“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – Anais Nin One of the most common questions people ask is how to become more of an optimist....
Twice a month from March through August, or so, crowds of people gather on Southern California beaches for a regular evening spectacle. As onlookers watch, thousands of silvery sardine look-alikes lunge as far onto shore as possible. Before long, these small writhing, grunion carpet the beach. The females dig their tails into...
The students sit with their satchels on their desks, eager to get home after another long day of seven 50-minute classes. They listen patiently as their teacher makes a few announcements about tomorrow’s timetable. Then, as every day, the teacher’s final words: “OK everybody, today’s cleaning roster. Lines one and...
“Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” – Benjamin Franklin “If I don’t train enough, of course I’m nervous.” – Haile Gebrselassie It starts with just a little tremble within. Then a pressure builds up. A hand or foot starts to fidget....
The crystal-clear water beneath 13-year-old Hannah Mighall darkened for a moment. She was sitting astride her surfboard, enjoying the warmth of the sun as she and her cousin waited for the next wave in Tasmania’s idyllic Bay of Fires. Behind them the brilliant-white sandy beach was largely deserted and the...
You have to watch where you step in Paga, on the very edge of northern Ghana. Wander into the wrong part of this dusty African border town and you may just come face to face with the toothy grin belonging to one of the resident crocodile population. The local people...
Over the past two centuries, millions of dedicated people – revolutionaries, activists, politicians, and theorists – have yet to curb the disastrous and increasingly globalised trajectory of economic polarisation and ecological degradation. Perhaps because we are utterly trapped in flawed ways of thinking about technology and economy – as the...
When you get disappointed then it can hurt. Sometimes a bit. Sometimes a lot. It can drag you down into a negative funk for days or even weeks. But if you learn how to deal with that disappointment in a healthier and more helpful way then it can be less...
Wrapping my Touareg scarf around my face to shield my eyes from the sand and dirt, I climbed the ladder, hoisted myself onto the lip of the freight wagon and surveyed the scene. An endless line of wagons stretched out to the horizon, rocking and swaying. To either side, a...
The festival of Santa Marta de Ribarteme is an opportunity for those who have survived near-death experiences to give thanks for their lives. A symbolic victory of life The crowd parts, allowing the first coffins to move through. A heavy silence hangs in the air. But all is not quite...
Everyone’s heard stories about certain species on the brink of extinction. A new tally reveals just how many plants and animals are at risk. One million species could vanish, it finds. Some might disappear within a few decades. That number is equal to 1 in every 8 animal or plant...
“Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy.” – Wayne Dyer “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” – Marcus Aurelius It is usually pretty...
Wisps of frankincense smoke wafted through the bazaar as I plunged through the crowded, labyrinthine passageways of Muscat’s Mutrah Souq. This alluringly musky scent permeates Omani cities and culture, and I was never far from the distinct, earthen aroma floating through the air. I was lured by the hypnotic perfume...
On 27 May 2019, Kym Purcell’s schedule was thrown into disarray. Usually a Monday morning would follow a strict routine of breakfast and housework followed by a trip to the gym. But today, the 52-year-old retiree was in for a surprise. Her husband, Terry, 54, told her to get ready...
Michael Rakowitz’s work makes the invisible visible – whether it’s the victims of war or those made homeless by the economic downturn. Michael Rakowitz is a connoisseur of ghosts. He is also a teacher, a stone carver, a radio broadcaster, a chef. His work often refers in various ways to...
About once every week at around 21:00, with the light of a million stars to guide them, Raúl Martínez Morales and Amanda Mandry set out to survey Mars. The couple – the former an astrophysicist, the other an obsessive stargazer – start by carefully unpacking their scientific instruments before they...
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” – Lao Tzu Today I’d like to focus on a negative habit that creates insecurity within, erodes self-esteem and can make you feel quite unhappy with your own life. It’s something that has sprung...
Achieving success in all of your creative endeavors can be difficult and daunting. There are numerous factors that inhibit the actualization of your dreams: fear, procrastination, not enough time, and distractions, to name a few. But you have the tools to overcome these difficulties! Incorporate these tasks into your weekly...
In 2012, Sue Natali arrived in Duvanny Yar, Siberia, for the first time. Then a postdoctoral research fellow studying the effects of thawing permafrost due to climate change, she had seen photos of this site many times. Rapid thawing at Duvanny Yar had caused a massive ground collapse – a...
Do you ever wish you could change your past? We all go through struggles in life, make mistakes, and face certain hardships and challenges that prevent us from moving ahead. The important thing is to learn how to come out stronger, and become even better than you were before. Though,...
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