On the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” marches in Selma, Alabama, President Obama delivered an impassioned speech on civil rights.
On “Bloody Sunday” 1965, Alabama state troopers beat about 600 nonviolent protesters as they marched for civil rights. In the wake of those events, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act.
In his speech, President Obama addressed the continued civil-rights-related challenges and race-based struggles the country faces:
“Of course, a more common mistake is to suggest that racism is banished, that the work that drew men and women to Selma is complete, and that whatever racial tensions remain are a consequence of those seeking to play the ‘race card’ for their own purposes. We don’t need the Ferguson report to know that’s not true. We just need to open our eyes, and ears, and hearts, to know that this nation’s racial history still casts its long shadow upon us. We know the march is not yet over, the race is not yet won, and that reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character – requires admitting as much.”
Here, half a century later, it’s a tragic truth that racism is still prevalent. It’s not until we come together that we’ll be able to mend these rifts within society. The president addressed this point too:
“This is work for all Americans, and not just some. Not just whites. Not just blacks. If we want to honor the courage of those who marched that day, then all of us are called to possess their moral imagination. All of us will need to feel, as they did, the fierce urgency of now. All of us need to recognize, as they did, that change depends on our actions, our attitudes, the things we teach our children. And if we make such effort, no matter how hard it may seem, laws can be passed, and consciences can be stirred, and consensus can be built.”
An Operation Smile volunteer reverses an oxygen mask so a child with a cleft condition can blow a bubble for the first time in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Operation Smile Photos)
For thousands of children born with cleft conditions, Operation Smile provides simple, playful tools—like bubbles—to strengthen the skills they need to speak and thrive.
While a bottle of bubbles might seem out of place in a hospital setting, you might be surprised to learn that, for thousands of children around the world born with cleft lip and palate, they can be a helpful tool in comprehensive cleft care. Lilia, who was born with cleft lip and palate in 2020, is one of the many patients who received this care.
As a toddler, Lilia underwent two surgeries to treat cleft lip and palate with Operation Smile’s surgical program in Puebla, Mexico. Because of Operation Smile’s comprehensive care, it wasn’t long before her personality transformed: Lilia went from a quiet and withdrawn toddler to an exuberant, curious explorer, babbling, expressing herself with a variety of sounds, and engaging with others like any child her age.
Lilia is now a healthy five-year-old, with the same cheerful attitude and boundless energy. Her progress is the result of care at every level, from surgery to speech therapy to ongoing support at home—but it’s also evidence that small, sustained interventions throughout it all can make a meaningful difference.
Lilia at age 1, before surgery, and at age 5, 4 years post-surgery
Cleft Conditions: A Global Problem
Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to more than 500,000 patients worldwide with the help of generous volunteers and donors. Cleft conditions are congenital conditions, meaning they are present at birth. With cleft lip and palate, the lip or the roof of the mouth do not form fully during fetal development. Cleft conditions put children at risk for malnutrition and poor weight gain, since their facial structure can make feeding challenging. But cleft conditions can have an enormous social impact as well: Common difficulties with speech can leave kids socially isolated and unable to meet the same developmental milestones as their peers.
Surgery is a vital step in treating cleft conditions, but it’s also just one part of a much larger solution. Organizations like Operation Smile emphasize the importance of multi-disciplinary teams that provide comprehensive, long-term care to patients across many years. This approach, which includes oral care, speech therapy, nutritional support, and psychosocial care, not only aids in physical recovery from surgery but also helps children develop the skills and confidence to eat easily, speak clearly, and engage in everyday life. This ensures that each patient receives the full range of support they need to thrive.
Marie, 11 months, with her mother at Operation Smile Madagascar before her cleft surgery (Operation Smile Photos)
A Playful (and Powerful) Solution
Throughout a patient’s care, simple tools like bubbles can play a meaningful role from start to finish.
Immediately before surgery, children are often in a new and unfamiliar environment far from home, some of them experiencing a hospital setting for the first time. When care providers or loved ones blow bubbles, it’s a simple yet effective technique: Not only are the children soothed and distracted, the bubbles also help create a sense of joy and playfulness that eases their anxiety.
Milagros Rojas, a volunteer speech therapist in Peru, using bubbles in a screening with a patient. (Operation Smile Photos)
In speech therapy, bubbles can take on an even more important role. Blowing bubbles requires controlled airflow, as well as the ability to form a rounded “O” shape with the lips, which are skills that children with cleft conditions may struggle to develop. Practicing these skills with bubbles allows children to gently strengthen their facial muscles, improve breath control, and support the motor skills needed for speech development. Beyond that, blowing bubbles can help kids connect with their parents or providers in a way that’s playful, comforting, and accessible even for very young patients.
Finally, bubbles often follow patients with cleft conditions home in the “smile bags” that each patient receives when the surgical procedure is finished. Smile bags, which help continue speech therapy outside of the hospital setting, can contain language enrichment booklets, a mirror, oxygen tubing, and bubbles. While regular practice with motor skills can help with physical recovery, small acts of play help as well, giving kids space to simply enjoy themselves and join in on what peers are able to do.
Bubbles at Home and Beyond
Today, because of Operation Smile’s dedication to comprehensive cleft care, Lilia is now able to make friends and speak clearly, all things that could have been difficult or impossible before. Instead of a childhood defined by limitation, Lilia—and others around the world—can look forward to a childhood filled with joy, learning, discovery, friends, and new possibilities.
CTA: Lilia’s life was changed for the better with the care she received through Operation Smile. Find out how you can make an impact in other children’s lives by visiting operationsmile.org today.
On July 4, the United States of America will celebrate its 250th birthday. Called the “semiquincentennial,” the day will commemorate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Of course, English was spoken by colonial Americans, and they had a distinctive accent that was unique to the newly formed country.
Surprisingly, they did not sound British. That’s because by the time of the Revolutionary War, two new generations had been born on American soil, according to JSTOR.
British English and American English began to develop separately. An English tourist commented on the colonial American dialect in 1770:
“The colonists are composed of adventurers, not only from every district of Great Britain and Ireland, but from almost every other European government…Is it not therefore reasonable to suppose that the English language must be greatly corrupted by such a strange admixture of various nations? The reverse is however true. The language of the immediate descendants of such promiscuous ancestry is perfectly uniform, and unadulterated; nor has it borrowed any provincial, or national accent from its British or foreign parentage.”
9 interesting Colonial American words
Many words from colonial America have faded from the modern-day lexicon. But a book from 1785 titled The Vulgar Tongue by author Francis Grose documented slang used during colonial times. The book was reprinted over the years, including an updated version titled 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.
The word “vulgar” had a different meaning than it does today. “Vulgar” meant “common” or “ordinary,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Here are nine fascinating colonial-era words to add to your lexicon:
Adam’s ale
This is another word for water. According to Merriam-Webster, its origins are “after the biblical Adam; from its being provided by nature and thus presumably being the only drink in the Garden of Eden.” The term’s first known use was in 1643.
Altitudes
This is another word for drunk. According to the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, it means “the man is in his altitudes, i.e. he is drunk.”
Merriam-Webster defines it as “backside forward; head over heels; topsy-turvy.” It goes on to add that the word is “a non-reduplicative (yet still very cheeky) equivalent of arsy-varsy would be the expression ass over teakettle. However, arsy-varsy may be used as both adverb (modifying an action, as in the first example below) or an adjective (modifying a noun, as in the second) meaning ‘topsy-turvy’ or ‘disordered.’”
Calibogus
Surprisingly, this is the name of a colonial drink. According to the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, it means “rum and spruce beer, American beverage.” It may also have been sweetened with molasses, according to Merriam-Webster.
Carroty-pated
This is another word for a redhead. According to the Collins Dictionary, “carroty” means “a reddish or yellowish-orange colour; having red hair.” The word “pated” means “having a (specified kind of) pate, or head.”
According to the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, it means “a lie, or sham story: also a single stroke on a drum. To flam; to hum, to amuse, to deceive. Flim flams; idle stories.”
While it was used in colonial times, its history dates further back. Merriam-Webster explains:
“‘Flimflam’ first entered English as a noun meaning ‘deceptive nonsense’ in the second half of the 16th century. A sense meaning ‘deception’ or ‘fraud’ soon developed. The verb use didn’t show up until well into the next century. In addition to general deceiving or tricking, the verb ‘flimflam’ is often used specifically to refer to swindling someone out of money. The ultimate origin of ‘flimflam’ is uncertain, but the word is probably of Scandinavian origin and may be related to the Old Norse flim, meaning ‘mockery’.”
Huzza
This celebratory word was chanted during colonial times. According to the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, it means “said to have been originally the cry of the huzzars or Hungarian light horse; but now the national shout of the English, both civil and military, in the sea phrase termed a cheer; to give three cheers being to huzza thrice.”
American colonists also adopted the word. According to Dr. Tyler Putman at the Museum of the American Revolution, it also had a surprising pronunciation: hu-ZAY (like “hooray”), not hu-ZAH (like “hoorah”).
Oyster
This word had a second meaning besides the shellfish. According to the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, it means “a gob of thick phlegm, spit by a consumptive man; in law Latin, UNUM [one] VIRIDUM [green] GOBBUM [lump or mass].”
Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s works are known for their deep psychological and philosophical themes. His writing offered insights on topics ranging from what it means to live a meaningful life to the meaning of life itself.
According to Dostoevsky, an essential part of leading an authentic life involves avoiding self-deception and resisting the urge to run from pain. Staying true to oneself can lead to a fulfilling life rooted in personal freedom, though not without suffering.
Dostoevsky’s personal experiences helped shape the insights he shared in his novel The Brothers Karamazov. In it, he offered powerful advice to anyone pursuing an authentic life.
Dostoevsky on living an authentic life
Dostoevsky believed that to live an authentic life, one must be honest with oneself and endure suffering. He wrote:
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect for anyone or anything he ceases to love.“
“To be a human being among human beings, and remain one forever, no matter what misfortunes befall, not to become depressed, and not to falter–this is what life is, herein lies its task.”
Dostoevsky faced many trials in his life (1821–1881). One of the most notable was being sent to a prison labor camp in Siberia for his political beliefs. After eight months, he was sentenced to death by firing squad. But the execution was staged for dramatic effect. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica:
“There a sentence of death by firing squad was pronounced, last rites were offered, and three prisoners were led out to be shot first. At the last possible moment, the guns were lowered and a messenger arrived with the information that the tsar had deigned to spare their lives. The mock-execution ceremony was in fact part of the punishment.”
His life was not free from pain or mistakes, and from 1864 to 1865, “his wife and his brother died, the magazine folded, and Dostoevsky found himself deeply in debt, which he exacerbated by gambling.”
Tips for living an authentic life
In The Atlantic, Arthur C. Brooks, a Harvard University social scientist and author, broke down five principles for living a fulfilling, authentic life based on Dostoevsky’s writing:
1. The journey is the destination
Brooks explains that Dostoevsky believed an authentic life required embracing the daily pursuit of purpose, with all the good and bad that comes with it.
“Happiness requires purpose; purpose requires a sense of direction; a sense of direction requires goal-setting—but happiness cannot be had by realizing those goals,” he wrote.
2. Embrace freedom
Brooks highlighted Dostoevsky’s belief that being free and fully experiencing humanity also comes with suffering.
“To be alive is to embrace freedom, even when it was painful,” he shared.
3. Beware the Palace of Crystal
Brooks refers to Dostoevsky’s novel Notes from Underground. In it, the Palace of Crystal represents a utopia free from hardship and pain—but one that is ultimately an empty existence.
“Facing the anguish of being fully alive out in the real world is much better than languishing, tranquilized, in the palace of crystal,” he wrote.
Although muting, avoiding, or dismissing pain are all ways humans may choose to cope, they went against Dostoevsky’s beliefs.
“Even if he could make it stop, he says, he wouldn’t—because that kind of suffering is the inevitable and necessary cost of realizing what we all truly seek in life: love,” Brooks wrote.
“Belief is a question of commitment, Dostoyevsky thought, not emotion or reason,” Brooks shared.
He also quoted Dostoevsky’s journal about his spiritual battle, where he wrote: “I believe in Christ and confess him not like some child; my hosanna has passed through an enormous furnace of doubt.”
A woman who uses the Instagram handle Hope with Holly often makes videos in which she imparts wisdom from her own experiences. She’s candid in her discussions about feminism, marriage, divorce, finding courage, and much more. So when her daughter turned 19, it seemed like the perfect time to share 19 pieces of advice for a better life.
In a Reel dedicated to her daughter, she lays it all out with precision and love. Casually putting her hair in a ponytail while slicing a watermelon—and later placing strawberries on a white-frosted birthday cake—she looks straight into the camera and declares, “This is what all women should know by the time they turn 19.”
You are not here to be chosen. You are here to choose. “And if you build your life around being picked, then you will tolerate things that you should walk away from.”
Your ability to earn money will determine your freedom. “Love matters. But money determines if you can leave if it turns unhealthy.”
Attraction is not a sign of safety. “Your nervous system can be drawn to chaos. It’s not a sign of safety. Know the difference.”
A man’s potential is irrelevant. His patterns are everything. “Only patterns matter. Patterns are who he is.”
Chemistry can lie. Character doesn’t. “Butterflies are often anxiety. And peace often feels like boredom. But it’s what lasts.”
If he can’t regulate his emotions, he will regulate them through you. “That means control, blame, withdrawal, anger, or defensiveness. Don’t let that happen.”
You cannot love someone into being healthy. “Love does not fix trauma. Only therapy, accountability, and effort do.”
Marriage will not fix a relationship. “It will amplify whatever’s there, whether it’s good or bad.”
Children will expose a relationship, not save it. “They do not bring you closer. They just expose what’s already broken…or strong.”
Your standards will cost you relationships—and that’s the point.
Loneliness is not an emergency. “Rushing to fill it is how you end up in the wrong life.”
A man who wants you will pursue you with clarity. “If you feel confused about him, that’s your answer. Walk away.”
Sex is not a currency for love. “Instead, it’s the byproduct of a healthy relationship—and an emotionally safe relationship.”
Your body will change. Your value does not. “Anyone who ties your worth to your youth is not a safe person.”
Pay attention to how he handles the word “no.” “That will tell you everything you need to know about him.”
You teach people how to treat you by what you tolerate. “Boundaries are not words. They’re decisions. Enforce them.”
Healing is your responsibility. “What happened to you was not your fault. But what you allow to continue is your responsibility.”
Build a life that you do not need to escape from. “Then choose a partner who enhances it.”
You are allowed to want more. “More respect. More peace. Settling is not maturity. It’s just fear dressed up as acceptance.”
She adds, “Now I don’t need you to be perfect, girl. But I do need you to be powerful enough to walk away from anything that’s not perfect for you. Happy birthday, honey!”
The comment section is filled with support, especially from people who say they wish they’d learned these lessons earlier.
“I can only imagine how different my life would have looked had I heard this narrative by 19. Learning all this by 39. Better late than never. Thanks, mama.”
Some are also highly focused on her decorating and baking skills: “Now let me watch this again but this time without getting highly distracted by all the layers of that awesome fruit tower.”
And one 19-year-old was especially grateful, writing, “I turned 19 two months ago, seeing every woman wishing they heard these when they were younger, I would like thank you so much that you reached me in the right time 🙂 Happy birthday to your daughter and wishing your family the best 💛”
Picky eaters are a huge challenge for many parents, even though it’s considered a normal developmental stage. Harvard Health Publishing writes that young children being picky about food is one way they learn to assert their independence, for example.
Even though it’s extremely common and normal, experts also recommend that parents start early to break picky eating habits; once those habits get locked into place, they’re even tougher to break. Which is just one more thing for overloaded parents to worry about when planning meals is already difficult enough.
One well-qualified mom demonstrates her thoughtful technique for getting picky eaters to “eat anything”
Fitness coach Mel Avan, who has taught university-level health, wellness, and nutrition courses, has developed a method. It involves a lot of trial and error while raising a picky eater of her very own.
In a video posted to YouTube, she not only explains the technique, but also demonstrates it in real time as she attempts to feed her skeptical son a noodle.
It starts with creating a little scarcity. She’s not overly animated about it, but she subtly creates the mystique that the pasta is something of a treat. “Come try this,” she says. “You can only have one piece.”
Then, she stays completely neutral. She doesn’t hype up how good it is or rave about how healthy it might be. Her son says it looks like a noodle. She agrees stoically. “It is a noodle.”
Then she, in her words, shuts up. “I let him lead the interaction. I ask questions, but I don’t share my opinion or give praise.” Not even to applaud him for being willing to try it.
Finally, she waits. Sure enough, a few minutes later, her son announces he’s hungry and that he “wants the pasta.”
Mission accomplished.
She elaborates in the caption that the entire thing hinges on decreasing pressure. A small portion lowers pressure. A neutral tone lowers pressure. A slow pace lowers pressure. And allowing the child to come to you when they want more makes it their idea to eat the food, rather than a way of appeasing you. Again, pressure.
Mom gets challenged to repeat the demonstration under more difficult circumstances
While the video went viral to the tune of more than a million views, and many viewers loved the technique on display, not everyone was satisfied.
This being the Internet, it was only a matter of time before Avan got called out and challenged: A noodle? Really? Try a piece of broccoli or some spinach.
She accepted the challenge and, in a follow-up video on Instagram, introduced a few new techniques for more challenging foods that still fit within her core philosophy.
First, she introduces an element of choice. “Do you want me to serve your vegetables, or do you want to do it with the tongs?”
Next, and once again, tiny portions. A heaping pile of something they’re skeptical about eating only makes the task more overwhelming.
Then there’s one of her more unique tactics: serving food family-style. In this case, she made her son a plate with a small amount of veggies, but also offered the entire tray at the table, where he could easily grab more with a “fun utensil.” It’s a way of giving him control.
And finally, finding even more opportunities for autonomy and control. Since picky eating is often about independence, she lets her son control things that aren’t as important, like where the ketchup goes on his plate.
Mom, and experts, weigh in on “Eat what I made or don’t eat”
In another follow-up video, Avan responds to comments suggesting that she was doing too much coddling and manipulating. Instead, some old-school parents favor the “Either you eat what I made, or you don’t eat” approach.
Avan says that, in her personal experience, this approach backfired spectacularly. When kids don’t eat, not only is it unsafe and unhealthy, but you’ll also run into a host of behavior problems as they get crankier.
At least one study has found that putting pressure on children to eat, or to eat more, can actually have the opposite effect: “Children consumed significantly more food when they were not pressured to eat and they made overwhelmingly fewer negative comments.”
The old-school parents of yesteryear got a lot more right than we’re often willing to give them credit for. However, our understanding of child psychology has grown by leaps and bounds, and clinically validated research can teach us a lot about how to handle challenges like picky eating. Lowering pressure instead of increasing it, and remaining neutral rather than excited or angry, is far more effective.
But in the end, picky eating is normal for young kids, and as long as you make a solid effort, most eventually grow out of the phase.
Writing a commencement speech in 2026 must be tough. Thousands of graduation speakers have come and gone, offering pithy bits of wisdom and advice, much of which feels recycled and overused by this point. How do you come up with a message that feels new and fresh?
If you’re Eric Church, you pull out your guitar and offer a metaphor for life that hits all the right notes. The country music superstar spoke to the 2026 graduates of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but most of his speech felt universal. Some are calling it the best commencement speech they’ve ever heard.
Church said he struggled to write his speech and tore up many drafts before picking up his guitar and realizing what he wanted to say. He started by describing and demonstrating an out-of-tune chord.
“Some ancient, honest part of your brain knows it immediately,” he said. “You don’t need training to hear it. You just know. That sound is the sound of something beautiful that has not been tended to.”
He talked about the power of a six-string chord that’s in tune and how just one string being off causes the whole chord to unravel.
“Not gradually, not politely,” he said. “The moment you strike it, you know. I believe your life runs on this principle, and I’m going to break it down for you right now and tell you about your strings.”
String #1 = Faith
Church said the lowest, thickest, and heaviest string on the guitar—the low E—is the foundation: “Every chord a guitar can make rests on this string being in tune.”
“Your faith is the low E of your life,” he said. “The thing that sits at the very bottom of you. Your belief about what this life is for, what you owe, what holds the universe together when science reaches the edge of its own explanation and shrugs.”
He explained that faith gives people a foundation to return to throughout life’s difficulties.
“The world will try to untune this string,” he said, “through busyness, through slow accumulation of a full schedule, a full inbox, a full life. Listen to me. Tend to your faith, not just when you’re broken, but when you’re whole.”
String #2 = Family
Church said the A string is your family, “who has loved you longer than you’ve been easy to love” and “who saw you at your actual worst, not your public-facing worst, and didn’t leave you.”
Your family has made sacrifices and cried over you, wondering whether they’d done enough.
“The A string is where the music starts to get warm,” he said. “It gives a chord its body, its richness. It’s the string that makes you feel like you’re not alone in a room.”
Church warned the students that they were about to become very busy in their post-graduation lives.
“And family, because they will love you with a grace you will spend most of your life trying to deserve, will rarely demand your time,” he said. “They’ll tell you they understand, and they’ll mean it. Do not take them up on it. Call your people. Not when there’s news, not when there’s nothing. Show up when it costs you something. Let them see you when things are hard. The A string is not a holiday string. It’s an everyday string. Protect it.”
String #3 = Your spouse/partner
The D string, Church said, is the heart of a chord—the string that gives a chord its body and soul.
“Strike a full chord and the D string is what you feel in the center of your chest,” he said. “That is not an accident. That is exactly what the right spouse and partner will do for your life.”
Outside of your faith, choosing a life partner is the most important decision you’ll ever make, Church said. “They will either amplify every other string you’re playing, or slowly pull the whole instrument into an out-of-tune mess,” he added. “The right partner is the string that makes the whole chord ring fuller, and warmer, and truer than anything you could ever play alone. Choose them wisely, and then love them fiercely.”
String #4 = Ambition and resilience
Church pointed out that the G string drifts faster than the other strings on a guitar and frequently needs to be retuned.
“Both ambition and resilience live on this string, and they pull in opposite directions,” he said. “I want you to want things. You should want things. The world has more than enough people standing at the edge of their own potential, waiting for a permission slip that was never gonna arrive. Want the thing. Say it out loud. Build toward it with everything you have. And when you fail, and you will fail…get back up, tune the string, and keep playing.”
String #5 = Community
“Your generation faces a temptation no generation before has ever faced,” Church said. “The temptation to perform for everyone and belong to no one. To be globally visible and locally invisible. To have thousands of followers, and no one knows actually where you live.”
“Resist this,” he advised. “Plant yourself somewhere. Put down roots with the full intention of growing there. Learn the actual names, not usernames, of the people around you. Volunteer. Coach the team. Build the thing your community needs, even if the Internet will never see it. Generosity is not something you do after you make it; it’s how you make it.”
Eric Church is the real deal. I was an active volunteer at the Charlotte chapter of Breakthrough T1D, a non-profit whose mission is funding a cure for type 1 diabetes. His mom has T1D. He donated $1M to our chapter. Eric is truly a kind and generous human. 💙 @BreakthroughT1D
The high E string is the one that carries the melody—the single line above the chord that people recognize.
“It’s also the one bent most easily by outside pressure,” Church said. “Social media is going to show you a thousand versions of a life that looks better than yours. The comparison will be relentless, curated, and a lie dressed up in really good lighting. Someone’s comments, someone’s criticism, someone’s cold opinion is going to try to convince you to retune yourself to match what they think you should sound like. Do not let them touch your string.”
“You were made uniquely, wonderfully, distinctly,” he continued. “There’s a sound only you can make, a voice that has never existed before you and will never exist again. A contribution only you can bring. A way of seeing that belongs only to you. The world does not need another cover song. It needs an original.”
Honestly was not expecting Eric Church to give one of the best commencement speeches of all time.
Life is about retuning when any of these strings drift
Church ended his speech by explaining that when these six strings—the principles and pillars of your life—are in tune, then “the chord your life makes is full and resonant and true.”
“All six will drift,” he warned. “Not one or two. All six, in their own time, in their own season. Your faith will go quiet when you need it loud. Your family will get complicated in a way only the people who love you most can complicate things. You will go through hard seasons with your spouse. Your ambition will hollow out, and your resilience will wear thin. Your community will start to feel like an obligation. And your world will try to sand down the edges of exactly who you are.”
“This is not failure,” he continued. “This is not weakness. It’s the inevitable, universal experience of living in an imperfect world that doesn’t stop to let us tune up. And the difference between a life that sounds like music and a life that sounds like noise is whether you stop and listen, whether you’re honest enough to hear which string has drifted out of tune and humble enough to make the adjustment, instead of just turning up the volume and hoping nobody notices. Because you will notice. The part of you that knows what the chord should sound like will always notice. It will not let you go. Life won’t be right until it is tuned. Trust what your heart hears and is telling you about your song.”
What a beautiful way to send these graduates out into the world. And what a great reminder for the rest of us to stop and adjust our own strings when we hear our chord falling out of tune.
People cite convenience and taste in addition to perceived safety for reasons they prefer bottle to tap, but the fear factor surrounding tap water is still a driving force. It doesn’t help when emergencies like floods cause tap water contamination or when investigations reveal issues with lead pipes in some communities, but municipal water supplies are tested regularly, and in the vast majority of the U.S., you can safely grab a glass of water from a tap.
Now, a new study on nanoplastics found in three popular bottled water brands is throwing more data into the bottled vs. tap water choice.
What researchers actually found in those bottles
Researchers from Columbia University used new laser-guided technology to detect nanoplastics that had previously evaded detection due to their miniscule size.
The new technology can detect, count and analyze the chemical structure of nanoparticles, and they found seven different major types of plastic: polyamide, polypropylene, polyethylene, polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate.
Columbia researchers found that bottled water contains hundreds of thousands of previously uncounted plastic particles—particles small enough to pass into the bloodstream and travel directly into our organs.https://t.co/NoC70dLakV
As opposed to microplastics, nanoplastics are too small to be seen by microscope. Their size is exactly why experts are concerned about them, as they are small enough to invade human cells and potentially disrupt cellular processes.
“Micro and nanoplastics have been found in the human placenta at this point. They’ve been found in human lung tissues. They’ve been found in human feces; they’ve been found in human blood,” study co-author Phoebe Stapleton, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Rutgers University’s Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, told CNN Health.
What this means for your health
We know that nanoplastics are making their way into our bodies. According to UCLA Health, there is some evidence that they may be negatively affecting our health.
“Studies conducted on animals and on cells in a lab suggest nanoplastics can impact a variety of organs and systems throughout the body,” a report by UCLA Health states. “Exposure to high quantities of nanoplastics may affect cell’s immune function and cause inflammation…There is even some evidence that by altering cell function, nanoplastics may increase the risk of some types of cancer.”
The UCLA Health report notes, however, that “very little research to date has looked specifically at humans.”
According to Dr. Sara Benedé of the Spanish National Research Council’s Institute of Food Science Research, it’s not just the plastics themselves that might cause damage, but what they may bring along with them.
“[Microparticles and nanoparticles] have the ability to bind all kinds of compounds when they come into contact with fluids, thus acting as carriers of all kinds of substances including environmental pollutants, toxins, antibiotics, or microorganisms,” Benedé told Medical News Today.
Where is this plastic in water coming from?
This study focused on bottled water, which is almost always packaged in plastic. The filters used to filter the water before bottling are also frequently made from plastic.
Is it possible that some of these nanoplastics were already present in the water from their original sources? Again, research is always evolving on this front, but microplastics have been detected in lakes, streams and other freshwater sources, so it’s not a big stretch to imagine that nanoplastics may be making their way into freshwater ecosystems as well.
A subsequent study from The Ohio State University also found that bottled water contains three times as many microplastics as tap water. Researchers there recommended drinking filtered tap water from a reusable metal bottle as the best way to reduce daily exposure.
As for exactly where all those nanoplastics are coming from, the research is still evolving.
“Based on other studies we expected most of the microplastics in bottled water would come from leakage of the plastic bottle itself, which is typically made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic,” lead author Naixin Qian, a doctoral student in chemistry at Columbia University, told CNN Health. “However, we found there’s actually many diverse types of plastics in a bottle of water, and that different plastic types have different size distributions. The PET particles were larger, while others were down to 200 nanometers, which is much, much smaller.”
As a parent, it’s not always easy to know how to help your kids learn from life experiences. Some lessons they learn naturally and others they learn through parental guidance, but discerning which is which and how those things overlap can be challenging.
One such example comes from a dad named Robert. Back in 2022, he was teaching his then-5-year-old daughter Aubrin to skateboard and set up a mini half pipe for her to learn on. In a video on Instagram, Robert shared an exchange he had with Aubrin after she crashed hard on the ramp during a lesson.
It’s a sweet video that doubles as a masterclass in effective parenting. Robert communicates with a perfect blend of empathy, encouragement, and empowerment, which gives his daughter exactly what she needs to tackle her fears and persevere in what she wants to do.
Even his initial question after she fell, “Did it scare you or did it hurt you?” is helpful for making her more aware of what she’s actually feeling as well as knowing how best to help her.
Seeing this gentle parenting scenario play out is just so heartwarming. (And if Aubrin’s voice sounds familiar, you may have seen the viral “stuck-asaurus” video in which she offered delightfully colorful commentary while snowboarding in a dinosaur suit.)
Here is what was going through his mind
Robert explained his thinking behind the way he responded to Aubrin’s fall:
“Trying something new can be scary but re-trying something after slamming can be terrifying.
I had to re-gain her trust and she needed to re-establish her confidence after this slam and it was a tough but beautiful rollercoaster experience.
This is one of the biggest psychological battles we face as humans, because once that negative experience has made its home in our brain it’s very hard to get it out.
I know from intense personal experience that a bad fall can have long lasting [psychological] effects and truly believe, that when possible, it’s best to get back up and try it again with the goal being to end the session with a positive experience; to not have that negative memory ruminating in your head until the next time you return to try.
I’ve been asked a lot ‘How do you know what to say in these moments?’ and the truth is I absolutely don’t know what to say.
Seeing her slam sucks the air out of my lungs and my heart drops but I just try to stay calm and redirect with some questions or comments while surveying the situation. A parent’s emotions (depending on how you instinctively react) will oftentimes influence the child’s emotional response and it’s my goal to remove my influence and allow her to just be, to feel, to hurt at her pace and it allows me to get a better reading of how she’s truly feeling in these pivotal moments.
Ultimately I just respond from the heart. If you calmly lead with empathy and support without applying pressure you’ll do just fine.”
Beautiful insight and advice. Unfortunately, many parents are raising kids while working through wounds from their own childhoods, and when you’re battling parental instincts that aren’t particularly healthy or helpful, having it all laid out like this is really valuable.
The comments showed just how much this resonated
Commenters on Instagram and Reddit have expressed how much they appreciate seeing supportive parenting in action.
“I actually got emotional watching this…” wrote one person. “I am learning so much from your posts!!! As someone whose parents led from a place of fear a lot of the time, this is showing me so much possibility of what the opposite can look like. Thank you for being so open, we are all made the better from it.”
Parents often set the tone for how kids react. Photo credit: Canva
“I wish I had a dad like you growing up. She’s so lucky,” wrote another.
“Made me smile and also as a grown ass man, gave me watery eyes – as someone that never had this kind of treatment growing up and kind of needed it – this is the kind of dad I will be if I ever meet someone and have kids,” shared another.
Whether we were raised by gentle, supportive parents or the opposite, we can all recognize effective parenting when we see it. Thank you, Robert, for sharing such a stellar example we can all watch and learn from.
At first glance, one might think that Jillian Lynch wore a traditional (read: expensive) dress to her wedding. After all, it did look glamorous on her. But this bride has a secret superpower: thrifting.
Lynch posted her bargain hunt on TikTok, sharing that she had been perusing thrift shops in Ohio for four days in a row, with the actual ceremony being only a month away. Lynch then displays an elegant ivory-colored Camila Coelho dress that fits her perfectly and still brand new with the tags on it, no less.
She found it at a thrift shop
You can find that exact same dress on Revolve for $220. Lynch bought it for only $3.75. The bride-to-be’s video quickly went viral, racking up 2.6 million views. People were floored that Lynch was able to find such a huge deal on a dress that seemed to be made just for her.
“Honestly, brides pay 1000s of dollars to look that good in a white slip dress like that, I think you’re rocking it & it’s perfect,” complimented one person.
OK, maybe it did cost her a little more than $3.75. In an interview with BusinessInsider, Lynch disclosed that she did make some customizations based on suggestions from the comments including ”elevating” the gown with non-adjustable shoulder straps, taking in the waist and adding a “demure” bit of lace to the front slit.
Altogether, those alterations totaled out to $110. Add to that some $8 shoes (also thrifted, of course) and Lynch still created an entire wedding look for only $113.75. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a steal.
Turns out, spending less might be the smarter move
According to a recent article in Brides, popular wedding planning site Zola predicts the average wedding cost is $36,000 for 2025. The numbers have been rising steadily over the last five years. Brides cites Brooke Ashivay, owner of Orange Blossom Special Events, who said that “comparing a 2019 wedding budget with one from 2024 at a similar venue and guest count, [we] observed an approximately 30 percent increase in costs,” likely due to increased demand after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only that, but the average wedding dress now costs $2,000 according to The Knot. Weddings are supposed to be fun, celebratory and joyous, but it can be hard to feel any of those things when financial stress is involved. Who would want to start off a (hopefully) lifelong partnership that way? Save that money for the honeymoon, I say! Or the gas station!
She did keep one tradition, though
Still, Lynch didn’t say no to every wedding tradition. As she walked down the aisle in her gorgeous discounted gown, looking like a Grecian goddess, her father walked right alongside her. “I could see how much it meant to him, and it actually ended up meaning a lot to me,” she told Business Insider.
And perhaps most important of all, Lynch felt good in her own skin on her big day. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt that great in something. That’s what brides should feel on their wedding day, like they’re at their peak beautiful self. That’s exactly how I felt when I put it on.”
It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to make lasting memories. And when you are able to show up for life’s big moments authentically, that feeling is priceless.
This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.
