Our Job Is To Sing: An Interview with David Baker
"I have hundreds of pages of notes about whales and plastiglomerates and the whale fall and what happens in the oceans and fishing, and I just wasn't happy with the poem that I was writing. At the same time, I was trying to think about writing a poem about my illness. We didn't even know what it was 25 years ago when I first got sick--something called M.E. I began to take notes for that, too. I've... posted on May 06 2023, 1,244 reads

Son of a Sweeper
In India where caste discrimination is still rampant in many parts of the country, Vimal Kumar, the self-described "son of a sweeper," and member of the Dalit community, is committed to creating new futures for those from backgrounds like his, who are often seen as invisible or less than. A documentary profiling his life's work, tells the inspiring story of how Kumar formed the Movement for Scaven... posted on May 05 2023, 1,248 reads

Thirsty for Wonder
"Contemplative life flows in a circular pattern: awe provokes introspection, which invokes awe. Maybe you're making dinner and you step outside to snip chives from the kitchen garden just as the harvest moon is rising over the easterslopes. She is full and golden, like one of those pregnant women who radiate from within. Suddenly you cannot bear the beauty. Scissors suspended in your hand, tears p... posted on May 04 2023, 2,809 reads

Letting Flowers Lead: The Way of Ikebana
To Mayuka Yamazaki, a high-level business executive, ikebana -- the ancient Japanese art of floral creations -- is not just about arranging flowers. It is about attuning to the wisdom and beauty of nature and enriching our experience of being human. As a master of the art, she explains that ikebana is a word derived from the verb ikeru (to bring alive) and hana (flowers), or combined, "letting flo... posted on May 03 2023, 2,350 reads

Sacred Time
"Beneath the thin surface layer of our present consciousness--a world of rushed days and time crushed into ever shorter segmentsis the older world of the collective psyche, the archetypal world that used to be known as the domain of the gods. Here time moves more slowly, according to ancient rhythms. This is the home of Kronos, the primordial god of time, whose rhythm is like the movement of the s... posted on May 02 2023, 3,346 reads

The Future of Intelligence
"Tech and thought leaders en masse signed an open letter in March, authored by the Future of Life Institute, calling for a six-month pause or a moratorium, if required, on developing large language models past GPT-4.0. The letter describes how this tech is simply too dangerous to proceed headfirst without first thinking through, collectively, what it is we are doing. What follows is a trialogue lo... posted on May 01 2023, 1,887 reads

A Whetstone to the Spirit: An Interview with Barbara Kingsolver
"I'm reluctant to give advice to people Ive never met. Every relationship is unique. I can only say whats worked for me as a parent, and to boil it down to its essence, its this: I trust my animal instincts. Regardless of our myriad plans, were hardwired for reproduction. Pregnancy is the most natural of processes, not a medical condition, and parenting follows from there. All this hard work is ba... posted on Apr 30 2023, 1,845 reads

Rustling Roots: Engaging Ecological Education
Is there a place in today's society where you can live in harmony with the Earth? How far would you have to travel to find it? Rustling Roots lies hidden inside Louisa County, VA, close to Charlottesville, Richmond, and Washington, DC and within 500 miles of half of the US population. There you can find a community striving to live in peace with the world around them.... posted on Apr 29 2023, 1,438 reads

Barbara McAfee: Voice as Vocation
A master voice coach, author, and singer/songwriter, Barbara McAfee has worked 25+ years midwiving voices across thresholds. Whether it is an individual seeking to express deep truth, or a group looking to embrace its power, she guides them on an intimate journey to find their unique voice, sound by primal sound. Your voice is how you get the gift inside of you out. Nothing much happens in the wor... posted on Apr 28 2023, 2,473 reads

The Men of Rice: A Conversation with Eduardo del Conde
"They were working with big baskets. They would cut a few rice plants at a time and hit them on edge of the basket so the rice seeds would shake out. It was like a dance. It was a very beautiful place. It was one of those days when you feel completely overwhelmed." So recounts photographer Eduardo del Conde, telling of his first encounter with field workers harvesting rice south of Mexico City. Li... posted on Apr 27 2023, 1,189 reads