I remember the first time I watched Kerri Strug’s one-leg vault, I felt sick to my stomach. The conversations around me were centered on how “brave” she had been. As a fellow teenager, I was terrified that she was encouraged to injure herself for the sake of Olympic gold. Why would her coach, who I… Read More What We Should Learn from Simone Biles: Redefining the “Gold Standard”
I have heard, from as far back as I can remember, that marriage is hard work. I always wondered how married people managed to have such full lives, especially after having children, if marriage was so much work. I had this conception of working on one’s marriage as being in a vacuum. Marriage is not… Read More Quick Thoughts: Marriage is Hard Work that Keeps on Giving to the Entire World
About the Author: Melissa Ostrom teaches English literature at Genesee Community College in Batavia, New York. Her short fiction has been published in literary magazines, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The Beloved Wild is her YA debut. She lives in Batavia, New York, with her family. About the Book: In a book that is… Read More Book Review: ‘Unleaving’, by Melissa Ostrom
We made it! My husband, baby, and I have survived our little one’s first 24 months, “despite” being new parents! I say “survive” and “despite”, because according to most parents who gave us unsolicited advice when they found out we were pregnant, having a child marks the end of everything good in our lives. Seriously.… Read More Bringing New Parents Up Rather Than Bringing Them Down: Achieving the “Unachievable”
{ This post was written by my lovely and supremely talented friend, Shirin } The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program is a Baha’i sponsored program for youth aged 11 to 15 years old aimed towards thinking about their inner lives and actions and how they can contribute to the betterment of their community through service… Read More Socially Engaged Art in Relation to The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program { Guest Post }
{ This guest post was written by a beloved friend of mine, Nelli. } There are so many poignant things happening all around the world these days. Within just a few minutes of scrolling through my news feed, I can feel completely devastated, then blissfully hopeful, then utterly disgusted, then surprisingly intrigued… Images, videos, shocking… Read More Going Back to Basics: What Walking in Little Shoes Can Teach You { Guest Post }
This week’s posts were written with the victims of school shootings in mind—from those who died to their families, including those who survived and will carry the trauma with them for a long time. I started off the week with a list of immediately actionable things that each one of us can do. I then… Read More It’s Not Just About School Shootings: The Broader Picture, and What We Can Do
Yesterday’s post was all about personal action that can be taken to eradicate gun violence. And while personal action is an essential part of the solution, so is engaging in the overall conversation about guns. None of us, as individuals, has the solution to this problem; but each one of us holds an important insight… Read More Barriers to Help The Weakest Links in our Communities
We all saw the news last week of yet another school shooting. I have to say that I am fed up that so many children and teenagers in the United States could, one day, be faced with a shooter in their own school. It shouldn’t happen, and yet it does. I remember going through safety… Read More Little Things We Can All Do to Create a Safe World (aka No More School Shootings)
There is a lot of blame going around nowadays. I’m not sure if this is something that has always been a part of our collective discourse—have humans always focused so much of their energy on finding someone to blame for anything they weren’t happy with? As someone who is very religious, I have found myself… Read More Don’t Blame Math; Blame the Mathematician