Journeying home from Minneapolis as newly trained Climate Reality Leaders , our vehicle was bursting with talk, laughter, tears and singing as we shared experiences and exchanged notes for planning future actions. What really resonated with me is the reality of choice. We still have significant choices -- and the legacy we leave future generations will bear witness to our actions. We have returned with a new extended family -- a worldwide network -- and a whole new toolkit to share the science,

When we think of people who changed our lives, I think most view long-term events. But when I look back, I realize that a few people influenced my life with a single act of kindness. When I was a teen in Florida, my parents went car shopping. They had very little money and even less knowledge about automobiles. They were quite taken with a used Pinto, especially after the salesman’s pitch. But an older gentleman who worked as a porter quietly warned us as he escorted us back to our car. He said

A Marvel character snaps his fingers and half of our population turns into dust. That is an alluring thought for some. What if a large swath of our population not born in the U.S. similarly exited, to “go back home?” Actually, we don’t need to imagine this scenario. U.S. immigration laws prior to the mid-20th century were written and interpreted in ways that actively deterred the naturalization of those who were not “free white persons.” And it was not until 1965, when a system of national

My wife’s great aunt married John F. Kennedy’s great uncle. This was in 1928. Jack Kennedy would have been eleven and was likely at the wedding. This means that my wife is only five or six degrees of separation from President Kennedy. It means that I’m only six or seven degrees of separation from President Kennedy. Not that I’m bragging or anything. My second cousin thrice removed served as a secretary to Lyndon Johnson before he became president. That means I’m only eight or nine degrees

Growing older is a fact of life that most people dread. We’re embarrassed to be called old. Ageism is embedded in our culture, perhaps even more insidiously than racism, sexism, or homophobia. We’ve all internalized the message that getting old is bad. And many of us conspire in this thinking. For instance, everyone forgets things, but older people laugh and call it a senior moment. When we can’t read the fine print or open a jar, we blame ourselves. Wrinkles are ugly, say the skin care

History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes, as Mark Twain reputedly said. I grew up Southern Baptist; I learned well into my adulthood that this denomination was organized in 1845 by Baptists in the s outhern United States who split with northern Baptists over the issue of whether s outhern slave owners could serve as missionaries. Ouch: I was in a faith community born on the wrong side of history. This revelation was recently attenuated for me as I researched the lineage of my maternal

Some people say there is a season for everything. I reflect on that saying during mundane moments. Routines are followed and no surprises occur. Living in routine time is nice because it’s easy and predictable. I often stop and lavish in the moment of living routinely because I know it won’t last and I will long for routine and predictability at some point. As I sit to write this perspective, my entire house is torn apart. Furniture is piled up, pictures are off the wall, and the kitchen is

Editor's note: The audio portion of this Perspective is incorrect in the number of Americans who are food-insecure. The correct number is 1 in 8, which was in the original script. “I’ve never done this before , ” a woman tells me as I help her sign up for food assistance at the Grow Mobile pop-up pantry. “My husband has been ill , and I had to quit my job to take care of him.” One of millions of stories. There is so much going on in Washington. You may have missed this proposed change put

What causes awe? It’s felt in the presence of nature and incredible feats of human creation. To feel it daily requires wise humility and awareness. As the early 19th century poets and transcendentalists knew, perception of sublimity depends upon mortal limitations. But you must be aware of them to feel amazed by overwhelming power and beauty. Sometimes, the experience involves the thrill of danger. A loud storm observed from a safe place thrills with strong winds and thunder, and your adrenaline

Have you ever struck up a surprisingly close friendship with a stranger you’ve just met on vacation? I call these “firefly friendships.” Fireflies symbolize communication and illumination – two necessary elements for connecting with new friends that we would never have noticed in our usual domestic habitats. Several things must be in place to generate that “firefly spark.” There needs to be vulnerability from being somewhere new. Plus a sense of proximity, similarity, and resonance between