"Gift of Darkness" tells the story of a boy who, like Anne Frank, lived in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Unlike Anne, he was not taken into early hiding, but was able to move around the city, even to help serve its Jewish community, and observe first-hand the ominous things that were happening. Robbert Van Santen lived each day not knowing how or when the war would end, not being sure that he would survive, not imagining that as an elder he would articulate his experiences to an American author. To put one of Mary Oliver's poetic phrases in a new context, his story is "a box full of darkness," but...
"Gift of Darkness" tells the story of a boy who, like Anne Frank, lived in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Unlike Anne, he was not taken into early hiding, b...
Everybody knows what a physical invention is, but what is a social invention? On the community level, it can be as simple as a story-telling evening or an "abundance swap," both among the many examples described here. On the global level, the Peace Corps was a social invention. "Better Ways to Live" celebrates many successful social inventions, and explores challenges that invite new ways of working together. It's a form of creativity, inventing the social forms that enrich our lives. The great thing about social inventions is that anybody can borrow the ideas. During his famous trip to the...
Everybody knows what a physical invention is, but what is a social invention? On the community level, it can be as simple as a story-telling evening o...
