Commonweal

08/24/2026

What Matters Now: 7 Healing Letters to a Friend with Cancer is the first publication in the Founder's Series by Common Knowledge Press.

This book started out years ago as working letters shared with participants in Commonweal's Cancer Help Program. Now, on our 50th anniversary, we're making it available to anyone who needs it.

- Follow the linktree in bio for a free digital download. Look under "Articles & Publications."
- The print edition is available at Point Reyes Books.

"Love is the greatest healing force." — Michael Lerner

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Photos: The second print run of What Matters Now, picked up directly from the printer. Credit: Erin O'Reilly

08/23/2026

"Gathering in a circle is another everyday Commonweal technology. A circle is our basic frame for large-group meetings. Our monthly staff meeting is a circle. When something rattles the culture, like a terrible violence or tragedy, we gather in a circle, sitting side-by-side and facing the center together." —Susan Grelock Yusem, Head of Strategy and Innovation at Commonweal

This summer a new exhibit has come to Gallery Commonweal exploring sacred technologies—like the healing power of gathering in a circle—that are in daily practice at Commonweal, and have arisen naturally from 50 years dedicated to the healing arts.

Let's Go Quiet features artwork by visionary artist Jon Marro and is on display now until September. Find out more by following the linktree in bio. Look under "Events."

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Art credit: Jon Marro, in the Let's Go Quiet exhibit July - September 2026
Photo by: Albert Strietmann, taken July 12 in Gallery Commonweal

08/22/2026

* Podcast Premiere

What really matters in life? When we filter out the noise and pressure of fast-paced days defined by tech, how do we come back to the heart of what it means to be human?

This weekend we invite you to join Host Serena Bian for a conversation with former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. Through stories, reflection, and imagination, Dr. Murthy offers insights into how we might become more fully human while building a future rooted in connection, dignity, and care.

Find the premiere on YouTube by following the linktree in bio.

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Look for new podcast releases on Saturdays, just in time for your weekend listening.

08/21/2026

The July full moon rises over the coastal bluffs in this photo, and there's just one more week until it returns for an August flyby. Where is your favorite spot to catch a glimpse of our celestial neighbor? Let us know in the comments below.
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Photo credit: Beau Vincent

08/20/2026

* Podcast premiere
Saturday, Aug 22 | 9:00 am Pacific

How might we become more fully human while building a future rooted in connection, dignity, and care?

This weekend we invite you to join Host Serena Bian for a conversation with former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, exploring how we nurture meaning and purpose in an age increasingly defined by technology. Known for bringing loneliness and social connection into the national conversation, Vivek will share the experiences that shaped his understanding of service, healing, and what it means to belong.

Find the premiere on YouTube by following the linktree in bio. Click the bell to be notified when the conversation goes live—and don't forget to subscribe.

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Art credit: Jon Marro

Look for new podcast releases on Saturdays, just in time for your weekend listening.

Known for bringing loneliness and social connection into the nation...

08/17/2026

"As if one Yiddishe Mama (that’s a Jewish Mother) wasn’t enough… When I arrived at Commonweal more than a decade ago, Rachel Naomi Remen was one of the first people I met. Even at that time, she rarely came into the Bolinas office, so she invited me to her house balanced on the edge of Mt. Tamalpais and she took me under her wing." —Oren Slozberg, Commonweal Executive Director

Read the full letter by following the linktree in bio. Look under "Rachel Naomi Remen."

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Photo: Rachel with Oren. Courtesy of Oren Slozberg.

08/16/2026

Commonweal is more than a collection of historic buildings nestled on the southern end of the Point Reyes Seashore. The characteristic redwoods, bluffs, and wildlife are all part of our community—and part of what makes Commonweal a place of healing.

Here we see a red-tailed hawk perching on a fence post. This encounter, captured by visitor Julie Baker, demonstrates the wonder and beauty that surrounds us here.

What animals do you look for when you visit Commonweal, or when you go to your favorite natural space? Tell us about them in the comments below.

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Photo credit: Julie Baker

08/15/2026

“Perhaps the purpose of life is to grow in wisdom and learn to love better.” —Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.

Rachel hosted a few of Commonweal New School's earliest podcasts, and it was always a profound experience to have Rachel in the room. In every conversation, she brought her singular gift for storytelling and her unflinching curiosity about the sacred dimensions of illness, service, and everyday life—her way of finding the extraordinary hidden inside the ordinary.

This weekend, we invite you to explore this free, self-paced course featuring more than 20 hours of reading and podcasts with Rachel Naomi Remen. Allow the conversations in this course to help you slow down, listen the way she listened, and have your own encounter with the deeper questions she spent her life exploring.

Begin your journey now by following the linktree in bio.

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08/14/2026

The eternal song of existence calls us back to our original sense of belonging. Can you hear the sound? You're invited to listen for it in community with us.

Join us tomorrow for a conversation and film screening of The Eternal Song, the first in a series of award-winning films that explore the impact of colonization on indigenous people, lands, and cultures—and how our collective future depends on our ability to remember our kinship with the land, the more-than-human, and each other.

Co-presented with Science and Nonduality Conference and Bolinas Film Festival

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Eternal Song: Echoes of Resilience Across Indigenous Worlds
with Maurizio Benazzo, Zaya Ralitza Benazzo, and Host Susan Grelock Yusem

* Saturday, August 15 | 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm PDT
Join us in Gallery Commonweal and on Zoom
$25 ticket price

Learn more and register to attend (required) by following the linktree in bio. Look under "Events."

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