You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
That is from the poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver. [The image is Six Wild Geese, woodblock print by Ohara [...]

Owen Wilson was hospitalized Sunday following a reported suicide attempt. An attorney reports the actor slit his wrists, and that he had been taking anti-depressants. Wilson has reportedly also had drug abuse problems in the past.
He is far from alone. According to the online listing “Famous People Who Have Suffered from Depression or Manic-Depression,” people [...]

“Many people live as if their future equals their past or their past equals their future… People cut and paste old stories from their life into their future chapters. You are cutting and pasting chapter 10 into chapter 29 and all of a sudden you have this repeated cycle of relationships. This repeated cycle of [...]

“In 1982 the National Endowment for the Arts established the NEA National Heritage Awards as a way of honoring American folk artists for their contributions to our national cultural mosaic….
“At the age of 14, Sidiki Conde lost the use of his legs as the result of polio. In his village in Guinea, West Africa, disabled [...]

Hale Dwoskin is the President of Sedona Training Associates and author of several books, including The Sedona Method: Your Key to Lasting Happiness, Success, Peace and Emotional Well-Being (Foreword by Jack Canfield.)
These comments by Dwoskin are from an interview in the free online course The Masters of The Secret [from Centerpointe Research Institute.]
We’re basically all [...]

“Each of us has a tendency to underestimate his or her own abilities. We should realize that we have deep within ourselves deep reservoirs of great ability, even genius that can be tapped if we’ll just dig deep enough.”
That is a quote by Earl Nightingale, from his article The Great Problem-Solving Tool.
[The photo is from [...]

How can we make our lives less stressful, yet still productive and creative?
In her article Living a Balanced Life [also published on Positive Psychology News Daily, and the Happiness Institute], Dana Arakawa outlines some helpful perspectives and approaches.
She notes: “In this age of multi-tasking and instantaneous communication through cell phones, e-mail, and BlackBerrys that do [...]

Masi Oka has an improv background and computer science degree, and worked for George Lucas’ visual effects studio, ILM, before acting.
His first leading role is ‘Hiro Nakamura’ in the TV series Heroes [dvd].
[The image is from Wired magazine - The 2007 Rave Awards.]
On the Tavis Smiley Show April 27, 2007, he addressed stereotyping and [...]

“She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, or manic depression. O’Connor describes the illness as like having a gaping hole in the centre of her being… The diagnosis, and then the drugs, gave her back her creativity.”
Excerpted from the article “Sinead O’Connor talks music, mental illness and men,” by Sheryl Garratt [London Times] :
The new album, [...]

“Fear can make you come up with strengths you didn’t know you had.”
Alan Alda explains the very real value of fear in his article How to Be a Nervous Wreck.
He notes, “There is a certain fear for me in acting, and it happens much earlier than opening night: it’s when I’m in a chair, reading [...]