When my father succumbed to Parkinson’s at the age of 61, it forever sensitized my brain to all things Parkinson’s. My spirits have been buoyed over the years to learn about advances in science that show great promise for, if not curing the disease, at least improving the quality of life for those suffering from it.

So when a celebrity like Michael J. Fox talks about his experiences living with Parkinson’s, I listen. He was interviewed recently on ABC’s Good Morning America show, highlighting his new book Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. What especially struck me about the interview was what he learned when visiting the Himalayan country of Bhutan.   Read more...

My World, My Choice! is an educational program that engages students to make sustainable choices. Sustainable individual choice is the atomic linchpin of sustainable living and decision-making. It is the integral core from which stem the well-being of business, society and the environment.

The first step to making sustainable choices is to understand the meaning of sustainability - which is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Young children, being the future generation, are the ideal recipients of this educational program - for this is the best age in which to sow the seeds of understanding of the sustainability principle.   Read more...

Have you ever entered a food service setting and asked for your order “to go?” Most likely you were supplied with a foam, polystyrene container. Perhaps as you loaded your food into the container there was a moment of guilt, as you reflected on the end destination of that container.

Each year millions of hinged lid, disposable containers end up in the landfill. These containers take centuries to decompose. Unfortunately these disposable containers are just part of a much larger problem: a society and economy that is built on consuming and producing waste.

Fortunately there is a solution, at least to the issue of disposable containers.   Read more...

A Monday Washington Post article discusses what appears to be a good news front moving in: cases of swine flu are diminishing and several economic indicators are shuffling in the direction of "up." Along with these changes, there's a dramatic shift in optimism, much of it centered around the president.

So has one man really made a difference? In a way, yes. Optimism and confidence are contagious. And once people are confident, they are in a better position to help themselves.   Read more...

Ubuntu is an African concept of coexisting with other people, of compassion, of responsibility to other people. Although it's not as widespread in the US, for example, as the Christian concept of charity, it crops up now and again, frequently in interesting places (such as the name for a linux interface). Watching this Global Oneness video is a good way to get a handle on the concept and appreciate this wonderful aspect of African culture.   Read more...

When I need to think, I think out loud. Silent reflection is a lonely interior affair, whereas saying one's thoughts audibly splits the self into speaker and listener and turns monologue into dialogue. Nor is any dialogue quite so enjoyable as a dialogue with oneself.   Read more...

Living in Japan, I'm amazed by the bonsai displays of local people who keep their collections as a hobby. One of my favorites is a treasure trove of about one hundred chrysanthemums in the yard of an older gentleman. Some of the plants stand close to five feet tall and have one massive bloom each. Other varieties are short and dense and have been shaped to look like colorful clouds.

Out for a stroll one day, I noticed the flowers looking more robust than ever. My neighbor was bent over inspecting the leaves of a large, blooming chrysanthemum, and I finally decided to strike up a conversation.   Read more...

When Marc Stephen's wife went into labor suddenly, he simply googled "how to deliver a baby" and found instructional videos on YouTube. He then helped deliver their fourth child, safe and sound. Of delivering a baby for the first time, without doctors, nurses or midwives, he said: "The videos gave me peace of mind. I think I would have coped, but watching videos made things much easier."

The whole episode is a rather stunning example of the incredible ability of humans to cope with emergencies. Admittedly, humans have been giving birth long before modern hospitals or drugs existed, but even so, I'm impressed at the confidence of a man delivering a baby for the first time after watching a few online videos. I'm also impressed at the trust of his wife.   Read more...

The evolution and transformation of the universe, what Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry called "Cosmogenesis" in their book relating the story of the universe, proves more compelling than the guesswork that comprises our previous mythos.

That mythos has much to teach us about ourselves, but its lessons only become comprehensible against the backdrop provided by the investigative and historical sciences. Brian Swimme's various DVDs and CDs, especially the "Powers of the Universe" set, found at www.brianswimme.org, intensely and thoughtfully relate what we've learned about whence we came and where we might go together if we wake up to the wonder and the challenges of our steps not only to an ecology of mind but an ecology of mindful coevolution.   Read more...

This book is a gem. Whether you’re new to the notion and practices of holistic medicine and body/mind/spirit consciousness, or a forty-year veteran, Jesse Dylan’s new book, The Good Life, deserves a place in your library and consideration as a perfect gift for a friend or loved one. It is a comprehensive, clear and highly accessible compendium of both the most fundamental wisdom and the latest state-of-the-art knowledge, that promote personal health, happiness and peace.   Read more...