By Melissa
Your brain becomes fossilized with age.
At least, that’s what they say.
In order to be classified as a fossil, a specimen usually has to be over 10,000 years old. When you consider this, comparing aged brains to fossils isn’t exactly a flattering metaphor. Fossils are hard, lifeless remains of what once was a thriving being – and that’s exactly what your brain becomes with time.
But it starts even earlier than that.
By Melissa
Recently, I stepped into a mosaic shop.
All sorts of mosaics were on display: historical scenes, religious symbols, buildings, animals, and replicas of well-known paintings. Some were glossy, while others were matte. Some were black and white, others vibrant.
But when I saw the mosaic making demonstration, one thing was clear: creating mosaics from scratch is hard. From inception to the final touches, a lot of thought, planning, and labor goes into creating each individual piece of work.
I had always wondered how mosaics were created, so it was interesting to see the process laid out (more on that later).
But first, where did mosaics come from?
By Melissa
When you gaze at a painting, are you the one admiring it or are you the one putting on the final touches?
When you watch a video, are you the one pointing and criticizing, or are you the one making the edits?
When you see what someone else did, do you wish you did that, or are you figuring out how to replicate the steps they took?
It’s easy to let things come to you, like a gust of wind that blows in your direction. It’s much more difficult to produce things. Anything you create and show to the outside world will get exposed to harsh elements, such as criticism, shame, and doubt.
Still, it is something you must do if you want to achieve anything.
By Melissa
In 1979, the deadliest peacetime disaster in New Zealand’s history occurred.
On November 28, a flight was scheduled for takeoff at 8:00 am from Auckland International Airport. The aim was to provide passengers with an aerial sightseeing experience that showcased breathtaking views of Antarctica.
An experienced guide would narrate as the plane dipped above McMurdo Sound, explaining various scenic spots and landscapes. By 9:00 pm on the same day, the plane would return back at Auckland, New Zealand.
Air New Zealand Flight 901 was not a particularly unusual air flight. There was, however, one minor exception: someone had entered a typing error in the coordinates, changing the route coordinates by two degrees. Although seemingly insignificant, these two degrees proved to be fatal.
By Melissa
You are the product of your environment.
The environment we live in influences, and in some ways, reflects who we are. Similar to how our bodies reflect the foods we eat, the places we visit and the people we meet reflect the way we think and believe.
Being raised in an inner-city neighborhood means you’ll likely live in the same neighborhood as an adult, while growing up in a middle-class area is a strong predictor of your future lifestyle. It’s difficult to escape the chains in which we are bound.
So how do you thrive in an environment that doesn’t support your goals?
In Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist Edmond Dantès is set up for a promising future. He’s soon to become captain of a ship, newly engaged, and popular amongst his peers. However, his perfect life is about to take a turn for the worse.
By Melissa
When it comes to the Olympics, the rankings are clear: the gold medalist is the top athlete, followed by silver, and finally, bronze.
The top athletes go for gold. If not gold, then silver is better than the bronze medal. But if that’s the case, why do medalists holding the bronze have a wider grin on their faces than the silver medalists?
In a study comparing the reactions of medal winners, researchers took video recordings of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The first recording showed the athletes as they learned their placement and the second recording showed the medal winners standing on the podium.
By Melissa
These days, the concept of happiness seems ever-present on our minds.
We reflect on the things that give us joy and how to incorporate more of it into our lives. We talk about how to deal with mental disorders and depression. We battle isolation, criticism, and negativity on a regular basis.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 4 percent of the world’s population suffers from depression. Global economic losses amount to over $1 trillion a year due to decreased productivity. When people become fatigued or stressed, they find it hard to resolve problems at work and in the home.
If we’re so obsessed with happiness, why are we so unhappy?
By Melissa
October evokes images of colorful leaves, dropping temperatures, and pumpkin spice lattes. But it’s also the perfect time to catch up on books that might have been too heavy for the summer.
Since Halloween is the biggest event of October, the question that comes to mind is: What does the word “scary” mean to you?
While we quickly think of ghouls, zombies, and vampires, scary can reach far beyond characters found in horror films. Maybe scary means being taken away from everything you know, or continuing on a path you don’t want to go down. Maybe scary is getting a visit from your landlady.
By Melissa
“You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska
Once in a while, we sit down and try to figure out what we need to start doing. We ponder our past actions and their results, where we are right now, and what we should do next.
While these are logical steps to take, we neglect the fact that putting more things into our lives means we have to take out other components. After all, we only have so much time and energy in the day. And in order to make space for what we want to do, we need to discard our bad habits first.
By Melissa
At only four years old, Yeou-Cheng Ma exhibited a clear talent for the violin.
Under the tutelage of her father, a Ph.D. student at the Paris Conservatory of Music, Yeou-Cheng began to play the instrument at two-and-a-half years old. Only a year later, she entered in her first competition against students ranging from fourteen to nineteen years old. She won.
Her violin teacher praised Yeou-Cheng’s ability to her mother, a vocal student who later sang opera. She said, “Your daughter is a brilliant musician. There’s no doubt in my mind that she inherits this talent from you and your husband…It’s in her genes.”
Finally, the teacher added: “Mrs. Ma, what I’m trying to tell you is that I think it is a great pity that you don’t plan on having another child.”
At the time, the three of them lived in a tiny apartment in Paris. They struggled to earn a living and had barely enough for themselves. Yet, four years after the birth of their daughter, a son was born in 1955. He was named Yo-Yo Ma.