Woolf wrote in her diary. Few writers have come to write about it — and to it — more directly than the novelist, poet, and environmental activist Wendell Berry, who describes himself as “a farmer of sorts and an artist of sorts.” In his wonderful and wonderfully titled essay collection What Are People For? (public library), Berry addresses with great elegance our neophilic tendencies and why innovation for the sake of novelty sells short the true value of creative work. Novelty-fetishism, Berry suggests, is an act of vanity that serves neither the creator nor those created for: Works of pride, by self-called creators, with their premium on... posted on Feb 1 2015 (27,318 reads)

out there, ready to derail even the most talented of people, “showing up” regularly offers undeniable benefits. Some of these perks often go overlooked. For those excited to make progress this year, let’s keep in mind all of the advantages at our disposal when we have an enviable attendance record: Consistency begets consistency. A person in motion stays in motion, unless acted upon by a Netflix binge session. The creative mind is much like machinery. Too much work and you overload it, too little and a decrepit state of rusty thinking awaits you. Keep the process humming by allowing the steady flow of work to never let the mental cobwebs settle. When you... posted on Apr 23 2015 (168,551 reads)

until we came. And there’s room for us to grow. Right now we’re kindergarten to sixth. But we have classrooms for grades seven and eight. After that we hope to have other schools; we’re prototyping to have many more urban public charters that are Waldorf inspired. But they’re always going to be small schools. So this building is perfect because it’s just the right size. RW: You’ve made it quite wonderful. So this is a public school; how does that work? Ida: Yes, it’s a public school and totally free for our children. That means I have to work very hard on fundraising. The state (in other words, our tax dollars) pays a fixed amount pe... posted on Aug 24 2015 (7,527 reads)

met Peter Kalmus at a ServiceSpace gathering in Santa Clara, in the heart of Silicon Valley. All of us had introduced ourselves in a circle and something about the way Peter described his work as a scientist in environmental studies stood out. Immediately I wanted to know more about him and his work and fortunately, he was able to make some time for an interview. We started at the beginning. Richard Whittaker: So you grew up in Illinois? Peter Kalmus: Yes, outside of Chicago. I remember in high school, I went for a walk. I was going to a friend's house and I was walking past all these houses; it was the evening, sort of dark. In every house, there were blue flickering lights goin... posted on Oct 11 2020 (17,714 reads)

he’s running an errand. MS. TIPPETT: And she’s visiting, right? She’s just visiting for six weeks. DR. DOTY: Exactly. Just there for the summer. MS. TIPPETT: Yeah. There’s so much that’s so amazing about this story, but there’s a passage that really struck me where she’s — and I think maybe it was that very first day that you wandered in, and she said to you — or you were having a discussion with her about, why do magic tricks work? And there you were talking about the traditional magic tricks. And she said to you, “The brain, as busy as it can be, is actually very lazy.” That this is why magic tricks work. &ldq... posted on Apr 17 2016 (30,741 reads)

inspired by Charles Darwin, who wrote in 1872 The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals, where he had really described how our emotions are mammalian. They aren't just humans, they aren't just Victorian, they are mammalian. Darwin drew upon his observations of his babies and his dog and chimpanzees at the London Zoo and other kinds of data to arrive at this notion that we have these mammalian emotions. Paul Ekman came along and really presented the science, this way of doing that work, of coding facial muscle movements. What happens when you do that science, is you learn this coding system. It really changes your life, and it certainly changed mine. It takes about 100 hours... posted on Nov 4 2016 (30,430 reads)

boring rather than kind of Hogwarts-y, and I prefer to keep it Hogwarts-y because I feel like the only realm in our lives where it’s safe and actually beneficial to have magical thinking is in the realm of creativity. 3. Make something, do something, do anything. If you have a creative mind, it’s a little bit like owning a border collie. You have to give it something to do or it will find something to do, and you will not like the thing it finds to do. So if you go to work and you leave your border collie unattended and unexercised in your apartment, you’re going to come home and find out that that border collie gave itself a job, and the job that it gave its... posted on Jan 11 2017 (28,151 reads)

appropriate behavior by employees and control the behavior of organizational members towards one another.” Culture tells us what is acceptable and unacceptable. It alerts us to whether it is okay to show up a little late for a meeting, how we should be dressed when we arrive, and whether bringing up difficult issues in the room will be viewed favorably. It influences how we treat each other, talk to each other, and is a factor in the way we view and interact with our coworkers and customers. Culture shows up as a similarity in the way people behave at work, regardless of their rank, title, or serial number. As Margaret J. Wheatley writes in Leadership a... posted on Oct 22 2017 (11,953 reads)

is more to life than increasing its speed. – Mahatma Gandhi It’s the status symbol no one talks about, woven into our work, play, homes, and family lives. It takes up space on our calendars, to-do lists, and endless roster of appointments and meetings. It can leave us exhausted or invigorated, constantly tugging at our drive to do more, give back, and leave our mark. It can be a source of increased stress and frequent complaints one minute, and unbridled joy the next. Busyness is the new currency by which we measure our success, our fulfillment, and ultimately, the richness of our lives. “In certain cultures, spending your time relaxing, spending your ti... posted on Dec 26 2017 (20,586 reads)

around and people are exposed to positive news, see acts of kindness and learn of human goodness?  This was the question that Dr. David Fryburg asked himself after experiencing what he calls a “sort of news-induced depression”. He learned of studies suggesting the negative physiological effects that negative news could cause, and he began wondering about the importance of balance. So David, a physician and research scientist, as well as a keen photographer with published works and solo exhibits – together with his oldest son Jesse in 2014 – started a non-profit to promote kindness, compassion, and empathy. The organization, Envision Kindness, brings t... posted on Feb 27 2018 (14,629 reads)

you recognize that we all got issues. [laughter] MS. TIPPETT: I’m Krista Tippett, and this is On Being. [music: “Seven League Boots” by Zöe Keating] MS. TIPPETT: This conversation unfolded at the 2018 On Being Gathering at the 1440 Multiversity, among the redwoods of Scotts Valley, California. MS. TIPPETT: So we have an hour now with Rami Nashashibi and Lucas Johnson. Rami is the founder and leader of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, known as IMAN. It is, I would say, a holistic approach to presence and healing in the inner city, through the lens, through the approach of working with — initially, when you started at a ... posted on Aug 19 2018 (5,334 reads)

hole in my stomach… I didn’t know what to call it, but I was not happy. I ended up diagnosing myself as an emotional analphabet -- I was emotionally illiterate. I have always been a curious man so I decided to do more research to better understand what was happening to me. I read somewhere that my symptoms matched what was called: “The Unhappy Successful Man Syndrome”. And this syndrome was so common that it had been catalogued. Many people around the world are working hard in big companies, climbing the ladder with a lot of sacrifice and dedication and when they arrive to the top of that ladder they realize they have put the ladder on the wrong wall. A stro... posted on Sep 2 2018 (14,992 reads)

and a renewed, grateful interest in life. What sparked the founding of Inner Strength Foundation? How is ISF distinct from other school-based mindfulness programs? In 2014, I moved to Philadelphia, the poorest of America’s ten largest cities. I brought with me 35 years of in-depth contemplative practice. I wanted to see if there was a way to share the fruits of what I’d experienced more broadly and have a positive impact on the culture around me. The opportunity to work with teens came about somewhat serendipitously, and I found that it was perfect for a number of reasons. Teens are at that age where they are contemplating the purpose of their lives, what they w... posted on Mar 11 2019 (5,889 reads)

following is based on the July 8th, 2017 Awakin Call with Thom Bond. Thom Bond brings 27 years of study and training experience in human potential to his work as a writer, speaker and workshop leader. His passion and knowledge of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) combine to create a practical, understandable, humorous, and potentially profound approach for learning and integrating skills that help us experience more compassion and understanding. Thom is a founder and the Director of Education for The New York Center for Nonviolent Communication. He is best known as the creator and leader of The Compassion Course, a comprehensive online NVC-based training, Since 2011, more than 14,00... posted on Jul 11 2020 (7,844 reads)

was really just coming into its own. And so I just — I wonder how you would start to tell the story of — in your lifetime, the emergence of — the difference between what you thought you were going into when you, I guess, decided, maybe — what was it? — that you wanted to study psychiatry, and how you’ve watched that develop; what’s been fascinating to you to be part of, about that. Dr. Yehuda:Well, it was fascinating from the very beginning. My work in graduate school was focused on stress hormones, and there was a great deal of interest in understanding the biologic response to stress. And then, in the ’70s… Ms. Tippett:Was ... posted on Jul 25 2020 (6,772 reads)

Gaia Mandala Global Healing Community is a growing circle of people from around the world who are hearing the call of the Earth to wake up and engage with the great work of our time: to participate in restoring balance and harmony to the web of life. The Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Project lies at the heart of this community – planting clay vases filled with offerings of protection and healing around the world. The project’s Gaia Mandala Sangha — a spiritual community grounded in Buddhist tradition but open to all — exists as an in-person and online community with regular meditation and retreat offerings, including a monthly full moon meditation and oppo... posted on Aug 2 2020 (8,251 reads)

collective anxiety about transitioning from the first Black U.S. president. So focusing on that human anxiety that was there and was going to be there, whoever had won the election, you make this statement that I find so compelling and stark. And this — I just want to delve into this with you. You say: “We cannot have a healed society, we cannot have change, we cannot have justice, if we do not reclaim and repair the human spirit,” if we don’t do inner work, as you say in another place, that has been underemphasized. That we have not trained ourselves to do the work that is upon us now. Rev. williams:No, we haven’t. We haven’t; and we... posted on Sep 28 2020 (4,591 reads)

Sharon Blackie is an international teacher and renowned writer whose work weaves together psychology, mythology, and ecology to reveal how our cultural myths have led us to the individual and collective social and environmental problems we face today and how reconnection with our more ancient mythology would better serve our relationship with the Earth, our souls, and the cosmos. With a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience from the University of London, as well as master’s degrees in creative writing and Celtic studies, she is the author of the novel, The Long Delirious Burning Blue, the nonfiction, If Women Rose Rooted, and The Enchanted Life: Unlocking t... posted on Oct 17 2020 (7,567 reads)

If you’d like to learn more or feel inspired to become a supporter, please visit SoundsTrueFoundation.org. You’re listening to Insights at the Edge. Today, my guest is Dr. Elaine Aron. Elaine Aron earned her PhD in clinical depth psychology as well as interning at the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco. Elaine Aron literally wrote the book on The Highly Sensitive Person in 1998. She coined the term, and since then she’s dedicated her life and her teaching work to educating people and doing research on what it means to be a highly sensitive person. With Sounds True, Elaine Aron has created a new audio training program called The Highly Sensitive Pe... posted on Nov 17 2020 (9,200 reads)

listening to Insights at the Edge. Today is a rebroadcast of one of my favorite episodes. I hope you enjoy. You’re listening to Insights at the Edge. Today my guest is Coleman Barks. Coleman Barks is a leading scholar and translator of the 13th century Persian mystic, Jalaluddin Rumi. He taught poetry and creative writing at the University of Georgia for 30 years and is the author of numerous Rumi translations and has been a student of Sufism since 1977. His work with Rumi was the subject of an hour-long segment in Bill Moyers’ Language of Life series on PBS. With Sounds True, Coleman Barks has released the audio programs I Want Burni... posted on May 29 2021 (5,291 reads)