Rumi — blog — Anne Benvenuti

Too Big to Fail and Too Small to Matter: Don't Go Back to Sleep!

You’ve probably heard that your education will make you an efficient part of the economic system, more competitive, and of course, wealthier. If I thought that was the most important reason for getting an education, I would say to you, “Run away! Run away!” For we now have global research on happiness that tells us it is indeed important to have enough money to get food, clothing and shelter, and a little more for self-expression; but that after that, money doesn’t matter much to happiness—it can even take away from happiness when it brings with it excessive demands on time and energy and creates more stress, when it takes you away from your family and friends.

critical thinking, ecospiritualityAnne BenvenutiJune 2, 2015education, why education matters, happiness, creative thinking, Descartes, philosophy of life, Freud, unconscious, spirit unleashed, Wangari Maathai, RumiComment

The Beauty We Love

Beauty is the way that the universe makes love to us. I neither exaggerate nor blaspheme nor trivialize. An encounter with beauty simultaneously awakens and calms us, bonds us to the world, deepens our feeling of living. What else gives so much for so little effort? Or, as John O’Donohue expresses it, beauty is God’s invisible embrace.

So, was it just this morning that I woke up thinking I needed a good scare?

critical thinkingAnne BenvenutiJanuary 17, 2013beauty, John O'Donohue, Rumi, Sierra Nevada, NavajoComment