HARA Kenya, Designing Japan: A Future Built on Aesthetics. HARA Kenya is one of the most influential designers working today. A theoretician as well as a practitioner of contemporary design, he is responsible for the success of some of Japan’s most beloved product brands, such as MUJI. In Designing Japan, A Future Built on Aesthetics, Hara sensei explains his belief…
Genevieve von Petzinger, The First Signs. Although the full story of human origins may forever remain an enigma, over the last twenty years scientists have been able to uncover new clues as to who we are as a species. Shedding light on when we first became “cognitively modern” has been for archeologist Dr. Genevieve von Petzinger an ice-age journey into…
Maasai People of East Africa, The Maasai Creed. The Maasai Creed is one of the most beautiful expressions of Christian faith ever written. It is a testament to the fact that the message of Christianity need not remain trapped within the Greek and Latin forms which dominate the religion. Simple, yet elegant, it is rich in images memorable for their delicate…
Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food. The spirituality of food is undoubtedly older than organized religion. Its bounty means sustenance and survival. Its scarcity, death. As a physiological need, Abraham Maslow theorized that food is foundational to human motivation. To secure fertile lands and rich hunting grounds, blood has been shed over millennia in war. And yet there is no…
Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation. “Every moment and every event of every person’s life on earth plants something in his or her soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of invisible and visible winged seeds, so the stream of time brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of human…
Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run, the autobiography. What might have become arguably one of the great “wisdom” traditions of our time, the music of Bruce Springsteen has been a source of comfort for millions since he stepped into the spotlight in 1973 with his debut release, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. It was his third record, Born to Run, however,…
Kenneth Ring and The Near-death Experience. In Lessons from the Light; What We Can Learn from the Near-death Experience, Dr. Kenneth Ring, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, escorts us through the mysterious world of death, or more precisely near-death, to learn the lessons about life such a journey has to teach. Like Virgil in Dante’s Divine Comedy, Dr.…
Order One’s Life, Imagine an Inspiring Future. There is “a strong link” writes Chris Lowney in Heroic Leadership, “between mature self-knowledge and success.” At a time when many are looking for leaders capable of solving problems in a rapidly changing business and political environment, brought about by the unstoppable pace of technological change, “shrewd, pragmatic, politically astute action” requires individuals with…
What Leaders Do, Growing a Personal Leadership Legacy. In Heroic Leadership, Best Practices from a 450-year-old Company that Changed the World, former Jesuit and J.P. Morgan Managing Director, Chris Lowney, gets straight to the heart of what it means to be a leader. Drawing wisdom from the Jesuit spiritual tradition, he says, “If all leadership is first self-leadership that springs from…