Lifestyle
Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.
This ceasefire deal could bring peace closer for Syria—really
The ceasefire—or, to be precies, the halt to "combat operations"—discussed by Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin and accepted yesterday, has been met widely with skepticism. After all, ceasefires are known to be proposed by outside powers, only never to materialize. But this deal deserves a more Read More...
San Diego is ready to go big on biking and walking
The city of San Diego has big ideas for downtown streets. Their draft Downtown Mobility Plan outlines a network laden with protected bike lanes, pedestrian greenways, curb bulb-outs, road diets and more. If the plan can make it from concept to construction, it will remake the city core for biking Read More...
6 ways to give your activism a much-needed global spin
To do truly responsible advocacy work, you have to go global. Adding a global sensibility to your activism means reaching outside of your own community to get a broader view of the inequalities at hand. By hearing and acknowledging global perspectives, rather than listening to the single story that Read More...
Can ‘effective altruism’ really change the world?
Let’s imagine you have some spare cash to give away and you want to do something useful with your money. Should you spend it on food for starving children or vaccinations in refugee camps? Mosquito nets or courses in financial literacy? Animal rights at home or carbon off-setting in Latin Read More...
A Stanford psychologist says these 6 things are the keys to happiness and success
If you want to be successful, you should work as hard as possible and suffer, right? Or so we're told. But that notion is completely wrong, according to psychologist Emma Seppala, science director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University. As Seppala Read More...
The neuroscience of creativity
Some scientists believe that studying creativity is a fruitless endeavor, others do not. Neuroscience can be a dense and unrelentingly complex area of study. The scientists involved strive to answer disparate questions ranging from "how do we walk?" to "how do we remember things?" and from "how do Read More...
What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness
What keeps us healthy and happy as we go through life? Where should you focus your time and energy in order to invest in your best self? One of the people in the best position to answer these questions is Robert Waldinger, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, director of Read More...
One Turkish town has done so much for Syrian refugees it’s up for the Nobel Peace Prize
The town of Kilis, a busy little place just a few miles from the Syrian border, is where many refugees fleeing the horror of war are first able to breathe a sigh of relief.In the courtyards of its cafes and restaurants, they drink tea without fear of bombs raining down. In the shops, they buy cell Read More...
The power of buying less by buying better
Keeping pace with the latest fashion trends costs a lot, and wastes a whole lot more. In fact, a majority of women’s garments are worn a mere seven times before being pushed to the back of the closet or tossed in the garbage. “Fast fashion” is now the second dirtiest industry in the world, Read More...
Katy Perry is a fan of Transcendental Meditation and you should be too
Katy Perry is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, so it's no wonder her life gets pretty overwhelming at times. But in the video above, Katy shares how Transcendental Meditation helps her stay centered despite all the commotion. "Life sometimes can get very difficult and chaotic, and you Read More...