Mighty in Contradiction: Love Powerfully
"I used to think the opposite of love was hate. But life experience tells me that's not true. Hate is so tinged with other emotions, including love! No. In my understanding the opposite of love is power. Love accepts and embraces. Power refuses and crushes opposition. Love is kind and knows how to forgive. Power is competitive and takes others into account only when it stands in the Winner's Circl... posted on Apr 13 2023, 2,026 reads

How Did You Become A Writer?
"How did you become a writer? Is a question asked of me surprisingly often when I visit schools, which I much enjoy not only as part of my overarching subtle devious plan to get on the good side of the children who will soon run the world, but also for the consistent entertainment of their artlessly honest questions (the best ever: Is that your real nose?), and for the sometimes deeply piercing de... posted on Apr 12 2023, 1,774 reads

It's Not A Thing You Do. It's A Thing You Are
"I think people just want to feel like they're home like there's no one they have to be and there's nowhere else they have to be. Here we are. It's enough. You belong. There was never any condition to that, ever. You distance yourself and you say, "Well, they're wrong over there. They should believe what I believe." When all along, you could wrap your arms around them, everyone, no matter wha... posted on Apr 11 2023, 3,065 reads

Dandelions
"As new homeowners early in our marriage, I obsessed over making our yard dandelion-free. Every dandelion clock, or white blowball about to burst and blow into the wind, was a guilt-inducing sign that I hadn't caught them when I scoured our yard on my hands and knees days earlier, looking to pop them at the root. What kind of a homemaker would I be if our lawn weren't trimmed and verdant, no bligh... posted on Apr 10 2023, 2,437 reads

I Am Not Afraid
Barbara van Lodensteijn is a business psychologist and the founder of Vision Align. Her passion is working with leaders across the world who are making a positive difference. With a background in social studies and business psychology Barbara has worked in diverse settings including with vulnerable kids in crisis, inmates in maximum security prisons, with social enterprises, corporations and more.... posted on Apr 09 2023, 3,298 reads

Instructions on Not Giving Up
"I think, as poets, we are in the odd position of constantly defending our art form. Which is funny and also sort of invigorating, too. No one really says, "Oh you're a lawyer? I've never understood the law. In fact, I kind of hate it." Or, "Oh you wait tables? I didn't know that was something people did." I say it can be invigorating because, on some level, we have to evaluate what we do and why ... posted on Apr 08 2023, 3,989 reads

The Enneagram: Nine Pathways to Presence
"Russ Hudson is one of the world's foremost teachers and developers of the Enneagram personality typology system, having coauthored (with Don Richard Riso) five bestselling books on the subject...In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Russ about the original purpose of the Enneagram, how our personality types are linked to a deeper level of awareness, and how we can use the Enneagram system to co... posted on Apr 07 2023, 6,134 reads

The Dragonfly Incident
"I suppose this could be considered a 'wildlife encounter' story of sorts, though it presents some unusual twists. For one thing, the animal at the heart of this tale is a subarctic insect (and yet has nothing to do with the region's legendary mosquitoes). For another, odd things happen that aren't easily explained by either reason or chance. There are other curious turns, as well...The story begi... posted on Apr 06 2023, 4,905 reads

Four Ways We Avoid Our Feelings & What to Do Instead
"We are always vulnerable, with limited control over the things that matter to us. Maybe you want your brother to quit drinking or your kids to get along or your boss to stop being so critical, or you want to protect those you love from harm or you want an end to world hunger and climate change, or you want this magical moment where everyone is all together at Thanksgiving feeling so close and con... posted on Apr 05 2023, 6,002 reads

Billy Collins on the Beauty of Short Poems
Says former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins, "Whenever I pick up a new book of poems, I flip through the pages looking for small ones. Just as I might have trust in an abstract painter more if I knew he or she could draw a credible chicken, I have faith in poets who can go short." Short poems take center stage in his new collection, Musical Tables. More in this interview with NPR.... posted on Apr 04 2023, 2,028 reads