Latest Stories
Most recently published stories on Vocal.
Fergie and Andy: The Long Fall of Two Public Lives
They arrived in the public eye as a fairy‑tale couple: a young bride with a ready laugh and a naval officer who seemed to embody duty and charm. Over decades, the story of Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor became something else — a slow, public unraveling in which private mistakes, financial desperation, and dangerous friendships collided with the glare of tabloids and the machinery of modern scandal. This article traces the arc of their travails, separating what is documented from what is rumor, and asking how two people who once symbolized royal glamour came to be defined by controversy.
By Julie O'Hara - Author, Poet and Spiritual Warrior3 days ago in Humans
Humor That Harms
Laughter can be a bridge. It can loosen tension, reframe pain, and make strangers feel like friends. But not all laughter is the same. When amusement depends on insulting, degrading, or humiliating another person, it is not a bridge — it is a weapon disguised as play. This article explores why insult‑based humor and contemptuous sarcasm are not true humor in the humane, connective sense; how psychological research and social studies explain their effects; and what individuals and communities can do to keep laughter from becoming harm.
By Julie O'Hara - Author, Poet and Spiritual Warrior3 days ago in Humans
INTERVIEW WITH A HOOKER (3)
“Honey, I wasn’t thinking of ending our conversation; I’m really enjoying it. However, every time I make the slightest move, the bartender has to pick his tongue up off the counter and I can just imagine, from the expressions on the men’s faces behind me that I see in the mirror, what’s going through their little minds. I like you; you’re somewhat like Cool Hands—not your looks—the way you come across—I feel I can trust you. Since the night is still young, if you don’t mind, I thought we could go someplace more private.
By Len Sherman3 days ago in Fiction
The Silence is Not Health: The Structural Cost of Moralised Pain
I. Executive Summary I would like to present theoretical and empirical synthesis concerning the systemic failure of modern pain management. It argues that chronic physical pain is a biological fact that cannot be thought away through cognitive reframing. By utilising a framework of Regulation Architecture, I demonstrate how current medical demands for acceptance force subjects into a state of resignation and learned helplessness. This silence is not health. It is a trauma response that masks a total collapse of structural integrity. By integrating neuroimaging data and allostatic load theory, this paper calls for a shift from policing emotional reactions to providing functional, biologically grounded relief.
By Claire McAllen3 days ago in Humans
7 Great Books to Avoid Making Bad Decisions. AI-Generated.
Making decisions is an integral part of life, yet even the most successful individuals stumble when they rely on intuition alone or lack structured thinking. Bad decisions can cost time, money, and opportunities, while smart, informed choices pave the way for personal growth, career success, and meaningful relationships. The good news is that decision-making is a skill—and like any skill, it can be refined. One of the most effective ways to sharpen this skill is through reading.
By Diana Meresc3 days ago in BookClub
Death Is an Echo of Ego The Energy Moves
Death, in the deepest sense, is not an absolute cessation but a transformation of form. What we call “death” names the end of a body’s organization, not the end of the animating reality that gave the body life. Seen this way, endings become mirrors: they reveal the posture of the ego that met them. Whether a life ends by illness, accident, violence, or self‑directed choice, the event is a surface on which the soul’s relationship to control, attachment, and surrender is reflected. This piece explores that view through scripture, physics, clinical reports, depth psychology, and contemporary spiritual testimony, arguing that death does not finally exist as annihilation; energy moves, and the quality of the movement is shaped by ego.
By Julie O'Hara - Author, Poet and Spiritual Warrior3 days ago in Humans
