Tapping the creative force, art changes minds in a changing climate
“The arts matter because we matter, and our stories matter. We are moving miracles, walking creators engaging in a cosmic dance. The art we express is timeless.” –Mohammed Sheriff, Division Coordinator at the National Endowment for the Arts (USA) By Oliver Kammeyer At The Optimist Read More...
Finding the courage to be confident: A peek inside "Dare to Own You"
"Just because you have a voice and can speak, does not necessarily mean you are being heard; find your voice." - Liz Brunner In 2021 people were quitting their jobs at an unprecedented rate. The media had fun creating phrases like "the Great Resignation" and "the Big Quit" to characterize the Read More...
Empowered activism is cultivating a marketable skill - A dispatch from Colombia
“Part of doing something is listening. We are listening. To the sun. To the stars. To the wind.” – Madeleine L’Engle By Jackie Gilbert We all catch ourselves making remarks like “I’m starving” or “we’re dying of hunger”, but fortunately for most of us in my middle-class Read More...
8 Trends from 2021 We’ll Carry to the New Year
“Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” - Hal Borland It’s the time of year for reflections and projections as we take stock of all that has happened over the last twelve months and peer with hopeful curiosity Read More...
The Optimist View: Building Circularity into Electric Vehicles
To eliminate the concept of waste means to design things-products, packaging, and systems-from the very beginning on the understanding that waste does not exist. - William McDonough BY Kristy Jansen and Sam Suh Earlier this year, I became the proud owner of an all-electric car一a used Read More...
Optimist View: "Pain pushes until ...Vision pulls" a conversation with Rev. D.
June has been a powerful month. Pride Month honors the fight for inclusion and celebration for the LGBTQ+ community. Juneteenth finally became a national holiday the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans. And, the Optimist Daily completes a week focused on ancient wisdom featured at the World Read More...
Rewilding: A Key Solution for Biodiversity
Wild wolves used to roam freely across most of the United States, but when these wolves were hunted to extinction in areas like Montana and Wyoming, ecosystems quickly fell out of balance. Without natural predators, elk populations soared, eating away at trees and grasses, eliminating building Read More...
The Optimist View: Healthy Kitchens Week
“Everything happens in the kitchen. Life happens in the kitchen.” – Andrew Zimmern The kitchen is said to be the heart of the home. That’s where we gather with our families or friends to break bread, get nourishment, find connection. To celebrate Earth Day, which really has grown to Read More...
The Optimist View: the Healing Power of Food
“Good nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence.” - T. Colin Campbell By Kristy Jansen Even if you’re not a fan of American football, the massive spectacle of the championship game has become a singular event that rivals only Thanksgiving as the most American of traditions. Read More...
The beauty of compassion: How to make the world a kinder place
“It is true that when we harm others, we harm ourselves; but it is just as true that when we help others, we also help ourselves.” - Desmond Tutu It has been a tough time to be an Optimist. The events in Washington DC this week come after a year that featured a global pandemic, economic Read More...