Stay Astonished... In the Garden with Joyce Tenneson

As we continue our commitment to keeping in touch with our members during this time of social distancing, the Coudert Institute is delighted to offer some brand new programming... GARDEN CHATS. GARDEN CHATS are relaxed conversations with a wide range of well- respected luminaries. Filmed on location, the conversations are designed to bring you some pause while keeping you curious. Coudert Institute Founder Dale Coudert was so grateful for the opportunity to sit down in the outdoor balm of Villa dei Fiori with her longtime friend best-selling author and fine art photographer, Joyce Tenneson. A big thanks to those of you who submitted questions for our guest.

"Scientists believe that flowers are more responsive than previously imagined - having ways of touching, hearing and smiling."

In addition to offering her reflections and insights, in this first GARDEN CHAT episode Joyce also shares some exclusive (brand new content), entitled: Flowers: The Lifecycle of Beauty. This portion of our GARDEN CHAT begins just after our guest's introduction. In this visual meditation, Joyce's magnificent photographs of flowers are set to a hushed soundscape of musical notes. We invite you to relax back and enjoy ten minute's of ease and wonder, and to share this conversation as an uplift to others!

Joyce Tenneson's photography has been exhibited internationally, and her 16 books continue to bring joy and inspiration to hundreds of thousands of readers. In 2018 she was honored at Carnegie Hall with a Lucie Award for "Achievement in Portraiture". We are fortunate here in Palm Beach to be able to experience her work in-person at Holden-Luntz Gallery on Worth Avenue. Pencil in a field trip next season, and see for yourself the timeless beauty that Joyce captures and expresses through her fine art photography. Please click HERE to enjoy Dale's conversation with Joyce Tenneson...

CORONAVIRUS FACT CHECK

Beyond personal connection and interaction, there is at the moment a universal craving for reliable information... a tremendous demand, in particular, for coronavirus facts. The Coudert Institute is pleased to answer this call thanks to the generosity of William A. Haseltine, Ph.D, a renowned biologist who has devoted his professional career and life to improving human health at every scale. Dr. Haseltine has educated a generation of doctors at Harvard Medical School, designed the strategy to develop the first treatment for HIV/AIDS, and led the team that pioneered the development of new drugs based on information from the human genome. A longtime friend of Coudert Institute Founder Dale Coudert, Dr. Haseltine has been in continuous communication this week to extend a wide range of up to the minute, fact-based content. We are beyond grateful for his gift of wisdom and information, and are happy to dispense some of that with our members through this communication. Please feel free to share this content within your social and professional circles as you see fit. It begins with some positive news!

Monoclonal Antibodies Could Help Fight Against Coronavirus This short article, authored by Dr. William Haseltine, offers us some of the BEST NEWS since the isolation the virus! In the article, published this week in Forbes Magazine, he reports that, "Monoclonal antibodies are very likely too be effective for treatment and prevention (especially for healthcare workers) of COVID-19. The development time should be short, and with the right resources, these should be available within a few months." Read Monoclonal Antibodies Could Help Fight Against Coronavirus here.

What Did We Know and When Did We Know It?

Open source information is information that can be publicly gathered through newspapers, television, and radio and ever so much more from our increasing wired world. After engaing in extensive dialogue with people whose life work is to develop the tools that allow us to understand what is happening in the world through such intelligence, Dr. WIlliam Haseltine came to the conclusion that we can predict impending epidemics, and do so early on. "We could have, and very likely did, observe the earliest traces of COVID-19 to accurately predict the gathering storm." He shares this and a wealth of other fascinating findings in his article, What Did We Know And When Did We Know It? Disease Surveillance: Past, Present And Future, published this week in Forbes Magazine. Read Dr. Haseltine's full article in Forbes Magazine through this link... COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines in Real Time The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. Earlier this week, in their ongoing efforts to navigate the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation, the NIH announced the development of a "living document" offering treatment guidelines in real time. The guidelines have been developed (and will be updated) by a panel of U.S. physicians, statisticians, and other experts Intended for healthcare providers, the guidelines are based on published and preliminary data and the clinical expertise of the panelists, many of whom are frontline clinicians caring for patients during the rapidly evolving pandemic. Access the guidelines, and keep current on all of the latest facts relating to COVID-19 through this link... This is How You Can Return to Work Safely Next month, there is a real risk that Americans will be asked to return to work before our public health infrastructure is in place to keep them safe. Workers desperate for a paycheck, have little recourse but to agree. So what can each of us do to protect ourselves in this scenario and help keep those around us safe? Here are some thoughts on how we can do so from Dr. William Haseltine. This is How You Can Return to Work Safely was published this week in Forbes Magazine. Read the full article here... The Pandemic’s Hidden Victims: Sick or Dying, but Not From the Virus As the coronavirus overwhelms the health care system, people with other illnesses struggle to find treatment. Denise Grady's New York Times article (published this week), The Pandemic’s Hidden Victims: Sick or Dying, but Not From the Virus, explores this reality through the voices of many families whose treatments have been delayed due to coronavirus. Read The Pandemic’s Hidden Victims: Sick or Dying, but Not From the Virus here... In Some Hospitals, Surviving COVID Is Almost Twice As Likely "I am not surprised that the hospitals that have made a significant effort in developing systems to improve patient outcomes and reduce in-hospital deaths also do better with critically ill COVID-19 patients," observed Dr. William Haseltine in a recent post on Forbes Magazine. Some Hospitals, Surviving COVID Is Almost Twice As Likely emphasizes his point that it is time for all our hospitals to learn from the best. Read the full post on Forbes Magazine here... Bill Gates on, The Scientific Advances We Need to STOP COVID 19 Bill Gates is a technologist, business leader, and philanthropist. In 2010, Bill and his wife Melinda challenged the global health community to declare this the Decade of Vaccines, pledging $10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop, and deliver vaccines for the world’s poorest countries. As we try to make sense of what is happening right now Gates' wisdom has never been more respected and called upon.

"This is like a world war, except in this case, we’re all on the same side," charges Gates in an essay entitled, The Scientific Advances We Need to STOP COVID 19, published this week on his GATESNOTES blog. He continues to stress the importance of working together adding, " I see global innovation as the key to limiting the damage. This includes innovations in testing, treatments, vaccines, and policies to limit the spread while minimizing the damage to economies and well-being." Read more of Gates' essay on the current situation and how we can "accelerate innovations" through this link... How Many Tests Do We Really Need? In this short read, another essay by Dr. William Haseltine, published this week in Forbes Magazine, this million dollar question receives a thoughtful probe. Emphasizing that testing is not a "one off exercise", Haseltine suggests, "Each person should be tested a minimum of three times over a fifteen day period to account for low and undetectable virus in early stages of infection." He also offers Harvard University's Roadmap to Pandemic Resilience as a reference for further exploration of this question on test quantity. Read Dr. Haseltine's full article How Many Tests Do We Really Need through this link. And, consult Harvard University's Roadmap to Pandemic Resilience here...

Dr. William Haseltine is also the author of several books, including Aging Well. You can learn more about his professional background and groundbreaking achievements thought his website, by clicking here. It is our hope and intention that when we reconvene and can all safely move about once more, Dr. Hasletine will be part of our Coudert Institute programming.

Illustration courtesy of the National Institutes of Health by, NIAID-RML

Wonder is...

"No one yet has made a list of places where the extraordinary may happen and where it may not. Still, there are indications."

The above verse is one of the many gifts from the poet Mary Oliver — a master of wonder and staying astonished. While we cannot be in community with one another at this time, we can continue to touch each other emotionally and intellectually. Our Coudert Institute team has compiled some suggestions for boosting your spirits and sparking imagination, and we wanted to use this space to share some of these with you!

Here are our FIVE offerings for wonder and wellness during this season of pause and social distancing. ONE... In Michael Sandel's New York Times commentary titled, Are We All in This Together, the wildly popular philosopher observes that the coronavirus pandemic has forced us to reconsider what social and economic roles matter most, suggesting, "we need to ask whether reopening the economy means going back to a system that, over the past four decades, pulled us apart, or whether we can emerge from this crisis with an economy that enables us to say, and to believe, that we are all in this together." Michael Sandel, who teaches at Harvard University, is recognized globally for his Justice course which emphasizes reinvigorating citizenship. Read Michael Sandel's Are We All in This Together through this link. TWO... Ralph Nurnberger, Ph.D. is a Principal with Gray Global Advisors. With four decades of experience working in (and with) the United States government, he has held senior positions in both the legislative and executive branches of government. At 1 PM on Tuesday April 21 Dr. Nurnberger will give a presentation for the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County — on Holocaust Remembrance Day. The talk will focus on the remarkable life of Nicholas Winton, who was able to arrange the rescue of 669 children from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia in 1939. The story of how this was accomplished remained a secret until 1988. It is estimated that about 6,000 people would not be alive today were it not for the efforts of Nicholas Winton. The lecture will be presented remotely via Zoom, and Dr. Nurnberger is generously making this program available to Coudert Institute members. Should you wish to join this lecture, please register in advance by following this link.

THREE... As many of you will recall, in 2016 the Coudert Institute was pleased to host Lama Migmar Tseten as he shared The Art of Meditation and Staying Calm. Lama Migmar has been serving Harvard University students, faculties, and staffs as a Harvard Buddhist Chaplain since 1997. He founded Sakya Institute for Buddhist Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1990. His timeless wisdom is well worthy of a revisit as we seek new routes for resilience. Please enjoy this program with Lama Migmar by following this link...

FOUR...

In this April 10 New York Times essay, entitled What I Miss Most Is Swimming, Bonnie Tsui trumpets the many therapeutic qualities of water. In her essay she consults marine biologist and author Wallace J. Nichols Ph.D who we were delighted to host here this season. “Being around water provides a sensory-rich environment with enough ‘soft fascination’ to let our focused attention rest and the default-mode network to kick in,” shares Dr. Nichols, with Ms. Tsui, in her exploration. He expands emphasizing that, "water is essential medicine more than ever." Read What I Miss Most Is Swimming through this link.

FIVE... Tony Nader, M.D., Ph.D., M.A.R.R., is a medical doctor trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, and a globally recognised Vedic scholar. Head of the international Transcendental Meditation® organizations in over 100 countries, Dr. Tony Nader's vision is to bring happiness, health, and peace to the minds and hearts of the whole world family. Dr. Nader's Facebook meditations are available for public viewing so anyone around the world, including visitors without a Facebook account, can see his content and watch his livestreams. Enjoy his daily livestream guided meditations at 12 PM (eastern) by following this link...

How about you... what are the things stretching your mind and soothing your spirits during this springtime pause? We invite you to share among our Coudert Institute community those enthusiasms supporting your well being. What for you is wonder, right now? Please let us know by forwarding to us your suggestions for online content, books, stories or other practices which might uplift us all during this time. You can e-mail your suggestions to our team through this link here... We look forward to hearing from you and welcoming you into this shared space! And, we leave you with this quiet poem, by Alberto Rios... When Giving Is All We Have

One river gives Its journey to the next. We give because someone gave to us. We give because nobody gave to us. We give because giving has changed us. We give because giving could have changed us. We have been better for it, We have been wounded by it— Giving has many faces: It is loud and quiet, Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails. Its story is old, the plot worn and the pages too, But we read this book, anyway, over and again: Giving is, first and every time, hand to hand, Mine to yours, yours to mine. You gave me blue and I gave you yellow. Together we are simple green. You gave me What you did not have, and I gave you What I had to give—together, we made Something greater from the difference.

Above image/artwork by Thomas Colligan, courtesy of The New York Times