By Elaine Dundon — 2018
I believe that the ability to discover deeper meaning in our lives is positively correlated with the amount of time we choose to spend in nature.
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CLEAR ALL
In 1973, a book claiming that plants were sentient beings that feel emotions, prefer classical music to rock and roll, and can respond to the unspoken thoughts of humans hundreds of miles away landed on the New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction.
In McLaren’s view, we typically perceive emotions as problems, which we then thoughtlessly express or repress. She advocates a more mindful approach, where we step back and see our emotions as sources of information.
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I don’t know what happened to emotions in this society. They are the least understood, most maligned, and most ridiculously over-analyzed aspects of human life.
In one school of popular reasoning, people judge historical outcomes that they think are favorable as worthy tradeoffs for historical atrocities. The argument appears in some of the most inappropriate contexts, such as discussions of slavery or the Holocaust.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
We are truly learning an enormous cosmic truth: We are one. And we are meant to use that truth to pray together, heal our fellow human beings together and heal our beloved Earth together.
Our world is in the midst of an emotional meltdown. People are restless, volatile, our tempers about to blow. Why is rage so rampant? What is the solution?
To the list of identities Black people in America have assumed or been asked to, we can now add, thanks to this presidential election season, “Obama’s people” and “the African Americans.”
As I travel around the globe speaking and training, I have consistently found that most people ask me the same question, “How do I discover my purpose in life?”
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Sustainability leaders could learn from Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, who believes in a deeper human connection with nature and looking beyond purely material consumption.