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A safe, stable home can change lives for the better. Here’s how Habitat for Humanity wants to make that possible for everyone.
Better health, better jobs, and a brighter future all start with access to a safe, affordable home.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project. Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia. Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.
Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:- Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
- Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
- Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
- Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
- Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
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Kitten named Duck learns to run on two legs and she looks like an adorable velociraptor
It hasn’t slowed her down one bit.
Babies are really adaptable, and the same can be said for baby animals. It’s likely because they just don’t know any other way of life, so they just go with what they’re given and, miraculously, make it work. Even knowing that, however, it’s still hard to imagine a kitten getting around without their front legs.
Cats essentially use everything from their whiskers to their tails to balance, so how would one walk without two of it’s four legs? The answer is, carefully at first. Duck is a rescued kitten who, unfortunately, had to have both of her front legs completely amputated. While she was wobbly at first, she quickly adapted.
Meet Duck, the wonder cat
Duck’s human, Cody, shares her daily shenanigans on his Instagram page aptly named Purrasic Duck, which has amassed over half a million followers. In 2020, he told Duck’s story to The Dodo, revealing how she was rescued and how, against all odds, she developed her agile moves. If you’re having a hard time picturing a two-legged cat on the run, it looks a lot like a furry velociraptor chasing a laser pointer.
“I ended up naming her Duck because she kinda waddled. She’d kinda take it slow, she waddled trying to figure out her balance,” Cody told The Dodo.
Before long, Duck was off to play with her much larger dog brothers. Her pug brother even offers her a little assistance in the face cleaning area since Duck doesn’t have paws to do it herself. She returns the favor by cleaning his face too. It’s an adorable relationship, but if you want to see a furry velociraptor chase after cat toys, you’ll need to watch the video below.
How Duck and Cody found each other
Cody met Duck when she was found and brought into his sister’s animal clinic. “She was probably chilling in a car engine and her legs got caught up, and she survived that!” Cody can be heard saying as a voice over in the video. At first, Cody’s sister brought her over as a potential foster, but after just one day, Cody decided to keep her for himself. “When I met her, I just fell in love immediately,” he said.
Duck has no shortage of friends to play with at home, either. In addition to her dog brothers, Cody rescues and either keeps or fosters plenty of baby animals, from chickens, turtles, and opossums to a raccoon, a squirrel, and of course, more dogs and cats. Duck also has a sister named Goose, who’s an adorable gray kitty with just one eye. Here they are hanging out together:
Duck is thriving, and so is her family
Today, Duck is no longer a baby and has gotten this two-legged life down pat. She’s living happily with dad Cody and her many, many, many animal siblings and friends. On her social media pages, Cody includes a useful link for other pet parents, rescuers, and fosterers with recommended products to help make the rescue and rehoming process easy for everyone. Check it out here.
Cody has got quite the rescue menagerie going and it’s so inspiring.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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Millennials struggling to buy a home want ‘out of touch’ Boomer parents to get their reality
Some advice for Millennials dealing with parents who won’t listen.
Millennials trying to buy homes in today’s economy are up against a rock and a hard place. Unlike for their Boomer parents, the dream of buying a home continues to feel further away.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Millennials “continue to be fenced out of homeownership.” The organization reported that in 2025, the average age of first-time homeownership rose to 40 years old, up from 38 just the year before, with the share of first-time buyers falling to a record low of 21%. “The historically low share of first-time buyers underscores the real-world consequences of a housing market starved for affordable inventory,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research.
Millennials are venting on Reddit
Millennials are airing their frustrations amongst each other in the Reddit thread r/Millennials, sharing their stories and experiences with their Boomer parents, with many calling Boomers “out of touch.”
One Millennial wrote, “This topic is like hitting a dead horse, but I just needed to rant. Back story, I work out at a gym with people who are our parents age, and of the boomer generation. I overheard them saying, ‘we bought our first home for $65,000. I’m sure kids these days are only paying $125,000 for that same house’. When they said that, I burst out laughing. How are they so out of touch? It drives me nuts.”
Another Millennial replied, “Willful ignorance. Takes four seconds to go on Zillow and find out that’s bullsh*t .”
And another shared, “I’m not kidding… when I showed my dad actual data on itemized COL inflation, he said that ‘the data just says that but that doesn’t mean it’s real’…. This is a guy that I would normally consider smart and with it. When it comes to these kinds of topics of societal degradation, he can’t accept it. He is willfully ignorant to things being worse now for me than they were for him at my age.”
The Zillow experiment that actually worked
Others explained how they attempted to explain to their Boomer parents how expensive homes currently are. Another shared, “Last Christmas, the sibs and I collectively managed to remember all the addresses we had lived in in our childhoods and Zillowed all of them to show our parents. All are still standing. All were built in the 70s. All are rural or suburban/small towns. Parents were astounded at what these 50+ year houses are going for today, especially compared to what they paid for them 30-40 years ago.”
Millennials added their conversations with parents who got defensive. One wrote, “I legit just had this same conversation! They say ‘complain when it’s 14% interest’ excuse me, your house was 60k and dad was making 40, don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining. That fancy 250k house is now like 600k…get a grip, average house is 438k.”
Another shared, “My dad still gives me a hard time about renting, constantly tells me how I should invest in a house. I sat him down one day and opened up a mortgage calculator, showed him how with the current interest rates it just wasn’t gonna happen- he seemed to get it. For a little bit anyways haha. I saw him last month and he told me again how rent is wasted money yadda yadda.”
How to talk to your Boomer parents about housing
Millennials can have healthy and productive conversations with their Boomer parents when discussions about buying a home become tense or uncomfortable, Aly Bullock, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist with Paired, tells Upworthy.
Here are three things Millennials can say to their parents during these tough talks:
Phrase #1: “I understand that we have different views on this, and that’s okay with me.”
Bullock explains, “This acknowledges that you understand their POV and you are still willing to stick with your own opinion. It is a very gentle way of setting a boundary and letting them know you are comfortable having different opinions.”
Phrase #2: “I would love to hear you out, and my request is that in return you respect my right to make a personal decision even if it does not align with what you’ve shared.”
“Even when their kids are grown, parents still love the chance to influence their children,” says Bullock. “This phrase lets your parents know that you would love to hear their opinion, you welcome it, AND reminds them gently that you are grown and they should offer you similar respect.”
Phrase #3: “This conversation seems to keep causing tension between us, and I’d rather focus on something we have in common right now. Can we set it aside for a bit?”
According to Bullock, “This acknowledges the tension without placing blame. It gives the adult child an opportunity to stop the conversation before it deteriorates further, while emphasizing the positive pieces of the relationship.”
Finally, she notes that it may take placing boundaries around these conversations. “Remember that you don’t have to tell your parents everything. Some things are better left unsaid,” says Bullock. “The truth is that parents change as they age and may or may not be able to cope well with generational differences or unmet expectations. Try to have compassion for them as you decide which things to keep to yourself in order to protect your own mental health.”
This article originally appeared one year ago. It has been updated.
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An old male bald eagle who adopted a rock as an egg finally got his own real foster baby
Murphy became a real dad after he spent weeks nurturing his “RockBaby.”
On March 8, 2023, a keeper at World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis County, Missouri, noticed something odd. A male bald eagle named Murphy was guarding what appeared to be a large depression in the ground. “The spot was sparsely but carefully decorated with leaves and branches, and featured a simple rock right in the center,” the nature preserve shared on its Facebook page.
Murphy began sitting on the rock, nudging it and becoming fiercely protective of it, as if it were an egg. People visiting the sanctuary would inquire about the bald eagle just sitting there, wondering if he was okay. The keepers finally put up a sign that read:
“If you see an eagle lying down in the back left corner under a perch, that’s Murphy! Murphy is not hurt, sick, or otherwise in distress. He has built a nest on the ground, and is very carefully incubating a rock! We wish him the best of luck!”
Murphy took his rock duties very seriously
In case you’re wondering if this is unusual behavior for a 31-year-old male bald eagle, the answer is “not really, but….” Male bald eagles do share equally in nesting and baby-raising, so the paternal instinct part is normal. Murphy’s channeling of that instinct onto a rock…maybe not so much. And at 31, he’s more like a great-granddad than dad, as bald eagles usually live 20 to 30 years in the wild (though they do live longer in captivity).
Murphy takes fatherhood seriously, though. Soon he began screaming and charging at the four other eagles in the aviary if they came anywhere near RockBaby. (That’s the official name the keepers gave Murphy’s…well, rock baby.) Naturally, the screaming and charging caused a fair amount of stress for all involved, so Murphy and RockBaby were moved to their own enclosure for everyone’s protection.
People who saw this unfold started suggesting sanctuary staff replace Murphy’s rock with a real egg or get him a mate, but 1) Eagle eggs aren’t just lying around waiting to be given to wanna-be dads, 2) hatching a different kind of bird’s egg would be potentially dangerous for it, and 3) Murphy had two females right there in the aviary, and none of them were interested in each other. Alas, the heart cannot be forced.
Then a real eaglet needed a dad
However, a different opportunity presented itself in late March when an aerie with two chicks in it was blown down by high winds. One chick didn’t survive the fall, but the other was brought to World Bird Sanctuary’s Wildlife Hospital.
A bit bruised, but otherwise healthy, the chick was given a good prognosis. Staff began feeding it while wearing a camouflage suit and holding an eagle stuffy to prevent the eaglet from imprinting on humans. What the baby really needed was a foster parent: an adult eagle who would feed and care for it.
“Murphy’s dad instincts were already in high gear,” the sanctuary wrote on April 11, “but at 31 years old, he had never raised a chick before. It’s definitely a gamble, but also the chick’s best chance.”
Introducing an eaglet to an adult eagle isn’t as simple as dropping it in the enclosure. First, the eaglet is put into what the sanctuary refers to as a “baby jail,” which is a heated, comfy cage made of wood and wire that protects the eaglet but still allows some interaction between the birds so they can get used to one another. Once the desired bonding behavior is observed, then they try out some direct one-on-one interaction without the cage.
On April 12, World Bird Sanctuary announced, “IT’S HAPPENING!!!!”
The eaglet (referred to as Bald Eaglet 23-126, they don’t name foster babies at the sanctuary for superstitious reasons) was released from baby jail, and after an hour or so Murphy approached it with curiosity. Was he wondering if his RockBaby had hatched? Maybe. Would he be the nurturing dad everyone hoped he would be? It appears so.
As the sanctuary shared:
“This morning, Murphy got his chance to be a full parent as 23-126 left the nest to go be closer to Murphy. The food is being dropped through a blind drop tube into the nest and baby appears unable to be able to get over the lip to get back into the nest to get the chopped food. When we checked back, we found that baby was still out of the nest and all the chopped food was still in the nest. However, Murphy’s whole fish had been removed from the nest and baby had a full crop. 23-126 is not yet old enough to tear food which means MURPHY FED THE BABY!!!!”
Murphy’s second eaglet, 24-159, was successfully released into the wild on January 31, 2026, at Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, Missouri: a fitting final chapter to Murphy’s legacy.
The comments on the update, of course, were pure gold as people became fully invested in this story and even gave the eaglet a real name—Dwayne, as in The Rock:
“I can’t believe I’m crying over eagles!”
“Murphy’s going to be giving a TedTalk: Manifest The Eaglet You Need In Your Life.”
“So happy for Murphy & eaglet Dwayne (the rock Johnson).”
“‘Rock, I am your Father.’”
“Omg I’m crying! Murphy never gave up on his rock and now has a baby of his very own
The wonders of nature never cease. Ty, WBS, for making this possible. These two are saving each other 
.”Many people lamented that there is not a live cam at the facility so people could watch this pair as their relationship developed, but staff reminded everyone that the sanctuary is out in the middle of the woods and they don’t have a strong enough signal for a live stream. But WBS staff posted regular updates on social media on how Papa Murphy and “Dwayne” were doing.
Murphy was honored on Father’s Day for his stellar fostering skills as he returned to the aviary:
“We’d like to thank Murphy for his service and applaud his outstanding job in raising 23-126,” the sanctuary wrote. “Murphy may have had a few moments in his parenting duties where he regretted choosing to sit on that rock, but we believe that the overall experience has been very enriching for him. We know that Murphy has enriched 126’s life. Thanks to Murphy, 23-126 has grown up knowing that he is a Bald Eagle! 126 has learned so much from Murphy and, thanks to his efforts, will have a much greater chance of thriving in the wild after he is released. Happy Father’s Day Murphy, and thank you, we couldn’t have done this without you.”
Rest in peace, Papa Murphy
Sadly, Murphy passed away at age 33 on March 15, 2025, after suffering head trauma during a severe storm, having fostered two eaglets in his final years. He lived a long life for a bald eagle and the World Bird Sanctuary offered a beautiful tribute to this extraordinary bird.
“His resilience, spirit, and dedication as a foster dad touched the hearts of millions of people throughout the world, leaving an especially profound impact on those fortunate enough to have worked with him. While Murphy has delighted guests along Avian Avenue for years with his distinct vocalizations and charismatic personality, it wasn’t until 2023 when he decided to incubate a rock that he gained an international following. Murphy’s transition from rock incubating to rockstar foster dad of an injured eaglet brought daily joy to thousands as we watched their journey together. As Murphy’s eaglet grew so did our love of him. Their journey together taught thousands about eagle growth and development, the bonds between eagle parents and their young, and the critical work that goes into wildlife rehabilitation. Murphy’s eaglet continued to grow strong under his watchful gaze and went on to be released back to the wild. The following year, Murphy fostered a second eaglet in need with the same dedication he gave the first. His second eaglet is still in our care, but is making good progress toward release and we expect he will be ready by mid summer.
We could not have asked for a better ambassador and role model. We are incredibly grateful for the community that came together as a result of his heartwarming story. We are devastated by this loss and know that the community mourns with us. Murphy’s foster eaglets were the first ones our hospital received in over a decade and we learned a lot about their care and space needs from observing Murphy with them. With what we learned from this, we’ve designed a series of special aviaries to serve the specific needs of injured and orphaned raptors, including an aviary specialized for eaglets. In honor of Murphy’s legacy, we plan to name the eventual eagle fostering aviary Murphy’s Manor, so that we can continue to remember him for decades to come. Murphy will be deeply missed, but his legacy will live on in the memories of those who loved him.”
Murphy’s second eaglet, 24-159, was successfully released into the wild on January 31, 2026, at Audubon Center at Riverlands in West Alton, Missouri: a fitting final chapter to Murphy’s legacy.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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People born before 1990 are sharing their now-useless (but 100% nostalgic) skills
For instance, recording songs on tape from the radio while yelling at the DJ to shut up during the intro.
Hey there, millennials! Welcome to the “Holy crapoly, I have real-life memories from 20 years ago!” club. It’s a strangely disorienting milestone to reach when you find yourself starting sentences with, “When I was young…” or, “Back in my day…” isn’t it? Your Gen X elders have been here for a while, but even we have moments of incredulously calculating how the heck we’ve arrived at this place. Time is a tricky little jokester, isn’t it?
To highlight how much has changed for middle-aged folks since we were young, a user on Reddit asked people born before 1990 what useless skills they possess that nobody has a need for anymore. It’s both a hilarious trip down memory lane and a time capsule of life pre-Y2K. (Do kids these days even know what Y2K was? Gracious.)
If you’re down for some good-old-days nostalgia, check out people’s responses:
Making brown paper bag book covers
“I can cover a textbook with a brown paper bag.” – sourwaterbug
Oh goodness yes. And there was always that one girl in class who had the art of the brown paper bag book cover perfected. (They’re probably Pinterest influencers now.)
Maps on actual paper
“I can re-fold a map correctly.” – JungleZac
“Man remember actually using maps…I had an atlas with the road system in my car to navigate other states during road trips. Crazy.” – jagua_haku
How did we ever figure out how to get anywhere before GPS and Google Maps? (Two-inch thick road atlases in our car and stopping at gas stations to buy local maps while traveling, that’s how. Positively primitive.)
Memorizing phone numbers and answering the house phone
For real, though, kids these days don’t even know.
“Remembering phone numbers.” – greatmilliondog
“Not only that, having to speak to your friend’s parents for a few minutes when you call their house.” – Logical_Area_5552
“How to take a message when the person they want to talk to isn’t there.” – Amoori_A_Splooge
How about dialing on a rotary phone, using a pay phone and making (or taking) a collect call?
“Using your shoulder to hold a telephone up to your ear while doing multiple other things at once. Now, the phones are so damned small I drop them.” – Regular_Sample_5197
“100 ft phone cords ” – mrch1ck3nn
“I got in sooooo much trouble for stretching the phone cord into the bathroom for some privacy. Accidentally clotheslined Grandma She laughed about it but Mom was pissed!” – AffectionateBite3827
Recording songs off the radio was an art form
I don’t think kids these days fully grasp how revolutionary Spotify and the like are for those of us who spent hours in front of the radio with our cassette tape recorder queued up at just the right spot waiting for the song we wanted to record to come on. And they will never, ever know the frustration of the DJ yapping right up until the lyrics start.
“Record to tape from the radio. Trying to make sure to not get the DJ/presenter talking sh-t or an ad” – Gankstajam
“‘Shut up, shut up, shut up!!! I’m trying to record my song!!!’” –tearsonurcheek
“Having the first side be tempting enough that they’d flip the other side to continue listening. That’s before continual playback machines existed. Had to flip the cassette.” – CrunchyTeaTime
“Haha yeah and trying to tell others so they don’t make random noise or knock on the door.” – anonymous
“How about making cassette-based mix tapes, trying to figure out to the second, how many and which types of songs in which order, that would still fit perfectly on the length of tape per side.” – anonymous
“People who make digital recordings do not have to worry about running out of tape.” – anonymous
And there were many more, from rewinding a cassette tape with a pencil to writing in cursive to tearing the sides off of printer paper without tearing the paper itself. (Oh and, of course, the ability to count out change and understand what you’re supposed to do if something costs $9.91 and someone hands you $10.01.)
Gotta love it when the things that used to be totally normal now sound like historic artifacts found in a museum. Kind of makes you wonder what normal things from today we’ll be laughing about in another 20 or 30 years.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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50 emotions that don’t exist in the English language, but we all have experienced
Words that are untranslatable, but everyone understands.
English may boast one of the lengthiest vocabularies in the world, but there are still entire emotional universes Merriam-Webster can’t quite encapsulate. Thankfully, other cultures can. Our ability to understand these layered, sometimes conflicting feelings proves that beneath our differences, we share the same emotional language.
Here are some of the most beautifully specific emotions that have no English equivalent, grouped by the inner worlds they illuminate. Together, they show one thing: human feelings are far more connected than we might assume,
1. The many faces of love, longing, and heartache
Woman in denim jacket covers face with sleeve, standing outdoors with blurred background. Photo credit: Canva Chappell Roan said it best: “love is a kaleidoscope.” One of tenderness, ache, inevitability, and memory. These words perfectly capture the emotional fine print of human connection.
- Saudade (Portuguese) – A deep nostalgic longing for someone or something loved and lost. The love that lingers long after the moment is gone.
- Tu’burni (Arabic) – “I hope I die before you,” said not morbidly but because life without the beloved would be unbearable.
- Onsra (Boro, India) – Loving for what you know will be the last time.
- Mágoa (Portuguese) – A heartbreak so profound that its traces remain visible in gestures and expressions.
- Sielvartas (Lithuanian) – A seemingly endless grief or emotional turmoil, often tied to loss.
- Toska (Russian) – Spiritual anguish with no clear cause—sometimes love-sickness, sometimes existential ache.
- Koi No Yokan (Japanese) – The feeling that you’re destined to fall in love with someone. Not love at first sight, but the inevitability of it.
- Forelsket (Norwegian) – The consuming, euphoric high of new love. Technically, we do have an English equivalent (puppy love).
- Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan) – A shared look between two people, both hoping the other will initiate something they both want.
- Gigil (Tagalog) – The irresistible urge to squeeze someone because they’re impossibly cute or beloved.
- Jeong (Korean) – A deep, multifaceted emotional bond encompassing love, affection, empathy, and attachment.
These words prove that love cannot be reduced to a single emotion.
2. Awe, inspiration, and emotional transcendence
Woman with outstretched arms in a sunlit field, enjoying the outdoors. Photo credit: Canva
Some emotions lift us out of our everyday selves—through nature, art, music, or inner stillness. These words celebrate those moments when the world feels bigger, deeper, or more alive.
- Tarab (Arabic) – A musical ecstasy that transports you.
- Duende (Spanish) – The visceral, spine-tingling feeling you get from powerful art.
- Shinrin-yoku (Japanese) – The restorative calm from “forest-bathing.”
- Dadirri (Australian Aboriginal) – Deep, contemplative, respectful listening.
- Querencia (Spanish) – A place where your soul rests and regathers strength.
- Ailyak (Bulgarian) – Doing things calmly and slowly, resisting the rush of life.
- Ataraxia (Ancient Greek) – A serene calm that comes from acceptance and clarity.
- Sukha (Sanskrit) – True, lasting happiness not dependent on circumstances.
- Eudaimonia (Greek) – A form of human flourishing that includes joy, purpose, and even the ability to hold suffering with grace.
These are the emotions that open us up to natural beauty and to the deeper parts of ourselves.
3. Yearning, wanderlust, and the emotional pull of place
Lush forest with vibrant green and orange foliage in soft, misty sunlight. Photo credit: Canva
These words capture the feelings that tie us to geography—whether we’re longing to leave, ecstatic to go, or transformed when we arrive somewhere new.
- Fernweh (German) – A longing for faraway places you haven’t visited yet.
- Dépaysement (French) – The disorientation (good or bad) of being somewhere entirely unfamiliar. Think of it as reverse déjà vu.
- Resfeber (Swedish) – The nervous excitement right before a journey begins.
- Vårkänsla (Swedish) – The giddy, heart-lifting feeling when spring finally returns.
- Iktsuarpok (Inuit) – The restless anticipation of waiting for someone to arrive.
- Waldeinsamkeit (German) – Also belongs here for its nature-rooted serenity.
These words remind us that our surroundings shape our inner world.
4. Connection, community, and shared human vibes
Friends laughing and drinking coffee at a cozy cafe table. Photo credit: Canva
Some feelings only exist between people in crowds, in friendships, in shared silences, or in the subtle emotional temperature of a room.
- Gezelligheid (Dutch) – Cozy, heartwarming togetherness.
- 분위기 / Boon-wee-gi (Korean) – The overall atmosphere or vibe of a situation.
- Fika (Swedish) – A ritualized break to slow down and connect (usually over coffee).
- Mokita (Kivila) – A painful truth everyone knows but agrees not to mention.
- Commuovere (Italian) – Being moved to tears by someone’s story or kindness.
Human life is held together by shared awareness, and these words embody some of those shared experiences.
5. Strength, resilience, and grit
Woman with curly hair in sunlight, eyes closed, wearing a purple top. Photo credit: Canva
These words show that courage and resourcefulness take many forms.
- Sisu (Finnish) – Deep perseverance and courage in adversity.
- Orenda (Huron) – The human will’s power to shape the world despite fate.
- Jijivisha (Hindi) – A zest for life; desire to live fully and vibrantly.
- 加油 / Jiā yóu (Chinese) – “Add oil!” A cheer of encouragement and solidarity.
- Desenrascanço (Portuguese) – Cleverly untangling yourself from trouble using creativity.
- Pihentagyú (Hungarian) – A relaxed-brain quick-wittedness; clever mental play.
Some emotions are fuel to keep us going.
6. Humor, embarrassment, and the awkwardness of existence
Man smiling with hand over face, standing outdoors against a blue sky background. Photo credit: Canva
Humans are messy. These words capture the cringiness that makes us lovable.
- Jayus (Indonesian) – A joke so bad it’s good.
- Age-otori (Japanese) – When your haircut makes you look worse.
- Litost (Czech) – The sting of suddenly realizing your own misery—often with a dash of revenge fantasy.
- Lebensmüde (German) – “Life tiredness” that sometimes explains reckless behavior.
They celebrate the ways we laugh our way through being human.
7. Serenity, fulfillment, and slower ways of living
Hand painting a still life on canvas with blue and orange tones. Photo credit: Canva
These words name feelings we desperately need more English words for—the grounded peace that comes from completing something meaningful or living at a human pace.
- Yuan bei (Chinese) – Perfect, satisfying accomplishment.
- Ailyak (Bulgarian) – Calm, unhurried living.
- Meraki (Greek) – Pouring your soul, passion, and creativity into what you do.
- Querencia (Spanish) – A place of inner refuge and strength.
- Ataraxia (Greek) – Acceptance-based tranquility.
These words are all about the intrinsic fullness that comes from finishing something well, doing things with heart, and letting yourself breathe.
8. The hard-to-define emotional in-betweens
Woman sitting on a chair in the water, writing in a notebook at sunset. Photo credit: Canva
Some feelings sit in liminal spaces, hard to define but unmistakably human.
- Torschlusspanik (German) – The fear that the door of opportunity is closing as you age.
- Desbundar (Portuguese) – Letting loose and shedding your inhibitions.
- Dadirri (Aboriginal) – Quiet, contemplative inner listening.
- Dépaysement (French) – Emotional disorientation abroad (also fits here).
“Bittersweet” is an English word that comes to mind, but how nice to have even more words to choose from.
Why these words matter more than ever
Maybe the real beauty of these untranslatable emotions isn’t that other languages have them and English doesn’t. It’s that humans everywhere feel them, even if we don’t always know how to say them out loud.
So the next time you experience something too complicated to explain, take heart: there’s probably a word for it somewhere in the world…and someone who’s felt it, too.
Sources: Berlitz, BBC, Thought Catalog, Collective Hub
This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.
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French toast isn’t actually French. How the ancient frugal meal got its contradictory name.
There’s a reason this dish has been around for centuries.
We all know and love the fluffy, sweet, decadent taste of French toast. But what many of us don’t know is that it’s about as authentic to French cuisine as chicken parm is to Italian cuisine. In fact, the dish predates the country entirely.
From ancient Rome to your breakfast plate
The earliest known recipe goes all the way back to ancient Rome. In a fourth-/fifth-century cookbook titled Apicius, you’ll find instructions for making Aliter Dulcia (“another sweet dish”), as it was called back then, which involved soaking white bread in a milk-and-egg mixture, frying it, then covering it with honey.
According to some sources, this iteration of French toast was considered a luxury food intended for the wealthy. Only “fine white bread” with the “crusts removed” would be used.
However, fast-forward to Medieval Europe, and the dish served slightly more practical purposes. It not only revived otherwise stale and useless bread in a time when food really couldn’t go to waste, but the eggs used in the dish also provided necessary protein.
During this time period, the dish went by many names, but French toast wasn’t one of them. Germans called it “eggy bread,” the Irish called it “gypsy toast,” and the English called it “poor knights,” referring to its economical ingredients. Even the French called it pain perdu, or “lost bread.”
Below, Max Miller of Tasting History recreated Suppa Dorata (often translated as “Golden Soup” or “Golden Sippets”), essentially the 15th-century Italian version of French toast, featuring a rich, crispy texture flavored with saffron and rose water rather than maple syrup or honey.
The accidental birth of “French toast”
Astoundingly, the term French toast actually refers to an American…an American who could have benefited from autocorrect.
As legend has it, in 1724, New York innkeeper Joseph French advertised it as “French toast” when he meant to call it “French’s toast.” A simple grammatical error became immortalized forever.
It seems, though, that French toast wouldn’t become America’s go-to name until World War I. Before then, it was called “German toast.” But when all things German became taboo, a name attributed to an Allied country seemed more befitting.
Sidenote: Some might recall that in 2003, the United States was trying to rebrand French toast as “freedom toast,” similar to “freedom fries” instead of “French fries.” It did not catch on.
Breakfast, dessert, or something else entirely?
Even after the name French toast stuck, people couldn’t agree on which meal it belonged to. As Miller explained, some felt it was best suited for lunch, while others thought it should be an after-dinner dessert. It wasn’t until 1866, when Godey’s Magazine (which brought us “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and that little holiday known as Thanksgiving) dubbed it an “excellent” breakfast choice, “equal to waffles.” Bold statement, indeed!
Today, French toast still goes by countless other names and variations. In several countries, it’s a savory dish. In India, it’s served with spices, green chilis, onions, and even ketchup. Similarly, Italy places mozzarella between the bread slices before dipping them in eggs and frying them. Meanwhile, in places like Brazil and Spain, where it’s called “rabanadas” and “torrijas,” respectively, it’s served on special holidays like Christmas or Lent.
No matter what you call it, this enduring dish is far more magical than it appears at first glance, carrying not only delicious comfort but also centuries of history in every bite.
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The ‘average American’ put a price tag on ‘peace of mind.’ It’s worth a lot.
How much would you pay to have all your necessities handled, 100% job security, and zero worries about about personal safety?
In 1968, The Beatles released the song “I’m So Tired” from their eponymous White Album, where John Lennon sings about being utterly exasperated. In the chorus, he begs, “I’d give you everything I’ve got for a little peace of mind.” A lot of Americans are feeling just as stressed in 2026 amid political tensions, war, and an unstable economy, which raises the question: How much would the average American pay for peace of mind?
According to a poll taken by TalkResearch in March of 2026, the “average American” would spend $57,000 for security and serenity. Of those polled, the average household income was $79,000 (slightly less than the U.S. median of $84,000), so they’d give up 72% of their yearly earnings just to live without worrying about whether they can make ends meet, while feeling 100% safe.
Americans worry about taking care of the necessities
The poll also revealed that the average American would pay $21,000 a year to never worry about necessities (groceries and medication), $19,800 for complete job security, and $16,400 to never have to be concerned about an unexpected medical bill or copay.
A woman at peace. Credit: Canva “We exist in an environment defined by economic uncertainty and political instability,” Dr. Jenny Martin, PsyD and founder of Gemstone Wellness, said in a statement. “Peace of mind has become psychologically equated with control, which feels harder and harder to find. When core needs such as healthcare, employment, or transportation feel unpredictable, the nervous system remains in a state of threat. The idea of ‘paying for peace of mind’ reflects a deeper desire to secure safety and predictability—relief from chronic vigilance.”
How far would you go for peace of mind?
The poll shows that many Americans would go to extreme measures to move through the world feeling light and knowing everything is taken care of. It also reveals the things preventing them from achieving peace of mind…and they all seem to be financial. One wonders: if there were a magical lever someone could pull that would take 72% of their earnings but let them sleep like a baby every night for the rest of their lives, how many would actually do it? Would you trade most of your financial freedom for a worry-free existence?
Man on a treadmill. Credit: Canva. The problem is that it may be impossible to become 100% worry-free. The psychological phenomenon known as the hedonic treadmill or hedonic adaptation suggests that people normalize their improvements in comfort, such as having enough money to get by or being out of a war zone, and then return to a relatively stable baseline. Once our basic needs are met, it’s human nature to find new things to become dissatisfied about, whether that’s status, identity, a sense of meaning, and so on.
The unlikelihood that we can ever be permanently satisfied means we should look for comfort elsewhere. “Sustainable peace of mind is less about removing uncertainty and more about increasing our ability to handle it,” Dr. Martin says. “Research tells us that internal regulation, not external control, is the more reliable way to go.” So, to truly find peace of mind in a world where we can always find things to worry about, the best thing to do is to build it within ourselves.
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An American in Paris explains European ‘bridge holidays’ and people are fascinated
In France, May is an idea, not a month.
It’s no secret that work culture in Europe is a lot different from what it is in the United States. Europeans often get more time off and work fewer hours overall. Even so, you have to really live there to understand just how different things are.
Justyn Lee is doing exactly that. He is an American living and working in Paris, and even he was surprised after moving there to discover a few new things about the work culture. One major takeaway? In France, the month of May barely exists.
American living in Paris explains “le pont”
In a LinkedIn post, Lee explains that France has four official holidays in the month of May. That’s kind of a lot, but not totally unusual compared to what Americans are used to. In November, we have Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, while in January there’s New Year’s Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In France, there’s Labour Day, Victory in Europe Day, Ascension Thursday, and Whit Monday.
However, he notes that “France does not operate on days. It operates on proximity.”
Lee then explains something called “le pont,” which means “the bridge.” Whenever a holiday, or a day off from work, lands in the middle of the week, most companies just go ahead and make “the days in between disappear.”
Americans are familiar with “the bridge” in a few scenarios. Most businesses are closed the Friday after Thanksgiving, for example. But in France, while it’s not legally mandated, it’s culturally accepted that most holidays turn into a four-day weekend.
Lee says people take this opportunity to travel, go on vacation, or rest, only occasionally checking in on work. “Let’s circle back in June” is a common refrain.
“May is not a month,” he writes. “C’est la vie.”
It’s not just France that likes to stretch its holiday weekends
The concept of “bridge holidays” is almost universal across European and Latin American work cultures. It exists under different names in France, Germany (Brückentage), Spain (hacer puente), Brazil (imprensar/emendar/enforcar), and more.
There are tons of reasons for this extremely liberal vacation policy. European and Latin American countries have strong labor unions that protect workers’ rights, and most have universal healthcare, which lowers the economic pressures associated with working.
Though bridge holidays and large amounts of paid time off are not completely universal, the U.S. does seem to be in the minority by not participating.
How do countries like France keep the “trains running,” so to speak, in the month of May and other months full of holidays? Essential services are often still open, as are shops and small businesses in big cities like Paris. Tourism workers may not get such an extended break at the same time, since everyone is vacationing. But otherwise, typical office workers have a cultural agreement that non-urgent emails and meetings can simply…wait.
Europeans chime in with a knowing nod
Lee’s post struck a chord on LinkedIn, where dozens of commenters were eager to share their thoughts.
“Love this post!” Marta Pastoriza Ares commented. “Haha Something veeery similar happens in Spain as well, and we also call it ‘hacer puente’ (bridging those bank holidays with the days ‘in between’). A culture trait I refuse to leave behind. Not ever!”
“Very similar approach in Brazil when it comes to holidays,” Carolina O. Fraiel said. “We call it ‘imprensar’ (to squeeze), ’emendar’ (to connect) and ‘enforcar’ (to choke). And all it means is that people hope for holidays on Tuesdays and Thursdays to make the most of it.”
“Very, very similar in Germany, we even also call those days between holidays and weekends ‘Brückentage’ (bridge days),” Alexander Lichanow said. “I would love to see US hustlebros froth and fume over this blatant disregard for grind culture.”
Shahana Shaikh was fascinated by the unwritten rules in action: “Interesting how work culture isn’t just rules it’s the unwritten norms people quietly follow. Sometimes, without anything being formally announced, everyone just aligns around a shared rhythm. It shows that culture isn’t what’s written in policy, but what people actually practice every day.”
And finally, Tim McNerney drew a humorous parallel to life in the U.S.: “European AE: Right guys, it’s July 31st. I’ll see you in September. Out of office is on. Leaving my work laptop at home. Don’t try and contact me. American AE: kidney surgery is tomorrow. Bring the docusigns by my bed, and I’ll make sure we get the red lines covered before they put me under. I should be good for the on-site the next morning too.”
Americans in the comments were a bit flabbergasted to learn the meaning behind “le pont.” But would bridge holidays even work in America?
Without federally mandated paid time off and some major changes to the cultural infrastructure, probably not. Americans also tend to get higher salaries than their European counterparts, and they like it that way.
But that’s not to say that it’s all doom and gloom for overworked Americans.
After COVID-19 and the work-from-home boom, many workers have found themselves with more flexibility than their office jobs previously allowed. In addition to formal “bridges” around Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s become more normal for workplaces to be “quiet” around the holidays or during certain stretches of the summer.
This understanding could become even more normalized in the coming years.
The key thing that makes it work in France, though, is the social contract. There’s an unspoken agreement that life is more important than work, and things that aren’t urgent are sometimes going to have to wait. It’s an approach that we could, and probably should, adopt a little more of here at home.
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