New Dimensions

Rachel Kaplan describes the Urban Homesteading Movement as a food movement, but also a movement of people, who are about conservation of energy, water, and waste. It is a movement of learning to live with less impact on the earth, and with a greater sense of what it means to be part of the place where we live, and to be thinking ecologically.Tags:  Rachel Kaplan, compost, composting, gardening, garden, earth worms, dirt, water, composting toilets, chickens, natural building, bamboo, community, environment, nature, co­housing, interdependence, farms, farming, farmers, Animals, Community, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Family/Community, Social Change/Politics

Susan Piver knows the joy of loving, the devastating groundlessness of betrayal, and the deep crushing loss when love goes away. But she also knows how to turn that trauma into something sacred, to learn the truth of who and what is most valuable in your life. She shows us how to gain authority over our pain and release its hold.Tags: Susan Piver, Intimacy, Heartbreak, Loss, Practice of Tranquility, Practice of Loving Kindness, Betrayal, Love, Personal Transformation, Meditation, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality, Self Help, Spirituality

Wesselman shares the spiritual knowledge he gathered from working with the late Hale Makua, a revered Hawaiian Kahuna wisdom keeper. Included are insights such as: the 3 directives of a spiritual warrior, the 7 life roles and how they are expressed in both positive and negative forms, the difference between a shaman and a medicine person, and the ancestral grand plan.Tags: Hank Wesselman, shamanism, Hale Makua, shaman, kahuna, transpersonal, medicine people, Pele, Aloha, Kapus, Ancestral Grand Plan, Metatron, Glastonbury, Spirituality, Community, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Global Culture, Indigenous Wisdom, Mythology, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Shamanism, Science, Soul/Spirit Guides/Angels/Spirit

Life is not a destination; it is a fluid movement. It takes practice to overcome the daily stresses that make us dense, concretized, and armored. Baraz gives us many steps that we can take to help life move through us as a blessing, and shares several simple but effective meditations to help each of us be more present and more joyful in our life.Tags: James Baraz, Mindfulness, Happiness, Joy,  "The Kumbaya Factor", Breathe, Intention, Compassion, Storytelling, Caring, Gladness, Gratefulness, Spirituality, Arts & Creativity, Buddhism, Education, Global Culture, Health & Healing, Meditation, Personal Transformation

In the midst of our present polarization and alienation from one another, Patten exhorts us to understand that “we are in this lifeboat together and the fiercest thing we can do is to say, I’m living in a new republic of the heart. I’m a revolutionary. You are not going to separate yourself from me. I refuse to be in separation from you.”Tags: Terry Patten, York Center Community Co-op, Church of the Brethren, Adi Da Samraj, Integral Institute, despair, climate change, overshoot, activism, neurocardiology, Candace Pert, human intelligence systems, evolutionary emergence, empathy, fear, anger, tipping point, new tribalism, interdependence, David Bohm, Bohmian dialogue, shared inquiry, imaginal cells, epistemic humility, Psychology, Peace/Nonviolence,Social Change/Politics 

This deep dialogue explores the importance of community and how we can cultivate connectedness with others. Nepo speaks of two tribes: one that fears the differences in people and one that welcomes what can be learned by those differences. He gives advice as to how to keep our hearts open beyond our own opinions and how to tap into our innate nature of kindness.Tags: Mark Nepo, Irvin Laszlo, heart cells, Chinese philosopher Mencius, kinship, Emile Durkheim, technology, Howard Zinn, Paris Commune 1871, Wright Brothers, anarchy, Elder Shafir, psychology of poverty, flicker of dignity, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, kindness, Elie Wiesel, Psychology 

Studies show that humans are becoming more and more an “indoor species.” We are living in a culture that is hooked up to digital media 24/7. This deep dialogue with L’Amoreaux addresses how to mindfully navigate this technologically saturated environment. Having family conversations about values and how to be better informed about the technology we’re using is the first step.Tags: Claudia L’Amoreaux, Siggraph, computer graphics, cell phones, Oxford Junior Dictionary, digital searches, Eli Pariser, Tristan Harris, Common Sense Media, YouTube settings, Odysseus and the Sirens, screen time, solitude, mindfulness, conversation, Sherry Turkle, Danah Boyd, Teenagers, David Whyte, curiosity, Technology, Parenting, Personal Transformation

In telling her own story of letting go of several households of furnishings, Lisa Tracy is enormously helpful to us as we grapple with the "stuff" of our lives. Letting “stuff” go is like letting go of the stories of our lives.Tags: Lisa Tracy, home, mother, grandfather, furniture, Camp Verde, Lexington Virginia, storytelling, military, Malenta Tunnel, Corrigedor, Francis Moore Lappe, moving, Self Help, Community, History, Personal Transformation, Travel, Writing

DeSilver describes how writing from the body rather than the head is a visceral experience that connects us with our intuition. He says, “Everybody is a creative person. It’s a matter of where you have been putting your attention.” This conversation is filled with encouragement that will help you on your road to being a better writer.Tags: Albert Flynn DeSilver, silent retreat, Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones, Beryl Markham, Carl Sandberg, poetry, imagination, intuition, Robert Bly, Walt Whitman, devotion, discipline, Ann Waldman, Vow to Poetry, free writing, photography, talent, courage, dictionary, Writing, Self Help, Art & Creativity, Meditation, community, personal transformation

When Irving’s father signed on as an agricultural missionary in Haiti, she was transported from a sparsely populated desert in California into the lush terrain of the densely populated island of Haiti. She describes with great insight the challenge of building a deep democracy in a culture in crisis.Tags: Apricot Irving, memoir, Haiti, Christopher Columbus, Taino people, wailing at funerals, beauty, NGOs, earthquake in Haiti, Steve James M.D., democracy, Einstein, History, Writing, Health & Healing, Parenting, community