Being your childhood self doesn’t make you immature or unlikeable — quite the opposite. It makes you unique, one of a kind and someone worth knowing.
Life, conflict and growth are uncomfortable. When every uneasy emotion becomes a diagnosis, we lose resilience. Instead of asking, “Why do I feel this way?” we ask, “What do I have?” The question shifts from reflection to labeling.
Since I started using film cameras, I found out I wasn’t taking pictures of moments; rather, the moment was the photo. While my professional camera is nice, its goal is to capture what I am seeing as perfectly as possible. When my film camera comes out, people drop everything to create the photo.
Whether it be for widespread social and political change or for something as simple as putting together a successful Sing act, organized group action begins with character at the individual scale. This truth begs the question: What does it mean to be a villager?
Gaming culture has become too toxic and has reached a point where it is affecting people’s livelihoods. Nothing has made this toxicity more apparent than what happened recently with the game Highguard.
If public libraries disappeared tomorrow, the world would lose more than books and programs. We would lose one of the rare places where people of different backgrounds can exist on an equal platform, outside of financial or societal barriers. We would lose access to free information and a space where communities can flourish.
Do not beat yourself up because you have feelings of stress, anxiety or just “off days.” You are not weak in your faith because of these worldly feelings. Your faith in Jesus doesn’t cancel your stress levels, but it does mean you aren’t alone in it. And perhaps, the most faithful thing we can do is admit that.
Learn to love your scars, for your past self if no one else. I’ve had a prominent scar for most of my life. Learning to be proud of who I am and love the uniqueness it brings was a major part of becoming who I am today.
