humanity
For better or for worse, relationships reveal the core of the human condition.
An Open Letter To The Woman Who Waited On Me At McDonald’s This Morning
It was a hard morning. I had just dropped my daughter off at my estranged husband’s house where he now lives without me. A house where he regularly brings new and varied women to spend the night. A house where I planted tulips that I will never see bloom. A house where I left all my furniture when I moved out because it was quicker and easier.
By Alecia Kennedy5 years ago in Humans
Part one
I didn’t think I would be here. I didn’t think I would be beaten and broken at the prime of my life. I had everything to a person on the outside. But on the inside it was a messy life. My friends envied my relationship. They also envied my life but I so desperately wanted out. If you knew me 10 years ago, you’d know that strong person that I was. I did not let anything or anyone phase me. I felt invincible at times. But that all ended about 7 years ago. I was a single mother with a beautiful daughter on my way to a masters degree in psychology. I was on top of the world. That’s when I met the love of my life. He didn’t have a steady job or have life figured out like I did. But I was drawn to him. I had to know him.
By Tina Alton5 years ago in Humans
The Story Of A Gossiping Old Man
An old man, living in a town of about 5,000 people, had a certain dislike and hatred for his neighbor. Although not sure the origin of his disdain for the neighbor, he continued mocking his neighbor for years. The neighbor usually went about his day, ignoring the old man, in fear of giving the old man more ammunition to stir things about even further.
By Adrienne Huggins5 years ago in Humans
Good Deeds
With the ongoing pandemic, many of us are left to tightening our budget and limiting what we would normally not think twice about buying. But what about those people who are homeless and have no way of getting life's necessities. What if we went out of our way to help someone less fortunate than us, even if we were low on funds ourselves?
By Vanna Vorbach5 years ago in Humans
Begin Again
To say we all have said our many good-byes to 2020 would be an understatement. However, we also need to remember it didn't start out terribly. Before the virus, I had started a few projects and stories that I was super excited about! I had ideas planned out, and my goal was to get my very first original story published by the end of the year. I had 2020 locked and loaded with creativity, and I was ready to go!
By Mariam Michalak5 years ago in Humans
Rheumatoid Arthritis: I Walk Through Fire
I am a professional songwriter which is a particularly cool job. People get to this point in music via a number of routes but in my case my current working arrangements came about because of a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis (and ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory joint condition which has fused my neck and the base of my skull) coupled with type 1 diabetes, each condition complicating the other. I have a song out at the moment called I Walk Through Fire. People add their own stories when they hear it, but I wanted to share the journey that led to me writing it.
By Eve Williams5 years ago in Humans
Why architecture must be new kind of patriotism.
Nowadays, we love to boast about where some of us happened to be born. By overgeneralizing, we arrogantly claim that particular nation is better than other one. If we dug deeper, we would struggle to give clear and definite answer. What even better nation looks like? What are their lifestyles? What are their difference than other nations? Most important of all, is there really excellent nation? It doesn’t seem so. We, humans, always look for inaccuracies and errors in any part of existence. We especially mastered the art of finding flaws in mostly non-controllable aspects of life, such as landscape, climate, biological diversity and etc. When we find out that some countries “lack” any of these attributes, we will joyfully, but rather mindlessly mock them, even underestimate them. The absurdity of it doesn’t have any satisfactory explanation. That’s why we have to concentrate on controllable aspects of life, such as art, science, technology and etc. Architecture, as a subcategory, must be guiding element of particular nation or country. For example, persian people should be able to contemplate the beauty of geometrical patterns in their mosques and sacred places, french people should be able to grasp the aesthesicity of gothic architecture and greek people should be able to comprehend their ancestor’s minimalist, but calming architectural taste. We don’t only have to think of architecture, but we also have act on it. If we can carefully blend certain regional design with innovative technology, we will be able to witness countless breathtaking sights all around the world. It will not only be visible in external world, but its magnificence will also reflect in internal world in unimaginable ways. After then, we can boast about our newly discovered “patriotism”. Architecture is never empty from subjective interpretation, but it must be, because of its evident inclusivity in form. It is not about just what we see, but also what we don't see. It always allows to find out and grasp new unknown things, while allowing to embrace old ones. We need this kind of vision. We need to search for something beautiful and new. So, why I wrote this story? We should do our best to find it. After all, the future of humankind depends on each of us. The future we create must be sustainable, functional, harmonized and collective. This is why we need new kind of patriotism. This is also why we need that kind of society. We should be totally connected to the nature. Additionally, we’ll need similar qualities to change the culture of mankind. For instance, we need to be able to permit ourselves to be vulnerable. This only revealed our own weakness, but also acknowledges our capability. So, anything that we do or attempt at, it must be done with full attention and knowledge, as to be able to learn something from the whole process. This is the basic attitude we must have. An architect, just as any other professional, must be able to create the best for his job. He must be able to look through the same subjects, to see the already existing value, and come up with the novel thought and solution, for the improvement. Even different individuals can have the same view, and it’s worthwhile to consider it. However, each of us, individually, and whole entire world, collectively, has to understand that every idea we put in, must be thought, formed, evaluated, carefully crafted, and meticulously designed. All those tasks are mandatory to give the reason why we actually exist. If we do not accumulate those reasons, the truth is, we should not fight for anything. After all, we are all living on this mother earth, together, with all other living creatures.
By Nuran Mammadov5 years ago in Humans
Death Pool
You first noticed it in the supermarket. Getting tired carrying shopping baskets. It got so bad you’d leave the basket on the floor if you forgot something and went back to another aisle. Like Camembert. It’s easy to forget Camembert, so depending how heavy the basket was, you’d sometimes leave it on the floor and go and get the soft cheese. Usually then, you’d remember something else and wander off for that too. That’s when you first noticed it, the breathlessness. Straining for air and arms aching like you’d dragged a truck with a rope. It never occurred to use a trolley. Why would you? You only ever popped in for a couple of things anyway.
By Steven Moss5 years ago in Humans
