When you first glimpse someone (or something) new your brain reacts instantly, but you knew that. What’s destructive is that when you instinctively feel danger – or simply irritation –  you respond quicker, longer and more intensely than if you feel safe or another positive emotion.

Your negative reaction to “the new” affects you much more than a [...]

Does most advertising irritate you? Do you sometimes find that companies aren’t creating products for people like you? David Wolf thinks he knows why. For most of us, many (but not all) companies are out of sync with our worldview and self-image. At least for the majority of Americans, those who are 40 or older.

Wolf’s insights may interest you as the gap between [...]

What do Beth Kantor and Peter Deitz think of this  entertainment media + celebrity- centered campaign campaign to inspire us to volunteer? More than 100 TV programs will involve “give back” themes in their story lines.

Michelle Obama kicked off the campaign.
Some big non-profits gain visibility via PSAs.
For the past 40 years volunteerism has been stagnant: one in four Americans volunteer. The good news is that recently, despite the bad economy, it’s [...]

Brisk early morning walks along the Sausalito waterfront as the sun comes up over Angel Island are somehow sweeter, when shared with a friend or three.

Walking in step in the fresh air, pointing, turning – all that motion makes unexpected memories come to mind. Talk is unexpected, sometimes more candid yet one comes home refreshed, [...]

Unconditional love is a swell idea yet admit it.  Aren’t there times you’d like to change other’s behavior? Get them to act right, like you.  Or perhaps you’d like to drop a bad habit.  Then learn how to “nudge.”

That’s a situational prompt that sways people to change.
For example, the traditional approach to getting drivers to [...]

Want to be in the book, The Obama Time Capsule: World History in the Making?
Any of us could be a co-author, thanks to a partnership between fellow Sausalitan, photographer and editor of “Day in the Life of…” big theme books Rick Smolan and Hewlett-Packard and Amazon.
Together they enable you to place yourself (your photo, writing, video) in a point in history.  More plainly in a [...]