Category: Society& Culture
Reflecting on and challenging cultural norms, socialization, and commonly accepted truths
-
Sometimes, the idea of being held accountable feels scary. This is the case when it feels like an attack on our character—an experience deeply rooted in shame. Once we free ourselves from shame and recognize that guilt allows us to redeem ourselves, we can feel the gifts of accountability: earning (instead of being automatically granted)…
-
Social power is transactional. When one group loses, another group gains. We may understand this in economic terms. Money is transactional. People give up money for some type of product. What is not so obvious is that power is also transactional. We think that power is one-way. That we have power, and that is that…
-
We often hear the phrases, “Nobody has life figured out,” and “Nobody knows what they are doing.” Upon hearing them for the first time, I felt relieved. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough in my school, I felt like everyone was happy all the time. I felt like there was something that I was…
-
When I first started practicing yoga, I was a bit surprised when I first heard the common saying from the instructors: “Do what feels good, do what feels right.” I asked myself “Really? Doing what feels right can help my physical and mental health? It doesn’t require something super difficult, strenuous, or hard?” I thought…
-
I have lost a lot of friendships in my life, and it was upon reflecting on one of these friendships that I came to realize something about how we are socialized under our economic structure of capitalism. When I reflected on this particular friendship that I had lost, I reflected on our shared memories and…
-
The opposite of love is not hate, but fear. When someone expresses an act of hate, it often is an expression of fear. In this post, I will: explain how, in modern society, fear primarily serves the ego discuss how love grounds us amidst fear consider how people lacking love seek safety illustrate the dangers…
-
As I was moving through college, I often asked myself, “What career will I have?”. During my first year, I considered nursing. So I took a Chemistry class and attended a Health conference, only to realize that science was not for me. During my second year, I considered being a therapist. So I took an…
-
With one google search on the internet, we can answer any question that we have. A whole host of information is out there, you can get the answer from multiple sources within a short amount of time. The invention of the internet dramatically shifted the way that us humans spread information and come to understand…
-
Social media was consuming me in more ways than I realized at the time. It was 2020, and with more free hours in my day, I found myself spending an average of eight hours on my phone—half of my total waking time. As research suggests, this level of digital engagement was taking a real toll…
-
“Are you a perfectionist?” said my family friend who was helping me with my college applications. We were sitting at her kitchen table, laptops open at one of our last meetings in late November. She had asked me this after I explained to her that I had not yet turned in my essays, the essays…
