In Tokyo's "Manuscript Writing Cafe," customers sign in by listing their name, a writing goal, the time they plan to finish, and an approved nagging level: "mild" for a query about whether they finished as they pay and leave; "normal" for a check-in on their progress every hour; and "hard" for the silent pressure of a staff member frequently standing behind them, ensuring that they are tackling the work they intend to finish.
Read MoreIn central Tanzania, a tribal group known as the "Lion Defenders" has taken on the arduous task of tracking the lions that surround their community, ensuring that both lions and humans coexist peacefully. Young men in the Barabaig tribe have traditionally viewed lion killing as an important rite of passage, and the Lion Defenders are a remarkable worldview shift for the tribe.
Read MoreA longtime Presbyterian, Annie Dillard is a Pulitzer Prize-winning essayist who writes like a poet, weighing each word for its perfect meaning and nuanced impact as she presses into cultural assumptions. Dillard describes the magical beauty of the natural world and the raw pain of human emotions with painstaking intentionality, and in Teaching a Stone to Talk, she ponders the idiocy of a church that does not radiate awe:
Read MoreWhen Betty Reid Soskin retired earlier this month, she had just celebrated her 100th birthday a few months prior and was the National Park Service's oldest active park ranger. For Soskin, the job was about the importance of story.
Read MoreAre you listening to the words that define our culture? Two years ago, the word "Unprecedented" echoed as we watched the pandemic unfold. Last year, "The Great Resign" defined our work force as employees left their positions in droves. And this year, "Disengaged" is describing the curious disconnect many feel from a world where it is difficult to plan and the news is frequently negative.
Read MoreDefinitions of "good character" are bandying about in the news this week after viewers of this past Sunday night's Oscars were shocked by Will Smith's reaction to a Chris Rock quip (if you haven't seen it yet, look here for a brief clip -- and beware the language). Was Smith's decision a justified defense of family, a criminal act that deserved swifter consequences, or something in between?
Read MoreShe spoke her mind boldly, calling out injustices and seeking new solutions where old patterns no longer served. She lived life fully, stepping into diplomatic roles that women had not previously held and raising three daughters mostly on her own. She immigrated to the United States at age 11 and became a naturalized citizen at age 20; she spoke English, Russian, Czech, French, Polish, German, and Serbo-Croatian; and she once reported that she could leg press 400 pounds.
Read MoreTom Rowan is a retired police officer in his late 70s who has been offering the city of Chicago a splash of hope each March for the past 59 years: Every St. Patrick's Day, he dyes the Chicago River green.
Read MoreVolodymyr Zelenskyy joined a competitive Ukrainian comedy team at only 17, touring Russia and a number of post-Soviet countries as he performed and secured his role as a nationally known comedian. In 2008, he starred in his first feature film, Love in the Big City, followed by a slew of other popular films: Love in the Big City 2 (2008) and 3 (2014), Office Romance -- Our Time (2011), Rzhevesky Versus Napoleon (2012), 8 First Dates (2012), and others. He even voiced Paddington Bear in the Ukrainian dubbing of the animated comedy Paddington in 2014.
Read MoreNo, the commemoration of Ash Wednesday is not in the Bible, and no, Jesus does not intend for us to wallow in the ashes, lamenting our own depravity as we pull others into the mire alongside us. Ash Wednesday practices were first recorded in the writings of the 10th century monk Aelfric, and they were widespread throughout the church by the 11th century -- commonly including the reminder of Genesis 3:19 and the imposition of ashes on the forehead in the shape of a cross.
Read MoreMuch of Sherwood is reeling from the accident this past Sunday evening when two girls, ages 11 and 16, were hit and killed by an SUV at Southwest Edy Road and Trailblazer Place. According to police reports, the driver crossed over oncoming lanes and across a landscaped area a little before 7 p.m. February 20. He was apologetic and did not seem to know why or how this could have happened; he remained on the scene and has been cooperating fully with police. Both girls were Sherwood residents attending The Ridges and Sherwood High School.
Read MoreWhile books offer us a fabulous deep-dive into experiences that we otherwise might not encounter, sometimes only an experience with the real thing can bring the kind of transformational learning we crave. Cue the "Human Library," a global initiative in 80 countries around the world that lets visitors borrow people rather than books.
Read MoreSaint Valentine was a temple priest serving under the brutal rule of the Roman Emperor Claudius Caesar, who became known as Claudius the Cruel for his ruthless efforts to extend the Roman Empire into Africa and beyond some 200 years after Christ's crucifixion. When Claudius had trouble recruiting men to join his bloody campaigns, he banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Recognizing the injustice of the decree, Valentine performed Christian marriages in secret until he was captured and imprisoned.
Read MoreWhen Nick and Lisa Timm purchased a 1907 former movie theater in Okanogan, Washington, a few months ago, they knew the work required to renovate the 3,000-square-foot space into a bar and community gathering place would be extensive. What they didn't plan on was a remarkable discovery this past week just before they plastered over the old walls: two giant murals stretching 60 feet long and 20 feet high down the north and south walls of the building.
Read MoreMaya Angelou, a writer, actress, and activist whose creative works echo with themes of grace and faith, will soon have her image engraved on the U.S. quarter -- the first time a black woman has earned the honor. Angelou's arms are outstretched on the coins, with both a bird in flight and a rising sun depicted behind her to commemorate her poetry. The U.S. Mint is releasing the quarters this month.
Read MoreFor most of us, "fish" and "car" are words that we rarely bring together in a single sentence. But for researchers in Israel, goldfish and mini goldfish cars are introducing a whole new way of conceptualizing the intelligence of fish.
Yes, you read that correctly: mini goldfish cars. Or, to use their new technical term: Fish Operated Vehicles -- better known as FOVs.
Read MoreImagine you are lying quietly in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, listening to a woman recite lines from the children's book The Little Prince on headphones as the MRI thumps gently around your head, measuring your brain activity: "It is only in the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye," the voice says softly in Spanish, then in Hungarian. Then the voice calmly recites a series of nonsense words.
Read MoreSweetgreen, a chain restaurant headquartered in Los Angeles, is kicking off the new year with a new kind of offer: Starting this week, the chain is selling a "salad subscription" called a Sweetpass that offers members as much as 30% off each purchase.
Read MoreWhen Scotland's national poet laureate Robert Burns sent the poem "Auld Lang Syne" to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788, he acknowledged that it was a song that had been used by the Scottish church for the previous 600 years as a funeral oration, but that he had been the first to record the verses on paper. For Burns, the words inspired a fire in his soul as singers toast friends and years gone by. But why do Americans cling to this tune sometimes deemed "the most famous song that nobody knows" each New Year's Eve?
Read MoreAs you enjoy these final days before Christmas morn, take a moment to ponder these words from Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Tennyson wrote this poem in 1850, the year he was named Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, and his lines resonate with both the joy of Christmas and the mourning of challenges better left in the past -- so fitting as we bid farewell to another pandemic year:
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