A New Son Begets A New Mother
"I raised my daughter, Claire, to listen to her true self. She was an odd kid, unusually intelligent from a young age and socially awkward, sometimes lacking empathy and always coming at things from a different way than her peers. I had made it my practice as her mother to allow and defend her unique way of being in the world. But when she announced she was a man at age 15, she had gone too far ev... posted on Sep 11 2019, 14,499 reads

Janwaar Castle: A Modern Skate Park in Rural India
When is a skatepark more than a skatepark? When it is Janwaar Castle, a local playground in Janwaar village. Between 50-60 children visit the park every day where they learn English, music, dance, painting, 3D modelling, and general life skills. It is a place where Adivasis and Yadavs, boys and girls, and all age groups play together. There are two rules: no school no skating and girls first. Sinc... posted on Sep 10 2019, 4,157 reads

Inner Preacher vs Inner Teacher
Between message and meaning, "Art is co-created by artist and audience, by writer and reader." In this Ursula K. Le Guin essay, Maria Popova explores the questions of where to find strength and hope, what is a writer's calling in this time and place, what work will make a difference, and how we might create a community of purpose. To each, Le Guin's answer is in trying to write well. Writing is no... posted on Sep 09 2019, 4,936 reads

Artists as Hoarders
When does collecting material for prospective art projects cross over and become hoarding? When it takes up so much space it requires a warehouse? When the time to collect and sort and store it all amounts to your entire lifetime? And what kind of imagination plus dedication does it take to finally assemble all the bits and pieces into something qualifying as art? Mirka Knaster opens the portal in... posted on Sep 08 2019, 5,521 reads

A Three Year Road Trip Documenting Kindness
Do you see the world as a place of hope and optimism? Understandably, many people don't as the barrage of bad news hits the news feed every day. Mary Latham is not one of those people though. Instead of withdrawing from the world after the loss of her mother, in 2016 she began a journey to find and create kindness as she traveled across the US. Over the past years, she says she's found nothing but... posted on Sep 07 2019, 2,746 reads

The Bad Kids
Vonda Viland is a mother figure, coach, cheerleader, and counselor. She has to be. As the principal of Black Rock Continuation High School on the edge of California's Mojave Desert, Ms. V--as she's known to her 121 at-risk students has heard countless stories of personal or familial alcohol or drug addiction, chronic truancy, and physical and sexual abuse. Over 90 percent of the school's students ... posted on Sep 06 2019, 5,409 reads

How Space Can Heal What Divides Us
The Overview Effect is the experience many astronauts describe after seeing the Earth from space. "There, devoid of territory lines and set in the vast backdrop of the universe, this spectacle gives them a new perspective on our need to come together as a global society. For most, it is profoundly life-changing." Two years ago, MaryLiz Bender was so inspired by this phenomenon that she sold her be... posted on Sep 05 2019, 2,301 reads

My Small Moment of Mending Brokenness
"I used to believe that I was a very accepting person. But a few weeks ago, something happened at my workplace that made me recognize my own brokenness -- it helped me see the disconnect between my values, and how I respond in certain moments. I work at the front desk of a hotel. On multiple occasions over the past couple of weeks, a sex-worker reserved a room on our property. Sitting at the front... posted on Sep 04 2019, 7,286 reads

Send Silence Packing: A Mission of Hope
Sometimes things fall apart in a way that we simply fall silent. Sometimes there simply are no words we can say or hear to help us deal with our trauma. Such quiet time can provide the buffer necessary to absorb the impact. Staying here too long though can bring the necessary healing process to a halt, both for ourselves and others suffering in similar ways. Read this story of how one woman decide... posted on Sep 03 2019, 3,595 reads

The Friendship Bench
Globally, more than 300 million people suffer from depression, according to the World Health Organization. Depression is the world's leading cause of disability and it contributes to 800,000 suicides per year, the majority of which occur in developing countries. Yet those suffering from depression have few options due to a dearth of mental health professionals. In brainstorming how to tackle this ... posted on Sep 02 2019, 2,992 reads