Walking past this artist’s portraits will blow your mind, as one face transforms to another
Optical illusions are always fun to play with, and the paintings of Sergi Cadenas are no exception. If you walk up to one of Cadenas’s portraits from one direction, you’ll see a face. If you walk up to it from the opposite direction, you’ll also see a face—but a totally different one. Sometimes it’s a…
Optical illusions are always fun to play with, and the paintings of Sergi Cadenas are no exception.
If you walk up to one of Cadenas’s portraits from one direction, you’ll see a face. If you walk up to it from the opposite direction, you’ll also see a face—but a totally different one. Sometimes it’s a young face that ages as you walk from one side to another, like this one:
You can see that the painting is created in verticle 3-D lines of some sort and surmise that the two different faces exist on opposite, angled sides of those lines. But how? It almost feels like magic, the way the paintings transform as you walk past them.
This image of one of Cadenas’s paintings up against a mirror lets you see both sides of it at once, which is super cool.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDggrmqHZJw/
What’s particularly impressive about Cadenas’s art is that he is a self-taught artist who didn’t even become a painter until he was 30. He got the idea for his dual-image oil paintings from “flip images” he’d seen when he was a kid. He creates his works in his home studio in small village in the Catalonia region of Spain and uses friends, family, and neighbors as models. It takes him about a month to complete one of his paintings.
How does he create the dual images? He fills an icing bag with painter’s paste and uses a decorator tip to create verticle relief lines with two 45 degree angles. (Watching a neighbor who was a pastry chef gave him the idea.) Then he sketches out the basic facial features with pencil before painting the different faces from the two different sides.
“You have to get used to the lines being broken and not continuous on the canvas,” Cadenas said in an interview with dw.com. But other than that, it’s like any other painting. He completes one side, then completes the other.
“It’s the magic, the surprise effect that I like best,” he said.
Much of Cadenas’s work hangs in people’s private collections, though some museums and galleries such as the Galeria Jordi Barnadas gallery in Barcelona have some of his pieces on display.
Such great creativity and innovation, not to mention sheer talent. Here’s to the artists who enrich our world with their incredible work.
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.
Each generation has its own unique quirks that mark the times in which its members grew up. Often, people belonging to those generations don’t fully recognize their own idiosyncrasies. But once they’re pointed out, you can’t unsee them. Way Back Americana shares a list of subtle habits that signal you were a ’70s child.
Adults who grew up in the ’70s are solidly Gen X, and aside from being known as the “Forgotten Generation,” a few habits might give away their age. It’s likely not what you think, either. Repetitive directives given during childhood often define automatic behaviors that we carry into adulthood. Rinsing a dish before use, even when it’s clean, is one example, but Gen X has a few that are unique to its generation.
Pausing to listen before entering a room doesn’t always mean someone’s being nosy. This is a leftover habit of people who grew up in the ’70s, likely due to stricter social rules around children being present during adult conversations. Children were still encouraged to be quiet and unobtrusive when inside the house, especially in the presence of adults who didn’t live with them.
Silence is suspicious
If you’ve had a parent burst into your room unannounced and look around suspiciously, chances are they grew up in the ’70s or before. Silence is suspicious to them. It can feel like something is missing. The Way Back AmericanaYouTube channel explains that there was always some quiet commotion or background noise in a room during the ’70s. The absence of noise can be unsettling to some.
Turning off the lights is something that seems helpful. It conserves energy and reduces your power bill, but this helpful habit is so reflexive that it happens without thinking. Someone could be sitting in the room reading a book when it’s abruptly interrupted by the light being turned off.
In the ’70s, lightbulbs didn’t last as long as they do now, so kids were constantly reminded to turn off lights. “Lights weren’t left on unnecessarily, and it wasn’t framed as a suggestion. It was just how things were done. Over time, that simple action became instinct, and now it happens without effort. Like a small rule that never stopped applying,” Way Back Americana says.
Saving things “just in case”
Keeping things like containers, gift bags, grocery bags, or other random items in case you need to repurpose them later. “This comes from growing up in a time when replacing things wasn’t always easy or immediate, and there was value in holding onto something that could serve a purpose again,” Way Back Americana explains.
“Hey that’s my spot”
According to the channel, this habit goes back to a time when certain chairs belonged to certain people. Seating wasn’t random in many households. The adults had their preferred seats, and the children filled in where they could and stayed there. Essentially, everyone subconsciously had assigned seats, which is still something that may be familiar to today’s households.
Boundaries around time
When an event is about to end, “You instinctively start wrapping things up without needing to be told. There’s no urge to push past it or stretch it out longer than it’s meant to last,” Way Back Americana shares. “‘Cause you’re used to the idea that when something closes, it closes. That understanding was built early, when schedules were still fixed and expectations were clear, and it created a natural respect for boundaries that still shows up today in how you handle time.”
Noticing when things are slightly out of place is also a marker of the ’70s. Even if it’s a table moved an inch to the left, your brain picks up on it quickly. This is likely due to things having designated places when growing up, which allowed for structure in the house, according to the channel.
Pausing before leaving the house
This small reset helps you mark the shift between two different environments. Way Back Americana explains, “Growing up, leaving the house wasn’t rushed, and that sense of transition became part of the experience. Even now, that pause remains. Subtle, but consistent. Like a quiet habit that signals you’re about to go somewhere else.”
It’s not easy to get a classroom full of wiggly, goofball five- and six-year-olds to sit through an entire day of instruction in kindergarten. Teachers have to utilize structure, routine, and just the right pacing to keep things moving. They also have to know when to dial things back and let the kids do what comes naturally: be silly.
The best educators have a lot of tricks up their sleeve when it comes to getting kids to laugh, move their bodies, and be ready to focus again on the next assignment. But one teacher recently came up with a funny idea that really seemed to stick.
Teacher attempts hilarious experiment
Teacher Jordan Lake, a popular creator on Instagram and fifth year kindergarten teacher, recently took to social media to share the results of a fun experiment he did with his students.
“Letting students change their name for the day because they’re only young once,” he titled the Reel. In it, he’s seen sitting at a desk with a stack of “Hello My Name Is” stickers and a sharpie, bracing himself for the worst.
In the original clip, which has racked up over seven million views, he addresses a student who’s off camera:
“What do you want your name to be for the rest of the day?” Lake asks.
“Marshmallow,” the child answers without a single beat of hesitation.
“Uh, Ochy,” the next student says, barely holding in a giggle. “I was thinking in my head, I think Ochy is the perfect name.”
“I love that,” Lake says. “Do you know what it means, or it just sounds cute?”
“Mmm, I don’t know,” the student says, seemingly having pulled the name completely out of left field.
“Nice to meet you, Ochy,” Lake says as he hands over the brand new name tag.
Watch the whole adorable interaction in the viral clip here:
Thousands chimed in with a single sentiment: The kids will remember this day for a long time
Perceptive viewers realized what’s not necessarily obvious in the clip. Whether the kids picked silly, made-up, or mundane names, being able to choose for themselves and build a new temporary identity for the day was a joy they won’t forget anytime soon:
“Love this! We used to do this at our nursery school. So empowering! “
“Thanks for the idea. I did this the day before spring break with 3rd-5th graders. They loved it!”
“My 1st grade teacher and all of the class called me Baby Spice for the entire year … it was AWESOME!!!!! I wrote that name on all my tests or assignments. I will never forget Mr. Schmitty for this.”
“They get to be creative AND get a little secret spelling AND reading lesson?!”
“We all deserve this level of Whimsy”
“We all needed a teacher like you”
“I still remember the day we did this in second grade
“Im a speech therapist who LOVES this for more than just for its cuteness for which it exceeds the highest level. It also give kids a chance to step into a new identity for the day. I’d ask each kid what their new personas personality is like and what’s they’re strengths are too.”
“I have a daughter whose kinder teacher was willing to call her ‘strawberry fields’ for an entire school year. I still love that teacher.”
Lake later posted the full video, covering each kid in his class, and revealed the delightfully unhinged final roster:
Even tiny, silly amounts of independence for kids make a big difference
One commenter recalled being allowed to pick a new name for herself as a kid while on a family vacation. It turned a run-of-the-mill trip to the beach into an unforgettable experience that has stayed with her into adulthood.
Why is that?
Research shows that agency, even the tiniest amounts of independence, are deeply meaningful to young children. In fact, it’s something they crave—”I can do it myself!”
Experts say allowing kids, even young children, more autonomy does wonders for their brain and self-esteem. It improves their confidence, allows them to develop critical thinking, and is crucial in their journey to form their own identity. In a school setting, autonomy, choice, and independence allow them to be far more engaged in learning tasks, which explains why it worked so well for Lake.
And our names? Well, we can pick our clothes, tie our shoes, and decide what we’re having for lunch; but names are forever. Being tasked with the gigantic responsibility of choosing a new name, a new persona—even a temporary one–is the ultimate act of agency for a kid of kindergarten age.
Having their teacher call them “Marshmallow” or “Jorbee” (because they want to be a bee and sting their brother, obviously) goes so much deeper than just the giggles. Based on all the adults chiming in on Lake’s video, it’s a safe bet that he will be one of those kid’s all-time favorite teachers. And they’ll always have fond memories of the day they got to choose exactly who they wanted to be.
Goodbye. It’s a word so many of us use daily. Some shorten it and simply say, “Bye!” If you’re a toddler, you might say, “Bye bye.” If you’re from the South, you may say, “Bah.” But have you ever stopped to think where the word came from?
A clip from the podcast The Rest is Science, co-hosted by Hannah Fry (a British mathematician) and Michael Stevens (an educator), has been making the rounds on Facebook. Fry explains how the word gently morphed from a completely different phrase in the 1600s.
Across many languages
Fry shares the etymology, saying, “The 1600s is the exact century when the parting blessing ‘God be with ye’ was so said so rapidly and often as phatic communion that it permanently mashed together into ‘God b’wy’ and eventually ‘goodbye.’”
What is of equal fascination (at least for linguist-lovers) is that this seems to be common among many languages, not just English. A commenter shares the Spanish and French equivalents, writing, “Adios from phrase (a Dios vais), meaning ‘I entrust you to God,’ and adieu from phrase ‘a dieu vous commant,’ meaning ‘I command you to God,’ are both formal farewells.”
Another adds that Croatians have a similar term. “In Croatian, you can say ‘zbogom,’ which translates to ‘with God’ or ‘go with God.’”
John Howarth (@Johnsenglishpage) shares the same knowledge in an Instagram Reel and specifically asks commenters to share versions in other languages. One writes, “Yes. In Brazilian Portuguese we say ‘Vai com Deus,’ which translating word by word would be ‘May God go with you,’ which means ‘God be with you.’”
Germany enters the chat with one commenter writing, “In southern Germany, or more specifically in Bavaria, we say ‘Pfia God’ (also Pfiad di God). This is a warm, traditional Bavarian farewell greeting that literally means ‘May God protect you.’”
Russians have their own version. “Thank you in Russian is spasibo which is a shortened spasi bog meaning ‘god save you.’ Every time we say thanks we (are) actually wishing each other to be saved by God,” writes another commenter.
And it’s not just ‘goodbye’
Upworthy spoke with Spanish language expert Jennifer Jin, who doubles down on the similarity that’s often seen among cultures. “You see something similar in Spanish with the word ‘adiós,’ which can be broken down into two Spanish words: a (to) + dios (God). This is similar to English phrases like ‘go with God’ or ‘I commend you to God,’ showing how similar these farewells are across languages and cultures.”
She also shares that some common sayings are less obvious than others. “There are other common phrases in English and Spanish, like ‘¡Dios mío!’ (My God!) or ‘gracias a Dios’ (thank God) that are more obviously linked to religion, whereas in ‘goodbye’ it’s a more hidden connection.”
Why it possibly became ‘good’
In a 2016 piece for Columbia Journalism Review further exploring the origin of the word morphing, former New York Times copy editor Merrill Pearlman writes, “The Oxford English Dictionary traces it to the 16th century and says our current ‘goodbye’ was formed partly by clipping or shortening ‘Godbewithyou,’ where people speak hastily or in shorthand, and partly by compounding, the practice of combining two or more words into one. ‘God’ may also have become ‘good’ because it seemed to go with other expressions like ‘good morning’ and ‘good night.’ And we do like some consistency in our language.”
If one goes further back in time, they can find partings that don’t have the religious affiliation. “You can, of course, say ‘farewell,’ shortened for ‘fare thee well.’ These are among the oldest parting words in the English language; the OED traces the phrase to the late 14th century.”
Actor Leonard Nimoy portrayed one of the most famous characters in pop culture: Mr. Spock on Star Trek. Nimoy’s real life helped inspire one of the most famous quotes said by Spock that continues to inspire the world: “Live long and prosper.”
The simple sentence was said by Nimoy’s character in a 1967 episode from Star Trek‘s second season called “Amok Time.”
In a 2012 interview with StarTrek.com, Nimoy explained: “The idea came when I saw the way Joe (Pevney, the episode’s director) was staging the scene. He had me approach T’Pau and I felt a greeting gesture was called for. So I suggested it to Joe, who accepted it immediately.”
The inspiration behind “Live long and prosper”
Nimoy explained that “live long and prosper” came from his experience attending Orthodox Jewish Synagogue in an inner-city neighborhood called the West End in Boston. He shared that both the phrase and the Vulcan salute (the V-shaped hand signal made famous by Spock) were directly inspired by his time there.
“I still have a vivid memory of the first time I saw the use of the split-fingered hands being extended to the congregation in blessing,” he told the website. “There were a group of five or six men facing the congregation and chanting in passionate shouts of a Hebrew benediction. It would translate to ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you,’…etc.”
Nimoy went on to add, “And when I saw the split-fingered gesture of these men… I was entranced. I learned to do it simply because it seemed so magical.”
It was a life-changing idea for Nimoy and Star Trek fans. He said, “It was probably 25 years later that I introduced that gesture as a Vulcan greeting in Star Trek and it has resonated with fans around the world ever since. It gives me great pleasure since it is, after all, a blessing.”
Leonard Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was born to Jewish Ukrainian parents, and began acting in community theatre at a young age.
His interest in acting led him to California to study at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1949. Early in his career, he not only acted, but also wrote and directed. After many years slugging it, Nimoy’s big success came when he landed his role on Star Trek in 1966.
Nimoy was influential in the character development of Spock.
“[During a scene once,] Spock had one word to say and the word was ‘fascinating.’ And we’re looking at this thing on the screen and I got caught up in that energy and I said, ‘fascinating!’” he told the Television Academy. “And the director gave me a brilliant note which said: ‘Be different. Be the scientist. Be detached. See it as something that’s a curiosity rather than a threat.’ I said, ‘fascinating.’ Well, a big chunk of the character was born right there.”
Nimoy died in February 2015 at age 83 due to chronic lung disease, COPD. Despite the loss of one of the greats, his legacy lives on.
Part of what made him such a beloved singer was the uniqueness of his voice. From the time he was a young child singing lead for The Jackson 5, his high-pitched vocals stood out. Hearing him sing live was impressive, his pitch-perfect performances always entertaining.
No one could ever really be compared to MJ, or so we thought. Out of the blue, a guy showed up on TikTok with a performance that sounds so much like the King of Pop it’s blowing people away.
A parking lot performance that broke the internet
Brandon Conway posted his first TikTok video ever on July 24 in 2022, and in less than three weeks it racked up more than 27 million views. It’s just him standing in a parking lot snapping his fingers and singing “The Way You Make Me Feel,” but when he opens his mouth, whoa.
As he keeps going, it gets even more whoa. Then he hits Jackson’s signature “he he” and the whoa turns into what?!?
First post on tiktok let me know what you guys think! More videos coming soon feom mj to country to rock so yall be sure to stay tuned!#fyp#singer#usherchallenge @usher @tpain #letsgo#firstvideo
Uncanny, right? If you need a reminder of how Jackson himself sounded when he sang it, here’s a live performance from Auckland during his 1996 world tour.
Very impressive, to say the least. Especially considering Conway seems to label himself a country singer over a pop artist.
This one goes out to all the ones who maybe going through it right now… the messsge you ask?? The message is knowing that regardless of how bad things may be or get it’s always okay to ask for help… no matter how you do it or when the fact still remains that we all need a little help or “saving” if you will! @Jelly Roll my brother thank you and @Lainey Wilson for such a beautiful song ❤️ I hope you all enjoy my cover of this great record with my right hand man @JoshHamiltonmusic__ strumming his guitar! Happy Monday everyone hope your Christmas filled week is beautiful 🙏🏽#brandonconwaymusic#viralvideo#coversongsontiktok#thereisalwayshope
Do you know someone who seems to have zero photography skills? Who somehow manages to make everyone look their worst whenever they’re behind the camera? The kind of person who can’t even frame a decent selfie?
If so, Iceland might have a job for them. And a decently paying one at that.
Recently, Iceland Air made a post specifically seeking out “really bad photographers.” Virtually the only prerequisite was having “no photography skills.” Those who knew terms like “composition, white balance, or color theory” need not apply.
Those who did think they fit the bill could potentially score a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The selected candidate would receive a 10-day trip to Iceland, all expenses covered, along with a $50,000 payout. The only catch is that they will be expected to document the journey with their uniquely unimpressive photography skills.
Why “bad” photos might be the point
The idea behind this campaign is that Iceland is so naturally beautiful that even the least remarkable images would still manage to capture its essence. A creative marketing strategy, to be sure, but one that also reflects a broader cultural shift.
More and more people are growing tired of highly polished, overly curated visuals dominating their feeds. The constant pressure to present a perfect life has left many craving something more grounded and authentic. In that context, a blurry snapshot or an awkwardly framed landscape can feel refreshing.
This shift has only intensified with the rapid rise of AI-generated imagery. Yes, most of it is absurd, but much of this “AI slop” is becoming harder to distinguish from genuine photographs, which raises concerns about credibility. Several experts have pointed out that the issue goes far beyond aesthetics.
As Dr. Manny Ahmed, CEO of OpenOrigins, told the BBC, “It causes us to lose trust in content that we should be trusting.”
A different way of seeing beauty
While it’s easy to find countless images of Iceland that have been heavily edited, there is something appealing about seeing the country through a less polished lens. A slightly out-of-focus Northern Lights display, a windswept black sand beach with scattered debris, or a muted volcanic landscape can still evoke a sense of wonder. Nature is an endless miracle, regardless of whether or not we Photoshop it.
Judging by the responses to Iceland Air’s post, there is no shortage of terrible photographers ready to apply. The comment section quickly filled with nominations, many of them playful callouts of friends, partners, and relatives.
Husbands in particular seemed to be a recurring theme.
Regardless of who is selected for this campaign, perhaps the bigger win is the conversation it sparked and how it encourages us to rethink our relationship with the images we see or post online.
And for anyone who has ever been accused of taking truly awful photos, this might be the rare moment where that skill, or lack thereof, finally pays off.
Comedian Pete Holmes isn’t just funny. He’s a deep thinker who digs so far beneath the crust of your average every day “observational” comic that he might just touch the lava. He takes an aerial view on everything from parenting to science to sex to faith, and all of the tiny minutia that comes with them. His rise as a beloved writer and stand-up has barreled through the atmosphere from tiny gigs to podcasts to TV shows.
Holmes and I have a mutual friend who put us in touch for this Upworthy interview. And although we had never met, I immediately felt like we were long lost friends upon answering his call. He was ready to break down not only the rules (or lack thereof) of comedy, but to deconstruct human thought and how the most sensitive people might navigate the world.
What especially stood out in this half hour chat beyond his quick wit, was his deep commitment to supporting other talented people. He seemingly laughs as easily as he makes others laugh, and that alone is a gift.
Upworthy: I must tell you there’s a podcast interview you did on You Made it Weird with Gareth Reynolds about Doritos where he did a Jay Leno impression. Do you remember this?
Holmes: “Of course!”
Upworthy: I legit look at this once a week when I’m having a bad day and need to laugh. Is there something that you come back to often when you’re in a bad mood and need to laugh?
Holmes: “Oh my God, first of all, I love Gareth so much. What a funny person! In fact, people come up and say, ‘I love your Doritos thing!’ Which is funny because I have a lot of jokes about Doritos, so I’m never sure what they mean.
To answer your question, what do I watch when I’m in a bad mood? I watch Nirvana the Band the Show. They just had their movie come out, and I think the whole second season is on YouTube.
I think Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol are just two of the funniest people in the world, and I just watch clips from that show sort of endlessly if I’m looking to laugh. The ones that really get me are the ones that are a little bit over the line, and that’s what I like about them.
They’re just two friends finding fun together, and it just makes me so happy. So it’s not just the content, it’s the medium. It’s how they made it, and it really captures the feeling of two just free people, two people that realize that we’re in this weird reality, we’re in this weird world, and we’re only here for a little time. And one of the things we can do is be really funny and make each other laugh, and they just go at it with this innocence that I really admire.”
Upworthy: To that end, who would you say back in the day and now are your major influences as a comic?
Holmes: “I love that question. When I read the book SeinLanguage—which is I’m just so sure that Jerry Seinfeld regrets calling it. I don’t know him. I’m not basing that on anything that you don’t also have access to, just his comedy and his show. I’m just so sure that he is like, “Why did I call it SeinLanguage?“
But I read it because I didn’t really have control over our TV in our house. When a comedy special came out in book form, I could get the book and I could read it privately and re-read it. And he actually talks a bit about comedy theory in it as well. Anyway, I read this book and I just couldn’t believe that the kind of thoughts I was already having were not that different from the thoughts of a professional comedian.
I just didn’t feel like I had that tour de force, wild, loud guy Boston energy, if that makes sense. I felt way more in line with Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen and Ray Romano. These sort of like 7 p.m. show guys.
Okay, I don’t know if you’re old enough to remember, that was the fringe. In the ’90s, comedy was sort of for pirates. And a lot of my best friends are pirates. I’m just saying they hooked up late night, you know, freewheeling lunatics. And I just didn’t see myself up there. So Jerry Seinfeld once said about Robert Klein that he was the first comedian that he saw that was like, ‘Oh, it just seemed like me.’ And when I saw Seinfeld I was like, ‘Oh, this is like me, this is like a guy I know.’ So the book SeinLanguage and the fact that it was clean was really important to me.”
Upworthy: I read there was one point you had plans to be a youth pastor. Was that a real thing you were considering or just what your parents thought you would do?
Holmes: “No, it was my idea. You could look at it two ways: one, my parents were sort of detached in a way that you were like, ‘Shouldn’t you be more involved?’ Or you can be like they really were letting me find my own way, and I actually look at it more the latter.
It was as serious as when you’re in high school you want to be a teacher, you know what I mean? You just don’t know any other jobs. So I knew teachers that I admired, and I knew my youth pastor and my pastor that I admired. And this is a Steve Martin thing: he said, ‘Teachers are in show business.’ Pastors are too. And that doesn’t mean to say they’re phony or false. It just means if you’re up in front of a crowd holding their attention, you’re putting on a show. Teachers and pastors are doing something substantial, but they’re doing it in the style of a show.”
Upworthy: I saw a clip where you were talking about the idea of saying ‘Yes, thank you’ to the universe. It seems very Stoic. Are there other elements of that that help you in your daily life?
Holmes: “I would say that my understanding of ‘Yes, thank you’ has deepened a little bit. There’s a couple different altitudes you can look at that. One of them is just very basic—basic doesn’t mean bad—it’s just basic psychology. Meaning suffering comes from seeking and resisting. I know that’s sort of spiritual terminology, but it’s also psychological terminology. If you’re suffering, you’re by definition seeking a different experience.
And there’s pain or there’s discomfort, but suffering really comes from building a story. And anybody that has kids knows that that’s true. My daughter won’t go to bed, let’s say. And that really is, if we can pause and just be on a planet in outer space in these finite spaces, that is just so insignificant.
So when we’re resourced and with friends and rested and fed and all these things, we can see that. But often when your kid won’t go to bed, you’re not resourced and you start spinning out. People love talking about catastrophizing. You’re just making a story, and it’s never in your favor. You go, ‘She won’t go to sleep. Why is this happening to me?’ You start thinking about what you would be doing if she was asleep. ‘I can’t watch that show, I can’t relax. My whole life is just being a parent.’ None of that is really happening, your brain just sort of is torturing you.
It’s important to recognize that your brain doesn’t always have your best interest in mind. So giving it another path to take, which is ‘Yes, thank you.’ So the flight delayed is a good example, and just about the right temperature of spice for this exercise. You know it can be deeply upsetting when a flight is cancelled until you realize, you know, you don’t resist it, you just go with it, and you realize all you have to do is sit in your chair.”
Upworthy: Sometimes it just takes a little packaging, but just hearing you say that honestly reframed my thinking.
Holmes: “Me too! But it has to be simple. It can’t be like the Buddhists or whoever would say, ‘Don’t resist,’ right? That’s a little too conceptual. I want to get right to the phrase that’s easy to remember, that when you’re stressed you can go to it. To talk about the deepening of that, you can look at yourself. You are what’s aware of your experience, right? You haven’t always been this body, you haven’t always been this age, your name, your country. All of these are concepts that you sort of reinforce by thinking them over and over: ‘My name is Cecily. I live in America.’
All these are things. But what you really are is this space-like aware presence that encompasses your body, encompasses reality, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, your perceptions, right? So ‘Yes, thank you’ isn’t just a life hack. It’s actually your nature, meaning awareness or consciousness. This is almost over, by the way.”
Upworthy: Are you kidding? This is amazing. This is therapy.
Holmes: “Awareness is like a mirror, alright? So it’s like a mirror indiscriminately reflects what is in front of it. And you are like that. My voice is being recognized by you completely effortlessly. The feeling of your phone in your hand or your butt in your chair, all of that is just being registered completely defenseless. It just enters, it just comes in.
So thinking ‘Yes, thank you’ isn’t just a trick. It’s actually more in line with your nature. You do say yes to everything. I’m driving down the highway right now, every nanosecond this is just being embraced by my awareness. So when I can get my mind in line with my true nature, which is just free flowing, it’s spontaneous, it’s like jazz.
Like my daughter wouldn’t go upstairs two nights ago. She just wouldn’t even go upstairs to go to bed. And look, I can’t always do this, but in that moment I was able to go, ‘What is 10 minutes?’ And not 10 minutes where I’m trying to get her to go upstairs, 10 minutes where I just sit on the stairs with her, and now I’m looking at my stairs and I’ve never even seen them from that angle. I’m really just dropping the entire agenda. And I really think kids energetically can pick up on that. And I think grown-ups can pick up on that.
Like a good date that you’re on is somebody that’s just awake and aware and spontaneous. Why do we love spontaneity? Why do we love humor? Because it’s so alive and so accommodating and so fresh, right? You are alive, you’re accommodating, you are fresh. Those are aspects of you. I don’t mean you, Cecily, or me, Pete. I mean the thing that’s running the whole show. It’s ‘Yes’ to the whole thing. So when we get in tune with that ‘Yes,’ even when you’re miserable, even when you’re having a bad situation, a bad experience, if you can just sort of go with it.
You know the Stoics are like, ‘Control what you can control.’ You can get on another flight, and if you can’t, so they’re proactive, and I’m all about being proactive. But there is something about like, you know, a 40-minute delay where you don’t really need to look for another flight. You know what I mean? That’s really the right level for this practice.”
Upworthy: Do you find when you travel that you’re freer? I find I am when I’m out of my element and just going with the flow and not making a whole lot of plans.
Holmes: “Well, because when you’re home you have a lot more expectation for how things have gone. That’s why people like traveling, you know? And that’s an Eckhart Tolle thing. It’s like people like traveling because it forces them to be present. I would say when you’re being present, you’re actually being yourself. What you are is present, right? And everything else is mind activity.
Why does it feel so good to not think about anything? Why does it feel so good to just be? If you can stop the anxiety or the fear or the chattering thoughts, if you can just be still, it feels really good. That’s because the present moment and your true self, the nature of awareness, those are the same thing. People are just pointing to it using different words.
And when you travel, you are forced to go with the flow because you don’t even know what’s normal. ‘Oh, in Barcelona, they eat dinner at 10 o’clock.’ You’re completely out of control, so you surrender. And people are much more likely to say ‘Yes, thank you’ when they’re in Spain than they will at their home.”
Upworthy: Back to comedy, would you bill yourself as a ‘clean comic?’ And what are your thoughts on the concept of punching up or punching down?
Holmes: “I think a good entertainer should always be surprising, right? So like I think people that aren’t real fans of mine that just might come to a show, they might be surprised. There might be more swearing. There might be more sex stuff. But, to me, that’s sort of my job. I don’t want to just deliver what you’ve already seen.
Like my new special that just came out (Silly Silly Fun Boy) people have noticed that I’m swearing a little bit more in the beginning. And I’m like, yeah, it was the late Friday show and people weren’t there yet. There were huge sections of the crowd that were empty, and I’m filming a special, so I wasn’t asking. I was going out with a knife between my teeth like Predator. I was going out to insist that I do very well and that we get somewhere that we all want to be.
Other shows, the crowd—and by the way, the crowd was great—it was just kind of chunky up top. Other shows, you know, that’s not required. But I’m not doing a routine. It’s like what we were saying, I’m being present and fresh and alive for that crowd.
And to answer your question more directly… the hour that I’m touring now (which isn’t the hour that I just released) also has what I would call dirtier jokes. Meaning they’re not ugly, but they’re jokes that are sort of a little bit outrageous, I guess.”
Upworthy: So you feel like it’s not that you’re making a choice to be edgier? You’re just doing you.
Holmes: “Oh yeah, and that’s how material shows up too. I always liken it to if you’ve ever gotten an Amazon package on your doorstep and you don’t even remember what it is. That’s how the material shows up. I’m not trying to be a flashy artist like, ‘Oh I’m just the vessel.’ I’m just saying I’m living my life and certain things come up. I write them down, I perform them, people like them, and then you have about an hour and ten minutes of that and you have a show.
I’m not Marvel. I like Marvel, but I’m not Marvel thinking like, ‘Okay, we need a female-led 20-something that has…’ you know, like they’re trying to guess what people want and give it to them. They’re very good at that, but that’s not what I’m doing. I’m much more like a weather vane or a lightning rod. I’m just waiting to see what happens. But to finish my point: I’ll do these jokes—could be considered dirty, meaning I’m swearing, I’m talking about dicks, I’m talking about sex, whatever that might be. And then after the show, literally, this isn’t just something I’m making up, little old ladies will come up and tell me that they love how clean I am.”
Upworthy: The bar has changed, right? The line has moved.
Holmes: “Well, I think it’s the medium, going back to medium and message, right? I think it’s very possible that someone does what’s considered clean comedy, meaning they’re not talking about their penis, or sex, or about drugs, and they’re not swearing. They’re not saying the seven words, right? And that comedy can be toxic. It can be ugly. It can be encouraging really backwards thinking and harmful ideologies, right? By the way, I’ll defend someone’s right to be able to do that, I’m just saying what I see sometimes.
And then I think it’s quite possible to talk about your dick, talk about drugs, acknowledge the existence of sex, and say all of the seven words and do a joke that is really beautiful. In fact, I think that’s part of the message. I talk about this in the special. I am demonstrating to myself and to them: this is what it looks like to be ‘unembarrassingly’ human. I’m not ashamed. I don’t choose my thoughts. I don’t choose my feelings. I’m here to report on them and laugh at them, and thereby take away some of their power.
And that’s what you’re doing by laughing with me, you’re recognizing yourself in me and you’re laughing at yourself, and everybody leaves feeling a little bit lighter. Now did I say ‘f–k’? Yes, but if that’s your line in the sand, whether or not a comic says ‘f–k,’ that’s fine. That was me for the first 28 years of my life. It’s not my line anymore, and I’m happy to say that there are lots and lots of people that are nuanced, that are lovely, compassionate, generous, interesting, interested people that aren’t turned off by the full human experience.
By the way, I love clean comedy too. It’s just like I don’t think clean necessarily means it’s not going to be mean or ugly or somehow harmful, and I don’t think ugly means you swear. I think it’s completely what are you saying and how are you saying it? And I’m proud that even the jokes that I have that are about me letting myself down or making some sort of mistake, there’s something beautiful in the message. We can still laugh at that, and we can still not take ourselves too seriously, and we can get better.”
Upworthy: There are a lot of comics who have been punching down these days, and I’m hoping that becomes unpopular soon.
Holmes: “It’s always a pendulum, and it always goes back and forth. I will defend my fellow comedians whom I don’t agree with, their right to share their experience. That being said, it’s kind of like you wake up one day and every movie that’s in the theater is a horror movie, and you’re like, ‘When did this happen?’ And there can be a parallel there. Like Chris Fleming’s special was probably one of the best specials I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and it couldn’t have been more beautiful, but also deeply hilarious. So it’s not—nor has it ever only been—one thing.
Like look at pictures from 1972. It would look like everybody was a hippie. My dad was alive in 1972, he was not a hippie. These things get painted in these broad brushes, and you see certain trends in comedy, and it can start to feel like it’s been taken over by a certain perspective, but that’s not my experience. When we look at the bird’s-eye view, you’ll go, ‘Oh, every perspective was always being represented the whole time.’”
Upworthy: It’s an algorithm thing, you know?
Holmes: “I really feel like there’s room for everything. I don’t think there are any new groups. I don’t even think there are any really new perspectives. It’s just this constant fluctuation. But everybody was there the whole time. What it looked like, I can’t say, and nobody can. You can just live your life and make a difference where you can.”
There’s nothing more deflating than getting a bad haircut. You show the stylist a photo of how you want to look, sometimes inspired by a celebrity or fashion model, but when it translates to your head and face, it just doesn’t look right. Ultimately, much of the blame falls on the stylist for failing to execute the style or for not admitting it wouldn’t work.
Run Zhang of England shared her bad-haircut journey on TikTok, and millions of people have followed her transformation from disaster to a look that is cute and matches her upbeat, quirky personality. In the first video, she said she was excited to get a “cool girl…spiky” short haircut, similar to a “wolf” style. However, after the haircut, she didn’t look cool at all.
After the haircut, Run had to go straight to work and had no idea how to style her hair.
“This is not right at all. And I have to go straight to work. I’m driving three hours to go straight to work to look like a small fruit,” she joked while prepping herself for a day of embarrassment.
Maybe the haircut is…French?
“Why don’t hair stylists just say they don’t know how to do a cut?! It’s not even close!” Masdelaselva wrote in the comments.
Others joked that the hairstyle may be “French,” referencing an inspired scene from Fleabag in which Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character tries to convince Sian Clifford’s Claire that her haircut isn’t terrible.
In a wonderful example of taking lemons and turning them into lemonade, Run enlisted her sister, Yun, to make her hair presentable.
“Yun’s been fixing my hair like a magician or an angel or perhaps a saint,” she said while revealing her new ‘do, which features a semi-slicked-back look held in place by old-school metal clips. Strangely, the new haircut kind of fits Run’s fun-loving vibe.
“Holy sh*t, your sister nailed that! I thought it was unsaveable, but I didn’t realize you had a team behind you,” Amy wrote. “Your sister is a miracle worker!” Harmony added.
Run and Yun did a fantastic job of turning a tragedy into a style that looks great until her hair grows back. One wonders whether Run will try to find another hairdresser who can get the wolf cut right or lean into her new ’90s-girl throwback hairstyle.
Until then, Run is still having trouble because she doesn’t know how to style her hair without Yun’s help.
Run’s bad-haircut saga started as a sad story about a woman who was destined to feel bad about her looks for a few months. But in the end, with a little ingenuity and help from her sister, she proved that she could turn a bad haircut into something that reflected her true personality. It’s a great reminder that nothing is impossible when we have people who can lift us up when we’re down.
