Let's plan what we'll be doing for the next quarter! Is there a topic you'd like to give a talk about? Come have a voice in what we do next quarter! Even if you don’t want to volunteer to give a talk, your voice is valuable so that we know which talks to schedule! You … Continue reading Online Planning Meeting

"Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants to do the dishes." --Dorothy Day We have little control over how our nation allocates labor and resources (but use what you have! Vote and bug your representatives!), but we have a lot more in our own houses. How can we best divvy up the costs and the … Continue reading Online Service: Household Justice

This week is our next installment of Atheist YouTube! We'll be watching the video "Dangerous memes | Dan Dennett" from the channel TED. Here's the description they gave for this video: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting with the simple tale of an ant, philosopher Dan Dennett unleashes a devastating salvo of ideas, making a powerful case for the … Continue reading Online Service: TED’s “Dangerous memes | Dan Dennett”

This week is our popular Speed Talks event! Three to five speakers get 5-8 minutes each to expound their ideas, followed by our group discussion period where the community react to the ideas presented, discuss their own thoughts on the topic, and ask questions of the presenters. If you have an idea for a talk, … Continue reading Online Service: 5-Minute Speed Talks

I will read the award-winning science fiction short story Tideline by Elizabeth Bear and make some remarks about the power of stories to educate, inspire, and shape or even save our lives. This week's speaker will be Eva-Lise Carlstrom. After the talk, we'll have a group discussion to explore the ideas presented, and to share … Continue reading Online Service: Tideline: the Power of Stories

You see here a different kind of happiness book. The How of Happiness is a comprehensive guide to understanding the elements of happiness based on years of groundbreaking scientific research. It is also a practical, empowering, and easy-to-follow workbook, incorporating happiness strategies, exercises in new ways of thinking, and quizzes for understanding our individuality, all … Continue reading Online Service: Sonja Lyubomirsky’s The How of Happiness: The Life You Want

The best leadership is not imposed from outside or above, it arises organically from within. Even preschoolers can organize spontaneously to achieve a goal. The group may end up deferring to the person with the best ideas or the clearest ways of communicating them. A group member may take the lead, follow a leader's direct … Continue reading Online Service: Emergent Leadership

Distress Tolerance is one of the four pillars of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and a valuable skill for anyone to have. This is not about staying in miserable situations or suffering for the sake of suffering, but about being able to sit with uncomfortable thoughts or feelings without immediately jumping to fix them, blame someone, escape, … Continue reading Online Service: Getting Comfortable With Discomfort: Learning Distress Tolerance

I will read the children's story from Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, about how the first animals came to be domesticated. I hope you will forgive the improbable prehistory and the gender essentialism for the sake of some lovely poetic language, a good story, and the truth about cats. This week's speaker will be … Continue reading Online Service: The Cat Who Walked By Himself

We all sustain emotional wounds. Failure, guilt, rejection, and loss are as much a part of life as the occasional scraped elbow. But while we typically bandage a cut or ice a sprained ankle, our first aid kit for emotional injuries is not just understocked—it’s nonexistent. Fortunately, there is such a thing as mental first … Continue reading Online Service: Guy Winch’s Emotional First Aid: Healing Everyday Hurts