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.
Meditation slows the ageing process
Do people who meditate age more slowly? It seems unlikely on the face of it. How could sitting immobile with one’s eyes closed, perhaps focusing on the breath, possibly keep the Grim Reaper at bay? That said, the Buddha – surely the archetypal meditator – is reputed to have lived to 80, which Read More...
Angola is recycling guns from its civil war into steel to rebuild the country
Over nearly 30 years, Angola’s brutal civil war resulted in the loss of around half a million civilian lives. Although it ended in 2002, the tanks, scrap metal, and guns strewn across the country serve as reminders of the strife. Now, a local business is doing something smart with all that Read More...
Understanding the power of the blockchain
Understanding the revolution Bitcoin may bring about is hard. Recent news stories present a messy picture. Bitcoin has failed. Bitcoin is the future. Bitcoin cannot be regulated. Bitcoin needs to be regulated. The debate over what will happen to the decentralized virtual currency has reached a Read More...
Manage your energy, not your time
Emma Seppälä and I have something in common: we are both recovering chore-haters. “There was a time when I couldn’t stand running errands: getting gas, taking my car for an oil change, calling the electricity company about a bill, or going grocery shopping,” she writes in her new book The Read More...
2015 was record-breaking year for investment in renewable energy
A record $367 billion was invested in renewable energy around the world last year, according to a new report published today by Clean Energy Canada. That’s more than a third of a trillion dollars (USD) and a 7 percent increase on 2014. Whereas the oil price crash had everyone expecting renewable Read More...
How meditation actually changes your brain
Sit down. Close your eyes. Feel your chest rise and fall with each inhaled and exhaled breath. For decades, researchers have suggested that this simple practice--known as mindfulness meditation--can have health benefits that range from banal to life-changing. Some occasional meditators report being Read More...
Stevie Wonder talks being vegan and living a green lifestyle
There is no doubt about it that Stevie Wonder is looking great these days, but what contributes to his already fabulous self? "I've been a vegan for two years, so that's helped my already good-looking self," joked the musician. "I think that eating healthy is important." The legendary singer put Read More...
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...