The Art and Soul of Compassion

John Paul's prologue to the collection of digital stories emergent from a conversational retreat exploring the connection between compassion, creativity, and spirituality.

Music therapist and singer-songwriter Vanessa Contopulos shares about the healing music offers her in the navigation of the grief.

A digital story and song by Vanessa Contopulos about the contradictions in society about who is honored and who is disregarded.

A digital story featuring conversations between survivors of human trafficking facilitated by Vanessa Contopulos and Kirsten Rian.

A digital story featuring poetry and reflections of survivors of human trafficking.

A poem shared by Oumar Farouk Sesay on the complexities of forgiveness in the Sierra Leonean conflict.

A digital story by Petr Janata about the neuroscience of music and synchrony, and potential this research holds for building peace.

Reflections of Carole Kane on the experience and journey of an arts initiative following a bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland, in 1998.

John Paul Lederach recounts the healing emergent through the sharing of life stories among women in Nepal widowed from the civil war.

Reflections on faith and resilience in Northern Uganda by Juliane Okot Bitek.

Zen practitioner and teacher Tom Peterson reflects on compassion in a Buddhist perspective.

Artist Kirsten Rian recounts and reflects on the experience of co-writing poetry with a war-impacted woman in Sierra Leone.

Song and story from Tommy Sands' experience working with incarcerated young people in Reno, Nevada.

An annotated bibliography compiling research on the themes of compassion, creativity, and spirituality, across the bodies of literature defined as the arts, neuroscience, healing professions, peacebuilding, and the contemplative traditions.