So here are my favourite posts this week. Hope you enjoy them too!
Funniest Pictures:
Daily Dawdle with '10 Best Ad Campaigns "Life's too short for the wrong job" '
Most Shocking Post:
Apples of Gold with 'Human Trafficking, the true horror'I cannot begin to imagine the true horror of what it would be like for a victim of trafficking. The loneliness, isolation, the pain - both physical and mental, the complete loss of dignity and self worth, these women are slaves in every sense of the word. They have no rights, they are held captive, and forced to do the most awful things. How can one recover from that?
Best post about blogging:
Looking Deeper with 'blogging: a writer's dilemma'
But the question now is not - do I dare to blog? but Where is the balance? Because it's not just about time and energy - it's about the writing. Me as a writer. I'm currently focusing a lot on my (non fiction) book, which is privately satisfying but inevitably it doesn't 'show' in any way; it is a working towards something that might be published in the future, not an article I wish to get published now.
Best Nutty Christian exposé:
Jamie the very worst missionary with 'Turf Wars'
Peg your jeans, People. Pull on your leather jacket, cuff your cigarettes, and start snapping - The gangs of New York have got nothing on the turf war escalating in my neck of the rain forest.
Most Challenging post (and funny with it):
Rachel Held Evans with 'Ask Yourself'
She said, “Well, it sounds like you’re happy with that school, but we’re Christian missionaries, so the environment we expose our children to is extremely important to us.”
And I was like, “Are you kidding me?! Seriously? Ok, first of all - That’s just plain offensive. I mean, do you honestly believe that you care more about your kids that I do because you’re a missionary, or a Christian, or whatever? Really?! Because that has got to be one of the most ballsy, arrogant, self-righteous things anyone has ever said to me. Oh, and second? Um. I’m a missionary, too! Thankyouverymuch.”
It’s true. I said all of that… In my head… Nine hours after the actual conversation took place.
Most Candid Post:
A new name with 'Make it Stop'
Emaciated arms, hugging the empty basket. I look at them and I’m frozen, winded by their misery. I want to rush over, to gently pry their fingers from the handles. To lead them somewhere safe, somewhere quiet. To stop the voices, the lies. To comfort and to heal. To speak truth and life into misery and a slow, slow death.
Best Writing:
Dreaming beneath the spires with 'Aliens and Strangers'
When I study the faces of immigrants, the lostness, the strain of the attempt to sing an old song in an alien land, I wonder if it was worth it. If immigration opens up a way to taste life in its fullness, perhaps it can be justified. For people whose deepest satisfaction is in their work, immigration works out for good, I guess, if it offers a larger, more fulfilling arena for their lifework. It’s a great trade-in. You trade in your roots--landscape, possessions, family, friends, connections, social standing, all things familiar that made up your world--to heed the siren summons to adventure in fresh woods and pastures new. In a sense, you change your very identity.
Most Interesting Post
Psychcentral with 'Computers of Flesh'
Personally, I’d recommend a grandmother’s advice about how to achieve happiness over a neuroscientist’s. I’d embrace a yogi’s opinion about how to manage anxiety over a psychiatrist’s. And I’d endorse a saint’s ideas about the meaning of human life over a reductionist’s. Sure, let’s continue to study the brain. But until the research proves itself in the behavioral realm, let’s not grant it so much influence over how we view ourselves and our struggles.
Most Inspiring Post:
It's all about Love with 'You know you're a grown woman when....'
You know you're a grown woman...When you inform your employer that regardless of budget cuts you will only stay in hotels rated 3.5 stars or better......And you don't share rooms with co-workers!!!
You know you're a grown woman...When admitting that you were wrong feels liberating instead of debilitating....and that being wrong is not "the end of the world."
Most Ironic Post:
Newsbiscuit with 'Many born-again Christians suffering birth defects'
Doctors warned today that those embracing religion in adult life are often not receiving the vital medical attention they need to avoid potentially dangerous complications during labour. As a result, the lives of born-again Christians are routinely being blighted by incurable conditions such as smugness, chronic evangelism and an inability to conduct a conversation without mentioning the name ‘Jesus’.