Here are some remarks from an event I spoke at some years ago, that is remarkably still relevant almost a decade later:
Making the case for (He)Art…
What does it mean to live in color?
Why would individuals, businesses, whole communities want to support Art?
In the words of Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On?”
Have we opened our eyes and looked around lately? Because we are in mixed company, I will refrain from lighting the powder keg of politics or social justice
So, let’s find a common denominator:
If you are like 99% of us, you are stressed.
Stress is the #1 epidemic in most of the world, costing us billions in both hard costs and human consequences. We have traded false formulations of success (counterfeit correlation) for our happiness, wellbeing, and fulfillment both as individuals and as a community. It is almost as if we have forgotten what it means to be human. Have we really lost touch with our humanity?
What is going on?
“Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure!”
Artists find their inspiration in this dynamic tension…
The Case for America’s Finest City:
We talk about creating the 21st Century Innovation Economy. Some are starting to call it the Impact Economy.
Today, let’s consider the Imagination Economy
Our imagination is a preview of coming attractions
What does your imagination hold for you and for our community?
What is YOUR craft?
“Creativity is as important as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status” says Sir Ken Robinson
We want creativity, from ourselves, from our teams from our kids, yet most of the time we don’t create the conditions for it.
Whether its craft beer locally with over 100 craft-brewers, (and Ballast Point recently selling for $1B) or whatever your craft, to foster a vibrant, colorful imagination economy we need he-Artists!
Any way you look at it, convention is in dire need of an intervention!
Bring in the He-Artists…
It is time to Re-Imagine His-tory and Her-story
It is time to get real, find your smile, and rekindle our humanness perhaps by learning, if not from each other then from another species: the dolphins
We think we are the smartest creatures on the planet, but I think it is the dolphins and here is why:
Let’s use POD to capture their genius…
P: Play more. They play! Play is a prescription that has equal efficacy to antidepressants or other medicines, yet we don’t make time for play
What kind of play am I talking about?
Lego of old v. Lego of new (unstructured, open, free v. proscribed)
Here is the thought experiment:
If you were a lego set, what is the picture on the cover of the box you are trying to craft and create?
Do the puzzle pieces in your box line up with the picture on the cover?
Are there any pieces missing?
Art creates the space for play to matter, & can answer these existential questions- as well, if not better, than science
O: Others are important. Make connectedness count. We are social creatures. Loneliness is today’s smoking when it comes to health risks. Are you a pack a day isolate? Enough me, me, me already- enough selfies. How about WE? What happened to WE?
Art connects us to our most humane and universal essence.
D: Downtime matters. Our lives are way too fast-paced and just like elite athletes, for peak performance we need the oscillation of intense activity with periods of rest and stretching- you do too. Take more breaks and experience more breakthroughs!
We say we are too busy for downtime. Busy is a false indicator of us doing work of importance, just as sleep deprivation is a lousy indicator or your amazing ambition. If you can’t make time for down time, what you are really saying is you can’t make time for creativity, what you are really saying is you can’t make time for be your best self.
So now let’s apply this to our kids…
Children learn what they live
Sadly, you are only a kid, for just a short time, and then relegated to adult status for the rest of your life. Yet instead of celebrating childhood, we lament that “youth is wasted on the young”, then do our best to steal it from them with developmentally inappropriate expectations, forcing them to grow up, catch-up, over-extend, over-schedule, all over-tired.
Play, Downtime, Creativity, Art. We’ve got no time for that. No child left behind, resulted in no child LEFT!
Time steals our youth fast enough. Why are we buying into and contributing to this forced acceleration? What if the opposite reality became the norm and you were only an adult-in-training for just a short time, and then rightly trained and equipped, your youthful attitude, zest for life, belief in the impossible, & focus on the positive were the longest season of your life cycle during your short time here on earth?
Kindness is NOT weakness.
Busy-ness is not Fulfillment
“Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure!”
My plea to you:
Enliven your P.O.D. , live in color and find your craft.
As this is Martin Luther King week, I must end with some MLK quotes:
“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends!”
Please don’t be silent about art- live loud, proud and in color.
You are brilliant, powerful, creative, limitless, and boundless.
Like Dolphins: Shoulder to shoulder, not face to face- we can change our world
Take time through your craft to celebrate the moments no one will ever know when you best self-showed up!
As MLK said, “The time is always right to do what is right”
Blessings….
Living With and ON Purpose: Virtuous purpose, as David French writes, is rooted in sacrifice.
It ennobles the individual because it serves the common good.
“Real Leadership begins with Trust, grows through Love
and shows up most clearly in your impact on Others”- Frances Frei
Alas, seeds of distrust, hate and cruelty instead of love, and self interest in lieu of serving others have taken center stage and sucked the oxygen out of the space.
How is not the time for fear and freezing, its time for hope, help and healing.
Adversity does not breed character, it reveals it!
We have a leadership crisis in America if our values are centered in democracy not autocracy.
With the disruption of the historical coexistence between government and nonprofits, for example, we need to invest in the next generation of leaders while upskilling those in current leadership roles.
Here is a program focused on just that.
NCPC’s Impact Leadership Accelerator is launching its next cohort of no more than 40 in August, and you can learn more about it here.
Scroll down and enjoy some words of wisdom as Grant Oliphant the CEO of the Prebys Foundation and I chat on a webinar, attended by over 160 people, about the importance, value, and impact of leadership.
If you are interested in participating, coaching, volunteering, underwriting a leader or helping get the word out, I would be most appreciative if you would engage and help spread the word!
Note: This burden does not just fall on nonprofits and the social sector. The Aspen Institute talks about the 4th Sector- at the intersection of the private, public, and social sectors- where seemingly large and intractable challenges can be addressed when we all come together.
Businesses, individuals, funders, corporation, foundations, and government must all rise up and meet this moment with Allyship, FiscalSupport, & Advocacy, to lead the way and serve as a voice for those who can’t or are afraid to stand up for themselves.
This is as fundamental to the American ethos as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and today might better be “framed” as the Declaration of Inter-dependence!
As a bumper sticker I saw recently said, “Who would Jesus deport?”
Here are some additional thoughts and insights from leaders on leadership to get you activated…
Don’t Be the Smartest Person in the Room—Be the Most Curious: But leadership isn’t a game of intellectual dominance. It’s a practice of continuous learning. And that requires a very different orientation: curiosity.
Why a Leader’s Voice Is a Powerful Guide During Tough Times: It’s easier to say nothing and let it all play out, but that isn’t leadership. Sometimes, saying nothing is the only option. For example, when people you work with are delegating up, and you have to (gently) hand that request back. There are also times when you can’t not say something. I’d say that the times to speak up lately outweigh the silent moments. A recent conversation with a good friend who advises CEOs reminded me of this. Leadership requires you to speak up.
Leadership is a decision, not a position! Take the decision today to create the world you want to see and help grow the next generation of leaders in our network.
“The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.
I see the church as a field hospital after battle.
It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars!
You have to heal his wounds.
Then we can talk about everything else.
Heal the wounds, heal the wounds. …
And you have to start from the ground up.”
-Pope Francis
The Pope’s Hope courtesy of Ryan Berman: Pope Francis passed away last week at the age of 88. While I didn’t study Pope Francis “religiously”, my brilliant co-author of a new book I have coming out in September (Headamentals), Suzy Burke, had shared the following with me and it stopped me in my tracks…
I share his profound wisdom below:
“The walls of hospitals have heard more honest prayers than churches… They have witnessed far more sincere kisses than those in airports…
It is in hospitals that you see a homophobe being saved by a gay doctor.
A privileged doctor saving the life of a beggar…
In intensive care, you see a Jew taking care of a racist…
A police officer and a prisoner in the same room receiving the same care…
A wealthy patient waiting for a liver transplant, ready to receive the organ from a poor donor…
It is in these moments, when the hospital touches the wounds of people, that different worlds intersect according to a divine design.
And in this communion of destinies, we realize that alone, we are nothing.
The absolute truth of people, most of the time, only reveals itself in moments of pain or in the real threat of an irreversible loss.
A hospital is a place where human beings remove their masks and show themselves as they truly are, in their purest essence.
This life will pass quickly, so do not waste it fighting with people.
Do not criticize your body too much.
Do not complain excessively.
Do not lose sleep over bills.
Make sure to hug your loved ones.
Do not worry too much about keeping the house spotless.
Material goods must be earned by each person—do not dedicate yourself to accumulating an inheritance.
You are waiting for too much: Christmas, Friday, next year, when you have money, when love arrives, when everything is perfect…
Listen, perfection does not exist.
A human being cannot attain it because we are simply not made to be fulfilled here.
Here, we are given an opportunity to learn.
So, make the most of this trial of life—and do it now.
Respect yourself, respect others. Walk your own path and let go of the path others have chosen for you.
Respect: do not comment, do not judge, do not interfere.
Love more, forgive more, embrace more, live more intensely!
And leave the rest in the hands of the Creator.”
—Pope Francis
You Don’t Have to Be the Pope, to Make a Difference of Consequence:
My dear friend Dr. Ken Druck, a highly sought after Mental Health Expert and Mensch, shares his insights, with Drew and me on How to Survive Tragic Losses and How to Cultivate Hope, Meaning, Loving Kindness, Joy, and Compassion.
Pope Francis’ Greatest Achievement Was Emphasizing Mercy: Pope Francis true legacy will be his emphasis on mercy, which he believed would create a Church in ‘God’s style.’
Megaphone Hand, business concept with text Attention Please, vector illustration
Why Do We Dehumanize Ourselves by Being Tone Deaf to the Plight of the Needy and Those That Can’t Speak for Themselves?
Pope Francis Focused on Climate Change as the Planet continued to get Hotter:
The patron saint of animals and ecology brought together science, morality and faith and prompted people across the globe to pay attention to what is happening as the planet continues to heat up!
Why a transformative leader is a protector not an antagonist…
Plants ‘Scream’ When They’re Cut, We Just Couldn’t Hear It. Until Now… For centuries, humans have viewed plants as stoic, green stalwarts of nature, keeping to themselves unless a gentle breeze made them rustle.
According to research, they’ve actually been making sounds this whole time, we’ve just been too hard of hearing to notice.
Elephants form “alert circle” during earthquake at San Diego Zoo Safari Park African Elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park instinctively created an “alert circle” during the earthquake some weeks back.
Even wild animals circle the wagons to protect the vulnerable.
YouTube launched 20 years ago with an 18-second video at the San Diego Zoo That’s the title of one of the most consequential videos of all time. The video to start all videos. The “Big Bang” of the video-sharing world.
These are some of the best animal, people and panorama photos in the world! This incredible golden heron leads the winning images of Picture Award’s 17th edition, centered around animals, people and panoramas
Breath and choice – Meditation Medicine Musings with Eric Kaufmann
Help Leaders Reclaim Their Energy with Suneel Gupta
What we can all learn from embracing the Japanese concept of “oubaitori”
Breath and Choice – Meditation Medicine Musings with Eric Kaufmann:
Dear friends in practice,
It’s Monday, and this morning, as I sat to meditate with our Monday group, I could feel the familiar tug of the week ahead – meetings waiting, tasks beckoning, the current of action already moving under the surface. It would have been easy, quite automatic, to be carried off into planning and preparation. Instead, I noticed the pull, nodded inwardly at its persistence, and – gently, deliberately – chose to return to the breath.
No battle, no criticism. Just a quiet remembering: this breath, this moment, this choice.
Breath meditation is often described as simple – and it is. What is more simple than attending to the most elemental function of our life? The very first action we took upon being delivered from our mother’s body was to take a breath. It is natural, with us our whole life, and happens all on its own. Yet within that simplicity nestles a profound invitation. Every time we return to the breath, we are practicing, and getting closer and closer to becoming, a conscious being at choice. I love this phrase – a conscious being at choice. It comes as close as I know to operationalizing enlightenment. This is exercising the core of awakening: the ability to see clearly what arises, and to choose, freely and compassionately, where to place our attention.
The mind spins its stories. The heart feels its tides. The body broadcasts its hungers. That is the nature of being alive. Our practice is not to extinguish these movements – what is life without mind, heart, or body? Our practice is to notice them – and to realize that we are not their prisoner. Remarkably, we are NOT fated or destined to roll blindly into our patterns. We are free, moment by moment, to anchor in what is steady, real, and alive within us.
I invite Carl Jung to weigh in here as he wrote, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life and you will call it Fate.” Jung, having explored the concepts of destiny and patterns, suggests that unconscious influences shape our lives, often manifesting as seemingly predetermined patterns. He believed that understanding and integrating these unconscious forces was crucial for personal growth and realizing one’s true potential, essentially overcoming the illusion of “fate.”
So how does breath meditation help us overcome the illusion of fate? Because it cultivates awareness and choice. Breath meditation helps make the unconscious conscious because we note, in real time, what is arising. Choosing to return again and again and again to the breath is the real-time and real-world expression of a conscious being at choice. Conscious of what’s unfolding, arising, demanding, and compelling. And at choice about whether to be swept along in the compulsion, or to – gently and firmly – choose your path.
As you take your seat this week, I offer this encouragement: Let each breath be an act of courage and curiosity, a small and sacred choice to belong to this moment.
And, while being curious, check in with yourself: What shifts in me when I truly remember that I am free to choose?
With warmth and gratitude, Eric
Help Leaders Reclaim Their Energy with Suneel Gupta:
What we can all learn from embracing the Japanese concept of “oubaitori” It’s an important reminder that everyone is on their own journey and timeline.
Art is never finished, only abandoned. – Leonardo da Vinci
Greetings!
Feeling a bit dysregulated?
Neuroscience Says Music Is an Emotion Regulation Machine. Here’s What to Play for Happiness, Productivity, or Deep Thinking: Neuroscience shows music has big effects on our productivity, performance, and state of mind. Use that to your advantage.
What kind of headspace do you want to be in today?
Focused and productive as you tick through routine to-do list items?
Dreamy and creative? Happy and social? Contemplative? Analytical?
Whatever mood you’re aiming for, neuroscience says music can help.
The purpose of life is to give it away.”- Pablo Picasso
Want some live music, in an arts and culture context, with 250 featured artists, 4 live music stages, interactive art and free trolly tickets for the first 3,000 that use their phones to sign up?
Yes, Kids and Dogs will have a blast too…
Its Mission Fed ArtWalk 2025!
17 years of us serving as title sponsors for the largest arts and longest running (41 years) arts experience on the West Coast, this coming weekend Sat April 26 and Sun April 27th in Little Italy. Come enjoy a day immersed in art, and if you are yearning for some live music, join us on Saturday April 26th from 3:30 to 4:30p as Strange Crew plays on the Main Stage in the Piazza della Famiglia followed by my son Arman’s band Tone Deaf from 5-6p, with me sitting in on percussion on both sets.
And here is a CloudCast media podcast with Jacob from ArtWalk and me talking about the Mission Fed ArtWalk experience and its importance for San Diego:
The ArtWalk San Diego interview “Spotlight on the Community” Show:
Why it’s time to rethink what happiness really means: Explaining exactly what’s going on in our brains when we experience joy or pleasure remains frustratingly out of reach this year once again saw the publication of the annual World Happiness Report. The latest international rankings put Finland at number one and several other Nordic countries dominating the top 10.
It doesn’t mean you should turn off the news — which I have a tendency to do. We should also stay informed.
Know what’s going; on but don’t let politics, the news or the current stock market sink your psyche.
This doesn’t mean to be tone deaf or to turn the other cheek. It means stay even, stay civil, and shoot your shots if it’s aligned with your values.
Want to protest? Do it. Want to use this teaching opportunity for your kids? Do it. Want to reach out to someone on the other side to understand their POV? Do it.
We all lose when we lose ourselves in the chaos. We all lose when we’re humanrude, humanharsh or humancruel.
How will you show up? Why will you show up? Where will you show up?
If and when you do… stay humankind.
Jason Mraz- My Kind:
This song will lift you up and bolster your spirits!
Confucius had it right when he advised “before you go off to seek revenge it’s best to dig two graves.” Getting brilliant at forgiving those who have wronged and hurt you delivers these benefits to you as a leader, producer, and person:
—you avoid becoming a resentment collector, full of negativity and cynicism.
—you protect the energy needed to get big things done.
—you live in the present and pursue a richer future rather than staying stuck in the past.
—you free up a ton of creativity that would be consumed grumbling about what someone did to you.
—you remain peaceful and helpful instead of obsessing about being mistreated.
A few of the forgiveness rules that have been super useful to the clients I mentor:
1.Forgiveness isn’t condoning the behavior. No. It’s more about understanding that everyone does the best we can based on how we think. And, as Maya Angelou observed: “If they knew better, they would have done better.” How they behaved made sense to them at the time (read that twice), even if their actions were foolish and hurtful. So, practice the master skill of letting go.
2. Let success be your confident reply. Staying bitter and stagnant is a violent defeat. What I suggest is to try and use what someone did to you as soil for your growth and fuel for your winning. Let any pain you suffer actually purify you by processing through it so that you become emotionally richer, internally stronger, and personally wiser. And, as best as you can, exploit this newfound clarity, creativity, and maturity to build glorious fortunes of success, beauty, and inner freedom. Let an even more beautiful life be your elegant response.
3. What’s yours can’t be taken from you. Mom taught me this one and I wrote about the lesson in-depth in my latest book The Wealth Money Can’t Buy. What she taught me is that what’s meant for me can’t be taken from me and if something didn’t work out the way I wished it would have, it just wasn’t meant to be. Allow people to be on their own path and know that what unfolds for them is none of your business. Do your best and trust—with deep faith—that life has your back. And that what appears is always for your fortune, never for your failure.
4. Keep Death Close [KDC]. Reflecting on how short life really is and the fact that in 100 years, everyone alive today will be dust will give you perspective. A mistreatment that seems so big will begin to look small. You’ll see the value of moving on and letting the hurter deal with their karma. And you’ll be energized to “stick to your knitting” by doing what you know to be right, making excellent daily progress and remembering that good things inevitably happen to people who do great things.
Pets increase life satisfaction as much as marriage or close friendships: In a world where happiness often feels like a moving target, we constantly seek what brings true contentment.
People turn to careers, families, friendships, pets, and even meditation or travel in the hope of feeling joy and fulfillment in life.
A crow’s math skills include geometry: Crows in a lab were able to distinguish shapes that exhibited right angles, parallel lines, and symmetry, suggesting that, like humans, they have a special ability to perceive geometric regularity.
Missing toddler who walked 7 miles through Arizona wilderness led to safety by a dog: The rancher traced the boy’s steps and discovered that Buford, an Anatolian Pyrenees who normally patrols his land and wards off coyotes, had escorted the 2-year-old for at least a mile.
Be happy, laugh more, go to the empathy gym, work on your own mental health, remember age is just a number, and visit the most beautiful places on earth and in your mind!
To Be Happier, Stop Resisting Change: The Zen of archery is all about learning how to let go.
“There’s a fair amount of evidence now that the more fiction that people read, the more empathetic that they become,” says Stanford psychologist Jamil Zaki. “Because fiction is one of the most powerful ways to connect with people who are different from us who we might not have a chance to meet otherwise.”
Zaki argues that empathy is like a muscle — it can be strengthened with exercise and it can atrophy when idle. On this episode of Hidden Brain, we talk about calibrating our empathy so we can interact with others more mindfully.
How parents can help their kids’ mental health by working on their own:
The rate of kids dealing with serious mental health issues has been on the rise since the pandemic. But if parents want to help their kids, research suggests they should look at themselves and their own mental health issues.
Medicine is Not Always Found in Bottles, Make America Kind Again
Why Leadership is Essential to Your Career
The 4th Estate and the Importance of Free Speech
Precluding Attacks on Education
Managing Stress and Practicing Self-Compassion
A couple of pranksters broke into the lavatory in the executive branch and stole all the lavatory equipment. White house spokesman was quoted as saying, “We have absolutely nothing to go on!”
Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead
and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest.”
Leadership Matters!
With the disruption of the historical coexistence between Govt and the Nonprofits, many are cutting budgets, laying off staff, lying low, and taking a look-and-see response to the dynamic situation we find ourselves in. Let’s not lose the forest for the trees. Here is an opportunity to listen in and leverage our collective spirit in service of the greater good, regardless of your political preferences.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind.
Join Grant Oliphant, CEO of the Prebys Foundation, as we explore why leadership matters more than ever and investing in future leaders is critical.
The Fourth Estate and the Importance of Free Speech-
The Role of Journalism in a Democracy:
One of the most sacred principles of The Atlantic, as laid out in its 1857 founding statement, is that the magazine deals with politics as they are. We will report the truth, no matter who is in power. The Atlantic, our founders wrote, “will deal frankly with persons and with parties, endeavoring always to keep in view that moral element which transcends all persons and parties, and which alone makes the basis of a true and lasting national prosperity.” This principle of course came into play when our editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, realized that he had accidentally been included in the “Houthi PC small group” Signal chat about an imminent attack on Yemen. Goldberg at first worried that it was a hoax. When he realized it was real, he left the group, called the officials involved, and then published a story. After they falsely accused him, and The Atlantic, of having made things up, we published a second story with a direct transcript of the chat. Some of the exchanges that occurred last week might have bewildered our magazine’s founders. I suspect that if you had texted Ralph Waldo Emerson “👊🇺🇸🔥” after a strike in Yemen, he might have tossed his phone into Walden Pond. But the general principle was one that everyone involved in The Atlantic for the past 168 years has understood: Our job is to report on the most important issues of the day—fairly, accurately, and patiently—no matter what anyone in power says. We take these responsibilities, and our legacy, very seriously at The Atlantic, and we are very grateful for the support that you, our readers, have given us in the past week. In that spirit, I’d like to invite you to a subscriber-only conversation with Goldberg this Thursday, April 3. You can find more details on the virtual event below. I hope you’ll join us. Nicholas Thompson CEO of The Atlantic
There is no reason, Republicans say, for the government to fund NPR and PBS.
Last week, G.O.P. members of Congress, led by Marjorie Taylor Greene, flayed the leaders of both organizations for what they said was partisan programming. “You all can hate us on your own dime,” Greene said. The next day, a Republican introduced a bill to end all government support.
What would happen to public broadcasting if Republicans succeeded? In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain.
NPR
The specter of government abandonment has haunted public radio for so long that executives drafted a secret plan for the worst.
In February 2011, NPR assembled a 36-page document that detailed exactly what would happen if the Treasury stopped cutting checks to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the government-backed company that supports NPR and PBS. The document, which has not previously been reported, is bleak. It describes a precarious radio system that will bear the blow poorly, with consequences for listeners across the nation.
“Most NPR member stations operate at, or barely above, break-even,” it begins. A cutoff would cause up to $240 million to vanish and up to 18 percent of roughly 1,000 member stations to close. The Midwest, the South and the West would be affected the most. Nationwide, up to 30 percent of listeners would lose access to NPR programming.
NPR provides national coverage, but the independent member stations across the country get most of the money devoted to public radio. That makes them more vulnerable than the national headquarters, which says it gets only 1 percent of its budget from Congress. (It gets a bit more from local stations that pay for its programming).
NPR’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Eric Lee/The New York Times
What are these local stations doing? Take WEKU, a constellation of 10 FM stations with headquarters in Richmond, Ky., that broadcast to nearly 1.5 million residents. For people who don’t have access to broadband internet, WEKU is one of the few reliable sources of information when emergencies happen.
Floods swept through the state earlier this year. “Our transmitters stayed on the air, and we were broadcasting information to residents in Pikeville on where they could get fresh water, how they could deal with FEMA,” said Mike Savage, the station’s director and general manager. NPR’s audience has fallen by about 28 percent since 2020. But many of the residents who still tune in really need the information.
After the floods, someone from Hazard, Ky., emailed Savage to say that public radio was her only source of vital information. “We were her lifeline because they had no power, they had no cell service, they had nothing except for listening to our public radio station and getting information every day,” Savage said.
NPR can weather the funding cut, its document predicts, thanks in part to aggrieved listeners: Executives predict a sudden boom in donations if Congress defunds it, as listeners rush to defend their favorite programs. But they will likely give more in big-city markets.
PBS
A taping of “PBS NewsHour.” Jared Soares for The New York Times
Public television in the United States would likely be in worse shape because PBS receives much more of its budget — about 15 percent of $373 million — from the federal government.
There’s something quirky about PBS: Many of the shows operate their own businesses. So marquee programs like “PBS NewsHour” and “Nature” would need to find money elsewhere, such as from donations or syndication.
But again, the member stations, which rely more on public funding than the national organization does, would bear the brunt. Those stations use the money to cover local affairs, often in a news desert. Alaska Public Media, for instance, is a PBS and NPR member station with several local affiliates in rural areas. Those team up with newspapers, including The Daily News-Miner in Fairbanks and The Juneau Empire, to cover state and local governments.
That’s crucial, in part, because reliable sources of information are disappearing from smaller towns across America, said Paula Kerger, the chief executive of PBS. “There isn’t an economic model that would compel commercial broadcasters to have outlets strewn across the state where the population is so sparse,” she said.
Public and broadcasting
It’s not an issue that moves large voting majorities. About a quarter of American adults believe that public media should be defunded, and 43 disagree, according to the Pew Research Center.
In the past, members of Congress have been persuadable. In 1969, as Congress contemplated reducing funding for public media, members invited Fred Rogers, the creator of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” to testify. Lawmakers sat rapt as he quoted a song he’d written about keeping anger under control.
One legislator said that Mister Rogers had given him “goose bumps” and acknowledged that the testimony had saved the day. “Looks like you just earned the $20 million.”
A half-century later, the party that controls Congress is tuning those arguments out. When Mister Rogers’s testimony came up at the hearing last week, one witness said that Congress shouldn’t have listened to him.
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”— Dr Martin Luther King Jr
Opinion | This op-ed could lead to me being deported from the US: I could never have imagined that writing a critical piece about the government could put me at risk of deportation.
America Must Not Remain Silent. A Time Comes When Silence is Betrayal:
The song remains the same…
For 3 days starting June 6, 2020, paddle outs were held by Paddle for Peace take a stand against racism and honor the lives of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The largest paddle out San Diego has ever seen was held at Tourmaline Surfer’s beach followed by 2 additional paddle outs in Ocean Beach and Windansea beach. Community members from all different backgrounds came out to stand on the beach in solidarity or to paddle out alongside other surfers. This day changed the lives of many people and sparked a movement that still holds strong.
Attacks on education are any intentional threat or use of force—carried out for political, military, ideological, sectarian, ethnic, or religious reasons—against students, educators, and education institutions.
Tufts PhD student taken into custody and visa ‘terminated,’ school says Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish national, according to her lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai.
Yale professor who studies fascism fleeing US to work in Canada Jason Stanley, who says grandmother fled Berlin with his father in 1939, says US may become ‘fascist dictatorship’
Sue or hold back? The University of California does both as it faces Trump’s wrath Stay informed, effortlessly. Get a sharp, nonpartisan digest of the state’s most important issues, once a week.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” –Viktor Frankl
Managing Stress and Practicing Self-Compassion-
Harvard doctor: How to reduce stress and silence your inner critic While the source of Americans’ stress varies the effects are the same. We become unproductive, unmotivated, and our own worst critic.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Says Your Overall Happiness and Mental Health May Come Down to 7 Words One simple habit that’s like rocket fuel for your impact and well-being. Mar 29, 2025, Vivek Murthy, US surgeon general. What’s the real meaning of happiness? And how do we actually experience it—not just in fleeting moments, but in a lasting, sustainable way? Too often, happiness is mistaken for an emotion we chase: joy, excitement, pleasure. But those are just the symptoms of happiness, not the root of it.
Harvard-trained expert: 3 quick habits for a happier life—in less than 20 mins/day Most people are wrong about what makes them happy, says Yale psychology professor and Harvard-trained happiness expert Laurie Santos. Here’s what to do about it.
Thanks, this week go to Staci R, Laura H, Grant O, and all of you choosing facts and faith over fear and freezing while fostering advocacy, allyship and agency when it matters most!
Love,
Neville
“The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation,we shall harness for God the energies of love.
And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire!”–Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
All I want for my birthday is a little more kindness and good trouble!
No Bystanding. Now is the Moment for Allyship, Advocacy and Agency!
Historically, 80% of San Diegans have reported strong confidence in the social sector with 81% of residents having benefited from the services of a nonprofit in the last year. Yet 80% of organizations reporting an increased demand for services, with 38% or residents seriously thinking about leaving our county- the least affordable city in the US. And this was all pre-January 2025.
Fast forward the tape to March 2025 and the confluence of the sudden, disruptive current administration’s ending of the historic coexistence between the social sector and the government, while targeting:
DEI (65%)
Immigration & Citizenship (56%)
Arts and Culture (43%)
Gender and Sexual Identity (40%) &
Science & Research (34%)
And this represents a clear and present danger mandating a call to (open) arms if we intend to meet the moment both for the near-term survival of many nonprofits, as well as, with an eye toward the long-term impacts and implications for societal wellbeing.
We must concurrently attend to the fierce urgency of now and play the long game so the at-risk nonprofits and people they serve can thrive, sustain themselves, and retain their sense of psychological safety and dignity!
This burden of proof does not just fall on nonprofits.
Funders, corporations, and foundations must meet this moment with Allyship, FiscalSupport, Advocacy, stand up and be counted on to serve as a Voice for those who can’t, or are afraid to stand up for themselves.
This is as fundamental to the American ethos as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and today might better be “framed” as the Declaration of Inter-dependence!
Let’s neither miss the opportunity nor waste this crisis.
No bystanding, we need upstanding.
We are here for you and your mission is our mission.
Love,
Neville
Why Is the U.S. Falling in the World Happiness Rankings? Blame a Kindness Recession This year, the U.S. sank to No. 24 in the World Happiness rankings. What do the likes of Finland and Denmark have that we don’t? More kindness. Mar 22, 2025 Another year, another occasion for Finns to celebrate. For the eighth year in a row, the Nordic country took the top slot in the World Happiness Report rankings, followed by its neighbors Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. Where did the U.S. land? One slot down from last year in a decidedly mediocre No. 24.
International Day of Forests arrives amid concerns over Trump’s sweeping logging agenda The world celebrates International Day of Forests on Friday, but President Trump aims to expand American logging and roll back reforestation efforts.
Can you look at these 9 photos and not smile on International Day of Happiness? March 20 was International Happiness Day — a day that the United Nations had dedicated to the celebration of joy. We asked photographers around the world to share a picture that can bring bliss.
A partial solar eclipse will reconnect us with something far greater than ourselves and remind us that “only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars!”
I am not sure what this energy will bring to the birthday fest, but I promise we will be “all in”!
Come commune, connect, and celebrate with us as I celebrate another journey around the sun!
“No Winter Lasts Forever; No Spring Skips Its Turn”
Spring is here!
This week:
What Actions Can Local Nonprofits and Others in the Social Sector Take in Our Current Environment?
‘We are facing an epidemic of demoralization,’ says happiness expert—how to fight it ‘Boreout’ is the new burnout—how to combat it, according to Wharton psychologist
Altruism is actually a fantastic survival strategy
Neuroscience Discovered a Clever Trick for Squeezing More Joy Out of Everyday Pleasures
The Spring Equinox is on Thursday, March 20, 2025, at 2:01 am PDT This moment begins the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere.
Translated literally, equinox means “equal night”. On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world. Twelve hours of each, because the sun is positioned above the equator. It is also known as the vernal equinox, “vernal” means fresh or new, and is from the Latin word for spring, which is “ver.” On this day, the sun rises precisely due east and sets due west. The Spring Equinox signifies a rebirth. The duration of light is about to overtake the darkness. After the Spring Equinox, the days become longer and the air warmer.
The soil becomes fertile, and all hibernating life is re-animated. It is a time to plant seeds of growth. The Spring Equinox is a time of renewal – in nature, the home, and in us. More than just physical activity, “spring cleaning” removes any negative energy accumulated over the dark winter months and resonates with the positive growing energy of spring and summer.
The Spring Equinox is a time where there is a special quality of energy – to plant, grow and renew our lives. Energy is emerging from the ground where it has been dormant in the earth since the Winter Solstice.
Wishing you a special day, symbolic of balance in our life and with the environment. Stay in tune with nature and wellness, Billy
What Actions Can Local Nonprofits and Others in the Social Sector Take in Our Current Environment? Here is a 30-minute chat with Megan Thomas, President of Catalyst, Dr. Novian Yarber from the Prebys Foundation and Moi that hopefully you will find useful as you navigate these uncharted waters.
‘We are facing an epidemic of demoralization,’ says happiness expert—how to fight it: We often mistake demoralization for depression, but it’s distinct. “It often appears first, as a warning sign,” says Stephanie Harrison, author of “The New Happy.”
‘Boreout’ is the new burnout—how to combat it, according to Wharton psychologist: Burnout may not be the source of your unhappiness at work. It’s fraternal twin, bore out, could be the problem. Here’s how to manage it, says Adam Grant.
Altruism is actually a fantastic survival strategy: Primate and neuroscience studies tell us a lot about how evolution rewards kindness and cooperation.
Social support is thought to be an adaptive response to extreme stressors.
Stress kills brain cells in the hippocampus.
Strong social connections can act as a buffer in the brain against stress responses!
Neuroscience Discovered a Clever Trick for Squeezing More Joy Out of Everyday Pleasures: Entrepreneurs can’t make the world less crazy, but they can squeeze more joy out of everyday things with this simple trick.
In difficult and uncertain times, it is often impossible to make the larger world less crazy. But you can learn to squeeze more joy out of your everyday life. This is a lesson author Sasha Chapin learned young. “My childhood was unpleasant, and as a coping mechanism, I tried to love, hard, the passably pleasant moments,”
Happy Soul Food Friday! 