Facebook user Savannah Root from Missouri stared at the photo above for hours before she finally figured out what it was.
Everyone that sees it either gets it right away or sits there stumped. The picture is so mystifying that after one week, it's been shared over 33,000 times.
For the solution, scroll down past the comments to reveal the hidden picture.
Larissa Gummy was first introduced to the work of the Peace Corps in high school. All it took was seeing a few photos shared by her ninth-grade teacher, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, to know that one day, she would follow in those footsteps.
This inspiration eventually led Larissa away from her home in Minnesota to Rwanda in East Africa, to give back to her family’s country of origin and pursue her passion for international development. Though her decision confused her parents at first, they’re now proud and excited to see what their daughter has accomplished through her volunteer work.
And just what was that work? Well, it changed from day to day, but it all had to do with health.
Mostly, Larissa worked for Rwanda’s First 1,000 Days Health project, which aims to improve the conditions that affect the mortality rate of kids within the first 1,000 days of being born (or almost three years old). These conditions include hygiene, nutrition, and prevention of childhood diseases like malaria and acute respiratory infections (ARI). Addressing malnutrition was a particular focus, as it continues to cause stunted growth in 33% of Rwandan children under the age of five.
In partnership with the local health center, Larissa helped with vaccination education, led nutrition classes, offered prenatal care to expecting mothers, and helped support health education in surrounding communities. Needless to say—she stayed busy with a variety of tasks.
But what she also liked to focus on was her personal project: one that aimed to help mothers find ways to provide their kids with proper nutrition. One idea she worked on was to start a savings fund that would allow mothers to buy chickens, which in turn would continuously provide a source of much-needed protein through eggs.
She fell in love with the beauty of Rwanda from the warm interactions she shared with its people. Not least of which being Marcella, aka Mama Kuku, Larissa’s “counterpart,” a local community member who worked alongside her as a cultural liaison. But after welcoming Larissa into her home, teaching her to cook, celebrating multiple holidays…Mama Kuku truly became an extended family member.
“She’s literally my favorite person,” Larissa gushed.
And while Larissa had dedicated a lot of time to nutritional education, she learned a few invaluable lessons herself.
“The Peace Corps has taught me that I am a lot stronger than I think I am,” she shared.
Larissa also added how traveling helped her, and can help anyone, get to know a different part of themselves and expand their worldview. All pretty handy skills, if you ask us.
“If you're thinking about [joining the Peace Corps] you should do it. Challenge yourself. It'll be worth it.”
Does reading this generate a little buzz of excitement, or pique your curiosity? The Peace Corps has immersive and fulfilling opportunities in over 60 countries. Learn more about becoming a Volunteer here.
Christine Kesteloo has one big problem living on a cruise ship.
A lot of folks would love to trade lives with Christine Kesteloo. Her husband is the Chief Engineer on a cruise ship, so she gets to live on the boat pretty much for free as the “wife on board.” For Christine, life is a lot like living on a permanent vacation.
“I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it's often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don't cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“
Living an all-inclusive lifestyle seems like paradise, but it has some drawbacks. Having access to all-you-can-eat food all day long can really have an effect on one’s waistline. Kesteloo admits that living on a cruise ship takes a lot of self-discipline because the temptation is always right under her nose.
“One of the hardest things about living on a cruise ship is that I know right now, if I just leave my cabin, I can go and have cookies, pizza, a shake, I could have anything I wanted, and I want it, I absolutely want it,” she said in a TikTok video that received over 400,000 views.
The hardest part about living on a cruise ship is that I am surrounded by free food all of the time anything I want I just had lunch but it’s 2 o’clock in my body tells me it’s either cookie time or time for a hamburger. The hardest part is telling myself not to eat. #hardestpart #cruiseship #livingatsea #koningsdam #weliveonacruiseship #cruisefoodie #foodtok #itsaproblem #halcruises #hollandamericaline
“I am laying here. It is 2 pm. I had a salad for lunch, I had some fresh fruit, but that didn’t fill me up,” she continued. “Right now, all I can think about is eating a burger with some French fries and some mayonnaise.”
“And that, folks, is the absolute hardest part about living on a cruise ship,” she said. “I am surrounded by food all the time.”
She added, "The hardest part is telling myself not to eat.”
Kesteloo’s trouble is a common problem among people on cruise ships. A study by Admiral Travel Insurance found that over 60% of people who go on a week-long cruise anticipate gaining weight. Seventeen percent of people say they gain 2 to 3 pounds on a cruise, while 14% say they gain 4 to 5 pounds.
Other estimates show that the average cruiser will put on 5 to 10 pounds on a weeklong cruise. Imagine living on a cruise ship for half the year, like Kesteloo. She could quickly put on 100 pounds a year if she's not careful.
"I’d be huge if I lived there. I would feel like I’m on a constant vacation, and who diets on vacation?" Theresa Gramelsapcker-Wilson wrote in the comments.
"This is my main reason why I couldn’t do this HHAHAHAHAHAA," Cara Mia added.
"I never thought about those who actually live on a cruise ship. I would be 500 pounds," Lucky Penny2468 said.
Kesteloo’s battle with temptation shows that in every life, a little rain must fall. Nobody ever truly has it perfect. Kesteloo seems to be living the perfect life on board a cruise ship, but she still has to fight temptation every moment of the day or make good use of the ship’s gym facilities. But, obviously, having access to too much food is far better than having too little.
Mom does budgeting exercise with kids. They're stressed.
Kids, as much as we love them, they're like our little broke best friends. They seemingly always want something and have little to no concept on how much money things cost.
There are some parents that start explaining how finances and budgeting works at an early age so kids know what to expect. It also likely helps them understand that parents don't have an infinite amount of money to spend on unnecessary items. Ariel B. is a mom and content creator that created budgeting worksheets for her children to use to learn how to budget and uploaded the video to TikTok.
Let's just say, the kids were a bit stressed before they even finished the worksheet.
The mom of four gathered her children around the table with budgeting worksheets and a $3,000 imaginary budget, which is based off of a $15 minimum wage plus an additional $500. Ariel explained the average cost of rent in their area and instructed her kids to look up the average cost for utilities in an apartment.
"How long are you leaving your lights on," one of her daughters asks. To which Ariel responds, "well, all of our lights are on in here and you don't seem to mind."
"That's too much money, actually," the younger daughter exclaims. "I just won't eat lunch. I'll just eat a big breakfast. I probably won't eat breakfast."
In another video, one of the children is appalled that they would be expected to pay first and last month's rent when moving into an apartment. The older daughter is simply flabbergasted at the lack of available money.
"I have nothing. I have no money at all. And I don't know what to do about it," the girl says. I cut all of my ones and I'm already on a bike. Like I don't know what to do. Like what else can I do?"
Oh, little ones, welcome to Adulting 101. These kids are likely thanking all of the stars in the sky that this was just an imaginary situation and not something they need to worry about for a long time.
Over the past few years, women named Karen have taken a lot of heat in the media. The term "Karen" has been used to describe a specific type of entitled, privileged and often middle-aged white woman. Typically, "Karen” is depicted as demanding, self-important and constantly seeking to escalate minor inconveniences to authority figures, like demanding to "speak to the manager."
Identifying the folks who create unnecessary drama in our world is important. But calling them a “Karen” isn’t the best way to solve the problem. There are many reasons to have an issue with the “Karen” stereotype. First, it’s terrible for people named Karen, and it’s also a connotation that many feel is racist, sexist and ageist.
Further, according to a new study by Trustpilot, the stereotype isn’t accurate. A recent survey by the online media site found that the people who leave the most one-star reviews aren’t female, and the women who do it the most aren’t named Karen.
Trustpilot is a site where people can review a business from which they’ve purchased a product or contacted customer service. According to TrustPilot, the number one biggest one-star reviewers are named John, not Karen.
“The name John is top for [one-star] reviews in the US, with the rest of the top five positions filled by David, Michael, Chris and James,” the site wrote in a press release. “Looking at specific categories, John is also first for negative reviews in Business Services, Electronics and Technology, Shopping and Fashion, and Money and Insurance. Meanwhile, Lisa left the most [one-star] reviews in our Beauty and Wellbeing category.”
So, if your name is Karen, keep this story in your back pocket next time someone stereotypes you as an entitled complainer. The real complainers are the Johns and, for the women, Lisas.
Why do people go online and write negative reviews? Psychologist William Berry writes in Psychology Today that people get many positive benefits from complaining, although they may annoy everyone around them.
The first big reason is an ego boost. When people complain, they feel validated. It also makes them feel superior to others. Complaining can also bring like-minded people together. If you and a significant other have ever been mistreated in a restaurant or car dealership, having a mutual enemy can work wonders for your relationship.
There are also entire groups of people who bond over a common gripe.
People who habitually complain may do so because of the brain’s negativity bias. “The human brain, geared for survival, focuses on negatives (as they appear more threatening to survival) than on positives (which enhance life but are less vital for survival),” Berry writes. “As the brain perceives negatives at an approximated ratio of five to one, there is simply more to complain about than there is to be grateful for. Additionally, this may lead to less general happiness.”
Here are the top 15 names of consumers who leave the most one-star reviews on Trustpilot. (Also known as the folks that owe the Karens out there an apology.)
Rock music tends to ignite fears among religious conservatives regardless of genre, but heavy metal strikes a particular chord. Since the days of Black Sabbath, metal has been labeled as an evil force and perpetrator of violence.
But ask Tobias Forge, frontman of Grammy winning Swedish metal band Ghost, and he’ll tell you that metal bands are far from the dark cults some would make them out to be.
Known for highly theatrical performances where Forge takes on the persona of either a "demonic anti-pope" named Papa Emeritus or a “Sith-like” Cardinal to perform songs with religious undertones like “Mary on a Cross” with other member of the groups, aka “Nameless Ghouls,” Ghost has racked up some hardcore fans, along with equally hardcore protestors.
Back in 2018, one protest made national headlines, after a pastor from Midland, Texas stated “I think they really do worship the devil,” and expressed concern for an upcoming Ghost concert happening in his community, fearing the “spiritual influences” the band would bring to the area.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Entertainment, however, Forge attested that taking any of the stylistic choices made for Ghost as literal would be missing the band’s actual messaging.
“It’s not about God at all,” he told Yahoo. “It’s about man, mankind. I use language and analogy to make it seem that it is about other things, but the songs are usually…about very real things.”
This sentiment harkens back to another incident not very long ago involving Sam Smith and Kim Petras during their Grammy Award performance of “Unholy.” Where in previous interviews it was explained that satanic imagery was incorporated to help illustrate how people in the LGBTQ community often feel “unwanted” in religion, many simply labeled it as “devil worship.”
So too in the case of Ghost, certain viewers are triggered and therefore can’t interpret what they are seeing as metaphor, and instead think they are actually being coerced to join the dark side.
However, as Forge argues, “there are other music styles that promote a way worse lifestyle,” citing pop music as a major offender.
“[Pop] music styles that promote a way of living that their fans will never have — when music is all about ‘making it’ and wearing ‘bling-bling’ and ‘all them b**ches,’ and the idea that without that stuff you’re nothing — that is a bad influence for your fans,” he said.
“At least with most gothic or hard rock music, it’s about feeling good about yourself.”
What’s more, Forge shared that while, yes, rock fans have caused harm in the past, he speculated that it had more to do with where they were at in their lives, and not the music itself. In fact, “it might have even been the music that made them live so long, that kept them going,” he said.
Indeed, Forge’s opinions have some scientific backing.
Research has shown that listening to intense music does not contribute to aggressive tendencies. On the contrary, it has positive psychological benefits for those that do enjoy listening to it. According to Psych Central, metal can even improve symptoms of stress and depression, and those that listen to it regularly have higher logic based cognitive function and scientific thinking skills.
All in all, those sound like pretty un-evil side effects.
Metal music has always been a champion for misunderstood outcasts. Sure, it might not be for everyone, but it really does promote messages of acceptance and the freedom of creative expression. For some people, it’s the perfect antidote for life’s ailments. And that’s what many metal creators wish others understood.
As Forge put it, despite the reputation, “actually what we’re really trying to do is make people happy and make people feel good about themselves when they come to our show and have a good time.”
Even though humans worldwide share the same senses, feelings, needs, wants and desires, our languages and the ways we communicate have evolved separately, so some languages have phrases and words that have no equivalent in others.
These words often emerge from the unique cultures, histories, and environments that shape each language. It's like a special secret, a word that captures a feeling, a situation, or an object so precisely that perhaps no other word in any other language can replicate it exactly.
The uniqueness of each language showcases the beauty and diversity of human experiences and perspectives. Moreover, it underlines the delightful intricacy of languages, inviting us to see the world through different lenses and embrace perspectives shaped by differing social nuances. It’s a testament to the vibrant tapestry of human expression.
The difference in languages is a beautiful thing. But it can also be frustrating when one speaks multiple languages and there is no way to express a certain feeling in one language that they can in another.
A Reddit user named Don_Pickelball asked foreign-born people who live in English-speaking countries to share the words that exist in their native language that are sorely missed in English. Here are 15 of the most interesting.
1. Geborgenheit (German)
"In German, we have the word 'Geborgenheit' which describes a very specific feeling of feeling cozy and safe and protected. Like you would feel when you're around loved ones sitting around a fire or when the person you love holds you under the warm covers when it's raining outside. I tried to explain this to someone the other day and when we googled the translation- it came up with 'cozyness' which really doesn't pay justice to what it actually means." — Else1
2. Verschlimmbessern (German)
"If you try to fix something but actually make it worse than it was before." — Chili919
3. Geborgenheid (Dutch)
"It is about feeling safe and sheltered because someone who loves you and cares for you makes sure nobody can hurt you." — Illimprovement700
4. Komorebi (Japanese)
"It roughly translates as 'the scattered light that filters through when sunlight shines through trees.'" — tipsy_jana
5. Saudade (Portuguese)
"It has a similar meaning to 'miss you' but we have a direct translation for that 'senti sua falta,' saudade has more of an emotional feel to it, it’s really hard to explain, it’s deeper than simply missing someone." — Peddy_D
6. Backpfeifengesicht (German)
"A face in need of a fist." — No_Tamanegi
7. Estrenar (Spanish)
"To use something for the first time." — Ratonvacilon23
8. Kuchisabishii (Japanese)
"A Japanese term which directly translates to 'lonely mouth;' when you're not hungry, but you eat because your mouth is lonely." — MOS95B
9. Kalsarikännit (Finnish)
"Meaning deliberately getting drunk alone at home in your underpants with zero plans of meeting anyone or going out. I think other nations do this as well, but don't have a word for it. Delightfully relaxing and therapeutic at times, slightly concerning if done excessively. At best a wonderful opportunity to touch base with yourself, your life and your deepest thoughts and feelings. And/or watch that one cheesy comedy from 1992 you love but can't get any of your friends to watch with you because they have standards. At worst you wake up to an unholy mess accompanied by a killer headache, cheese all over the bed, cryptic messages on ripped up pieces of pizza box cardboard written by you to you all over the kitchen, and have nobody to blame than yourself." — Fit_Share_6147
10. Chaw-tamaw-tey-quat (Comanche)
"My native language is a Native American language called Comanche and isn't a written language but the word sounds like 'chaw-tamaw-tey-quat' and it basically is a socially acceptable way to say 'I'm done speaking.'" — SCP-33005
11. Tachiyomi (Japanese)
"Japanese has loads of words that require entire sentences to explain in English. My favorite of all time is tachiyomi, which means 'standing at a newsstand reading something without any intention of paying for it.'" — the2belo
12. Lagom (Swedish)
"It means not bad, and not too good. Just an average between. A very neutral word. For example, when you wash your hands, the water should be lagom hot. Not cold, not scalding hot. Just lagom." — Live_Rock3302
13. Luce (Farsi)
"It basically means intentionally acting all cutesy/precious/coy because you think it's appealing." — _eviehalboro
14. Sobremesa (Spanish)
"After a meal when you sit around the table talking." — KommieKoala
15. Załatwić (Polish)
"It means to get something done using connections/ persuasion/ backroom dealings." — ---Loading---
Golden Retrievers have a reputation for being good-natured, friendly, reliable dogs, making them ideal family pets. But even the most affable of good doggos turns into a die-hard tug-of-war warrior when presented with a furry pull toy.
That's a bit of an issue when they mistake the fur lining of a coat hood for a toy—and even more of an issue when the coat is attached to a human.
Dog owner and TikTok user @justttmakayla shared a hilarious encounter with Grissom, her Golden Retriever, that was captured on her Ring camera. In the video, Grissom grabs hold of her coat hood, perhaps heroically saving her from the squirrel that was clearly attacking her, or perhaps assuming she was offering it to him as a toy (because why else would fur exist?). Once he had a hold of it, the tug-of-war began.
"No one prepares you for what to do if this happens!" the woman exclaims as Grissom takes hold of her hood. "This is not how I want to go out, Grissom!"
She tries to wrestle the hood away from the dog, but as anyone who has played with a dog could anticipate, that just makes him pull back. It doesn't take long before she collapses into peals of laughter as her tail-wagging pup takes her for a ride around her deck.
People in the comments, for the most part, were in stitches right along with her.
"Grissom was really doing all of this just to hear the laugh," wrote one commenter on Instagram. "He succeeded 😂😂😂😂."
"Her laughter is so infectious, it's hard not to smile hearing it 🥰," shared another."
"I just couldn’t stop laughing once she started," added another. "I think it’s her ability to see the absurdity and humour in the situation maybe? Whatever it is ❤️❤️."
Someone else wrote a brief ending to the story: "😂 …..And she died laughing with her best friend…"
But a few expressed concern that the dog wasn't going to let go, citing bad behavior and dangerous habits. However, as others pointed out, at no point did he appear to be aggressive. His body language is playful, and he even lay down to take a break from what he apparently thought was a pretty fun game right in the middle of it. She clearly wasn't afraid, and if she hadn't been laughing hysterically, she probably would have thought to take the jacket off to free herself.
Most people, however, simply delighted in the joy of a human enjoying a silly moment with her dog. And the woman herself addressed some of the concerns in a follow-up video in which she shared some terrible comments people have left calling for her to be violent with Grissom, writing, "Owning a reactive dog isn’t easy. It requires a lot of patience and a lot of training. But we are a team and Grissom is the best dog with the most loving heart."
She also shared how she has been working with Grissom with a great deal of love and patience to work through his reactive tendencies:
Replying to @katiejohnson7862 I am so thankful that I get to be Grissom’s owner🤍 #reactivedogawareness #reactivedogtraining #leashreactivedog #leashreactivity #positivereinforcementdogtraining #clickertraining #goldenretrieverlifestyle #goldenretrieversrule #goldenretrieversoftiktok #reactivedogsaregooddogs #englishcreamgolden #womansbestfriend
She and Grissom do make a good team, and if her laughter is any indicator, there's plenty more fun to be had for these two.
