Sangha of Auspicious Companions

October 24, 2016

a project of ServiceSpace

Barefoot Skateboarders of Janwar

India’s largest skateboarding park isn’t in a big city, it’s in a small village in Madhya Pradesh. A sport which has long been identified with urban neighborhoods across the world, is being used in a village in central India as a trigger for social change. Ulrike Reinhard, a German national, established a skate park in Janwar, Madhya Pradesh in a region notorious for being one of the most socially and economically backward areas of the country. Untouchability, gender inequality, illiteracy, and alcoholism are rampant here. Through the voices of Reinhart and the children of the village, the film documents how the skate park is gradually changing the social fabric of the village and addressing some of its most deep rooted issues. { read more }

Be The Change

Support programs in your area that engage and empower youth.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 240,701 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

KindSpring // KarmaTube // Conversations // Awakin // More

About KindSpring

Inspiring Quote

Member of the Week

In Other News

• KarmaTube Video: Barefoot Skateboarders of Janwar
• DailyGood: Two Words That Can Change a Life
• Awakin Reading: Destiny is Within Us

Follow Us Online

October 23, 2016

Small Acts of Kindness

Featured Kindness Stories

	Zulu greeting recognizes each individual and the light within them.
	A stranger’s look provoked pain and confusion but taught a lesson in judgment.
	A teen’s compassionate app helps bullied kids find kids to eat lunch with.

Idea of the Week

October 23, 2016

a project of ServiceSpace

Mary Oliver on the Third Self

“Mary Oliver sets out to excavate the building blocks of the self in order to understand its parallel capacities for focused creative flow and merciless interruption. She identifies three primary selves that she inhabits, and that inhabit her, as they do all of us: the childhood self, which we spend our lives trying to weave into the continuity of our personal identity; the social self, “fettered to a thousand notions of obligation”; and a third self, a sort of otherworldly awareness.The first two selves, she argues, inhabit the ordinary world and are present in all people; the third is of a different order and comes most easily alive in artists — it is where the wellspring of creative energy resides.” And it is to the third self that the artist must remain true: “My loyalty is to the inner vision, whenever and howsoever it may arrive.” { read more }

Be The Change

Set aside some time, unplugged and uninterrupted, to nurture your third self and awaken your creativity.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 240,700 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

KindSpring // KarmaTube // Conversations // Awakin // More

October 22, 2016

a project of ServiceSpace

How to Awaken Joy in Kids

In an effort to help young kids to not only cope, but to actually thrive in the stress-filled worlds they live in, authors James Baraz and Michele Lilyanna outline several scientific-based practices that they have cultivated through their experiences as teachers of both children and adults. { read more }

Be The Change

Experiment with using the practices in the article when interacting with children in your own life.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 240,697 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

KindSpring // KarmaTube // Conversations // Awakin // More

October 21, 2016

a project of ServiceSpace

Two Words That Can Change a Life

“”As I walked into the parking lot, I spotted the woman returning her shopping cart, and I remembered something in my purse that could help her in a different but hopefully profound way. It wasn’t a handful of cash or a lead on a job for her husband, but maybe — just maybe — it would make her life better. My heart pounded as I approached the woman. “Excuse me,” I said, my voice trembling a bit. “I couldn’t help overhearing what you said to the cashier. It sounds like you’re going through a really hard time right now. I’m so sorry. I’d like to give you something.” And I handed her a business-sized card. When the woman read the card’s only two words, she began to cry. And through her tears, she said, “You have no idea how much this means to me.”” Cheryl Rice shares more in this piece about the two simple words that touched her life and then rippled out to touch many others. { read more }

Be The Change

Today, take time to share a few kind words with someone. You never know just how much they might need it.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 240,668 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

KindSpring // KarmaTube // Conversations // Awakin // More

Barefoot Skateboarders of Janwar

DailyGood // Conversations // iJourney // HelpOthers

MovedByLove // CF Sites // Karma Kitchen // More

Thank you for helping us spread the good. This newsletter now reaches 68,204 subscribers.

October 20, 2016

a project of ServiceSpace

Why We Shut People Out, and What to Do Instead

Why do we often see the world as “us” vs. “them”? And though it helps quiet our fears, what should we do about this unhelpful, often-damaging instinct? Harvard Psychiatrist and Zen priest Robert Waldinger, director of the longest study on health and happiness, explains why we are natural wall-builders, but actually less safe when we label people instead of relating to them. Read on for useful wall-breaking advice. { read more }

Be The Change

As you meet with friends or strangers today, note any tendency in yourself to create a barrier. Embrace your inner wall-builder, then find a way to get to know them better.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 240,656 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

KindSpring // KarmaTube // Conversations // Awakin // More

October 19, 2016

a project of ServiceSpace

A Filmmaker, a Mountain and a Moment of Truth

Andrew Hinton, Emmy award-winning filmmaker, embarked on a vision quest with the intention of becoming a “man of integrity, a bridge between two worlds.” He notes, “how our culture lacks deep rituals that mark the transition to manhood, and how easy it is without them to get lost somewhere between boy and man. And of how, maybe twenty years late, I am here to finally step across.” Alone in the Oregon mountains, completely removed from civilization, Hinton confronts the impediments standing in the way of his journey toward his authentic self, including, most importantly, himself: “My mind turns to fear. All the things that have held me back ultimately lead there. I suddenly decide to take off my shyness like an old coat I no longer need and leave it behind. I ceremoniously remove it, and set it down carefully before walking on.” { read more }

Be The Change

Who are you? Consider how you answer this question. Today, spend some time pondering what your core essence is. For more inspiration read about Andrew Hinton’s award-winning film, “Tashi & the Monk”. { more }

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 240,648 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

KindSpring // KarmaTube // Conversations // Awakin // More

October 18, 2016

a project of ServiceSpace

Leadership & Authentic Self Esteem

“There was a time when we believed self-esteem to be the royal road to flourishing…However, later studies showed that increases in self-esteem did little for our happiness or performance, but ample for our egos. Professor Roy Baumeister’s work with self-esteem showed that we’d been raising a generation of narcissists who went on to wreck havoc in their lives and in their workplaces. It now appears that we’d been building the wrong kind of self-esteem — the kind that is contingent on external factors such as social approval, success or attractiveness…However, authentic self-esteem is different. It’s a feeling of worth in our abilities and qualities. As such, its not conditional upon external evaluations — instead its an inner security that provides us with the courage to step out into the world and do the right thing…This is especially important for leaders of today.” { read more }

Be The Change

What is one inner quality that you value about yourself? Spend some time appreciating and honoring that quality and how it gives you strength and shapes who you are.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 240,621 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

KindSpring // KarmaTube // Conversations // Awakin // More