We need a new rallying cry. Van Jones has an idea that’s not quite cooked, but suggestive.

On Saturday, someone who heard Jones address a Scott Walker recall rally in Wisconsin tweeted this quote from Jones’ remarks: “Don’t adapt to absurdity.” He was making the point th… Read full post »

When packing for online dating world, be sure to bring along plenty of compassion.

Having chronicled my adventures in online dating in this blog series, I’ve become an object of curiosity to certain readers. They are waiting for my positive orientation toward this curious enterprise to cool off… Read full post »

The rambling life ain’t restful, to paraphrase Satchel Paige. The last five weeks have been almost nonstop work for me, including nearly 10,000 miles of air travel. I always think that 30,000 feet above the planet will be a great place for introspection, but instead, I shift in my seat, get… Read full post »

Did you notice that I changed the tagline on my website to “Here to get your hopes up”? It used to say “Pleasure & Purpose. Aligned,” which is a motto I still like, but the new sentiment has definitely taken precedence. I’ve given some talks lately in which hope and… Read full post »

There’s a quote from Gandhi I love: “To a people famishing and idle, the only acceptable form in which God can dare appear is work and promise of food as wages.” Read literally, it is humane and compassionate and deeply true. But I also read it as a general principle, which… Read full post »

Last week, I made my first digital story. At the beginning of March, I entered into a new and exciting partnership with the Center for Digital Storytelling to create StoryLab (working title), an R&D wing embodying the power of story to help bring about a democratic and sustainable future.

To pre… Read full post »

In ancient Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was a kind of maze built at Knossos by Daedalus for King Minos of Crete. It was designed to hold the Minotaur, a mythical creature that was half-man and half-bull. Unlike an ordinary maze, a labyrinth is easy to get into; but once you attain… Read full post »

This is my final installment in a weeklong blogfest on art and political power I’m cohosting with blogger Barry Hessenius. To readers who aren’t as obsessed with this subject as we are, thanks for hanging in! I promise my next blog will be about something completely different (readerR… Read full post »

This is the sixth installment in a weeklong blogfest on art and political power I’m cohosting with blogger Barry Hessenius, former Director of the California Arts Council; President of the California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies; Executive Director LINES Ballet. Author (Hardball Lobbying fo… Read full post »

This fifth installment in a weeklong blogfest on art and political power I’m cohosting with blogger Barry Hessenius was authored by Dudley Cocke, Artistic Director of Roadside Theater, a stage director, teacher, writer, and media producer. He has taught theater at Cornell University, the Colle… Read full post »

This fourth installment in a weeklong blogfest on art and political power I’m cohosting with blogger Barry Hessenius was authored by Ra Joy, Executive Director of Arts Alliance Illinois, an artist and arts advocate with extensive experience in public policy and the congressional arena. Prior t… Read full post »

This fourth installment in a weeklong blogfest on art and political power I’m cohosting with blogger Barry Hessenius was authored by Ra Joy, Executive Director of Arts Alliance Illinois, an artist and arts advocate with extensive experience in public policy and the congressional arena. Prior t… Read full post »

This third installment in a weeklong blogfest on art and political power I’m cohosting with blogger Barry Hessenius was authored by Diane Ragsdale, currently attending Erasmus University in Rotterdam (in the Netherlands), where she is researching the impact of economic forces on US nonprofit r… Read full post »

This second installment in a weeklong blogfest on art and political power I’m cohosting with blogger Barry Hessenius was authored by Roberto Bedoya, who has served as the Executive Director of the Tucson Pima Arts Council since November of 2006. He is also a writer and arts consultant who work… Read full post »

Over the next week, I’m co-hosting this special blogfest on art and political power, planned with blogger Barry Hessenius, former Director of the California Arts Council; President of the California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies; Executive Director LINES Ballet. Author (Hardball Lobbying for… Read full post »

All spiritual traditions teach that even the most mundane tasks have meaning when they are undertaken with higher intention. I’ve written about a zillion words on the ways art can embody this truth. Today, I’d like to tell you about a new film that shows it truly, deeply, and beautifully.… Read full post »

I’ve been taking a break from online dating. I’m not sure how long it will last, probably another month or so (or maybe forever, if you introduce me to Mr. Right). Work is especially engrossing and demanding now, and I want to focus.

But not without a certain ambivalence. The… Read full post »

I spent a couple of days this past week with a group of smart and capable people who are trying to develop a model for the workings of a complex human endeavor, complete with “metrics”—quantifiable factors—that serve as benchmarks for success.

To explain metrics to the assembled, a co… Read full post »

Much more than sufficient unto the day is the self-delusion thereof. Study of the human subject is always rewarding, but lately, scientists have showered us with revelation, making an ironclad case that what we think we know is mostly dead wrong.

Yes, you guessed it: I’m reading Daniel Kahneman… Read full post »

More than once upon a time, mass protest movements have arisen in this country. In some of these, I have been privileged to witness and take part. If you believe there might be something to learn from experience, read on and judge for yourself. In three sections, I describe my personal… Read full post »

I’m not planning to break up with President Obama, but he is definitely giving me flashbacks to relationship dysfunctionality. Tolstoy is forever being quoted on the subject: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” But I don’t think he h… Read full post »

A friend contacted me yesterday for help in tracking down the provenance of a quotation attributed to W.E.B. Dubois, the towering writer, scholar, and activist who contributed so greatly to the liberation of African Americans. Here it is:

Begin with art, because art tries to take us outside ourselves

… Read full post »

Today’s my birthday. I share it this year with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a calendrical accident that confers the spiritual equivalent of a contact high.

But for me, a birthday is always an occasion. Every year has a distinct character and completeness that begs to be understood: I want to… Read full post »

There’s a little New Year’s ritual I do. Before midnight, I write on two pieces of paper: one lists all I wish to leave behind in the old year, the other all that I hope will manifest in the new year. Before the old year ends, I burn the first paper… Read full post »

It’s been a busy time for me in online dating world: much fun, new friends, maximizing my exposure to serendipity on the road to true love. I keep being surprised at how much this process teaches me about myself.

For instance, I just added another paragraph to the list of… Read full post »