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
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.
When Los Angeles-based actor and singer Beavan Zulu found out his grandfather in Zambia was in urgent need of expensive medical treatment, he knew he’d do whatever he could to help…including singing emo covers of decidedly not-emo songs.
As Zulu explained, his grandfather, Mr. Rebby Malekani Chanda, required a type of surgery for his heart condition that isn’t provided in Zambia. The closest available area that could provide such treatment was in India, over 4,000 miles away. But Zulu’s family was already financially tapped out from Mr. Chanda’s previous medical care costs.
However, Zulu was determined to get his grandfather the help he needed.
“I love my grandpa so much, and he deserves this care.”
Faced with this daunting financial hurdle, Zulu could have simply shared the GoFundMe created by his family. Instead, he leaned into something a little more personal, with a lot more attitude. Not to mention makeshift sideswept bangs.
Rather than simply ask for donations, Zulu wanted to get creative with his fundraising and put his singing skills to good use. That’s when he remembered entertaining his high school with an emo rendition of “Let it Go” from Disney’s Frozen. It worked once…it could work again, right?
“I took a leap of faith and posted the first video not thinking anything crazy would come from it,” Zulu recalled with Upworthy.
Millions leaned into all of Zulu’s whiny, dramatic emoisms and commitment to eyeliner energy. Exceeding all expectations, Zulu received all of his $40K goal in a matter of four days.
That’s right, only three songs were sung (including “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan, Zula’s personal favorite) before making all the money necessary to not only cover Mr. Chanda’s surgery and travel, but also tickets so that Zulu and his family could go be there with him during recovery. Turns out, if you sing like your heart is breaking while asking people to help fix your grandfather’s heart, people listen.
HOLY COW Y’ALL ARE THE BEST!! 😭 alright tell me in the comments where you would travel internationally with @Emirates @KLM Royal Dutch Airlines @fly.ethiopian @GoFundMe #cover#disney
As a thank you, Zulu sang one extra bonus: “Fireflies” by Owl City.
Zulu shared with Upworthy, “My biggest takeaway is that with good faith, fun, and trust in yourself and your community, anything is possible. The Internet can really be a scary place, especially now, but it also grants us access to the world community and with the right intention, that community can really uplift you tenfold when you most need it.”
Even in such a difficult time, Zulu leaned into joy, and it inspired complete strangers to rally for his cause. Sure, the fun nostalgia helped, but him putting his whole heart out on the line is what moved people. Laughter, music, and love really are wonderful tools for creating miracles.
Or, said a different way: even if we are all chronically online, people will still show up for sincerity, especially when it comes with a side of dramatic vocals and perfectly timed angst.
Be sure to give Zulu a follow to watch even more amazing emo covers (at the time of this writing, we’re up to six iconic songs featuring side bangs and fingerless gloves).
You finally have good news. A promotion at work. The text you’ve been waiting all week for. You watch your kid take those first wobbly steps across the living room.
You excitedly tell a friend, your heart still racing a little, and they glance at their phone, mumble, “That’s great,” and slump back into their chair. Technically, they said the right thing. But their body told a different story.
Nonverbal cues are like the backstage crew of every conversation. Just because you don’t always notice them doesn’t mean they’re not there, controlling the lights, the mood, and the entire show. Psychologist Albert Mehrabian suggested that when we express feelings, only a small portion of the message comes from words, while much of the rest comes from tone and body language.
In other words, you can say “I’m listening” with your mouth, but your posture, eye contact, and tone of voice might be saying “I’m not.”
But there’s hope! These are skills, not personality flaws, and once you see the patterns—a handful of automatic, low-awareness habits that can unintentionally make others feel judged, dismissed, or unimportant—you can start to shift them.
Here are nine common “silent habits” that can create distance, plus gentle ways to adjust your behavior:
1. Avoiding eye contact
You’re halfway through a story about how your previous apartment was infiltrated by bees, and you can feel it: the other person’s gaze keeps sliding past your shoulder, down to the table, anywhere but your face. You finish the story, but something deep within you recoils.
In many cultures, steady, comfortable eye contact is one of the simplest tools we have to convey, “I’m here with you. You matter.” Without it, words can feel hollow. When the opposite happens—when we rarely look someone in the eye during a conversation—they may feel invisible or boring, even if it’s just meant to give them some space or to “not stare.”
How Much Eye Contact is Too Much? Use The 50/70 Rule Unlocking the power of eye contact is about balance, not rigid percentages. Speaking requires about 50% eye contact while listening demands around 70%. Quality trumps quantity, so make it meaningful. #eyecontact#dating#turnons#datingtips#datingadvice
Eye contact can be hard or even painful for some people, including folks who are shy, anxious, or neurodivergent. Others may have been raised in a culture that did not demand steady eye contact. That is why it helps to treat it as a flexible tool rather than a moral test.
How to shift: Try the “50/70” guideline, and hold eye contact about half the time while you speak and a little more while you listen. Let your gaze rest on their eyes or the bridge of their nose, then drift away naturally. If direct eye contact feels intense, look near their eyes instead; you’ll still create a sense of connection.
2. Crossing your arms
This one is tricky. Sometimes, you cross your arms because it’s cold outside and you forgot to bring a jacket. Other times, you truly don’t know what to do with your hands.
A tightly crossed posture often reads as “closed off,” “annoyed,” or “not open to what you are saying,” even when you feel fully engaged. Body language researchers describe it as creating a physical barrier. The perception is the problem, not necessarily the posture itself. As nonverbal behavior expert Alison Henderson has noted, “The perception is the important part. They may think a gesture is harmless because they don’t mean anything by it, but it’s how it’s perceived that becomes the issue.”
Over time, friends may stop sharing things with you. It’s difficult to be vulnerable with someone whose body keeps bracing for impact.
How to shift: Experiment with opening your stance. Rest your arms at your sides, in your lap, or around a cup, notebook, or bag. When you show your hands—especially with palms relaxed or open—you tend to look warmer and more approachable.
3. Phubbing (or phone snubbing)
Even a quick glance at your phone’s notification screen can feel like a tiny rejection, especially during emotionally charged moments. Research suggests that “phubbing” (a blend of “phone” and “snubbing”) can chip away at relationships over time, as it signals to the other person, “I’m checking to see if something more interesting has popped up.”
Checking your phone, even for a second, can have negative social impact. Photo credit: Canva
The worst part is that most people check their phones without trying to be rude—often, they don’t even care what’s on it. Our phones are simply irresistible, and our daily habits have hard-wired constant checking.
How to shift: When you’re with someone, try putting your phone fully away. Not face-down on the table or across the room, but away, either in another room or in your backpack. When you’re impervious to its seductive hum calling for your attention, you can be truly present with what matters: the other person in the room. However, if you truly expect an urgent call or text, name it upfront: “Just a heads up, I’m waiting for a call from so-and-so. I might check my phone once or twice, but I’m listening; I really want to hear this.” This tiny disclaimer can do wonders.
4. Slouching or “checked out”
No one’s perfect; we all have days when we want to melt into our couch and become one with its cushions. But when your shoulders cave in, your gaze drifts, and your whole body tilts away from the person speaking, your posture can come across as disinterest or apathy, no matter how engaged you are in the conversation. As body language consultant Dr. Lillian Glass puts it, poor posture conveys that you’re “not positive, not energetic, not caring.” Even if you’re fully mentally present, a rounded-in posture can make you appear inattentive or guarded.
Posture is a complex subject: it shapes not only how people see you, but also how you feel. A more upright, supported posture can boost alertness and mood, making it easier to stay present.
How to shift:Practice at home. Sit with your lower back supported and your feet on the floor if you can. Let your shoulders relax instead of locking them in place. Maybe lean forward a bit. Doing this when someone talks (just a few degrees, not “invading your space” territory) can come across as an act of solidarity.
5. Eye rolling and other “I’m above this” expressions
Few gestures cut as sharply as an eye roll. A sigh, a smirk, or a raised eyebrow at an inopportune moment can sting as much as harsh words.
Relationship researcher Dr. John Gottman points to contempt—often expressed through eye‑rolling, mocking faces, or sneering tones—as one of the most corrosive behaviors in close relationships. To the person on the receiving end, it does not just say, “I disagree.” It says, “You are beneath me.”
But it’s not so simple, is it? The movement can reflect many things: frustration, fatigue, overwhelm, or thinking. Someone might roll their eyes because they’re searching for the right words (and looking up is just part of how they process information), or because they are reacting playfully or dramatically, but it lands in a way they didn’t intend. However, it’s important to be mindful of when, how, and where you roll your eyes—eye rolling is easy to misread.
How to shift: When you feel that “Ugh, I can’t believe this” frustration rise, hit pause. Take a breath and soften your expression on purpose, even for a second. If you disagree or feel hurt, try putting it into words instead of rolling your eyes. “I’m having a strong emotional response, and I’m not sure why. Can you tell me more about where you’re coming from?” A simple phrase like this leaves little room for interpretation. Respectful curiosity keeps the door open.
6. Standing too close and invading personal space
Everyone carries an invisible bubble around their body, a personal “comfort zone” that shifts with culture, relationship, and context. When you stand too close, especially with acquaintances or coworkers, you can trigger a sense of intrusion or even threat.
Anthropologist Edward T. Hall’s classic research on proxemics identifies a hierarchy of space around every person: an intimate zone (roughly 0–1.5 feet) reserved for close loved ones; a personal zone (1.5–4 feet) for good friends; and a social zone (4–12 feet) for colleagues and acquaintances.
You do not need to create charts outlining everyone’s “personal space parameters” (nor should you). The key lies in what you can see: in real life, people lean back, step away, or angle their bodies when they want more room.
Bouncing a leg, tapping the table, clicking a pen, or twisting your hair can all help your body release nervous energy. These aren’t “bad” habits per se, but during a conversation—especially in small spaces or during meetings—they can distract or even irritate those around you.
In extreme cases, constant fidgeting can trigger a biological response. Some people live with misokinesia, a strong negative reaction to repetitive movements in their field of vision, and a jiggling foot can be overwhelming, preventing them from hearing your actual message.
How to shift: Start by noticing your patterns. Do you fidget more when you feel anxious, bored, or overstimulated? The next time you feel those emotions, check if you’re fidgeting. When you catch yourself, do a quick realignment, and gently plant your feet on the floor. Rest your hands on a steady surface. Move your energy into slower, deliberate actions, like taking a deep breath, sipping water, or uncurling your shoulders. You don’t have to be perfectly still. Just find a calmer rhythm.
8. Being late and acting like it’s “no big deal”
Most of us understand that sometimes, life gets in the way. There was a crash on the highway, leading to an extra 15 minutes of traffic. The kids refused to put their shoes on and leave the house. Your boss monopolized your attention after work.
But more than the actual act of lateness, what hurts is the failure to acknowledge it. When someone walks in late and acts as if nothing happened, the people who waited and were patient can feel like their time isn’t important. Like they’re supporting characters in the late person’s life, just waiting in the wings until they arrive. If that pattern repeats, the warmth and trust that once permeated the relationship can run dry, as friends and coworkers start to pull back emotionally, even if they never say exactly why.
How to shift: As soon as you realize you’re running late, send a quick message. “Running 10 minutes behind—so sorry, I’ll be there soon.” When you arrive, offer a simple, sincere apology: “Sorry for being late! Thanks for waiting for me.” No one’s expecting an Oscar-winning speech or monologue. You don’t have to be long-winded or self-flagellating to convey how sorry you are. Owning the impact can restore more goodwill than you think.
9. Finger pointing, literally
During a conversation, you extend your index finger toward another person. You’re just being helpful, identifying the person you’re talking about, which often happens unconsciously in moments when emotions run high.
But there’s a reason this is one of the older taboos in social gesturing: finger-pointing has historically been associated with accusation, blame, and aggression. In Western cultures, finger-pointing at a person reads as lecturing, dominant, or confrontational. Even in calmer contexts, it can make the person on the receiving end feel singled out or diminished. In a casual disagreement with a friend, even a gentle finger jab toward them while speaking can make the exchange feel more combative than it needs to be.
How to shift: When you feel the itch to gesture for emphasis, use an open hand instead, with your palms facing upward. You can even gesture in the air between you and the other person, instead of directly at them. When you refer to something specific, try using your whole hand to point in that direction rather than a single extended finger.
Body language is a learnable skill
As we’ve mentioned, there are a million reasons why these habits join our autopilot, and they don’t always come from mean, judgmental places. No one wakes up and thinks, “Today I will cross my arms and glance at my phone to make my friend feel small.”
The nine habits described here share one important quality: nearly all of them are unintentional.
But the truth is, your body keeps talking, even when you stay quiet. When your body tells a different story than the one that lives in your heart, people feel that mismatch. And often, they go with the one they can see, not hear.
Here is the hopeful piece: you can learn to excel at nonverbal communication, just like any other skill. With gentle awareness, you can sit up a little straighter, maintain steady eye contact, and treat even the smallest gestures with care.
You don’t need to fix everything at once. Conversations shouldn’t feel like a system overload of monitoring every aspect of your body (actually listening to what’s being said is still important, so don’t forget that). Maybe you uncross your arms on purpose, or throw your phone in the other room. Over time, those small shifts add up. Others will feel a little more seen, a little more respected, a little more at ease in the space around you.
Comedian Robin Williams never seemed to stop his lifelong quest to make people laugh. He succeeded so often that it must have simply felt like second nature to him. It was almost as if all he had to do was just wave a magic wand and poof! Laughter.
This gift seemed to appear to Williams as a child, and he carried it with him most of his life. So when he heard the uproarious chuckles of one woman in the audience of an interview with James Lipton on Inside the Actors Studio, he couldn’t help but become the conductor of his own little laughter orchestra.
On the History Clips Only Instagram page, a Reel is captioned, “Robin Williams paused his interview after hearing a woman laugh – only to make her laugh harder.” In the clip, Lipton brings up the phrase “legalized insanity” as a term he says Williams has used in order to help people “understand” him. This is followed by a loud giggle in the audience that immediately captures Williams’ attention.
Lipton asks, “What is legalized insanity?” Williams leans in, and just as he’s about to answer, he seems to hear the woman in the audience scream-laughing. He leans back in his chair as though he’s being possessed by a demon. He then gets up and shimmies toward the laughter with a silly dance, while exclaiming, “You know you want it!”
The woman, in a sea of laughter, stands out even more. She is now screeching. And the louder she gets, the more infectious it seems for the rest of the audience. He sits back down and says to Lipton, “I think that’s one example.”
Screenshot
Her laugh becomes like staccato little yelps of joy. Williams gets up again and asks, “Are you okay?” We now see the face of the woman laughing in the audience, her cheeks glowing bright red. She covers her mouth as we see her eyes shut tighter with every guffaw. Williams can’t help himself. He too begins to laugh and tells her, “It’s okay. It’s alright.”
But now the entire audience is in the palm of his hand, as they so often were. He switches gears and pretends to be a preacher with a southern accent. “Baby Jesus loves you,” he yells twice, to an applause break. “I know you believe! I’m gonna lay my hands on you, but first I’m gonna do this!”
Now the woman decides to take part. “I believe,” she yells back. “I believe in the power!” He continues, “I’d lay my hands on you, but first, first, I’ve got to do THIS. A lot of times, people know the reverend will do that!” He then returns to his seat as the crowd continues going wild.
We get a shot of the woman again, now wiping away tears of pure joy from her bright face.
A woman laughing during a Robin Williams interview. Photo Credit: @historyclipsonly, Instagram, Canva
As was so often the case with Williams, people responded to the joy he brought much of the world with accolades. The clip has nearly a quarter of a million likes and over a thousand comments.
One Instagrammer writes, “Laughing so good that you get a personal Robin Williams monologue is a life win.”
Another shares a similar sentiment: “The best kinds of people are those who strive to make people happy and laugh. Robin did exactly that, making others happy before himself. RIP to a legend.”
Someone who claims to have done the makeup for Williams in that particular segment shared, “Okay, so I was very lucky on that day since I had the honor of doing Robin Williams’ makeup on that particular segment. I had worked inside the Actors Studio for approximately 12 years. He was by far one of the most talented and the most humble. We lost a beautiful gift. RIP.”
Photo credit: The Ewing Family/Instagram – A family of four decided to get in an RV and leave their life behind. They park it at Disney World 300 days per year.
Ever been on vacation and wondered what would happen if you just…never left? Well, some people do just that. A growing number of people live full-time on cruises, at resorts, or in comfy RVs that allow them to explore the world as their leisure.
One such family recently joined the movement, and they picked a perfect, if a little peculiar, place to call their Home Base.
Family of four lives at Disney World year-round
In 2021 and 2022, the Ewing family suffered some devastating losses of people that were close to them.
Lauren Ewing tells Upworthy that the shockwave of those losses caused the family to really take stock of the way they were living. “That made us want to live and not just exist,” she says.
So, they decided to sell everything, including their home near Athens, Georgia and buy an RV. Adam Ewing, a real estate developer, could work remotely while Lauren was already well-practiced at homeschooling the kids thanks to COVID.
They began traveling and seeing the country and, more importantly, enjoying each other as much as possible. But they needed a home base. And for the Ewings, the choice was obvious.
“Disney has always been our ‘happy place,’” Lauren says. So even though they take the RV out exploring a few times a year, they always “have a desire to come back home.”
Some people live on cruise ships because the math works out and the all-inclusive lifestyle winds up being cheaper than a mortgage.
The Ewings don’t make any bones about it: Living in the Disney Bubble isn’t cheap, but for them, it’s well worth it.
The family parks their RV at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort RV Park. Lauren says it costs about $155-300 per night, depending on the time of year. That’s a hefty price tag before food and the costs of maintaining the RV. They also pony up for season passes to the parks so they can visit any time they want, and membership to the nearby Four Season Golf Club.
There is one catch with living at Disney World in an RV: You technically can’t live there all the time.
“We are able to stay 26 days and have to leave for 24 hours before we can come back. We go to a nearby campground for the night and come right back!” Lauren says. That means the Ewings, including other trips, end up parked at Disney over 200 days out of the year.
It speaks volumes that, despite the cost and their unlimited freedom, they choose to keep coming back to the same spot.
People ask the Ewings all the time: Why not stay somewhere nearby, but not technically on Disney property? It would be far cheaper.
But Lauren says the family adores being inside the “Disney bubble.”
The resort’s transportation makes it easy to get anywhere. The resort is sparklingly clean, the food is world-class, and best of all, people love to visit the Ewings. Who wouldn’t?
Still, the family has to live a somewhat normal life. The kids have school, and dad has his real estate business to run. They try to cook their own food whenever possible, exercise, have family time, explore hobbies. You know, regular everyday things. They don’t spend all day every day at the parks unless friends or family are visiting.
But the easy access allows them to make incredible magic memories. They’ll pop into Epcot and enjoy the fireworks over the lake, grab a funnel cake at Magic Kingdom, or do just a small handful of rides before the park closes.
Crucially, Lauren and Adam use the proximity they pay so much for to make sure they’re enjoying their kids’ youth as much as possible:
“It is really special to also just do a date with one of the kids. Come over for a ride or two, get a sweet treat, reconnect with some one on one time with them!” Lauren tells Upworthy.
The Ewings reject the idea of deferring joy, travel, and whimsy in their lives in favor of saving everything for retirement. They’re a young, happy, and healthy family right now, and they’re going to enjoy every second of it no matter the costs because there’s no guarantee what tomorrow might hold.
The Ewings aren’t alone. A growing number of people, especially younger generations, would rather spend their money on the here and now. The scale might be different from the Ewings’: It’s taking that vacation instead of saving the money. It’s going to your favorite restaurant instead of cooking at home. Or maybe it’s quitting your job to travel and figure out the rest later. Everyone’s version of living in the here and now is different, but it’s becoming an increasingly universal sentiment.
Almost anyone would love to experience what it’s like to live at their ‘happy place’ with the people they love the most. Lauren and Adam just so happen to have the means to make it a reality. The rough times in their recent lives convinced them without a doubt that it would be a choice they wouldn’t regret.
Somewhere in southern New Jersey, in a water-filled zoo habitat, two small animals you’ve probably never thought much about are about to take their first wobbly steps into the world.
Born in mid-April 2026, they came into the world with their eyes open and alert; they were standing within hours. By their first week, they were nibbling grass alongside the adults, their tiny muzzles buried in clover as if they’d been doing it forever.
Cape May County Commissioner Vice-Director Andrew Bulakowski put it simply:
“What a wonderful joy to be blessed with additional capybara pups. Families love this exhibit, and their love will only grow with the sights of these new additions.”
They will not grow up alone. Their extended family—Budette, Marigold, and a group of older siblings from Buttercup’s October litter and Marigold’s November litter—hovers around them like a serene, fuzzy welcoming committee. They are serious about the job, too: someone always stands watch. Someone always seems ready with a nudge or a nuzzle.
Zookeepers and veterinary staff are monitoring Buttercup and her newborns closely, offering the young family regular breaks from the attention of visitors. Visitors who want a glimpse can watch from afar, on a bridge that overlooks the habitat. Patience is the price of admission to one of the sweetest scenes in the zoo.
The new capybara pups are incredibly cute. It’s difficult to look at them and not feel something inside you scream with delight. That feeling is important. In a way, it’s the entire point.
The world’s chillest giant rodent is stranger (and more important) than it looks
Capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are the largest rodents on Earth. An adult can weigh up to about 146 pounds and stretch more than four feet long. That can seem intimidating on paper, but in person, capybaras carry their size with a slow, steady ease.
Their bodies are built for life between land and water, and every anatomical detail tells that story: their eyes, ears, and nostrils are positioned near the tops of their heads, so capybaras can survey their surroundings while almost entirely submerged. Their feet are partially webbed, making them powerful swimmers who can hold their breath for up to five minutes—a crucial feature when a jaguar is watching from the riverbank and the safest move is to slide under the surface and wait it out.
Capybaras eat plants. They graze on grasses and aquatic vegetation with an almost comical level of focus. It’s a pretty strict diet, though they will add fruits and tree bark when the mood strikes or the season dictates. And they don’t just look calm; they talk. Capybaras communicate with an arsenal of barks, whistles, clicks, and soft purrs that help keep their tight-knit groups coordinated and close.
How a capybara family does childcare
In the capybara world, Buttercup’s new pups don’t “belong” to her and Goomba, the father. Rather, the entire group claims them.
In the wild, capybaras don’t raise their young alone. The babies don’t rely on a single caregiver; they inherit a whole network of protection. Capybaras are profoundly social animals and live in stable groups where group bonds are maintained through constant tactile contact, mutual grooming, and scent marking. Females nurse each other’s pups. Older animals act as lookouts and babysitters, regardless of whether they share direct DNA. Scientists call this alloparenting: shared childcare built into the species’ survival.
That shared responsibility is crucial. It gives capybara pups stronger odds of survival in those first fragile months. In some field studies, more than 70% of pups raised in stable groups survive their first year, a high rate for animals so low in the food chain.
In New Jersey, Buttercup’s family follows the ancient capybara way, too. While the zoo’s visitors see a cute capybara cuddle pile, this mammalian cluster represents a finely tuned system designed to keep vulnerable animals alive.
Why wetlands depend on capybaras
In the wild, capybaras roam across much of South America and function as quiet ecosystem architects. You’ll find them in the vast Pantanal wetlands of Brazil and Bolivia; they graze in the seasonally flooded savannas of Venezuela and Colombia. Capybaras even venture into the rewilding landscapes of Argentina’s Iberá region. Basically, wherever freshwater meets grassland, capybaras tend to appear sooner or later.
As professional grazers, capybaras help maintain diverse, open wetland vegetation. When they disappear, tall grasses quickly crowd out shorter plants, and overall plant richness drops by 25% or more. Simply put, when capybaras aren’t around, plants suffer. That change is drastic and can be felt through the insects, birds, and every other creature reliant on those important plants.
Within the circle of life, as prey, capybaras also anchor South America’s food chains: they’re hunted by jaguars, anacondas, caimans, and large raptors (such as harpy eagles). They’re a major food source; a jaguar can devour dozens of capybaras in a single year. That stat sounds brutal, but if you remove capybaras from that system, the entire food chain begins to wobble.
They’re also essential, given the way capybaras move seeds as they travel and graze. Constantly nibbling and wandering, capybaras have shaped how nutrients move through the wetlands. In conservation science, animals that hold this many threads together often receive a specific label: keystone species. Pull out a keystone, and the entire system starts to crack.
Not endangered, but not untouchable
Right now, the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists capybaras as a species of “Least Concern.” But that broad label can hide a lot of trouble.
For example, the capybara’s habitat is disappearing rapidly as people drain or convert wetlands into farmland at alarming rates. Hunters target capybaras for their meat and skins, which are used to make leather. Climate change creates more intense droughts and wildfires in places like the Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland. In 2020, fires burned an estimated 30% of the Pantanal biome in a single season, scorching millions of acres, as jaguars and charred caimans fled their home.
So yes, there’s real danger here, despite the capybara’s “Least Concern” conservation label. But there’s also hope.
In early 2026, Brazil expanded its Pantanal national park, adding more than 116,000 protected acres to a landscape that badly needs institutional buffers. In Argentina, a long-term rewilding effort brought jaguars back to Iberá after roughly 70 years. Those jaguars now hunt capybaras again—for the first time in living memory—restoring a predator‑prey relationship that’s essential for local ecosystems.
The picture is complicated and is always evolving, but crucially, there’s still a window for change.
What a small New Jersey zoo has to do with all of this
On a map, Cape May County Park & Zoo looks like a sweet coastal stop between beach towns. In practice, it’s part of a much larger conservation network.
The zoo is free to visit and cares for more than 550 animals across over 200 species. Cape May County Park & Zoo holds accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which isn’t an easy feat: it signals that a zoo meets strict standards for animal care, conservation work, and education. Fewer than 10% of licensed animal facilities in the United States achieve accreditation, for context.
Buttercup and Goomba’s family exists, in part, because those in charge decided that capybaras deserve space, resources, and long‑term planning.
Picture an excited four-year-old, hands sticky from Dippin’ Dots. She presses her face against the enclosure as Buttercup nudges her new pups towards the water’s edge. This child doesn’t know what the Pantanal is. She’s never heard of the term “keystone species.” There is no word for “alloparenting” in kindergarten. But she does know this: there’s a mother, and those little animals matter to her. They also seem to matter to the zookeepers who clean, feed, and check in on them every day.
That simple realization—that another creature’s life is important, has value—is often where the seeds of conservation are planted.
Two pups, one bigger story
Right now, Buttercup’s newest pups are exploring their habitat one cautious step at a time. They nose at the water and trail behind older siblings as they wander through the grass. When something inevitably startles them, they retreat back into their capybara family—a pile of warm bodies and damp fur—where they’ll find safety, tucked beneath the chins of adults and between their sturdy shoulders.
These tiny capybara pups are unaware of the fact that, very far away, others just like them graze the floodplains of the Pantanal and Iberá. They have no idea of their importance, no way to know that their species is the key to holding the entire wetland ecosystem together, one blade of grass at a time.
But they don’t need to know that. Humans can own that knowledge—and do something about it. That’s the power of a story like this. Two baby capybaras in a New Jersey zoo aren’t a trivial subject; it’s a doorway. You start with Buttercup and Goomba’s adorable little family, and suddenly, context floods in. “Wetlands” are no longer a concept or a word in a textbook. They’re real, faraway places where animals like the capybara live, graze, and contribute to the ecosystem.
What is a grandparent’s role in taking care of their grandchildren? This is a question with a billion different answers, depending on who you ask, and one that can lead to a lot of conflict within a family.
Some grandparents want to take on an active role in their grandkid’s lives, which can lead to unsolicited visits and other forms of boundary crossing. Others feel that their child rearing days are over, and that they’ve earned the right to take on less responsibility, which can also lead to stress and hurt feelings.
A story that went viral on Reddit’s AITA forum further complicated this conundrum, since the woman at the center of the controversy was a stepparent.
The backstory behind the viral post
At the time of writing her post, the woman, 38, met her husband Sam, 47, ten years ago, when his daughter, Leah, 25, was 15 (Leah’s mom passed away when she was 10). The couple married five years ago after Leah had moved out to go to college.
When Leah became pregnant she wanted to keep the baby, but her boyfriend didn’t. After the disagreement, the boyfriend broke up with her. This forced Leah to move back home because she couldn’t afford to be a single parent and live alone on a teacher’s salary.
Leah’s story is familiar to many young mothers facing similar difficulties. The father isn’t involved in the baby’s life as a caretaker or financially. Sadly, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 40% of all children in the U.S. are born without their biological fathers living in the home.
The new mother is a teacher and can’t afford to live on her own with a child. According to a 2024 Redfin study, Portland, OR leads the nation with teachers able to afford 91.3% of apartments near their schools, followed closely by Pittsburgh at 83.9%. Still, nationally the average teacher can afford less than half of nearby rentals, and homeownership remains out of reach for most educators.
The situation gets complicated
The author of the Reddit post, now a new stepgrandmother, had reservations. She says, “I had concerns about how she was going to raise a child on a teacher’s salary by herself. I suggested getting him to pay child support. She did not want that. Sam thought I should stay out of it.”
Unfortunately, any trepidations she had were confirmed. She writes, “Once she had the baby around 4 months back, Leah seemed to realize having a baby is not the sunshine and rainbows she thought it was. She barely got any sleep during the last four months. All the while Sam was helping her with the baby while I did almost all chores myself.”
She continues to say, “Now her leave is ending. She did not want to leave the baby at daycare or with a nanny. Sam and I both work as well.”
A grandmother cares for her grandchild. Photo credit: Canva
Leah asked her stepmother if she would stay home with the baby. The stepmother said no because she never wanted to have a baby and she has a job. “I asked why Leah can’t stay home with the baby herself,” the woman wrote. “She said how she was young and had to build a career. I said many people take breaks to raise kids, and she broke down crying about how she was so tired all the time being a mom and needed something else in her life too.”
After the woman told her stepdaughter no, her husband pressured her to stay home with the baby. But she refused to give up her job to raise her stepdaughter’s child. “Leah said yesterday how she wished her mom was alive since she would have had her back. She said I didn’t love her, and my husband is also mad at me,” the woman wrote. The woman asked the Reddit community if she was in the wrong for “refusing to help my stepdaughter with the baby,” and the community responded with rapturous support.
The Reddit comments were supportive
“[The woman] should tell her husband to knock it off and stop trying to pressure her into raising his daughter’s baby. If he wants a family member to look after her baby while she works, then he can do it,” one person wrote.
“This is Leah’s baby that she alone chose to have. That doesn’t obligate you to change YOUR life to suit her desires. The whole business of saying you don’t love her because you won’t quit your job to watch her baby is manipulative and messed up, and I’m shocked your husband is siding with her,” another added.
Leah and many women like her are in this situation because, in many places, teachers are underpaid, rent is high, and not all dads pay child support, even those required by law.
Another commenter noted that the baby is much more the father’s responsibility than the stepmother’s, saying ” Leah should consider seeking child support from her ex. Her kid should be getting that money.”
While there are resources to help stepparents connect with their stepchildren and step-grandchildren, it’s important to remember that the responsibility to raise a child ultimately rests with the parents.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
Stephanie Walsh isn’t your average hip-hop dancer. At 77, “Ms. Stephanie” is still able to hold her own on the dance floor, popping and locking with people a third of her age, and she loves it. When you see her dance (and her enviable muscle tone) you might think she’d been a trained dancer all her life. But in actuality, she didn’t take any formal dance lessons until she was almost 30.
She didn’t start dancing until she was almost 30
Walsh told Growing Bolder, an active lifestyle brand, that she had wanted her daughter to dance when she was little, so she got her ballet lessons, which the daughter hated. Realizing that dancing was her dream and not her daughter’s, Walsh took her kiddo out of ballet and started classes herself right away. She had always loved to dance and developing her skills only led to more and more dancing.
These days, Ms. Stephanie gets her dance moves on at Fusion Fitness, where she encourages people to “dance like EVERYONE is watching.” One video of her dancing at Fusion has gone viral multiple times, and it’s easy to see why. Check this out:
Reposting this video of Ms.Stephanie & I since it going viral again. This video will always be a vibe. One thing Ms.Stephanie and I created was magic. We dance from our hearts. My classes are always about creating a Fierce vibe for everyone to show up and show out! . #fiercefitness#dancefit#fiercefitnessty#hiphopfitness#fyp#viral
“Reposting this video of Ms.Stephanie & I since it going viral again,” shared @fiercefitnessty on TikTok in 2023. “This video will always be a vibe. One thing Ms.Stephanie and I created was magic. We dance from our hearts. My classes are always about creating a Fierce vibe for everyone to show up and show out!”
It’s not just the dancing. It’s the intensity. It’s the full presence in the moment in her face and in her movements. She’s there for it, and she brings everybody with her.
“It’s the “I’m a badass” facial expression for me! ” wrote one commenter on Facebook.
“I dislocated my shoulder just watching that ” shared another.
“She can throw it back like the rest of them. You go girl!” shared another.
Dancing has kept her going through the hard times
Walsh shared that dancing has helped her get through many difficult periods in her life.
A few years later, Ms. Stephanie is still thriving and dancing. She even has a fan page dedicated to her on Instagram, with posts from as recently as May 2025 showing she’s still doing what she loves:
Love it when people prove that age truly is just a number!
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
It’s not a secret that nearly all golden retrievers are identical. Honestly, magic has to be involved for owners to know which one belongs to them when more than one golden retriever is around. Seriously, how do they all seem to have the same face? It’s like someone fell asleep on the copy machine when they were being created.
Outside of collars, harnesses and bandanas, immediately identifying the dog that belongs to you has to be a secret skill because at first glance, their personalities are also super similar. That’s why it’s not surprising when one family dropped off their sweet golden pooch at daycare and to be groomed, they didn’t notice the daycare sent out the wrong dog.
The cats were the first ones to notice
See, not even their human parents can tell them apart because when the swapped dog got home, nothing seemed odd to the owners at first. She was freshly groomed so any small differences were quickly brushed off. But this accidental doppelgänger wasn’t fooling her feline siblings.
Once the dog was in their house, they noticed that their cats started behaving strangely towards their canine sibling. The cats started attacking the dog, likely trying to get it to tell them what they did with their real dog sister. Cat slaps and a house full of strange people didn’t dampen the imposter’s spirit though, in fact, that’s what helped reveal the switcharoo.
This dog kept handing out face kisses and had no interest in seeing her favorite neighbor. After putting all of those things together, the owners decided to hightail it to the vet’s office to scan the dog’s microchip. Alas, they indeed had the wrong dog.
It would have been a great prank, though.
“We just never even thought that that would happen, and of course we thought we would know right? Like we’re her parents, we would know something was wrong, we would know right off the bat that it wasn’t Ehmi,” Kebby Kelley told Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Seems both golden retrievers got to go on a really strange adventure that deserves a lifetime of delicious dog treats for the confusion.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
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