Sangha of Auspicious Companions

April 14, 2023

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Vivek Murthy: To Be a Healer

“We need a modicum of vitality to simply be alive in this time. And were in an enduringly tender place. The mental health crisis that is invoked all around, especially as we look to the young, is one manifestation of the gravity of the post-2020 world. How to name and honor this more openly? How to hold that together with the ways weve been given to learn and to grow? Who are we called to be moving forward? Dr. Vivek Murthy is a brilliant, wise, and kind companion in these questions. Hes a renowned physician and research scientist in his second tenure as U.S. Surgeon General. And for years, hes been naming and investigating loneliness as a public health matter, including his own experience of that very human condition. It is beyond rare to be in the presence of a person holding high governmental office who speaks about love with ease and dignity — and about the agency to be healers that is available to us all.” More in this interview with Krista Tippett. { read more }

Be The Change

Read an excerpt from Murthy’s book, “Together:The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.” { more }

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What Can Music Do to Change a Destructive Story?

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April 13, 2023

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Mighty in Contradiction: Love Powerfully

“I used to think the opposite of love was hate. But life experience tells me that’s not true. Hate is so tinged with other emotions, including love! No. In my understanding the opposite of love is power. Love accepts and embraces. Power refuses and crushes opposition. Love is kind and knows how to forgive. Power is competitive and takes others into account only when it stands in the Winner’s Circle. What’s most disturbing is that both of these feelings can exist in me at the same time. Power seeks dominion. Its about winning, owning, controlling, running the show; while love is about caring, taking in the message, finding whats needed, seeing what wishes to appear and helping it to flower. Yet, if I’m honest, both live in me.” Patty de Llosa shares more in this brief passage. { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration, tune into an Awakin Talk featuring three unique individuals this weekend: “Politics + Heart,” more details and RSVP info here. { more }

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April 12, 2023

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How Did You Become A Writer?

“How did you become a writer? Is a question asked of me surprisingly often when I visit schools, which I much enjoy not only as part of my overarching subtle devious plan to get on the good side of the children who will soon run the world, but also for the consistent entertainment of their artlessly honest questions (the best ever: Is that your real nose?), and for the sometimes deeply piercing depth of our conversations; we have suddenly spoken of death and miracles and loss and love, while we were supposed to be talking about writing and literature; and I have wept in front of them, and they have wept in front of me; which seems to me a sweet gift, to be trusted that much.” Brian Doyle shares more in this delightful piece. { read more }

Be The Change

Take a few moments to write something– anything today. Don’t overthink it. Just present yourself with a blank page and see what emerges.

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April 11, 2023

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It’s Not A Thing You Do. It’s A Thing You Are

“I think people just want to feel like they’re home like there’s no one they have to be and there’s nowhere else they have to be. Here we are. It’s enough. You belong. There was never any condition to that, ever. You distance yourself and you say, “Well, they’re wrong over there. They should believe what I believe.” When all along, you could wrap your arms around them, everyone, no matter what. And it’s so much easier if you recognize what you are and what you’re part of. Not the ideology you’re a part of but what you actually are, and to do that is so very simple. One has to be still enough for a moment just to catch a glimpse of what you are. There’s nothing to do. It’s not a thing that you do. It’s a thing that you are. It’s just a recognition. And then you can put your arms around everything.” Filmmaker Nic Askew of the Soul Biographies film series shares more in this in-depth interview. { read more }

Be The Change

Experiment with trying to experience another “without condition,’ today. For inspiration check out the work of Soul Biographies here. { more }

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Inspiring Links of the Week

April 10, 2023

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Dandelions

“As new homeowners early in our marriage, I obsessed over making our yard dandelion-free. Every dandelion clock, or white blowball about to burst and blow into the wind, was a guilt-inducing sign that I hadn’t caught them when I scoured our yard on my hands and knees days earlier, looking to pop them at the root. What kind of a homemaker would I be if our lawn weren’t trimmed and verdant, no blight spots, and especially no yellow constellations dotting our yard?” Aimee Nezhukumatathil discovers the many virtues of dandelions in this lovely short piece. { read more }

Be The Change

What is something akin to dandelions in your own life that could be asking for closer examination or a change in perspective?

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April 9, 2023

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I Am Not Afraid

Barbara van Lodensteijn is a business psychologist and the founder of Vision Align. Her passion is working with leaders across the world who are making a positive difference. With a background in social studies and business psychology Barbara has worked in diverse settings including with vulnerable kids in crisis, inmates in maximum security prisons, with social enterprises, corporations and more. “What struck me most in what I had witnessed over the previous 20 years was the enormous waste of amazing human gifts, time, information, and money. It was as if the heating was on full blast with the window wide open. I fully understood why founders and people felt drained.” As she set out to do something to change that, the first thing she met with was — failure. She tells the story of her beginnings here. { read more }

Be The Change

Join an intimate circle with Barbara next weekend to learn more about her life journey, work and unique perspectives. RSVP info here. { more }

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April 8, 2023

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Instructions on Not Giving Up

“I think, as poets, we are in the odd position of constantly defending our art form. Which is funny and also sort of invigorating, too. No one really says, “Oh you’re a lawyer? I’ve never understood the law. In fact, I kind of hate it.” Or, “Oh you wait tables? I didn’t know that was something people did.” I say it can be invigorating because, on some level, we have to evaluate what we do and why we do it almost daily. We have to explain ourselves to people all the time. We have to say, ‘Yes, I am a unicorn, believe in me.'”Ada Limon is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States and the author of six books of poetry. This brief and potent poem from her book, “The Carrying,” speaks to the startling and instructive resilience of Spring. { read more }

Be The Change

What is an image that comes to mind or heart when you consider the word, “resilience”?

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April 7, 2023

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The Enneagram: Nine Pathways to Presence

“Russ Hudson is one of the world’s foremost teachers and developers of the Enneagram personality typology system, having coauthored (with Don Richard Riso) five bestselling books on the subject…In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Russ about the original purpose of the Enneagram, how our personality types are linked to a deeper level of awareness, and how we can use the Enneagram system to continually discover that we are much more than we may habitually think. They also discuss accessing the gifts of our personality types while avoiding the associated pitfalls or ‘fixations’ of any given type, an overview of each of the nine types, Russ’ guidance in determining your own type, and much more.” { read more }

Be The Change

Take a moment to reflect on a time when what you believe about yourself was challenged. What insights did the experience open up for you?

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