humble. Knowing how intellectually humble you are isn’t an easy task, and being intellectually humble itself isn’t any easier! At the heart of these difficulties lie human characteristics and biases that we all share: We self-enhance, we’re prone to defensiveness in disagreements, we judge books by their covers, and the list goes on. Yet, the science tells us that fostering these four aspects of intellectual humility can help you learn new things, improve your relationships, and create a less divided world. 

If you’d like to dig deeper and take a science-based quiz assessing your intellectual humility, please visit our new Greater Good&nb... posted on Jul 24 2022 (4,340 reads)

have to face a lifetime of suffering and struggle. Researchers Jonathan Rottenberg and Todd Kashdan examined prior surveys from over 4,000 U.S. adults and nearly 16,000 U.S. adolescents who had been diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorder, or who had attempted suicide. People were considered to be “thriving” if they were doing better than 75% of their peers who hadn’t received such diagnoses, measured in terms of their positive and negative emotions, personal growth, relationships, purpose, self-acceptance, and more.  For example, 10 years after being diagnosed with depression, about 10% of adults were thriving. Although that might sound like a small numbe... posted on Feb 4 2023 (7,844 reads)

manner, at ideas that can only be grasped from the side In the tea room it is left for each guest in imagination to complete the total effect in relation to himself. The art of the extreme Orient has purposely avoided the symmetrical as expressing not only completion, but repetition. Uniformity of design was considered as fatal to the freshness of imagination. (Book of Tea) Asymmetry invites an engagement with elements of dissimilar types. As you place them in creative new relationships — a rusted old hook and a verse from the Buddha — energy is released, catalyzing our thinking with every connection. [...] Neither the Same nor Opposite: Asymmetry... posted on Mar 6 2023 (2,457 reads)

(2022) by Neil Douglas-Klotz. For a longer excerpt and more information, please see: www.revelationsofthearamaicjesus.com Why consider Jesus’ sayings in this language, much less use them in prayer or meditation? Language determines our way viewing the world. Languages have different words for the same thing, but also unique words that cannot be put into words in another language. In ancient languages, these unique expressions were all about the way people perceived their relationships to nature, other human beings, and Reality itself (a reality often translated “God”). Aramaic offers a way of looking at life as an interrelated whole, not simply at spiri... posted on Mar 22 2023 (3,655 reads)

your behalf, on my behalf, maybe it just takes a little bit of nothing. Anyway, I suppose that's the response. Steve: Yeah, that's interesting. And our culture, most cultures, do not provide any sort of support or training - not that it necessarily needs training - but this idea that you're talking about, or rather the experience that you're talking about, is not something that we're raised with. It's not normal. We almost have to discover it on our own in our relationships with others. And it actually reminds me of -- this is the last comment I'll make before I switch over to the audience questions -- but it reminds me of a filmmaker in Alaska who I gr... posted on Apr 11 2023 (3,100 reads)

forged by a process of slow incubation and incremental becoming, and that how we govern our interiority — how we tend to those processes as they shape us — shapes every outward expression of our lives. Khan writes: The capacity for lying fallow is a function of the process of personalization in the individual. This process of personalization achieves its sentient wholeness over a slow period of growth, development and acculturation, and its true matrix is a hierarchy of relationships… This is a long process and it is waylaid by many a traumata — personal, familial and social. But if all goes well — and it does, more often than not — what crys... posted on Apr 20 2023 (4,854 reads)

I want to name that, and that is hard. I hesitate to give advice, though what I will say is what I found helpful for me is to find those people and to invite people who do not judge me, people who would love me, people who love me and, to invite positive energy. In my case particularly, some of my friend groups kind of shifted. Cancer and other such diagnoses can be really scary for other people. Sometimes those people fade away. The other piece I found useful was to just release those relationships that clearly weren't serving me in that moment and to focus on the ones that were helpful. The other piece to this is that if you aren't already in a relationship with your bo... posted on Apr 21 2023 (3,648 reads)

and the idea is this: Stress makes you social. To understand this side of stress, we need to talk about a hormone, oxytocin, and I know oxytocin has already gotten as much hype as a hormone can get. It even has its own cute nickname, the cuddle hormone, because it's released when you hug someone. But this is a very small part of what oxytocin is involved in. Oxytocin is a neuro-hormone. It fine-tunes your brain's social instincts. It primes you to do things that strengthen close relationships. Oxytocin makes you crave physical contact with your friends and family. It enhances your empathy. It even makes you more willing to help and support the people you care about. Some peop... posted on Jun 7 2023 (14,833 reads)

person might notice a subtle sense that the forest has a mind of its own, full of vitality and vibrant interdependence. Another person might hear the grief cries of the sea.  Another might experience an electrifying, felt-sense of being witnessed – or called! – by a particular pine or stone.   Engaging directly, intimately, and imaginatively with other-than-human presences can enliven human awareness, which increases the likelihood of mutually beneficial relationships with all of life. In this fragile time of species extinctions, habitat loss, and climate disruption, becoming more sensitive to the longing-pains and voices of the wilder ones may be ess... posted on Jul 1 2023 (2,336 reads)

environmental causes. Now, these are some serious investors, but being 100 percent isn’t just about money; it’s about making a 100 percent commitment to ensuring your life reflects your values. As Kleissner says, “social transformation begins with personal transformation.” Just think of all the decisions you make every day, from the big to the mundane—where you invest your super, what you eat for dinner, where you buy your coffee, what you do for work, the relationships you have. Imagine if you could align these choices with your core beliefs. We’re on the road to doing that, and while we’re still working a lot of it out ourselves, this two-... posted on Aug 21 2023 (2,890 reads)

a little pocket neighborhood with two or three homes, or an eco-village with maybe a dozen homes, or a larger village with a few hundred people that’s relatively self-organizing and self-contained with its own gardens, or a transition town with hundreds of thousands of people, and so on. At every scale there will be adaptation and invention. As we shift our emphasis from the material side of life to the experiential, we’ll find new ways to contribute to the healing of the Earth and relationships at every level. It will be a much richer and more communal world where mature people are self-organizing their lives and consciously choosing how to live. Beneath these material changes,... posted on Jan 6 2021 (5,219 reads)

us alive on this wonderful planet. I'm so proud that you are continuing to work on this!” Access Your Love On the last day of his life, Ed worked until 5 p.m. with his son Peter, before peacefully passing on in the evening hours. In his last Zoom call that afternoon Ed led a 2½-hour online session with the OD Network. He concluded that call with a farewell that I had not heard him express explicitly before, but that I had often felt he embodied in his actions and relationships, particularly in the later years. “Love is what we bring to our clients. All the good we do comes from love.” Then he closed his remarks with “Enough said.” ... posted on Mar 1 2024 (2,721 reads)

preface and it talks about the culture of wealth supremacy. If B Corp is addressing the system and the structure of shareholder primacy, Marjorie Kelly talks about how the culture of wealth supremacy manifests. I've highlighted here something that hit me like a ton of bricks when I first read it, "Wealthy persons matter more than others." Think about how in your life you've observed the fact that wealthy persons seem to matter more than others. How does that show up implicitly in our social relationships, in our conversations and who we defer to, etc.?That is culture. And as famous management theorist Peter Drucker said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." And so that is where the inn... posted on Apr 16 2024 (1,644 reads)

all the accumulated anger or hurt. This then results in a far more uncomfortable conversation than the one we’d been avoiding in the first place. It is a natural human inclination to seek harmony and avoid disrupting peace. However, it is essential to recognize that true harmony arises from understanding and clear communication, not from the absence of confrontation. Addressing problems promptly and with candor not only can prevent a boiling point moment, but it also strengthens our relationships and builds trust. Where in your life might there be lines that need drawing, or conversations that must be initiated? “Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech ... posted on Apr 19 2024 (2,666 reads)

between someone's actions and someone's essence. And everyone has the essence of the sacred, of the divine.I think that's a shadow element that we have to deal with because you can just get incredibly stressed if you're constantly finding reasons to hate someone. I think that's an important shadow element. Yeah.Janessa: I'm going to try to squeeze in one more question before our final one. Here's from a caller:  "You've been with your husband for 50 years. Can you speak a bit about relationships as a spiritual practice? Or what are some important lessons you can share?" And you've worked with him, so that's pretty amazing.Mary Ann: Yes. We've worked with each other from the begi... posted on May 5 2024 (2,557 reads)