Sangha of Auspicious Companions

When I Die, Recompose Me

DailyGood // Conversations // iJourney // HelpOthers

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

Thank you for helping us spread the good. This newsletter now reaches 46,190 subscribers.

August 18, 2022

a project of ServiceSpace

Earth’s Wild Music: Celebrating & Defending Nature’s Songs

“I started thinking about how I could open people’s hearts without breaking them. How I could point to the onrushing extinctions and not force people to turn away in absolute grief. I decided that I was going to have to write in a way that was like a wave — I would lift people and smash them at the same time. What is it that reaches people without breaking them? What is it that goes straight into people’s hearts? What do they love about the world and will call them to action? I decided that of all the things I loved about the world, what I loved the most was the music. What I loved the most was the sound. I’ve been writing about this for quite some time, so I had a couple of essays already under my belt, and I couldn’t think of a more wonderful writing assignment for myself then to go outside and listen.” Acclaimed environmental philosopher and nature writer Kathleen Dean Moore shares more about her book of essays, “Earth’s Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World.” { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration, check out this interview with Kathleen Dean Moore, “Why I Write.” { more }

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 162,678 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

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

August 17, 2022

a project of ServiceSpace

robert wolff: Original Wisdom

“I have known truly free humans… As all First People they lived far away from roads, it required walking through jungle to reach them. I did not know a word of their language, but there was usually at least one person in the small groups of nomads who understood some words of the language of the country. But our communication was as much through touch, smiles, laughter, and something inside that I have no word for. They were the most joyful people I have known. They sang little songs all day long, smiled easily — not by showing teeth (a sign of aggression) but with their eyes, eyebrows, faces. They were generous. I suspect they could not lie.” Psychologist Robert Wolff, author of ‘Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing,” spent time living with the Sng’oi, and aboriginal tribe in the mountains of Malaysia. He shares more in this beautiful essay. { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration, check out this short exchange with Moussa Assarid, the eldest of thirteen children in a nomadic Touareg family from Mali, “No Better Place to Meet Yourself.” { more }

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 162,699 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

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

August 16, 2022

a project of ServiceSpace

Living/Dying Man

“After he was diagnosed, we had a lot of conversation about how we were going to face the harsh reality that ALS is always fatal. We didn’t want to waste our precious time trying to chase down miracle cures or doing things that might extend his life for a few days or weeks. What was the point of a few more days if he was suffering? We decided to live ‘hope-free,’ which isn’t the same thing as hopeless. It’s about embracing the reality of what is. Jamie was very clear that he didn’t want to focus on the fact that he was dying. He was alive, and he intended to keep living fully, every single moment, until death took him. For both of us, that meant that we couldn’t squander time. It also felt essential not to squander the lessons that living/dying had to teach us. Jamie was all about learning, right up until the end.” In this moving conversation, Jamie’s wife Maren Showkeir, and singer/songwriter Barbara McAfee, discuss the profound lessons gleaned from Jamie’s way. A dear friend of the Showkeirs, Barbara was inspired to write and share “Living/Dying Man,” a stunning musical tribute to Jamie. Listen to the song, and read the conversation here. { read more }

Be The Change

Today marks the seventh anniversary of Jamie’s passing, and the 70th anniversary of his birth. If inspired to, you can send a note of appreciation to Maren here. { more }

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 162,735 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

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

Inspiring Links of the Week

August 15, 2022

a project of ServiceSpace

Antidotes to Fear of Death

Rebecca Elson was a Canadian-American poet and astronomer. In the 1990s she was among the first researchers to study images. She passed away at age 39. “A Responsibility to Awe,” was published posthumously. It is a volume of Elson’s poetry and essays, ranging from her teenage years until shortly before her passing. What follows is, “Antidotes to Fear of Death,” a poem from this collection, in which Elson reckons with mortality, and lyrically explores our place in this vast cosmos. { read more }

Submitted by: Arathi Ravier

Be The Change

Take a moment to consider what your own antidote to fear of death is. Share it with a friend or family member, and invite them to share theirs.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 162,758 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

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

August 14, 2022

a project of ServiceSpace

Thousand-Mile Walk Home

“Eight years ago this spring, I blew out a lumbar disc while running a jackhammer in the desert near my housean accident that was the result of simple bad luck, with the odds skewed by the fact that a jackhammer was the wrong tool for the job and that alcohol may have been involved. After a long, miserable recovery period during which I was as ornery as a walleyed mule, I finally mended enough that my wife, Eryn, could get me out of the house, which was a great relief to her. As I began to get back on my feet, Eryn asked what turned out to be one of the best questions I’ve ever received: ‘Bubba, now that youre finally healing, how do you want your life to be different from before the injury?'”My reply was immediate and spontaneous. I just want to walk and walk and walk.” { read more }

Be The Change

For more inspiration, check out this post from Maria Popova on, “Walking as Creative Fuel.” { more }

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 162,778 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

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

August 13, 2022

a project of ServiceSpace

This Rising Up

This Climbing PoeTree music video highlights modern day freedom fighters and champions of justice by celebrating the beauty, power, talent, brilliance and humanity of Black people. Through powerful lyrics, music and dance, it is a triumphant acknowledgement that dignity, safety and self determination are all necessary to overcome dehumanizing terror and to ensure that justice prevails. { read more }

Be The Change

Recognize your own unconscious biases and identify where you can make small changes to better support justice and equality.

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 162,802 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

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

August 12, 2022

a project of ServiceSpace

Gold is the Deepest Love

“‘Gold,’ the title of my book, is a word that recurs throughout Rumi’s poetry. Rumi’s gold is not the precious metal but a feeling-state arrived at through the alchemical process of altering consciousness, of burning through ego, greed, pettiness, and calculation, to arrive at a more relaxed and compassionate state of being. In sum, the prayer of Sufism is ‘teach me to love more deeply.’ Gold is the deepest love.” In the introduction to her dazzling book, Haleh Liza Gafori opens a window on Rumi’s life, the forcefield that is his poetry, and her gorgeous aspiration– as a poet of Persian descent– to bring the original verses alive in the medium of contemporary American poetry, while preserving their irrepressible musicality, conceptual agility and enigmas. { read more }

Be The Change

Join an Awakin Call this Saturday with Haleh,”The Alchemy of Love: Translating Rumi and Timeless Poetry.” More details and RSVP info here. { more }

DailyGood is a volunteer-run initiative that delivers “good news” to 162,812 subscribers. There are many ways to help. To unsubscribe, click here.

Other ServiceSpace projects include:

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