❤️ Kindness

• 🕊️‘The Best Form of Self-Interest’

  Explore the profound acts of forgiveness within religious communities as they confront unfathomable tragedies with grace and compassion.

• 🌍How Five Leaders Are Pursuing Business for the Greater Good

  An Inspiring Glimpse into the Heart of Conscious Capitalism

• 🌉Learning with L’Arche

  The groundbreaking community centered on people with intellectual disabilities will examine how to foster humility and compassionate love

• 🕯️Good art in dark times

  A thought-provoking exploration of the role of fiction in reflecting and transcending the darkness of our times.

• 🍽️Dinner with strangers

  Alain de Botton explores how religions foster community and encourage connection with strangers, inspired by rituals like the Catholic mass and Jewish Passover.

• 📚The joys and perils of overlapping reading

  Reflecting on the complexities of reading and the intertwining influences of contrasting narratives, the author shares a personal struggle with parallel reading of profound figures.

• 🙏Even if the hymns are impossible to sing

  An exploration of David Foster Wallace's complex relationship with faith and skepticism, revealing his struggles with church and belief.

• 🎥To take a work of art & to lavish time on it

  A reflection on the art of slow viewing and reading in our media-saturated world.

• 💔God help me to be human

  Richard Rodriguez reflects on César Chávez's vision of courage and suffering for others in the context of Mexican identity and dignity.

• ♿Give me a lever long enough and I shall move the world

  A remarkable student-designed all-terrain wheelchair utilizing standard bicycle parts for better accessibility in developing countries.

• 🎁You can’t give this stuff away

  A reflection on the challenges of altruism and trust in giving, as illustrated by two attempts to distribute money.

• 🌌Perfect boredom

  Exploring the intriguing nature of boredom and its potential beauty in a world of peace and familiarity.

• 🥦You Are What You Eat, photos by Mark Menjivar

  You can learn a lot about people by examining what's in their refrigerators, as shown in Mark Menjivar's insightful series.

• 🧵Reap what you sew

  Michael Swaine brings art to life by offering free clothing repairs in San Francisco's Tenderloin district.

• 🤝While the crisis lasted, people loved each other

  Quoting Dorothy Day.

• 🎄Attacking consumerism in the wrong place

  A humorous take on defending Christmas consumption against its critics.

• 😇The peril of sainthood

  Quoting Dorothy Day.

• 🧽Patience and fortitude

  Reflecting on Brother Lawrence's mindfulness in everyday tasks, like dishwashing, and the beauty of simplicity in our routine.

• 🌳The secret of successful sauntering

  Reflecting on the paradox of seeking solitude in nature during the turmoil of war through Thoreau's insights.

• 📸Wedding Preparations, Davao City, Philippines, by Ryan Anson

  This photograph beautifully captures the blend of activity and stillness during a wedding moment in Davao City.

• 😊Multi-touching

  A touching customer review highlights the impact of Proloquo2Go on a young woman's communication and integration with peers.

• 🕊️Courageous good humor

  Cory Doctorow shares how former KKK leader Johnny Lee Clary was transformed by the courageous and humorous approach of Reverend Wade Watts.

• 😇The utility of guilt

  An exploration of guilt's role in shaping morality and behavior in children and adults alike.

• 🧶Information, patterns, and wool

  This fascinating passage highlights the role of knitting in WWII propaganda and morale-building through the clever design of a British poster.

• 🎶Music, walking, and the power of presence

  Exploring the profound connection between movement, music, and empathy in Parkinson's disease.

• 🌱The power of weakness

  From Xavier Le Pichon, a reflection on the strength found in fragility and human connection.

• 👗Fashion fasts and feasts

  Exploring the concept of sustainable fashion through creativity and an enduring uniform, Sheena Matheiken's Uniform Project champions both style and social impact.

• 🌾A tale of two counties

  A conversation between two friends exploring the complexities of local culture and its impact on community health in small-town Kansas.

• 🍷Drinking less, online

  This exploration highlights a novel approach to temperance and addiction through a self-help program that emphasizes moderated drinking over complete abstinence.

• 🌍Forty-seven kinds of greens

  Reflecting on the insights of Fran Osseo-Asare about the complexity of African cuisines and the risks of ethnocentrism.

• 🗑️Sign your work!

  Yvonne Froud, a shopkeeper in Joys Green, Gloucestershire, has taken a creative approach to combat littering among local children by marking snack wrappers with their names and encouraging them to take responsibility for their waste.

• 🐣Applied semiotics

  This amusing reflection on "American-style Easter" highlights the quirky blend of commercialism and tradition.

• 🎗️Steeling their courage

  Ironworkers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Center honor young cancer patients with a heartfelt tradition of painting their names on structural girders.

• 🤡Holy fools

  A whimsical celebration of vocation unfolds in a church sanctuary, where clowns honor the laughter and legacy of their craft.

• 🎨Making wonderful curves

  A testament to community resilience and transformation through art in North Philadelphia.

• 🎤Hair Salon, Lhasa, Tibet, by Adam Dean

  A captivating look at the life of a KTV hostess preparing for a night shift in Lhasa, China, where entertainment often masks deeper societal issues.

• 📸Growing up in Haiti, by Alice Smeets

  A poignant reflection on the powerful photography of children in Haiti by Alice Smeets.

• ✝️Africa and missionaries, pt. 1

  In reflecting on Matthew Parris's insights, I find myself both appreciative of his observations and critical of his reasoning regarding faith's impact in Africa.

• 🎻We cannot know what to expect

  Michael Bérubé discusses the evolving expectations of children with Down syndrome in response to Peter Singer's views.

• 🎨Frickin’ awesome!

  A reflective look at the balance between cultural giving and more pressing humanitarian needs from Allison Schrager.

• 💇Beauty aid

  Beauty salons become safe havens for women, creating a vital space for discussions on domestic violence.

• 🌱From gardening to gaming

  This piece contrasts the violent gaming landscape with the nurturing, creative visions of renowned designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

• ♻️Philosophy of leftovers

  Reflecting on the value of overlooked and discarded things, Andy Warhol shares his philosophy on working with leftovers.

• 🌍Tough luck, Mel

  A filmmaker's vision of a Hollywood studio in South Africa clashes with the local Khoi-San community's deep connection to their ancestral land.

• 🍃Virtue as vice

  A reflection on how our perceptions of virtue often intertwine with cultural tastes, highlighting the complexities of our choices and environmental impact.

• 🎨Cezanne’s dream team

  Malcolm Gladwell explores the concept of late bloomers and the vital support systems behind their success in his article. "But for Zola, Cézanne would have remained an unhappy banker’s son in Provence; but for Pissarro, he would never have learned how to paint..."

• 💧Living waters (slightly) reinterpreted

  An exploration of how Jewish feminists have reinterpreted the mikveh, transforming what was once seen as a symbol of patriarchal oppression into a celebration of women's connection to tradition and spirituality.

• 🛒The omnivore’s daughter’s dilemma

  A humorous reflection on the quirks of grocery shopping in Berkeley Bowl from Michael Pollan.

• 🌳Tree of life

  From Vijaysree Venkataraman, a reflection on the journey of the moringa tree and its potential in addressing malnutrition across cultures.

• 🤝Reconciliation and the oval ball

  A reflection on Nelson Mandela's clever adaptation to the challenges of prison life through his unexpected engagement with rugby.