The Future of Love — A Series of Interviews

September 1st, 2010

The Integral Institute and iEvolve are cosponsoring a fantastic weekly teleseminar series called “The Future of Love.”

Each weekly interview features a well-known and/or well-respected leader in the fields of spirituality and/or emotional development.  The focus of the interviews is the topic of LOVE — the interviews look at love from various angles and from within various contexts.

I’ve greatly enjoyed the handful of interviews I’ve listened to.  For the most part, the content is really solid, helpful and coming from a deep, mature place.  I certainly haven’t agreed with everything, but I’ve certainly appreciated many of the thoughts/insights.

There may not be a topic as important as LOVE; in particular, how to grow in our ability to give and receive love.

Warren FarrellAn interview I listened to recently was with Warren Farrell (in photo at left), author of The Myth of Male Power, and I highly recommend listening to the interview, especially if you have interest in gender, gender roles and how gender is related to giving and receiving love.

Also, I really appreciated Farrell’s spirit — he seems like a deeply mature, loving guy.

You can listen to ALL of the interviews online — browse the archive.  (You may have to register first, which is free.)

Note:  The interviewees come from various spiritual traditions, and they use some language (words) that may be unfamiliar to you and may tweak you.  I encourage you to try to not get distracted by unfamiliar language/words — try to stay focused on the meat (the main points) of the interviews.  There’s a lot of tasty meat!

Worth Downloading at Daytrotter: Local Natives, and More

August 16th, 2010

IngridDaytrotter is one of the BEST sites to discover indie/folk-rock bands.  And you can download the live Daytrotter sessions for FREE (the sessions are usually 4 songs).

Here are some of my favorite Daytrotter sessions:

Local Natives

Mates of State

Bonnie Prince Billy (2008) & Bonnie Prince Billy (2010)

Bon Iver

Ingrid Michaelson (in illustration at left)

That’ll get ya started.  There’s SO MUCH MORE.  Check out the session archives.  Let me know who/what you like!

Humor Video: Americans are NOT Stupid

May 17th, 2010

Thanks, Dave J., for forwarding this to me.  Lots of laughs.

Humor Video: (A More Real) Love Story

May 16th, 2010

Is comedian Anita Renfroe the new Weird Al?  The video below is Renfroe’s funny and touching parody of Taylor Swift’s popular song “Love Story.”  I actually got misty while watching.

Inspirational Video About Secretariat

May 11th, 2010

I got misty while watching this.  Disney’s movie about Secretariat comes out in June, I think.

Leadership: Start with “Why”

May 10th, 2010

In his compelling and inspirational TED talk (see video below), Simon Sinek presents a core leadership principle:  start with “why.”

TED Talk: Social Experiments to Fight Poverty

May 7th, 2010

Fighting poverty (in this country and worldwide) can be extremely frustrating because it’s a complex issue, and it’s difficult to determine the best strategy.  For example, some experts say “Don’t give aid”; some experts say “Give more aid.”

I’ve given money (and still do) to organizations that fight poverty.  Do I know that the organizations are going to use my money effectively to alleviate poverty?  No.  I simply hope and pray that the organizations are using effective strategies and that my money will somehow make a difference.  It feels like gambling, in some sense.

But what works, what strategies alleviate poverty?  Why haven’t we figured this out yet?

In her compelling and enlightening TED Talk (see video below), Esther Duflo says we can find out which strategies are best, and to do that, we need to do more social experiments.  Duflo gives specific examples of social experiments in Africa that have produced valuable insights.

Music: Weezer’s Spontaneous Concert in the Park

May 6th, 2010

I’ve always wondered if professional musicians sometimes played spontaneous — or at least unannounced — concerts at random places.  Weezer did.  See video below.

Photo of the Week

May 5th, 2010

Location: Outside of The Vic, after the Ben Folds show

ben1

TV: “Camp Woodward” — Skateboarding and Storytelling

May 2nd, 2010

I just watched on Hulu.com the third season of Camp Woodward, a reality show that captures the experiences of three campers during their two weeks at a skateboarding and BMX biking camp.

The third season features Zane (skateboarder, age 13), Javon (skateboarder, age 16) and Sean (BMX biker, age 13).  These kids are very different from each other, but all three are inspiring, really, truly inspiring.  Perhaps the thing that inspired me the most is their fearlessness.

Below is the first episode of season three.