Ode to Ruth Buendía Mestoquiari, Pakitzapango Canyon, Peru
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Saving the forest For the Asháninka people of the Amazon rainforest, the Ené River Valley is their ancestral birthplace. This sacred home of the Asháninka was nearly taken away by the 2010 Peru–Brazil Energy Agreement, which aimed to build 60 large-scale Read More...
Ode to the Aescher-Wildkirchli hotel, Switzerland
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Into the mountains Nowhere is the contrast between the rolling hills and the sharp, craggy cliffs of the Alps as great as in Alpstein, Switzerland. Rock formations reaching heights of 8,000 feet rise up out of nowhere, separated by deep ravines. Built into one Read More...
We are still here
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Photographer Jimmy Nelson pays tribute to indigenous peoples—while it is still possible. Jimmy Nelson received international praise 25 years ago when he published his first photos of Tibet, which had been inaccessible up until then. Since then, he has Read More...
I don't believe in diets
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Kris Verburgh knows how you can age well and lose weight, but don’t call him a diet guru. By Marco Visscher Many pages into writing his new book, Kris Verburgh realized the truth. Darn it, he was writing a diet book! This from someone who dislikes diet Read More...
I don't believe in diets
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Kris Verburgh knows how you can age well and lose weight, but don’t call him a diet guru. By Marco Visscher Many pages into writing his new book, Kris Verburgh realized the truth. Darn it, he was writing a diet book! This from someone who dislikes diet Read More...
Turn up the stress
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Even as we anxiously try to avoid and suppress it, more and more research shows that stress is actually beneficial. It results in better performance, keeps us alert and is even good for our health. BY ELLEKE BAL One morning in 2007, Arianna Huffington awoke Read More...
Find your own way
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Whether they choose traditional or alternative therapies, cancer survivors all embrace these six habits of mind. By Laura Bond When Laura Bond’s mother, Gemma Bond, was diagnosed with ovarian and uterine cancer in March 2011, she refused chemotherapy and Read More...
Invest like a bee
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Biomimicry teaches us that a well-functioning system relies less on balance sheets and more on human ingenuity. by Katherine Collins We are all investors. We invest our time, our energy, our money. We invest every single day—as citizens, as consumers, as Read More...
Humble Inquiry: Ask, don’t tell
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 All too often, leaders think their job is to tell others what to do. But true leadership means asking questions. The other day I was admiring an unusual bunch of mushrooms that had grown after a heavy rain when a lady walking her dog chose to stop and tell me Read More...
Rock on Buddha
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 By Elleke Bal Stay awake. Watch and reflect. Work with careful attention. In this way you will find the light -within yourself.” This instruction for novice monks comes from the Buddhist -Dhammapada scriptures, but such careful attention also applies to the Read More...