Dear High Schooler,
All my life I have felt like an outsider. Too weird for normal people, and too normal for the weird people. I've always been on the outside looking in.
Being socially awkward and having social anxiety never really helped, either.
I always feel like I'm being judged or watched even when I'm not. I have to remind myself to breathe, have to tell myself that not everyone hates me, convince myself to calm down and that everything will be okay.
So you probably thought nothing of it a couple of days ago when we had that interaction. When you said: "Hey queer girl, do you have the time?" But your words wounded me, they made me angry, they made me sad. I didn't know why a perfect stranger was being cruel to me. Why you had to make a joke at my expense was unknown...
Lifestyle
Jesus Christ left His Followers with Two Commandments: Love God more than everything else and love your neighbor as yourself. (Plus, the Parable of the Good Samaritan is generally understood to define "neighbor" as all other persons.)
Jesus also tasked His Followers with The Great Commission, instructing us to share His Good News with all nations. Yet some Christian denominations have long-excluded members of the LGBTQA community from full membership/participation.
Leaders within these denominations often rely on a handful of Bible verses that could be interpreted as condemning homosexuality.
Based on conversations I’ve had with other Followers of Christ on this topic, the Bible verses in-question condemn a different type of homosexual behavior than what exists in...
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To whom it may - and definitely should - concern: our city is in turmoil, and something needs to be done about it.
It’s no secret that our city has a homelessness problem, and it’s definitely not going unnoticed by the public. The issue however, is how it’s being noticed. It makes me feel a form of second-hand guilt knowing that I wake up in a city everyday where those who are struggling are looked down upon to such a degree that we as a society have created a lower-than-low class for the ones who need our attention the most. Now, I’m no saint. My part in society is a small one, but I like to think it means something. I go to school everyday, working towards graduating. I work my part-time job at McDonald’s after school, and try to be a good person in the little ways I can. As a...
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Dear (former) roommates,
A year ago, I was excited about the opportunity to share an apartment on campus with you. I had been in desperate need of upperclassman housing and almost couldn't find a spot. After meeting with 1 out of the 4 of you, I knew the apartment would be perfect for me.
Or so I thought.
After moving in during the winter break, I got acquainted with the place pretty quickly. Soon, the others moved in and we started decorating and organizing the apartment the way we wanted! I was more than excited to spend some time with you girls and figure out different ways we could hang out and have fun - in and outside of our apartment. But unfortunately that didn't work out. I realized that it was much harder to connect with each of you, especially since we were all so...
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Dear Freshman Franny,
I know that you are feeling that pit in your stomach, slowly filling with the utter terror of failure. I know that you have a stack of homework as thick as your throat and that you get choked up with anxiety just looking at it. I know that all you want is someone to drop from the sky and help dig you out of this mess. I know what it feels like to stand in your shoes and quiver, but I also know what it's like to stand strong and solid on my own two feet and slay the darkness myself.
You just got home from a five hour marching band rehearsal. It’s nearing midnight as you lumber towards your desk, already stacked high with AP textbooks and cluttered with papers and worksheets. I can see you hunching over the laminated wood of the hardy desk, utterly consumed by...
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Dear Teens and Young Adults,
I’m here to tell you today that there’s an ongoing war, and it’s been going on longer than any war in history. This war affects us every single day -- some more than others. In fact every single one of you is in or has fought in this war. You may be thinking...What? What are you rambling about? What war? You might first think it’s the one happening in Afghanistan, or the Iraq war? But no. As important as they are, that is not the war I am here to talk about today. This war is the one we have with ourselves and over something we may struggle.
Maybe there was a time you really wanted to say or do something. Or you had this amazing idea you wanted to share out or a message you wanted to give. Or perhaps you wanted to participate in something or ask someone...
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Dear John The Journal,
I used to laugh at people who were friends with you. I wondered how someone so tedious could help people get through their day, but when I met you, I knew you were going to mean a lot to me. People would talk about how you were such a great listener but I figured that it just meant that you weren’t too good at having conversations. I wondered why it was so meaningful for people to be listened to all of the time.
I was interested in getting to know you after months of speaking to Lavender Essential Oils and Goodbye Stress Anxiety Gummies. I was tired of having the same useless conversations with them so naturally, your quirky personality came into my mind. You were formally introduced to me by a friend who knows you very well. She gifted me a journal on my 14th...
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Sweet and simple, carnations are a flower shop staple for a reason. This popular and versatile flower looks lovely on its own as a single flower, or many in a bouquet of its own, or as a flower filler. What’s more is that carnations also come in a wide array of colour varieties, most of which exist thanks to the careful cross-breeding and cultivation done by humans. Many of the carnation’s colours also have a unique meaning and symbolism that derives from floriography. Floriography was a very popular method of communication during the Victorian era as it was used to convey subtle messages to friends, admires, and lovers. So next time you order flowers, consider each of these colour meanings to create the perfect and fun flower message for your recipient!
Pink Carnation
A Christian...
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Dear person who is in the pursuit of finding themselves,
This letter is for the person who just feels like they’re lost in life, with no purpose, no connections with anyone or anything, who is trying to find themselves. Please keep reading some more so I can try to help you find what you’re looking for.
I first want to say is that you’re not alone, I know that may be hard to believe, but you’re not. There are many people out there dealing with depression or anxiety or feeling like they don’t have a purpose in life. I’m not saying everyone has this same type of problem, but everyone deals with their own unique problem.
What’s interesting is that people who tend to feel like this have common factors that contribute to their depression or anxiety. Most of our lives, we’ve been...
1,573
If thanking a veteran for his/her service, doesn’t seem like quite enough to you, consider mailing care packages to currently deployed members of the military. A friend of mine (a U.S. Army Veteran) has coordinated care package donations the past two Novembers.
With the support of our local VFW and YMCA we collected enough snacks, socks, toiletries, etc. to produce 25+ care packages in 2018. This year we gathered enough items to fill more than 70 boxes.
- Local merchants gave money to cover shipping costs.
- Youngsters at a local daycare made pictures to enclose in each box.
- A nearby military base identified which troops will receive these care packages and provided the necessary shipping information.
- Our local post office helped to identify the most affordable, reliable...
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