Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

Self-absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves, our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. — Daniel Goleman

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Good News of the Day:
“It’s not what you know but who you know,” the saying goes, suggesting that social connections breed success. But it seems there’s at least one way that the well educated are less socially connected: New research finds that those with an economic advantage have more trouble reading others’ emotions. In a series of studies, researchers examined how well participants could judge the emotions that other people were feeling, a skill known as “empathic accuracy.” In one study, they showed 200 adults photos of faces expressing different emotions, finding that people with just a high school education identified the emotions more accurately than people who had a four-year college degree. http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4693

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Be The Change:
In this short passage, Paul Gorman talks about the listening mind, and how it facilitates a “closer attunement with the empathy and compassion of our heart.” http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4693a

**Share A Reflection**
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?qid=4693

We have the power to challenge and redefine beauty every day through our words and actions. — Ben Barry

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Good News of the Day:
When most people see a fast-food bag fluttering on the corner of the highway, they probably shake their heads and keep on driving. The Pick Up Artists aren’t most people. These four young environmentalists are driving across America, conducting roadside cleanups and spreading the word about reducing waste. After just three months on the road, the Pick Up America project has already collected more than 37,000 pounds of garbage. And they’re only 340 miles into their 2-year, cross-country trip. http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4677

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Be The Change:
See something that needs fixing? Take a small step to help serve the situation.

**Share A Reflection**
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?qid=4677

Just create to create. Create to remind yourself you’re still alive. Make stuff to inspire others to make something too. Create to learn a bit more about yourself. — Frederick Terral

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Inspiration of the Day:
Manifestos are a powerful catalyst. Famous architect Frank Loyd Wright said that “an eye to see nature, a heart to feel nature and a courage to follow nature” were three of his top 10 manifestos. By publicly stating our views and intentions, manifestos create a pact for taking action. If we want to change the world, in ways large or small, developing a set of principles that we believe in and constantly strive to stand by is an invaluable tool. Here is some inspiration based on powerful manifestos from the likes of Seth Godin, Leo Tolstoy and Apple Inc. http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4600

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Be The Change:
Articulate your own manifesto, and put it somewhere you will regularly run into it.

**Share A Reflection**
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?qid=4600

What we need even more than foresight or hindsight is insight. — Unknown

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Good News of the Day:
At first glance, insights seem to come out of nowhere. But in hindsight they make perfect, logical sense. What happens is that we (sometimes unconsciously) recognize patterns that enable us to see things in a new way. Albert Einstein put it succinctly when he said insight “comes suddenly and in a rather intuitive way. But intuition is nothing but the outcome of earlier intellectual experience.” This article explores how to think like a designer: not just observing the world, but drawing upon what we know, interpret what we find, and looking for unmet needs. http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4627

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Be The Change:
Think back to a recent insight and ask “Why is this a pattern?” “Why is this unexpected?” and “Why is this meaningful?”

**Share A Reflection**
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?qid=4627

Gandhi used the spinning wheel as both physical embodiment and symbol for radical change. Today, the foundation for social justice is healthy food — our “spinning wheel” for the 21st century. — Francisco Ramos Stierle

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Good News of the Day:
A berry garden now sits at the center of Richmond, CA, an area known for its high crime rate. Once a month, Latino and African American families — often people who live just a few blocks from each other but rarely had a chance to meet in the past — gather at the garden and have a barbecue. The garden is the work of Urban Tilth, one of the dozen or so groups at the center of Richmond’s urban garden movement. Built by community members, often young people, it’s tended in part by students and teachers from a nearby elementary school. But there’s more than food and land at stake here: it has become a community gathering space. “What’s really important is the food we grow and the time we spend investing in people,” says Doria Robinson, Urban Tilth’s executive director. http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4658

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Be The Change:
Here are 8 ways to join the local food movement, including turning a lawn into lunch and swapping preserves. http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4658a

**Share A Reflection**
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?qid=4658