love more, because she holds up a mirror to the deepest parts of our humanity—highlighting life’s nuances to make us taste, touch and feel the moment. Growing up in New York City the daughter of two photographers, Sarah was encouraged to “always look for the light.” Every day at school as a child, she would open up her lunchbox to a poem among her snacks, a small gift from her parents that taught her to pay attention to the world and find joy in it. At age 14, her heart bursting with poetry and chutzpah, she performed at the famous Bowery Poetry Club, uncertain of the work but compelled to share it anyway. It was a defin... posted on Jun 17 2018 (10,589 reads)

amazing things about her. Then in that moment they’d really get to know her, and she became a human to them rather than a collection of failing body parts. And after that they had a different view of disability as well. Because disability isn’t a deficit within a person, it’s a deficit in a culture that doesn’t accept or enable a person for who they are. Evie had such magnetism as a tiny human. I could see how she would draw people in, how her fragility and pure joy disarmed people and softened them, and encouraged them to see beyond her disability. She helped bring perspective and healing to people in very meaningful ways. And I had the sense that this was h... posted on Aug 27 2018 (8,793 reads)

shouted to encourage her. “Push! Push!” Wubetu, the second born, cried when he was old enough to join them outside the house to cheer for his siblings’ births. Grandma Lemlem Ambawu, Wubetu’s paternal grandmother, toothless, smiling and regal in garb that signifies her position as an elderly spiritual leader in the community’s Ethiopian Orthodox Church, was present for Wubetu’s birth, and she named him. Wubetu. He who brings joy and happiness. And handsome. Wubetu Shimelash ('20) was born the second of nine children in Argin, a village in the highlands of Ethiopia. He was born in 1995 at an auspicious time &mdas... posted on Nov 13 2018 (19,493 reads)

see this sky as an image of my inner movements. Hesse’s love of nature received much criticism even from his friends in a time when the speed of trains and cars and then airplanes brought a fascination and even an obsession with the machine, with the rapidly progressing technologies promising to deliver a tangible utopia and final liberation from the unwelcome constraints nature places upon us: My friends and foes know this about me and scold me for not sharing their pride and joy and their faith in technology so dominant in our times. I do not believe in the idea of progress, I do not believe in the glory and greatness of our world today or any of the leading ideologies, b... posted on Jun 9 2019 (8,501 reads)

as the whole world goes brown.  I knelt just off the path, lifting up Jack’s hood.  Women with wet shoes and rain-splattered pants began to exclaim and ask to “see closer.”   They began to move aside for others and draw my attention to other blossoms.  Now other voices joined in.  It seems this group had two trained botanists, Sharon and Susan, who were awakening little drawers in their memory to pull out Latin and common names.  The shared joy right there in that spot made me realize that Debby had been right almost a year ago.   This amazing ball of energy and optimism, Debby Stewart, is an avid birder and reader of good b... posted on Jul 22 2019 (4,925 reads)

to deny what’s happening or run from it — we can’t. There is no use wallowing in despair — we mustn’t. What we can and must do is be attentive to our souls in the midst of our work for better days. This is where “Spirit Bathing” comes in. It is a form of soul care. Spirit Bathing invites the worried and beleaguered into the flowing waters of grace and reassurance. It cleanses and soothes and refreshes our souls with goodness that is still with us, joy that is still in us, and laughter that bubbles up against all efforts to stamp it out. Spirit Bathing is highly individual in practice, but certain universal forms draw us in. One, of course, i... posted on Dec 6 2019 (7,039 reads)

getting a lot of freedom to do what you really want to do” says Venkat. Venkat’s story is of mass-scale tangible impact, yet it’s also an equally powerful invisible story of ripple effect of being-the-change - his life has deeply inspired many to adopt a life of greater generosity. Venkat deeply cares about social impact and at the same time, he sees giving as its own reward and has actually turned down many prestigious awards and is not driven by milestones, but deeply enjoys the journey each day, each moment. He says “Give till it Hurts” and he has, but yet in his last 25 years of service he has never regretted one single act of giving. His life is a beau... posted on Jul 28 2020 (5,307 reads)

in a book about a historic epidemic, published during a historic pandemic, Farmer writes about where we go from here, in the thick of COVID-19 and ongoing, extreme health inequities across the world. “I think the big story,” Farmer said, “is that we have to keep pushing forward health system strengthening, whether we're talking about Sierra Leone or the United States.” In the interview below, Farmer provides an inside look at the book and talks about grief, joy, history, and the role of proximity in global health. This is an expansive work—you take us through the 2014 crisis as well as an in-depth history of West Africa. And perhaps one of the m... posted on Dec 16 2020 (3,642 reads)

through, lands like kind of a relief; like, “Oh, that’s something we could do. That’s something we could learn. That’s something we could do together.” Burger:That word has great dignity. And I think that’s signaling that we need to honor our grief. And it’s one of the many things I think we run away from. One of the things we’re taught to run away from is grief. There are other things, too; I think we’re taught to run away from great joy, also. And I’m a follower of a great Hasidic master, named Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, who passed away in 1810 and lived in the Ukraine. And he really emphasized the softening of the heart, th... posted on Feb 25 2021 (6,311 reads)

natural state of the mind is like calm, still water, teaches Michael Singer. The practice of spiritual surrender—to “relax and release” our resistance to whatever arises in our experience—is the pathway to enjoying serenity of mind no matter what the universe throws your way. In this podcast, Michael Singer uses the analogy of an aquatic bird maintaining its balance on rough water to illustrate what to do and what not to do if we want to stay poised and upright when life gets turbulent. [You can listen to the audio of this podcast here.] TAMI SIMON: Welcome to the Michael Singer Podcast. Michael Singer is the author of two widely influential New ... posted on Dec 31 1969 (114 reads)

from On Being, of an interview between Krista Tippett and Jane Hirshfield. You can listen to the audio of this interview here. Transcription by Heather Wang  Krista Tippett:The esteemed poet Jane Hirshfield has been a Zen monk and a visiting artist among neuroscientists. She’s said this: “It’s my nature to question, to look at the opposite side. I believe that the best writing also does this … It tells us that where there is sorrow, there will be joy; where there is joy, there will be sorrow … The acknowledgement of the fully complex scope of being is why good art thrills … Acknowledging the fullness of things,” she insists... posted on Jan 12 2022 (4,521 reads)

Evergreen State College and something cracked open in me in such an immense, radically different and wildly profound way that it changed my style of creative expression, my perspective and my life for ever more. A Great and Mysterious Something had rushed through me. This Great Something was a poem but so much more than a poem. It was a catalyzing, paradigm tipping flood of enlivened inspired energy that carved a new channel in my being. The words were elegant and exact, unlocking and joyful, precise and free, inspired and loving. The poem came through me as fast as I could write it, in no more than two minutes and needed almost no editing. What came through in this experien... posted on Apr 6 2022 (4,285 reads)

written, “alive and alert to the holy communion of the human condition, which takes place on more altars than anyone can count.” She’s written other books since, with titles like An Altar in the World, Learning to Walk in the Dark, and Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others. Being in the presence of Barbara Brown Taylor’s wonderfully wise and meandering mind and spirit, after all these years of knowing her voice in the world, is a true joy. I might even use a religious word — it feels like a “blessing.” And this is not a conversation about the decline of church or about more and more people being “spiritual b... posted on Aug 26 2023 (4,230 reads)

that is already within you," she says. Power of One Looking for a way that she could use her job as a flight attendant to serve the world, Nancy Rivard thought of an idea: volunteers could deliver medical supplies, school materials and plain old love to needy children in the United States and abroad, travelling at the same low fares airline employees receive. "I knew that if I could expose people to the types of helping experiences I'd had, they would find the same joy and fulfillment," she says. Nancy wanted to share the love she was so vividly experiencing. Excited about her proposals, she took them to upper management, where she was working. But all her ... posted on Oct 9 2012 (18,456 reads)

Saturday’s race. Van Beek watched Maddy complete the Grand Rapids Marathon in 2009 with The Ride of Their Lives program, a local club that pushes disabled children and adults in events like the River Bank Run. That’s when Van Beek decided he wanted to be the one pushing Maddy. The Van Beeks also have a daughter, Rachel, 14, and a son, Hunter, 8, and they participate in a number of sports. But with running, Van Beek finally had an activity that he and his daughter can enjoy together. But he had to make some big lifestyle changes before he could chase his dream. "I wouldn’t say that it has been easy," he said. "We do spend tons of time w... posted on Oct 16 2012 (12,396 reads)

different set of rules.  The boundaries aren’t so easy to decipher.  Your state of being inherently affects my state of being. This isn’t feel-good talk. It’s actual science. Research shows that, in close proximity, when people feel connected, their individual heart-beats actually start to synchronize -- even with zero physical contact.  In neuroscience, the discovery of mirror neurons has shown us that we literally do feel each other’s pain -- and joy.   And joy is *definitely* not a zero-sum game.  The law of abundance says that if I give you a smile, that's not one less smile for me.   The more I smile, the more I *do... posted on May 27 2013 (548,948 reads)

several decades, you have been living a rather privileged life—one filled with the entitlement of being free from many societal obligations in order to think, to learn, to reason, to question, and to create. It is now time for you to more fully appreciate that gift by continuing to be a studious student for the rest of your life. As you do so, in Life 2.0, you will add on the commitment of making your community and your nation better in every way that you can. For me, my continual joy in being a somewhat ever-older student means that I am always filled with curiosity and wonder, asking why, discovering how, challenging ignorance, and demanding evidence for all assertions by the... posted on Jul 25 2013 (119,743 reads)

I did not revisit the location until 1990 when all of a sudden I discovered that I had all these primal impressions of what it's like to be home in nature. The smells of Hawaii, the sounds of the surf, of all the places that I've recorded in Hawaii, and I've recorded all the islands in Hawaii for an exhibit on endangered species for the Smithsonian Institution because Hawaii, unfortunately, has the title of highest density of endangered species. But I found the sound that I enjoyed most was the sound of the silence in the volcano. The measurement of decibels actually goes into the minus point, but there still is a sense of presence, of where you are. Then once you get over... posted on Oct 18 2013 (38,942 reads)

patterns and linkages between disease and poverty, the relationship between social justice and life expectancy and how the battle then, as now, was about dignity and human rights. And here is the point as you go forward. Somehow, these two sides of our national health debate--one outward looking at social justice and inclusion and one looking inward at high quality patient care that is exclusionary, met then and must meet now on sacred ground, sharing the profound obligation -- and great joy -- of improving the health of the people. The fire of that battle in the 60s and early 70s catalyzed great expansion in public health. New areas of study and practice - medical care organizatio... posted on Oct 25 2013 (17,939 reads)

like this entry from March 2012, on the third anniversary of the Kepler telescope launch. She wrote: "I am inspired by the way that science connects us to one another, transcending borders, transcending time. I am inspired by the way that science is reuniting us with the universe, with these distant places in the galaxy which are becoming destinations — real worlds in their own right with their own stories and … who knows what else." Ms. Tippett: I've really enjoyed just digging into things you've written, interviews you've given, watching the panel you were on at World Science Festival and also looking at your Facebook page, which is wonderfully pr... posted on Jan 29 2014 (26,398 reads)