will more likely be able to anticipate the song’s emotional peaks and enjoy it more. The dopamine hit comes from having their predictions confirmed—or violated slightly, in intriguing ways. “It’s kind of like a roller coaster ride,” she says, “where you know what’s going to happen, but you can still be pleasantly surprised and enjoy it.” Salimpoor believes this combination of anticipation and intense emotional release may explain why people love music so much, yet have such diverse tastes in music—one’s taste in music is dependent on the variety of musical sounds and patterns heard and stored in the brain over the course of a... posted on Mar 6 2015 (29,976 reads)

on the streets at night until late hours. RW: So am I right in guessing that you came to no harm? SD: Never came to any harm, ever. Later in life when I went back to the ghetto to work, where it was all black, I was almost raped twice, but I talked them out of it. RW: That's a great skill. SD: Yeah. I know this skill. RW: You’ve grown up with the poor, the destitute and desperate or unhappy people and… SD: There's no bad; they're good. Because I just love people. I knew my life was different and I knew better than to share with my siblings what I was doing. RW: Were the nuns good to you? SD: The nuns were very nice to me, especially this one... posted on Apr 11 2015 (14,075 reads)

For example, better health insurance (resource in the world) could help with a chronic illness (issue in the body), and more self-confidence (resource in the mind) could help with the need to assert yourself at work (issue in the world). I’m going to focus here on resources in your mind: what I call inner strengths. These include:    *  Capabilities like mindfulness, emotional intelligence, resilience;    *  Positive emotions, such as gratitude, love, self-compassion;    *  Attitudes like openness, confidence, determination;    *  Somatic inclinations like relaxation, grit, helpfulness); and    ... posted on May 20 2015 (16,265 reads)

for art, life is difficult, hard to understand, useless, and mysterious." “As a person she is tolerant and easygoing, as a user of words, merciless,” the editors of The Paris Review wrote in the introduction to their 1992 interview with poet, short story writer, educator, and activist Grace Paley (December 11, 1922–August 22, 2007). Although Paley herself never graduated from college, she went on to become one of the most beloved and influential teachers of writing — both formally, through her professorships at Sarah Lawrence, Columbia, Syracuse University, and City College of New York, and informally, through her in... posted on Jul 31 2015 (12,476 reads)

And although poetry itself exerts a singular power over the human spirit, as one of the greatest poets of all time observed, it is hardly a power that comes easily to the poet: “Writing poetry is an unnatural act,” Elizabeth Bishop wrote when she was only twenty-three. So how, then, does one come to master this unnatural power — how does one become a Poet? That’s what the wise and wonderful Wendell Berry (b. August 5, 1934) — a man of great wisdom on solitude, love, and our “rugged individualism” — explores in a marvelous poem titled “How to Be a Poet (to remind myself),” found in his New Collected Poems (public library). We... posted on Oct 17 2015 (14,526 reads)

But for all I know, some of these kids could grow up to develop serious mental or physical health issues, or just turn out to be not very nice people! There’s no child who’s perfect, and no parent who doesn’t go through some form of hardship or challenge with their children at one time or another.” And at that moment, my feelings of intense isolation turned into feelings of deep connection with the other mothers at the park, and with all parents everywhere. We love our kids, but damn—it’s tough sometimes! As odd as it may sound, by practicing self-compassion as we muddle through, we don’t feel so alone. Fortunately, this isn’t jus... posted on Oct 19 2015 (29,127 reads)

by practice, and sharing gifts and resources. What differences in the definitions of "gift" and "gift economics" have come up in your research for the film? Any surprises? I think, at least initially, I started looking for more outward examples and manifestations of gift culture. As I started researching, I was excited to realize the gift economy is in the zeitgeist these days—along with the sharing economy, the collaborative economy. There is a line I love from The Gift: “There are interior economies and invisible economies.” Hyde uses fairytales and dreams to illustrate these kind of inner gift economies, and how they operate. I starte... posted on Nov 1 2015 (12,526 reads)

Frank has remembered decades later are the ones she will never really pay back. How could she—to the ancients, to the sky? The question of repayment doesn’t compute. These were the debts that called on her to be better and whose traces kept showing up in her art. They connected her to people. They also involved no collection agencies, no tarnished credit scores. To imagine what a financial system worth having looks like, we can begin with how we lend to and borrow from those we love. (It is written in the Book of Romans: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.”) In those circumstances, the chief reason for lending and borrowing isn’t profit for ... posted on Dec 7 2015 (8,805 reads)

do we feel shame and how does shame change us? According to Brené Brown, a researcher at the University of Houston, shame is an “intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.” It’s an emotion that affects all of us and profoundly shapes the way we interact in the world. But, depending on how we deal with it, shame can either shut us down or lead us to a new sense of bravery and authenticity. Brown’s research involved interviewing thousands of people about difficult, sensitive experiences in their lives, in order to uncover common themes around shameful experiences. Almost single-h... posted on Feb 25 2016 (20,634 reads)

who have no one,” she says with a lot of affection. You can see flashes of her life as she talks about her journey and how she became the “mother”. Being an unwanted child, she was nicknamed “Chindhi” which means a torn piece of cloth. Though her father supported her and was keen on educating her, she could not continue her studies after fourth grade due to family responsibilities and early marriage. The 68-year-old Sindhutai’s story is all about love, compassion and devotion as she has dedicated her life to the orphans. Born on born on 14 November, 1948 at Pimpri Meghe village in Wardha district of Maharashtra, she was keen on completing h... posted on Mar 13 2016 (28,760 reads)

bother to look. Nevertheless, someone sits quietly somewhere inside us and bears witness to all that goes on, without judging. It may take days, months or years after an event for us to realize what the witness has seen, but it’s a knowledge we can rest in even if we may flinch from it. The living truth helps us to be more wholly ourselves as it reshapes us into better persons. Here’s one truth I’ve uncovered. Although I want to be perfect and long to have everybody love me, I am sometimes an angry lady, a guilty lady, a self-pitying lady and a varsity self-attacker. But why attack the person who forgets her keys at home or leaves a low fire burning on in the sto... posted on Mar 26 2016 (16,248 reads)

following are my opinions, and do not reflect the opinions or policies of any particular prosecutor's office. (Laughter) I am a prosecutor. I believe in law and order. I am the adopted son of a police officer, a Marine and a hairdresser. I believe in accountability and that we should all be safe in our communities. I love my joband the people that do it. I just think that it's our responsibility to do it better. By a show of hands, how many of you, by the age of 25, had either acted up in school, went somewhere you were specifically told to stay out of, or drank alcohol before your legal age? (Laughter) All right. How many of you shoplifted, tried an illeg... posted on Apr 3 2016 (15,046 reads)

of how many tattoos they have, how threatening they superficially appear — when you give them the gift of recognizing their humanity, everything changes for so many. And what’s so sad is that you'll see these kids, they may be 18, 19. But when you talk to them, and you sit with them, and you listen to how much they’ve suffered, and you recognize in many ways they’re still children, and they’re just looking for that person who will embrace them and love them. It can be just really extraordinary. MS. TIPPETT: Yeah it is. We’ve just got a few more minutes. So I was watching a panel, I think it was a CCARE conference that you did in 2014. ... posted on Apr 17 2016 (30,810 reads)

journey as a parent of a specially-abled son has been one of extreme emotions – from disappointment to hope; from pain to joy; from love to anguish – it’s been a journey like never before. When Vivaan was born, one of my close friends sent me Kahlil Gibran’s famous poem On Children. The first verse in the poem is often quoted, but I would still like to share it here. Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. My journey as a parent of a differently abled son has been one of extreme emotions &ndash... posted on May 2 2016 (15,014 reads)

to the delight of receiving a postcard in the mail, this project manifests Ellie’s belief that there are infinite ways to spread joy through creativity and generosity. Anne and Ellie hope that these seeds of mindfulness and creativity find fertile ground throughout the world. Feel free to download the images and color them in. The act of coloring can be a simple exercise in mediation or a light-hearted creative process. Color beyond the lines and give them as gifts to yourself, loved ones, or strangers! Breathe As we watch ourselves breathe, we see what is within us constantly mingling with what is outside, and the truth of no solid, separate self becomes apparent. C... posted on Jun 1 2016 (17,127 reads)

open to yourself? If you start by not finding fault with yourself and not finding fault with your circumstances, then you’re not bitter about your failures. Then it’s much easier to be kind to other people because you’re not gritting your teeth. So there’s a spontaneous quality to actual kindness. Is kindness always a result of an authentic spiritual life? When you really stop believing your thoughts, you notice that you have more gratitude, appreciation, and love toward life. You realize that you can’t oppose your own life, so you feel this way even toward the people you thought were difficult because they’re part of your life, too. It’s... posted on Jul 6 2016 (17,573 reads)

Dance (Word Press 2008), which won the 2009 Paterson Award for Literary Excellence; More (C&R Press 2010); Gold (Cascade Books, a division of Wipf and Stock, in their Poeima Poetry Series, 2013); Small Rain (Purple Flag, an imprint of the Virtual Artists Collective, 2014); and Barbara Crooker: Selected Poems (FutureCycle Press, 2015). Margaret Rozga: When I reviewed your book Gold for Verse Wisconsin, I loved the joy, the optimism, in many of your poems, even those that pay their respects to sorrow. Those poems focus on your grief at your mother’s death, but in the third section of the boo... posted on Jul 26 2016 (11,108 reads)

the clinical. … Be metaphorical, be mystical, be whatever you need." I find here the implication that it is our deep regard for the human condition that moves us beyond the complacent and routine. It is in our profound respect for service to others that we touch mystery and wholeness. At the heart of integrative medicine is a bold invitation to go beyond the clinical, into regions that capture our hearts and imagination. Caring is fundamental. Nothing else really matters without love as an organizing principle. Or as one patient I know told her physician, "I just want someone who gives a damn." Caring relationships can and should be with our care providers, but t... posted on Aug 4 2016 (16,220 reads)

[laughs] I was homeless and just sort of walking around in a stupor in September and October. I was always looking for places to practice. I would practice over in that eucalyptus grove by the entrance to the UC Berkeley campus. RW:  You’d have your flute. MS:  Right. I had my flute with me. I discovered I was good at finding spots. I started sneaking into what’s called the Florence Schwimley Little Theater in the Berkeley High School complex. It’s a lovely little theater. I’d put a piece of cardboard in the door lock so when they left, I could just open the door and get in there, and I’d spend the whole night. I’d practice in th... posted on Aug 7 2016 (11,572 reads)

is a chosen narrative, then new stories, new aesthetics, are also new truths. A century after Rilke extolled the soul-expanding power of difficulty and urged us to “arrange our life according to that principle which counsels us that we must always hold to the difficult,” Hirshfield writes: Difficulty itself may be a path toward concentration — expended effort weaves us into a task, and successful engagement, however laborious, becomes also a labor of love. The work of writing brings replenishment even to the writer dealing with painful subjects or working out formal problems, and there are times when suffering’s only open path is through an ... posted on Sep 6 2016 (10,863 reads)