Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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When Elliott Blackmore discovered Mental Health Swims, it felt like home. Swimming and paddleboarding alone had felt lonely; other groups seemed a little unwelcoming. This community felt "totally, 100% nonjudgmental," he says. At Mental Health Swims, volunteer hosts around the U.K. organize meetups at the beach, lakes, rivers, or outdoor pools, so that anyone can benefit from, as the organization puts it, the "healing power of cold water and community." For Blackmore, a...
While poor health can eat into your finances with higher medical costs and reduced wages, good health is generally correlated with higher productivity, increased earnings, and lower health care expenses. Healthier habits and outcomes can also reduce long-term costs on aggregate populations, and improve quality of life for local residents in a multitude of ways. With this in mind, SmartAsset ranked 100 of the largest U.S. cities based on 10 health factors, including...
While flowers and chocolates are a good start, no Valentine's Day gift is as unapologetically romantic as fine jewelry. For many couples, gifting something as long-lasting and thoughtful as jewelry is a way of showing their commitment and devotion. But is jewelry the right choice for every relationship? What designs should you choose for your first Valentine's Day—or your fiftieth? VRAI, a fine jewelry brand featuring lab-grown diamonds, breaks down which styles are right f...
Smartphones are an everyday part of our culture, but research on the effects of screen time might give parents pause when it comes to giving their children one of their own. Even so, smartphones allow parents to reach their children in an emergency, students to access educational materials at the stroke of a finger, and kids to find community, especially when peers of certain identity groups may be hard to find locally. Of course, with each benefit comes a new digital risk. Pa...
Robert MacKenzie is an assistant fire chief—but not the kind who works for your local fire department. As the Palisades Fire bore down on Southern California last week, the private fire crew he oversees headed out to help defend homes for their customers: Insurance companies that offer wildfire protection to wealthy homeowners and others with the coverage built into their policies. Working with lists of high-risk properties provided by insurers, the team from Capstone Fire a...
More Americans are getting married later in life—if at all. That's according to a 2023 report by the Pew Research Center, which analyzed Census Bureau data to reveal that a record-high share of Americans over 40 have never been married. One in 4 40-year-olds had never tied the knot as of 2021, up from 1 in 5 in 2010. Forty-year-olds holding a bachelor's degree or higher were more likely to be married than those without a four-year college degree, the report found, and men w...
The average American woman weighs about 170 pounds and stands about 5 feet, 4 inches tall. But it's important to remember that these averages are mathematical calculations. They don't represent what's typical or healthy for everybody There are so many factors that make all bodies unique—size, shape, proportions—that comparing one body to others is rarely helpful. In fact, it often leads to negative self-talk and other harmful behaviors (thanks, Instagram). That said, it may...
When Karen Sicner and her husband John made the decision to relocate from metro Atlanta to build a new home on a two-acre homesite in rural Sylva, North Carolina, moving closer to their daughter and her family in Tennessee was a major factor. Since then though, they've discovered that there are other perks connected to trading city life for country living that have nothing to do with getting geographically closer to family, The Daily Yonder reports. "I've been downtown...
Amaryllis Castillo gets to work at 7:45 a.m. for her job as a certified home health aide. The mother of two, who is 26 weeks pregnant, works a six-hour shift caring for elderly patients, taking them to activities and out for lunch. At 5 p.m., she clocks in for her second job providing customer service, which she works until 9 p.m. She does that from home, which allows her to be with her children, who are 12 and two. But despite working these two jobs—for a combined 50 or m...
Proposing is both an intimate and cultural experience. Couples ready to get engaged often have to balance societal expectations—from family traditions to cinematic clichés—with what works for them personally. VRAI, a fine jewelry brand specializing in lab-grown diamonds, breaks down the do's and don'ts of proposing so that each couple can decide what's best for them before saying "yes" to a lifetime of love. Don't Live by the "Two Month" Rule Many have been told for deca...
The new Linden Community Center in Columbus, Ohio, isn't just for kids. Built in 2021 among a series of new buildings in a gentrifying neighborhood, it's also one of the places where the Franklin County Sheriff's Office is recruiting candidates for the department, The Trace reports. On a recent weekday, trainees could be seen completing workouts under the watchful eyes of deputies and volunteers, who assessed their fitness in running, bear crawls, squats, push-ups, and...
The majority of states, 26, saw declines in high school graduation rates following the pandemic, new research shows. In 2020, for example, 10 states had graduation rates of 90% or higher, but only five did in 2022, according to Tuesday's analysis from the Grad Partnership, a network of nonprofits working to improve student outcomes, The 74 reports. However, the report suggests that the full impact of COVID-19 school closures on graduation rates has yet to be realized. This...
When Carolyn Thomas suffered her first heart attack in 2008, she was in her fifties, a distance runner and as fit as can be. Yet the doctor in the ER diagnosed her with acid reflux, sent her home without treatment and told her she simply needed to rest. "I felt so embarrassed for having made a big fuss over nothing that when my symptoms later returned, there was no way I was going back to that ER for help," Thomas, a PR manager in Victoria, Canada, told Reasons to be Cheerful....
In the ever-evolving world of bridal fashion, statement engagement rings have surged to the forefront, capturing the hearts of modern couples who seek to express their unique love stories. These bold, eye-catching pieces stand out not just for their size, but for their intricate designs, innovative settings, and unmistakable brilliance. VRAI, a fine jewelry brand featuring lab-grown diamonds, details how the trend of statement engagement rings has risen and how you can wear...
In June 2023, the town council in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, voted unanimously to install the gunshot detection service ShotSpotter. The town would get the system up and running in a few square miles of the city using $297,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funding, reports The Trace. "Crime is an issue, but it's not unique to Phillipsburg," Councilmember Keith Kennedy said after the vote. "It's in every town and city around us." ShotSpotter, which alerts police to shootings...
When Elliott Blackmore discovered Mental Health Swims, it felt like home. Swimming and paddleboarding alone had felt lonely; other groups seemed a little unwelcoming. This community felt "totally, 100% nonjudgmental," he says. At Mental Health Swims, volunteer hosts around the U.K. organize meetups at the beach, lakes, rivers, or outdoor pools, so that anyone can benefit from, as the organization puts it, the "healing power of cold water and community." For Blackmore, a...
Since A&W Root Beer became the first American restaurant to franchise in 1925, the U.S.—not to mention the rest of the world—has been dominated by chains. Iconic establishments like the now-defunct Howard Johnson's trained customers to look toward its distinctive orange roofs for consistency and comfort, while McDonald's revolutionized the industry with its focus on speed and affordability. Over the years, chains have had a tremendous influence on American culture, from Lit...
Decade after decade, midcentury modern design continues to appeal. The New York Times noted a resurgence of the style in 1998. Nearly two decades later, there came another wave. Fast Company deemed it the "pumpkin spice latte of interior design." It's a style "Mad Men" popularized in the current century; its designers—Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, and more—are named in reverent whispers among design circles. Even casual design fans have lik...
The Great American road trip has turned nautical. There's an alternative to the van life that has inspired so many to take to the roads for months or years at a time: ventures by watercraft. Imagine a year spent weaving through intercoastal waterways, traveling through marshlands, and along rivers under the shadow of skyscrapers. Those who manage it are part of a select few called Loopers. GetMyBoat explores the wonders of the Great Loop with first-person accounts and...
Pacing back and forth on an auditorium stage in his signature black turtleneck and blue jeans, Steve Jobs addressed members of the media one mid-July morning in 2010. Apple's chief executive was responding to reports that consumers were having their phone calls dropped when using the latest device, the iPhone 4. The company had found a way to incorporate the cellular antenna into the stainless steel frame of the phone, saving precious real estate. But some wanted to know: Why...
If the hit 1990s sitcom "Friends" debuted today, it might look a little different. For one thing, the showrunners would probably need to cast consistent roles to play the main characters' parents or even grandparents—the de facto roommates for a growing number of Americans in recent decades. Since the turn of the century, it's become more expensive for Americans to live on their own. And the effect is shifting away from the nation's late 20th-century culture of independence, p...
Few things define a culture in the way its food does, and the United States is no different. Whether it's regional food traditions like collard greens and cornbread or the country's allegiance to boxed macaroni and cheese, the U.S. is a place of seemingly endless gastronomic choices and Indigenous and immigrant influences. However, some foods are practically impossible to find stateside, and that's because they've landed on the banned food list. That's right, there are...
Everyone's guilty of procrastinating sometimes—even the ancient Greeks and Romans did it. That said, it's one thing to put off a task for a little while. It's another to chronically avoid doing things until the absolute last minute. Wysa researched the psychology behind procrastination, what makes people do it, and how they can work to overcome it. According to the Association for Psychological Science, procrastination comes in two forms: habitual and situational. The l...
The exodus from major metropolitan areas that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic—when people fled large cities in part due to pandemic restrictions, small living spaces, and the high cost of rent and real estate—is continuing. Census data shows that interstate migration rates are sliding back to pre-pandemic rates, but the trend of moving to smaller cities may last longer than anticipated. CitizenShipper examined domestic migration trends from the Census Bureau to see whe...
Few things define a culture in the way its food does, and the United States is no different. Whether it's regional food traditions like collard greens and cornbread or the country's allegiance to boxed macaroni and cheese, the U.S. is a place of seemingly endless gastronomic choices and Indigenous and immigrant influences. However, some foods are practically impossible to find stateside, and that's because they've landed on the banned food list. That's right, there are...
