If life is a school or a learning opportunity, then all the challenges we meet are tests administered to see if we've mastered the course material. Looking at current events that way, we can tell that we are in the middle of several exams all being administered at once.
People are taking a stand on what they believe in. And while some believe in things you may not believe in, yet at least people are speaking out, taking a stand, and making choices. They are no longer being just spectators. They are participating...
The idea of resistance to an authoritarian regime is long, proud, and ultimately successful.
Americans and the world should count their blessings that Donald Trump is the new President It could have been worse. A lot worse.
I've always believed that we can learn from others' mistakes. And of course, the opposite is obviously true, we learn from others' positive experiences as well.
The media and the general public usually pay little attention to this climate event that occurs around mid March every year.
There is a common theme in a lot of the things I hear, see, and read these days. It is the theme of "taking action". We are being encouraged from many directions to act, to stand up for what we believe in, to be proactive.
While discussing the poor potential of the incoming administration recently, a friend expressed hopes that they would shake things up.
The worst advice one can ever give, or receive, is "don't talk to yourself". Yes, I know! We're all told to stop talking to ourselves, but is that good advice? It definitely is not!
America today is a very different country than in my youth. I attended a segregated high school. We had separate drinking fountains for blacks and whites at the Greyhound Bus station.
The approval rating of the US Congress hovers persistently between 5 and 15 %. It has been stuck there for as long as most anyone can remember. Yet the voters keep returning many of the same scoundrels to office term after term.
Whatever path we're on, whatever attitude we've taken, we can probably recognize that we've experienced it before... with other partners, other bosses, other co-workers, other friends, other family members. We seem to repeat the same attitudes and the same experiences...
What needs to change? Wow! That's a loaded question. Or perhaps not loaded so much as extensive! If we were to start with a list of what needs to change, it could go on forever. Or at least my list could.
As with most questions, this one (Why Do We Do Things That We Know Are Bad For Us?) does not have just one answer. There are multiple reasons for different people's behavior, and multiple reasons for our own behavior as well.
I am fighting a hacker on the site that handles my email. That reminds of this ridiculous Russian Hack allegation.
A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
The recent attention given to the Russian government propaganda as being a driving force behind the Clinton loss or circumventing American democracy is laughable at best and propaganda itself.
There has been much written since the election about what went wrong. The wrong was not so much electing Trump but, as Michael Moore put it, more like thrusting a giant middle finger into the face of the establishment.
Pete Seeger has been called many things in his decades long career but no one can dispute that he was the consummate American musician activist. In both his music and his activism Seeger was a purist. Much has been written about Pete Seeger's contribution to the important social causes...
Because privacy is important to all of us, we operate by the following principles:
InnerSelf Publications will explicitly ask when they need information that personally identifies you or allows InnerSelf to contact you. (We ask for minimal information - only what is needed - usually only an email address and for subscriptions, your first name). Generally this information is requested when registering for the newsletter or Daily Inspiration, or when requesting a particular service or response to a question, or entering a contest. When possible, InnerSelf will provide you with the means to make sure that your Personal Information is correct and current.
When making a purchase at InnerSelf Market, you will of course need to provide shipping and payment information. The purchase takes place on our secure server (unless you check out using Amazon payments or PayPal in which case the secure transaction takes place on their site). Credit card information is processed by the credit card company directly and we do not have access to that info except through the credit card company. No credit card info is kept by us or stored on our computers.
InnerSelf does not use your information to send you promotional info. You will only receive the item or email you signed up for, or email from us if there is a problem with your order or subscription. Under no circumstances will we release your personal information to marketing companies and spammers. Information will not be released to any other organization or government except as stated below. We do not cross-reference your information with viewing preferences or another statistics and our server access logs are destroyed each week.
InnerSelf will not use your personal information for any other use than as stated when the information was given. You may also stop the delivery of the newsletter and/or Daily Inspiration from InnerSelf by following the instructions on the email. Removal is immediate if you use the online form.
If required to do so by law, InnerSelf may disclose Personal Information to (a) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on InnerSelf or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of InnerSelf, the site or the users of InnerSelf, and (c) act under prudent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of InnerSelf, the site or the public.
Thank you.
September 2026 begins at a powerful turning point as eclipse season winds down and...
Letting go of the past doesn’t mean forgetting what happened. It means releasing the...
How much of yesterday are you still carrying today?
In a world of swipes, matches, texts and disappearing conversations, sometimes the most...
Some temptations don't announce themselves as trouble. They arrive softly, offering...
What if the rules women grew up with were never really rules at all? The Invisible Cage...
What does freedom mean when the nearest emergency room is forty miles away? “Forty Miles...
Fears about the future often stem from past experiences, leading to...
A strong relationship thrives on unconditional surrender, trust, and a commitment to...
Why do we keep doing things we know aren't good for us? The answer may have less to do...
You already know you're tired. You've known it since you hit snooze for the third time...
The concept of hell has evolved significantly from ancient Greek and Roman literature to...