expand our vision enough to encompass a whole that's larger than both, a new reality often emerges -- a thir... posted on Oct 02 2011, 11,908 reads

Recycling Soap and Saving Lives
That bar of soap you used once or twice during your last hotel stay might now be helping poor children fight disease. Derreck Kayongo and his Atlanta-based Global Soap Project collect used hotel soap from across the United States. Instead of ending up in landfills, the soaps are cleaned and reprocessed for shipment to impoverished nations such as Haiti, Uganda, Kenya and Swaziland. "I was shocked ... posted on Oct 01 2011, 4,062 reads

Runner Carries Competitor Half a Mile
When high school cross-country runner Josh Ripley heard the screams of a competing runner, Mark Paulauskas, Josh knew he needed to help. While other competitors in the race ran by, Josh stopped to see what was wrong. In the first mile of a 2-mile race, Josh found Mark holding his ankle and bleeding profusely. Worried that Mark had punctured his Achilles heel, Josh carried the wounded runner for a ... posted on Sep 30 2011, 9,178 reads

She Planted Ideas -- and 35 Million Trees
"The planting of trees is the planting of ideas. By starting with the simple step of digging a hole and planting a tree, we plant hope for ourselves and for future generations." Visionary, human rights advocate, environmental activist Wangari Maathai passed away on 25 September 2011 from cancer. She leaves behind a legacy of "firsts," including being the first African woman to receive the Nobel Pe... posted on Sep 29 2011, 4,019 reads

To Affect the Quality of the Day
"Either way, there I am with recently-turned-eight year old Neha under the Coral Jasmine tree; I reach over and shake the trunk gently and she tilts her head up and watches the white sudden swirl of blossoms falling like stars, like snowflakes with an expression of perfectly mingled awe and delight (my day is Made in that moment). And then we both bend to the sweetly-scented task at hand. I find m... posted on Sep 28 2011, 2,902 reads

Why Collaboration is Risky -- And Worthwhile
"Why is teamwork so difficult? Because collaboration is actually a pretty risky business. Perhaps, like me, you are generally of the mindset that two heads are better than one. But because your ideas frequently get co-opted, there's a risk-reward imbalance that makes you reluctant to engage. Or maybe you've reached out to a potential collaborator only to have your lack of expertise exploited. So, ... posted on Sep 27 2011, 13,546 reads

6 Ways to Boost Your Helping Habits
"Just last year, a survey of 4,500 American adults showed that 73 percent agreed that "volunteering lowered my stress levels," 89 percent reported that "volunteering has improved my sense of well-being," and 92 percent agreed that volunteering enriched their sense of purpose in life. These benefits are available even -- or perhaps especially -- to those in the midst of crisis. A recent study by my... posted on Sep 26 2011, 12,579 reads

The Flip Side of Your Signature Strength
"As an executive coach interested in exploring what drives people to successes and failures, I have worked with hundreds of ambitious people including business executives, sports legends and Nobel laureates. One key discovery I made repeatedly over the last fifteen years is that there is a common driver to the successes and failures of the people I studied. I call this driver, the 'Signature Stren... posted on Sep 25 2011, 12,067 reads