These 14 mesmerizing photos show Earth’s many forces juxtaposed against each other.
We all contain contradictions. It’s part of what makes us human. Walt Whitman wrote, in “Song of Myself”: “Do I contradict myself?Very well then I contradict myself,(I am large, I contain multitudes.)” And it’s true. You can be conservative but want to stop climate change. You can be liberal but support rights for gun owners.…
We all contain contradictions. It’s part of what makes us human.
Walt Whitman wrote, in “Song of Myself”:
“Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)”
And it’s true. You can be conservative but want to stop climate change. You can be liberal but support rights for gun owners. And though at first glance this juxtaposition, these side-by-side comparisons, might seem fraught, these combinations can also be beautiful.
In fact, the entirety of planet Earth has always been made up of a harmony of forces: fire and ice, wind and water.
These 14 images show that these contradictions and juxtapositions aren’t just OK — they’re a natural part of the world we live in.
1. Check out the soothing balance between lights deep in Antarctica. One above. One below. Both beautiful.
2. Meanwhile, in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, fire and ice – ancient mythical enemies – create an amazing vista together.
Image from iStock.
3. And yeah, lava can be destructive, like this fiery eruption winding its way through a vibrantly green forest.
Lava from the 2007 eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on the island of Réunion. Image from Richard Bouhet/AFP/Getty Images.
4. But though fire is powerful, forests are nothing if not resilient. Like this new tree growing after a fire wiped out a forest in Australia.
Photo by Lucas Dawson/Getty Images.
5. In fact, fires open up the forest canopy, giving many plants a chance to grow, like these beautiful wildflowers. Some plants, like lodgepole pines, actually require fires to spread their seeds.
Image from iStock.
In many places it’s the juxtaposition between these two forces — plant life and fire — that create truly beautiful forests.
6. Sometimes places on Earth seem to defy the laws of physics, like these incredible, balancing mountains in China where green trees thrive against the pale, steep, rock face.
Zhangjiajie National Park, China. Image from iStock.
7. Our weather is a balancing act too.
A storm approaches Sydney, Australia. Image from Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.
8. A balance that can be both beautiful and tremendous.
Image from iStock.
9. Sometimes it’s a balance of what’s inside versus outside. This infrared scan of a hurricane highlights the incredible juxtaposition between the howling winds and peaceful eye of the storm.
10. Sometimes it’s the opposite. Things are peaceful outside and roiling inside.
Image from iStock.
11. The ocean is also great at showing this juxtaposition. The Earth is really two worlds, after all — one above the waves and one below.
Image from iStock.
12. Not to mention the way the human world bumps up against the wild one just beyond our carefully constructed borders.
Image from Ryan Pierse/Getty Images.
13. In the grand scheme of things, humankind is just another part of the balance. Balanced both with ourselves…
A single shot shows both the new and the old in Rio de Janeiro. Image from iStock.
14. …and with nature. Nairobi is one of Africa’s fastest growing cities, but just outside its borders is the wilderness of the savanna.
Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.
It’s sometimes easy to see the divisions in everyday life and wish we could all be the same. It’s tempting to say that we don’t need labels or boxes because they divide us, but when you step back and look at Earth from a distance, you can see that it’s the balance of multiple different forces that brings it — that brings us — together to make it beautiful.
A Somali refugee and current resident of Minneapolis, the multimedia artist and activist draws on her lived experiences to create work that explores trauma, displacement, and resilience. But like so many of the guests on Freedom to Thrive, an award-winning podcast produced by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Mansour doesn’t want to focus only on trauma; she also wants to celebrate the unexpected beauty she’s found during difficult experiences.
“One of the beautiful things about tragedies is that it activates hearts, and courageous people are born,” she says. For example, Mansour has noticed more Minnesotans than ever are reaching out to help the vulnerable, after the anti-immigrant crackdowns carried out by the Department of Homeland Security. “They are bringing food, they’re bringing extra clothes, they’re walking with people, and it’s just really beautiful.”
Hector Flores, co-founder of the Las Cafeteras and host of Freedom to Thrive, agrees with her. A child of immigrants himself, he has also seen how hope and hardship often live side by side.
Flores comes from a family with mixed status and is highly aware of the challenges immigrants and refugees in his community face, and how they’re affected by people’s misconceptions. “People want to know about trauma all the time, but we’re more than just undocumented,” he says. “We’re artists, singers, creatives … there’s so much richness in the culture.”
At its core, Flores’ comment is exactly what the Freedom to Thrive podcast is all about: Celebrating immigrants as complex, dynamic individuals, and challenging the dominant narrative that too often reduces them to symbols of hardship.
Launched in 2024, Freedom to Thrive explores heritage, resilience, community, and the ways art and comedy can spark social change. Now in its second season, the podcast continues to feature conversations with immigrants, policymakers, artists, musicians, activists, and more. Recent guests have included comedian Mo Amer, Grammy Award-winning singer Lila Downs, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.
Where the first season focused on individual stories of identity and belonging, Flores says his goal for season two, where he joins as host, is to “take it to the next level” — using storytelling to highlight “the fact that we’re more similar than different.”
One recent podcast episode drives this point home. In December, Flores interviewed Bryan Andrews, a rising country music star and rural Missouri native who frequently uses his platform to speak about issues affecting immigrant families. At the heart of his message and his songwriting, Andrews says, is the idea that small-town Americans and the rest of the country, including immigrants, have more in common than they realize.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from,” Andrews says on the podcast. “We’re all trying to make a living and we’re tired of getting railroaded by corporate greed or by politicians who don’t care.”
Rural Americans, Andrews says, are often stereotyped as racist and misogynistic but “the overwhelming majority of people in my home town have love in their hearts.” Media stereotypes often amplify differences and divide, he says, but at the end of the day, “we’re all in this together.”
Flores, who was raised in a working-class immigrant neighborhood in East Los Angeles, had similar thoughts. He says he often sees its residents stereotyped as wealthy, consumerist, and status obsessed. “That exists, but that’s not my life, that’s not my community,” he says. Like small-town Americans, people in the city “just want to work hard and take care of their families. We all want the same thing.”
Although the podcast tackles some heavy issues, each episode’s ultimate focus is how personal and collective struggles can be healed through art, driving home a message of hope and resilience:
Mansour’s episode about her experiences in Minnesota is just one of many examples. Flores asks her,
“What gives you hope for the people creating a home here?”
“The love I feel from other Minnesotans. It is trumping any hate we’re experiencing,” she replies.
CTA: Stream all episodes now on the Freedom to ThriveYouTube channel or the website,here.
The podcast has been nominated for a Webby in the “Belonging & Inclusion” category. You can vote for it to win until Thursday, April 16!
This article is part of Upworthy’s “The Threads Between U.S.” series that highlights what we have in common thanks to the generous support from the Levis Strauss Foundation, whose grantmaking is committed to creating a culture of belonging.
When Jorge Alvarez arrived at Rutgers University as a first-generation college student, he couldn’t find anyone who looked like him, a Latino man, talking openly about mental health. “I felt very lost,” he later said. So he decided to be that change. He revived the Active Minds chapter at Rutgers and built it into the largest student-run mental health organization on campus, with an intentional focus on creating space for Black and Brown students. He took that same energy online, building a community of over 115,000 TikTok followers through educational content on mental health, generational trauma, and cultural identity.
That trajectory led him, in 2022, to the White House, one of just 30 young advocates invited to the first-ever Mental Health Youth Action Forum, where he joined a conversation with Dr. Jill Biden, Selena Gomez, and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to make the case for culturally relevant mental health care. He returned again in 2024.
To champion MentalHealthAction, #FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden, SelenaGomez, and Surgeon General Dr. #VivekMurthy teamed up with @mtv to amplify the voices of youth activists and chart the path forward. @dometipongo spoke to Gomez about why it’s “OK not to be OK” and more. Head to mentalhealthishealth.us
Today, Alvarez is being recognized by Engage for Good as its first-ever Emerging Leader of the Year.
Now in its 24th year, the Halo Awards have long recognized the best corporate-nonprofit partnerships in the country. This year, for the first time, the organization is also recognizing the people behind the work: a pioneer who built the field before it had a name, a leader who has made it sharper and more responsive, and a younger voice who is pushing it somewhere new.
The Pioneer: Carol Cone
In 1983, a small shoe company called Rockport had a problem: nobody knew who they were. Carol Cone had an idea. Link the brand to something bigger than footwear — the emerging walking-for-health movement — and make the company a genuine champion of it. Rockport grew from a $20 million unknown into a $150 million brand. More importantly, Cone had stumbled onto something she would spend the next forty years proving: that a company’s values, done right, are a business strategy.She’s now known as the Mother of Cause Marketing, and the résumé backs it up. Cone founded the nation’s first cause marketing consultancy in 1980, produced more than 30 research reports that helped turn the field into a discipline, and has executed more than 250 purpose programs for some of the world’s leading companies. She’s directed $5 billion toward social causes through initiatives like the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women, the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, and Aflac’s My Special Aflac Duck. She wrote the book — literally, Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding — hosts the Purpose 360 podcast, now more than 220 episodes in, and has mentored over 1,000 people coming up in the field.
Engage for Good is honoring her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. “She didn’t just contribute to this space,” said EFG CEO Muneer Panjwani. “She defined and legitimized it.”
The Collaborator: Karen Little
What sets Karen Little apart isn’t just what she’s built, it’s how she builds it. The head of Rapid Response at PayPal is known across the social impact sector for bringing people together in moments when most organizations are still figuring out what to do.
When wildfires tore through Los Angeles in January 2025, Little didn’t wait for the smoke to clear. She activated PayPal’s financial tools, nonprofit partnerships, and giving infrastructure, moving resources to the organizations that needed them while the crisis was still unfolding. She has since helped write the playbook on strategic disaster philanthropy — the kind other companies can actually follow.
Her instinct for convening shows up elsewhere too. Little founded the Bay Area Social Impact Gathering, which started as a dozen peers talking over drinks and has since grown into a network of more than 250 professionals spanning corporate, nonprofit, and foundation sectors.
“Her balance between strategy and humanity is what sets her leadership apart,” said Panjwani. She is the inaugural recipient of EFG’s Impact Leader of the Year Award.
The Next Generation: Jorge Alvarez
Back at Active Minds, Alvarez has built that same personal conviction into a career. As Senior Manager of Corporate Partnerships & Engagement, he’s helped raise $6M+ for youth mental health and guided the A.S.K. campaign to reach more than 28 million people. He serves on the board of Youth MOVE National and was recognized as a 2023 Young Innovator in Behavioral Health.
“Youth and young adults are eager to lead,” he said when he received the award. “They just need organizations and allies to listen.”
What Comes Next
Carol Cone built the foundation. Karen Little is strengthening it. And Jorge Alvarez is one of the people who will decide what gets built on top of it. That’s what this year’s Halo Awards are really about, not just celebrating what the corporate social impact field has accomplished, but taking stock of who’s carrying it forward.
“Together, they represent a field that is evolving, deepening, and rising to meet a more complex moment,” said Panjwani.All three will be recognized at the Halo Awards Gala during the Engage for Good 2026 Conference, April 21–24 in Palm Springs.
Welcoming a pet into your family can be a wonderful experience, but it’s also a consequential decision. There’s a lot to weigh as you commit to years of daily care and the lifestyle changes that come with owning an animal. Because different breeds have different traits and behaviors, those factors should be considered as well.
U.K. veterinarian Ben Simpson-Vernon (or “Ben the Vet”) is sharing some food for thought that many people may not be aware of when it comes to cat breeds. Not only are certain breeds harder for humans to care for, but some are also hard on the animals themselves. In one TikTok video, he makes the case for not buying certain cat breeds.
(He clarifies that true rescue adoptions are a different story if you have the means to care for these breeds. He’s specifically referring to not buying them as kittens from a breeder or pet store.)
5 Cat Breeds I wouldn’t get as a vet. *truly rescuing one of these cats if you have the means to care for them is different to buying a kitten I should make clear. I’ve made a similar video to this a while ago, but some of the trends are changing so I felt the need to revisit it. #learnontiktok#veterinary#benthevet#cat#catbreeds
“This is just my opinion as someone who sees a lot of cats with health problems,” he said. “It’s not intended to cast judgment over people, but sometimes you have to say it like it is.”
Sphynx cats, also known as hairless, bald, or naked cats, have gained popularity in recent years. But Simpson-Vernon says that breeding them has basically “removed the essence of being a cat.”
Sphynx cats tend to have heart problems and shorter life expectancies. Photo credit: Canva
For one, they have either no whiskers or tiny, stubby ones. “Whiskers are an integral part of being a cat,” he said. “They use them to navigate in the dark, to sense vibrations, to communicate their emotional state.”
“Also, no cat should have to wear clothes to avoid being cold,” he added.
He pointed out that Sphynx cats tend to have heart problems due to their genetics, and that their life expectancy is much lower than that of most cats—just six and a half years on average.
“Yes, they’ve got great personalities,” he said. “But why make life hard for your cat?”
2. Munchkin cat
Munchkin cats have a genetic condition that results in unusually short legs. Photo credit: Canva
Munchkin cats have extremely short legs, often compared to the cat version of a Corgi or Dachshund. The breed is relatively new, first proposed as an experimental breed in 1991. While a few associations have accepted it, most have not. Three of the largest—the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA), the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF), and the Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe)—refuse to grant Munchkins official breed status, citing the short legs that make them unique as a congenital condition.
“Please, let’s not let it become socially acceptable to deliberately breed cats with dwarfism,” Simpson-Vernon said. “A pet should not just be an object of our amusement. They’re a living, breathing animal that has the ability to sense pain and their own needs. Let’s not make life hard for them by giving them short limbs, which make it hard for them to jump and mean they suffer from arthritis at a young age.”
3. Scottish Fold cat
Scottish Fold cats may be cute, but they are all affected by a genetic condition. Photo credit: Canva
Taylor Swift’s photos and videos of her Scottish Fold cats may have influenced a surge in the breed’s popularity. But Simpson-Vernon said these cats all have the same genetic disorder, osteochondrodysplasia, which causes their folded ears.
But that disorder “also means they have defective joint cartilage in all of their joints and develop painful arthritis at a young age,” he said.
He said Scottish Folds make up 2% of all new cats, which he called “quite sad.” Given what’s known about their health issues, Simpson-Vernon said he could never get a Scottish Fold kitten. Other vets offer similar warnings:
4. Savannah cat
Savannah cats look like they belong in the wild, as they are basically a blend of a domestic cat and a serval. But that’s exactly why Simpson-Vernon said he’d never get one.
“I’ve seen a few in practice, and I have to say, I was quite scared of them,” he said. “They’re much bigger and stronger than a domestic cat, and they retain a lot more of their wild instincts. So they’re hard to cater for in a home environment. I would say near on impossible.”
He suggested buying an inanimate object for those looking for a status symbol. And for those drawn to wild animals, he suggested donating to a conservation charity.
5. Peke-faced Persian cat
Peke-faced Persian cats tend to have a lot of health problems. Photo credit: Canva
Persian cats with faces that look like they hit a wall at full speed are known as “Peke-faced” for their resemblance to a Pekinese dog.
“I feel really sad for these cats,” Simpson-Vernon said. “They can’t groom themselves properly, so they get really matted, and they get a lot of health problems. It is obviously harder for them to breathe when they have tiny nostrils, like this, but they get chronic upper respiratory infections really commonly.”
Simpson-Vernon said this breed is also prone to eye issues, dental problems, and hydrocephalus (a buildup of fluid in the brain).
He said that “if you want a happy, healthy companion,” buying a Persian kitten “is not a good choice.”
Making an informed decision
Not all cat breeds are created equal. But how can you tell if you’re choosing one without ethical concerns? The clearest way to avoid supporting questionable breeding is to adopt a rescue cat. Regardless of breed, these are cats already in need of a home.
If you want a kitten, consider alerting a local shelter to your interest and asking to be notified when kittens become available for adoption. If you want to choose a specific breed, search terms like “controversial cat breeds” or the breed you’re considering, paired with words like “controversy” or “ethical concerns,” can help you identify potential issues before making a decision. Some organizations also provide lists of traits to avoid in order to discourage breeding that may result in unnecessary health problems.
Informed decisions are the best decisions, especially when it comes to our furry friends.
Sabrina Carpenter seems to have been born on stage. There’s a clear ease with which she performs, often adding a cheeky layer of humor to her incredibly strong singing voice. It gives her that extra bit of magic that entertainers so often seek. So it’s not surprising that, when she was just 10 years old, she commanded performances.
In an Instagram clip making the rounds, we see her slaying “Come Together” by The Beatles. With total confidence, she punches every word of the John Lennon/Paul McCartney masterpiece, even daring to switch up a few notes. “He got feet down below his knees,” she croons, pretending, like many of us do, to know what it means.
The year was 2009, and Miley Cyrus had an online fan club called MileyWorld. Cyrus and her team held auditions for a show called “Are You a Superstar?” (also known as “Be a Star”), in which Carpenter auditioned. The clip notes that Carpenter’s fabulous performances didn’t go unnoticed: “She ended up placing third out of around 7,000 participants.” (Then-16-year-old Amy Colalella ultimately won the grand prize.)
The clip’s commenters—and there are many—seem truly impressed. A few note that she’s actually singing the Michael Jackson cover of the hit tune. This prompts some to argue over which version they prefer.
One commenter points out the meteoric rise Carpenter has taken: “15 years later, Sabrina became the second artist in history after the Beatles to have her first three songs land in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time.”
Another commenter believes Lennon would be proud, writing, “John would be smiling. A star is born. Love it. Stays true to the melody, but adds her style and flair. Good one Sabrina.”
Carpenter tackled other songs throughout the contest, including Cyrus’ “Hoedown Throwdown” and “The Climb.” She also brilliantly covered Christina Aguilera’s “Makes Me Wanna Pray.”
She even got to meet her Hannah Montana hero at a concert. According to a 2009 news story in The Morning Call:
“Sabrina Carpenter was in the front row for Miley’s ‘Wonder Tour’ stop at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. She had a close view of Cyrus flying above the audience and riding a motorcycle. ‘I was kind of starstruck,’ Sabrina says. ‘It was a really awesome experience.’”
Sixteen years later, in 2025, Carpenter got the chance to pose with Cyrus at the Grammys. Kayleigh Roberts, a writer for Marie Claire, explained just how significant the moment was:
“Whoever said ‘never meet your heroes’ clearly wouldn’t have understood Sabrina Carpenter’s undying fangirl love for Miley Cyrus.
The fact that the ‘Espresso’ singer’s intense appreciation for Cyrus dates wayyy back to when she was just 10 years old is common knowledge on social media, where a photo of a young, fedora-clad Carpenter proudly posing with her idol has been making the rounds for years. So, when the singers crossed paths again at the 2025 Grammy Awards and posed for a modern recreation of the now-famous photo, fans were most definitely here for it.”
It’s once again proof that there’s room in this game for everyone, especially those with extraordinary talent. There’s no doubt that musical geniuses like The Beatles and Jackson helped pave the way for new artists like Cyrus and Carpenter to shine. And they will undoubtedly do the same for future up-and-comers not yet born.
Parents today share responsibilities more equally than in past generations, but studies show childcare still falls disproportionately on women’s shoulders. Some families choose one parent to take on the lion’s share of child-rearing and/or domestic duties, and if that works, great. Other couples work similar hours and have to figure out how to equally split home duties, but however the household is structured, mothers most often tend to be the “default parent” and household manager.
That means it’s mostly moms who are constantly thinking about managing the million little details of parenting. The big things like feeding, bathing, transporting, teaching life lessons, and such are fairly easy to share equitably. But the invisible work: keeping track of routine doctor and dentist appointments, communicating with teachers and caregivers, keeping extended family updated, figuring out what clothes to keep and get rid of as kids outgrow them, keeping the family calendar up-to-date, and more. That’s all part of the “mental load” of parenting that moms tend to carry, often without their partners even being aware they’re doing it.
That’s why one dad’s confession after getting a taste of solo parenting has gotten a huge reaction. Cedric Thompson, Jr., a former NFL player and dad of three daughters, shared a video explaining that he didn’t really understand the mental load his wife was carrying until she went to visit family in the Philippines for eight days, leaving him home alone with the kids.
“I’ve been a single dad for 8 days because my wife is in the Philippines and I had no idea it was this tough,” he said with a sleeping child cradled in his arms. He explained that he was prepared for the cleaning, the transporting kids back and forth, the unexpected sickness, the feeding, and the sleeping. “But one thing I was not prepared for was the mental load,” he said. “I had no idea it felt like this. To think about things that need to be done that haven’t been done or things that I need to plan to do is so draining that I don’t even have the energy to take care of myself at all.”
This is why dads need to step into moms’ shoes once in a while
“And now that I understand this, I have so much empathy for my wife,” he said, “and I truly understand what she means by this ‘mental load’ and how draining it is. This has really opened my eyes and made me ask myself, what more can I be doing? What has been going on that I haven’t been seeing and it’s right in front of me? How can I step up the way that my wife needs me to instead of doing things that I think are helping?”
“I know I can’t always take the mental load away, but I can definitely make it lighter.”
There’s a significant difference between assisting and managing, and when you’re the sole parent for a while, you’re forced to take on the management role. Eight days isn’t very long, but it’s enough to get a taste of being the one who has to think about all the things all day. It’s a lot. As Thompson wrote in the caption, “The endless planning, remembering, and organizing is exhausting in ways I never understood before. The most profound lessons come when we walk in someone else’s shoes, even if just for a little while.”
Some people asked what he’s been doing this whole time when his wife is home, but it seems some of those folks might be missing the point. This is an involved dad and husband, not a slouch. But even those who want to and try to share the load equally don’t always know how to help with the mental load of the default parent because it’s mostly internal. And trying to explain it and figuring out how to ask for help with some of it just adds more work, not to mention we don’t even always know ourselves what we need help with. Stepping into the shoes of the default parent is really the best way to get a feel for what might be helpful without adding more to their plate.
The “mental load” is invisible, so it’s nice to have it seen and validated
Some commenters weighed in with thoughts and tips for lightening the mental load:
“How do men not understand their wife’s workload and bandwidth while literally sleeping next to her and living in the same house? Does she really have to leave the country for him to understand her contributions? Men have to do better.”Pro tip: when your wife asks you what she should make for dinner, she’s trying to share the mental load with you. So just give her a straightforward answer.”
“I love this…it’s called validation, empathy, and love Thank you for sharing this. The realization and verbalization of it makes the load lighter. Sometimes mental heaviness is worse than the physical.”
“Really appreciate this post and how you explained yourself. The ‘mental load’ is that never-ending list running through our minds every single minute of the day. It’s the constant inner monologue of everything that needs to get done, the overwhelming pressure of how to get it all done, and the invisible timeline that gives you anxiety when you don’t meet it—even though you set those standards yourself.
It’s the feeling of failing if you don’t check every box. Walking into a room and forgetting why you’re there, only to lose your mind later when you finally remember—but now you’ve got ten other tasks at hand. It’s the frustration when you realize that everything you just cleaned is already dirty again.
Sometimes, it’s not even about what men do or don’t do; it’s the weight of our own thoughts that get to us. But when someone helps lighten that load, even just a little, it means everything.”
“I love this. But to answer your question, the way you take the mental load away is you pretend you have to do it alone even when she comes back. Because that’s the reason she has mental load. Because she feels like she has to do most of it alone, even if you’re always there to “help”. That’s why I hate the word help. It implies that this is all her job. You’re doing well but keep digging deeper I do appreciate this post.”
What exactly does the parental “mental load” entail? Here’s a partial list.
And yes, there is a need to go deeper. As one commenter pointed out, “You are operating the day to day under a structure she put in place,” so a lot of the mental work was already done before she even left. And parenting is a marathon, not a sprint, so getting familiar with a specific list of “mental load” items that non-default parents might not think about can be helpful. Someone offered this helpful—if utterly daunting—list of some of those items:
“Planning teacher gifts for the holidays and the end of school. – getting that parent’s contact info for that play date. – researching, budgeting, and scheduling summer activities and when to sign up for them the January/Feb prior. – finding that in network pediatric ophthalmologist for an eye appt. Research that new dentist, schedule your kids vaccines, review the medical records, schedule that well child visit. – researching, scheduling, and budgeting the school and extracurricular schedule in the summer for the fall and in October for the winter/spring. – making time to be the family historian (researching, budgeting, and scheduling a family photographer 2 times a year, researching how to pick/buy outfits for the whole family, selecting and printing any prints, creating and ordering a photo book, organizing photo files, and physically organizing keepsake storage).
Teaching your kids about their heritage with activities. Research your family tree. – be the memory maker and plan fun activities for the family. Book those theater tickets, schedule that museum trip, plan that day trip to hike that waterfall, plan that vacation, schedule 3 farm trips a year, prep for activities leading up to the holidays. – 4 times a year audit your household belongings. What do you need to sell? What do you need to donate? What remaining needs a better storage system? Research the products that will help you stay organized and buy them. follow home organizers on social media. – Check your kids shoes. How are they fitting? Research and order/consign new clothing. – trim your kids nails once a week and cut their hair as needed (or schedule their hair appt). – plan your kids birthday party 2 months in advance, research activities, food, party favors, and decor ideas. create the invites and send them out 5 weeks in advance. 2 weeks in advance order the cupcakes, decor, party outfit, and gift wrapping.
Check in with guests food allergies, rsvps, and buy the gifts. 1 week in advance wrap the gifts, assemble the party favors, and take some cute photos of the birthday kid in their special outfit. Pack a bin of supplies you’ll need for the day of the party (scissors, wire and cutters, tape, paper goods, trash bags, matches, etc). – buy those tickets to your kids concert. – keep that first aid kit stocked up. – keep up weekly with school/teacher correspondence and volunteer at your kids school. – back to school shopping. – holiday planning.
Buy Halloween costumes at the end of September, plan a pumpkin farm day trip. Schedule any Halloween parties. The weekend before carve pumpkins. Take pictures day of. Buy nutcracker tix in October/ November, plan gifts, budget, and order. Research decor ideas, get desired supplies, and make them in Nov. meal plan and coordinate with family for thanksgiving. Set up decor and buy gifts, Christmas outfits, and wrapping supplies Black Friday. Wrap gifts, take kids out separately to pick out presents for their siblings. Research and schedule holiday outings as a family. Take pictures. Design, order, and send cards. Meal plan. Coordinate with the relatives.
Buy valentines cards for your kids class at the end of Jan. – talk to your kids about safety and abuse prevention 2-6 times a year in addition to “as needed”. – read the latest parenting books, listen to parenting podcasts, follow parenting accounts on social media. – plan kids craft projects. – take your kids to the library and keep up with the borrowed books. rsvp, order, and wrap a birthday gift for all the kid birthday parties. Write a nice note in a card about the child. – write thank you notes after birthdays, end of school, end of activities, after the holidays, and as needed.”
There you go. Not even an exhaustive list, but a solid start. Thanks to Ced for the reminder that the more we start putting ourselves in other people’s shoes as parents and partners, the better off the whole family will be.
The final performance of singer Marirose Powell has people welling up all over TikTok because of the soulful way she sang “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac while in hospice care. Powell performed as Stevie Nicks in a Fleetwood Mac cover band for over twenty years, so the song was a major part of her life.
A week before she died from cancer, some friends showed up at her home and asked what she would like to sing. “And she said, ‘I want to sing ‘Landslide.’ And so she sang ‘Landslide’ one last time,” Powell’s daughter-in-law, Sam Xenos, who posted the video on TikTok, told People.
In the video, Powell grabs the railing over the medical bed as she sings a song about the inevitability of the passing of time. The song had to have taken on an even greater meaning as Powell was in the final days of her life. “I’ve been afraid of changing because I built my world around you,” Powell sings. “Time makes you bolder, and even children get old and I’m getting older, too.”
“My mother-in-law performed as Stevie Nicks for decades,” Xenos wrote in a video overlay. “This was her final performance before she passed the following week.” In the caption, she added there wasn’t “a day that goes by that I wish we’d had more time with her. She was truly the only person I’ve ever known to leave people better than she found them. Until we can be together again, mama.”
there isnt a day that goes by that i wish we’d had more time with her. she was truly the only person i’ve ever known to leave people better than she found them. until we can be together again mama…
In her obituary, she is remembered for her “infectious smile” that “guaranteed to brighten anyone’s day and she was known for her incredibly kind soul and generous heart. She had the beautiful ability to leave all those she touched better than she found them.”
In addition to performing as Steve Nicks, Powell released 3 solo albums and worked as an ER nurse. As a lifelong musician, she would probably be more than pleased to learn that her final performance has touched many people.
“I hope Stevie Nick sees this. She would be proud to know that your mom sung her songs for decades,and her choice of this song was heartfelt,” one commenter wrote. “I’m sobbing. God bless you and your family. Your mom is beautiful,” another added.
“That might be the most touching performance of ‘Landslide’ to ever exist,” a commenter wrote.
Xenos and her husband, Powell’s son, are overjoyed that the video has gone viral. At first, she was afraid of how her husband would react to the clip being posted on TikTok. “I remember calling my husband nervous because he didn’t know I posted it,” Xenos told Upworthy. “He was over the moon after reading the comments and seeing people feel her genuine soul from that small clip. He asked me to post more videos of her and they have generated a phenomenal response. She was the most giving and generous person. I would tell her to post her music and she was worried no one would care. I’m so honored to have proved her wrong on that fact.”
Nicks says she wrote “Landslide” in Aspen, Colorado, at 27. “I did already feel old in a lot of ways,” Nicks told The New York Times. “I’d been working as a waitress and a cleaning lady for years. I was tired.”
She was also having a hard time in her relationship with Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. She composed the song while looking out her window in the snow-covered Aspen mountains. “And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills / Til the landslide brought me down.”
Here is a full performance of “Landslide” that Powell gave in 2016 at the Prospect Theater in Modesto, California. Jamie Byous joins her on guitar.
This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.
Grey hair has been a concern for people since before hair dye was invented. Some people pluck them and dye them as soon as they see them growing in, while others embrace the silvery hairs. Chiara Do’wal Sehi (Sunshine) Enriquez, an Indigenous woman from the Karankawa Tribe, recently shared her excitement about learning she had grey hair.
For a brief period of time, people were actually dyeing their hair grey prematurely. It wasn’t uncommon to meet a 20-something with “granny grey” purplish-silver hair, but the popularity faded nearly as fast as it started. But for Enriquez, grey hair isn’t a fad or something to hide. It’s a right of passage to celebrate.
During the colonization of the Texas Gulf Coast where the Karankawa originated, the Indigenous tribe was nearly eliminated. According to the Texas State Historical Association, the Karankawa people fought to maintain their land from 1685 until 1858 from French and Spanish settlers. Due to this multi-century, on-and-off battle for their territory, the tribe’s numbers became so small that they were considered “extinct.”
Enriquez is a descendant of the small number of Karankawa that survived. To her, living long enough to experience the growth of grey hair is a gift. The woman shares how much her “unruly” greys mean to her in a video uploaded to her Instagram page.
“I got my hair styled today. I don’t get it cut. It’s a cultural belief that I was taught by my mother. We don’t cut our hair, we let it grow. We save the cut for very, very serious and important moments in our lives,” she says while sitting in her car.
The woman explains that while she was having her hair styled, she asked the hairdresser about the texture of her hair. This is when she learned of her wiry new strands. She surprised hairdresser with her delighted response. “She said to me that it was because I had many little greys, and the unruly ones that were pushing up my other hair that weren’t grey were causing it to be a little bit frizzy.”
Enriquez lights up and smiles while recalling the moment in her hairdresser’s chair. She reveals, “And that felt so incredible. What an honor, and I was…I’ve only ever seen my head grow one grey hair, and even when I knew I had one grey hair, I was incredibly thankful. When she saw that I was smiling and so happy, she said, ‘Oh wow, you really must come from a different culture.’”
She later adds while tearing up, “I’m very happy to report that not only do I have for sure one grey hair, I have many. A plethora of grey hair. What an honor. What a fantastic gift to be lucky enough to see myself grow grey hair. That is so incredible. I am so lucky. What a life it has been. What a life it continues to be.”
Enriquez wipes away tears as she encourages others to embrace their grey hair. Viewers were moved by her joyfully emotional response to finding out she has a head full of grey hairs pushing their way through.
One person shares, “As a chemo patient I am always surprised when people are upset about their grey hair. I have come to see it as a privilege and dream of the day I might have greys, though my mom’s hair has never changed colors, and neither did her dads. Their hair has always stayed brown for some reason. Since my hair has begun growing again I have decided not to cut it for as long as possible. So I can say, I’ve been cancer free for this long, and show people my hair for reference.”
Someone else writes, “This had me in tears because i’ve loss so many people and im only 30 and the day i get grey hairs i will celebrate with them!”
Another person says, “i’m so happy to hear this expression of delight regarding your grey hair~ i am only just now getting greys & my own natural reaction was very different from my mom’s & grammom’s reactions~ i was surprised to find that i like seeing them appear~ hearing your perspective makes me think that it’s because i am not as tethered to the usa culture as they… so thank you for sharing your experience & offering food for thought~ & congratulations.”
“I have been allowing my greys to come in naturally and have stopped dyeing my hair and it’s very liberating and in a society where ageism is everywhere it feels like resistance. And I love that! I have more greys than my mom. :),” someone else shares.
“What a sacred and healthy perspective,” one person says.
Another reveals, “I love this so much! Thank you for sharing your joy and gratitude with us. I’m getting grey and have been oscillating between feeling happy about it and feeling like I’m not sure i feel “ready” to have grey hair.”
Enriquez says, “I’ve always been of the personal belief that humans take the longest to change the color of their foliage in observation of their reconnection with Mother Earth and the cyclicity of her seasons and transitions.” She then explains that trees change with the seasons, grass goes through a cyclical change, and even animals turn grey and calm with age. “And it has always been representative that you have lived a full life. Do you know how many people didn’t get to grow grey hair? Didn’t get to see the hair change? What a gift,” she adds.
When a person consistently brings the world joy, it’s extra special when we see them experience it tenfold. This is what happened for iconic comedian Carol Burnett when a young girl relayed a message from her next-door neighbor. Burnett’s response was pure delight.
A re-surfaced clip of Burnett shows her taking questions at the Q&A segment before her taping of The Carol Burnett Show. A young girl tells Burnett that she “lives next door” to one of her old boyfriends and that he says “Hello.” Burnett, clad in a lively black and yellow dress with a giant chiffon bowtie, confirms, “You live next door to an old boyfriend of mine and he says hello?” She throws her head back in jest. “There were so many!” The audience, as they so often did, laughs uproariously.
Burnett leans toward the girl and asks, “Who?” The firl answers quickly, “Tom Tracy.” Burnett, who had reportedly not planned the reaction, answers in earnest shock, crying, “TOMMY?! You’re kidding? Tommy Tracy?” Clearly, Burnett can hardly believe it. “She lives next door to… I can’t believe this! ” she stutters as she squats down. “How IS he?”
The audience continues to eat up the exchange, while Burnett adds a vulnerably adorable tidbit to the story. “Did you know that I loved him from the time I was about 12 years old up till the time I was 17? Which was about ten years ago. I always loved Tommy Tracy. And I always dreamed that someday we’d get married and have two children and I’d name them Stacy Tracy and Dick Tracy.”
An Instagram page shared the clip, noting a super fun fact: “The audience Q&A was one of the most beloved segments on The Carol Burnett Show, which ran on CBS from 1967 to 1978. Carol never knew what she’d be asked, so it was pure improv. The Q&A was done without any wigs, costumes, or character, just Carol herself, and if she ended up with egg on her face, so be it, which is exactly what made audiences connect with her so deeply.”
Making sure he could find her
The Instagram handle continued. “Carol has said she actually considered changing her name to Carol Creighton early in her career because she thought it sounded better, but she kept Burnett specifically because she wanted Tommy Tracy to know it was her if she ever became successful. He sent his regards via a little girl in a studio audience decades later.” (This anecdote has been confirmed!)
The clip had over a quarter of a million likes in less than a week and many comments. Quite a few simply reveled in the brilliance and happiness Burnett brought (and brings) to a crowd. One noted how sincere her “Tommy” squeal was, writing, “That ‘Tommy’ was from the heart.”
Many joked about Tommy himself. “Tom went to everyone he knew saying, ‘I told y’all I dated Carol Burnett!”
Jerry Hall
This wouldn’t have been the only time Burnett was shocked by a crush during Q&A. In 1976, a young girl showed up in the audience and asked, “Did you know Jerry Hall?” Burnett proudly proclaimed, “I had a crush on Jerry Hall!” The audience goes wild, exclaiming, “This is his daughter!”
Burnett hilariously responds, “You’re Jerry Hall’s daughter? You could have been mine!” She then comes into the audience to give the young girl a giant hug.
This clip has yielded well over half a million likes as well. One Instagrammer seemed to sum up what so many of us feel, writing, “Every time I see a clip from her show I can’t help but smile. She’s so infectious.”
Perimenopause is certainly having a moment. This set of transition symptoms that appear before menopause was first identified in the 1970s and more firmly documented in the 1980s. However, Google Trends shows a massive spike in interest over the past few years. Now, it seems like everywhere you look, people are talking about perimenopause.
After decades of relative silence, social media has given millions of women a platform to finally share what they’ve been going through.
It has also, funnily enough, given a platform to the husbands who support them through these challenging times.
Comedian shares reality with the world
Matt Hyams struck a nerve in late 2025 when he posted his first video about what he affectionately calls his “perimenopausal wife.”
“If your wife is entering perimenopause, I’m going to give you some tips I wish someone had given me at the beginning,” he said in the video. “Number one, stop chewing your food, okay? Just swallow it whole … Maybe you’re thinking, ‘But I might choke and die.’ Good. Even better.”
The joke was a hit and quickly went viral, inspiring him to keep digging for humor. Soon, he was back with a brilliant reenactment of “how my perimenopausal wife looks at me when I’m eating cereal and clearing my throat.” The hilarious skit references how perimenopause can cause sensory overload, or even misophonia—a rage-inducing response to chewing, breathing, or tapping.
Perhaps Hyams’ best, and most accurate, work is his reenactment of his wife’s newfound—and frighteningly precise—sense of smell. Dressed in what has become his trademark wig, he demonstrates how she can identify extremely specific odors thanks to perimenopausal changes to her senses:
Perimenopause can affect a woman’s sense of taste and smell. In some, these senses fade or even seem to disappear. In others, it can cause “olfactory hallucinations.” And in still others, people can detect real, powerful smells that others barely notice.
“If you ask a Harvard researcher, they’re going to say, ‘We don’t have enough data to support that.’ If you ask someone that talks to women every single day, they’re going to say, ‘Absolutely,’” Atlanta-based nurse practitioner Daniela Ezratty told Gloria.
The comments section under Hyams’ video proves the point perfectly:
“I’ve always had a heightened sense of smell but now I can smell things from the future”
“I found a gas leak at work. Apparently it was such a small leak that no one else could smell it and they had to bring in a gas detector to find the source.”
“I can smell what they had for dinner 3 days ago, 4 houses away.”
“I can’t smell anything except the huge imaginary cigarette that gets blown in my face and wakes me out of a blackout sleep at 3am.”
“COFFEE!! IT DOES SMELL LIKE TUNA and it makes me emotional”
Coffee that smells like tuna is a common complaint, and it’s not an olfactory hallucination. Certain chemical reactions during the roasting process can produce oils that smell fishy, especially to people with heightened senses of smell.
Hyams’ other videos use comedic reenactment to show how perimenopause can cause overwhelming mental load, fatigue, brain fog, hot flashes, and more—and they’re far more entertaining than reading WebMD.
“I seem to have hit the perimenopause train at the right time, with the right tone, and the right amount of respect for the struggle,” Hyams told Upworthy. “I’m coming at it from my wife’s perspective, validating her opinions and her reality. So I think women, which make up 88% of my followers, were so happy to see and hear it.”
It’s an accessible and fun way for women to gently teach their partners what they’re going through. Hyams said women tell him all the time that they send the videos to their partners, and those conversations often improve their relationships.
But it’s not just women who appreciate his handling of a sensitive topic. Even OB-GYNs say supporting a partner through perimenopause isn’t easy—it takes a lot of love, patience, and self-education.
“I also get messages from men thanking me for making them feel less alone,” Hyams said.
As for the real wife behind the wig, Hyams said she likes the videos and gives final approval before he posts anything. That’s definitely the right call.
