humanity

For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.

What’s an Okie
While working toward my teaching credentials, I had to take a couple of cultural studies classes. I chose courses on the black child and the Hispanic child. At one class meeting, the professor teaching the Hispanic-child class told us to go home and think about some derogatory words used to describe our racial or ethnic group and be prepared to share them the following week.
By Brenda Reeves4 years ago in Humans
The Power of Critical Thinking: To My Teacher
We all have figures in our lives who irrevocably change how we think and therefore how we are without even realizing it. I dedicate this to one of the most extraordinary people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing, a teacher.
By Vivian Clarke4 years ago in Humans
An Open Letter To The My Superpowered Teachers
Dear Teacher I forgot to thank you along the way. I never told you how your superpowers changed my life. I have spent a considerable amount of time pondering what superpower I would have if I could pick from the menu. Flight, strength, healing, spidey powers, teleportation and so many more.
By James Raven4 years ago in Humans
What A Homeless Man And A Shirt Taught Me
I was having a bad day. What is a bad day? To me, it is not anything that rises from the external, but an upwelling of a tide from within. Bad things can happen in a day; late for work, a bad cup of coffee, too much to do in the day, or a sore arm when I wake.
By James Raven4 years ago in Humans
A New Kind of Hero
I don’t know any heroes who haven’t suffered to gain the title. I don’t know anyone who has suffered and feels like a hero. Most long for the ease of silence, and are too humble for the recognition. Yet, the heart of a hero is a lonely one.
By Tara Chatterton4 years ago in Humans
For Erik
My childhood was a wreck. Sure, there were kids who had it worse than me, plenty in fact. But it was not a pleasant way to have grown up. I remember the adults around me always telling me that I was 'living through the best years of my life' and I would think 'if this is it, I'd rather be dead'. Having a narcissistic alcoholic for one parent while the other is far too busy just trying to earn a living so that we can actually do things like eat on a daily basis makes for a lonely, messed up kid.
By Dave Rowlands4 years ago in Humans
A Coworker Used Workplace Resources to Obtain My Phone Number
“How did you get my number?” I typed as I stared at my phone in disbelief. I was typing in response to a message I’d just received from a coworker. I was selective with who I gave my phone number to, so I know I hadn’t given it to him and forgotten about it. In fact, I didn’t think I’d shared my phone number with anyone from work, so I knew none of my other coworkers could have given it to him. I also doubted that management would have given him my phone number since there was no reason for him to contact me outside of work.
By Jade M.4 years ago in Humans
7 Ways to Keep Yourself Happy and Healthy
Throughout our life, we are continually controlling our enthusiastic, otherworldly, learned, physical, natural, monetary, word related, and social wellbeing. These eight aspects control our working, and anybody can encounter a lack in their well-being when they are not adjusted and overseen well. The effect of this influences our capacity to make ideal progress and accomplish our general life objectives.
By Bogdan Munteanu4 years ago in Humans
Leaves from the Vine
How do you even write about grief? It is not something you tackle or process, I don’t think. I’m kind of new to it, but I also am not sure any of us are prepared for it. Not really. I have grieved friendships, and family members, and failures… that alliteration was unintentional. I have known grief, but I fear our relationship was quite distant. A random person you went to school with whom you can point out in a crowd, but you only know vague details of. You don’t know their last name, but you know their home room.
By Marisa Ayers4 years ago in Humans
Tales of a Chronic Insomniac
5am and the images cycle randomly through my mind as if some malevolent being holds the TV remote to my brain. The scenes change every two and half seconds. Precisely. I know this because I’ve been counting them all night. They are not the expressions of a chattering mind which is plagued with worries from the day or what needs to be done, but a mundane slideshow lacking all context or meaning - monkeys eating grapes, a tennis racket, microbes dividing…and I can’t shut them off. Metronomic and insipid, they must number in the thousands by now for I have suffered this all night as I lie uselessly in my bed. My body and mind are locked in a war of attrition where we will both ultimately lose.
By Kevin Rolly4 years ago in Humans
Big Boys Do Cry
Darn it all, I went on twitter and saw some tweets by some very "manly" dudes complaining about the "feminization" of modern men. Sigh. The feminization of men? What is that even? If a dude cries, it's feminine? Crying is not a gendered thing. It's a HUMAN emotion. Why work so hard to suppress that? Or to demonize it? Or stigmatize it? Why? Makes no sense.
By Chris Hearn4 years ago in Humans
My 17th birthday
My entire life, I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere., even Tto the point where I felt like a stranger in my own home. When I was younger, others bullied me because I was the “weird fat” kid”, and the more I grew up, the more I felt like people used me for my kindness. Anytime a person would open up their arms to me, they would suck the gullible right out of me, and it would lead me to horrible places… places I never want to go to again.
By Avery Brookes4 years ago in Humans