This excerpt is from the new book Wired to Create: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind, by psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman and HuffPost Senior Writer Carolyn Gregoire.

There’s one rather simple and prosaic way to tap into your deepest creativity and trigger your most profound insights: Hop in the shower.

We know that showering is relaxing, but it also seems to have larger benefits for the mind, supporting creative thought and leading to unexpected insights. Research conducted by Scott Barry Kaufman, in collaboration with the world’s largest showerhead supplier, Hansgrohe, found that 72 percent of people around the globe report experiencing new ideas in the shower. In fact, people reported that they are more likely to get fresh insights in the shower than at work!

As creative people stuck in offices know well, your best ideas don’t usually come to you when you’re sitting in front of a computer straining to think up a solution to a problem or make a project come together—especially when you’ve been at your desk for hours.

But when you get up for a bathroom break or a walk around the block to clear your head—precisely when your attention wanders away from the task at hand—the missing link pops into your mind. More often than not, the elusive Aha! moment comes when you give the intensely focused mind a little break and let your thoughts wander free, uninhibited by critical thought.

A shower is also, quite literally, a place of incubation -- a change of scenery from the rest of our everyday lives that’s relatively free of stimulation and distractions. Showering insulates us from the external world so that we can focus all of our attention on our inner desires, daydreams, and memories -- thereby increasing the likelihood that our mind will come up with creative connections.

No matter how minor they may seem, new and unexpected experiences can lead to constructive shifts in thinking. Getting off the couch and jumping in the shower may be all you need to see things a bit differently -- it can jolt you out of your ordinary awareness and create the necessary distance to force you to entertain a different perspective.

According to Harvard psychologist Shelley H. Carson, author of Your Creative Brain, the brief distraction that a shower provides can also be a good thing when it comes to creativity.

She explains that interruptions and diversions can help that all-important creative incubation period. “In other words, a distraction may provide the break you need to disengage from a fixation on the ineffective solution,” Carson told the Boston Globe.

Woody Allen has been using this technique for most of his creative life. The writer and director says he regularly takes showers for inspiration, sometimes standing in the water for close to an hour to explore what’s going through his mind and to get those creative juices flowing.

“In the shower, with the hot water coming down, you’ve left the real world behind, and very frequently things open up for you,” Allen said in a 2013 interview with Esquire. “It’s the change of venue, the unblocking the attempt to force the ideas that’s crippling you when you’re trying to write.”

But it doesn’t have to be the bathroom where you go for a little creative inspiration -- find your own personal showerhead, a space where you let your mind roam free -- whether it’s a walk near the ocean, a country drive, or in your reading nook at home.

Nikola Tesla had many great ideas, but one of his best occurred to him far from the laboratory: The inventor came up with his idea for alternating electric currents while out on a leisurely stroll. Tesla used his walking stick to draw a picture explaining how the currents would work to his partner. For Gertrude Stein, it was being in her car, looking at cows. She made a habit of writing for just 30 minutes a day, driving around a farm and stopping at different cows until she found the one that most inspired her.

Read more from the upcoming book here:

• Why So Many Artists Are Highly Sensitive People

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For some, the journey of spiritual self-discovery begins by picking up a book -- and there couldn’t be a better time to do so.

This fall, HarperOne, the San Francisco-based imprint of HarperCollins, launched HarperElixir, a line of books specifically targeting people who seek the answers to life’s big questions.

“The audience is the modern seeker… people who are spiritual and magical and passionate and curious and they want to answer the call to go deeper,” said Claudia Boutote, senior vice president and publisher of HarperElixir.

Boutote and senior editor Libby Edelson kicked off the line with The Toltec Art of Life and Death by Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The New York Times bestseller The Four Agreements. They also published books by psychologist Carol S. Pearson and relationship expert Arielle Ford, as well as two adult coloring books by Lydia Hess.

Just three months in, Boutote said the new line captures the zeitgeist of American spirituality while building on the legacy that authors like Ruiz have nurtured over the last few decades.

“A couple of years ago, [HarperOne] started to see that all of a sudden there was a new burgeoning of seekers that was bubbling up. … We felt we’d be able to contribute to that contemporary conversation,” said Boutote, who has worked at HarperOne for 11 years.

It’s clear the audience for books on spirituality will continue to grow. Religious “nones,” or people who are religiously unaffiliated but seek spirituality and transformation in nontraditional places, make up the second-largest and fastest-growing spiritual category in the United States. And HarperOne’s backlist of over 400 older books in the "mind, body, spirit" category continue to sell year after year, Boutote said.

HarperElixir joins the ranks of publishing houses like Hay House and Harmony Books that have made the "mind, body, spirit" movement a marketable category unto itself. HarperOne has been churning out works by spirituality-focused authors like Deepak Chopra, Ram Das and Marianne Williamson for decades.

But HarperElixir is even more specialized, specifically targeting spiritual seekers. The line occupies the territory “where hippie meets hipster,” Boutote said, drawing in a new generation while staying true to older readers who were raised on the likes of Chopra and Das and who are “still seeking, just at a different stage of life.”

Many of the line’s upcoming authors for 2016 have yet to become household names. Kim Krans, illustrator of The Wild Unknown tarot cards, and Guru Jagat, a Kundalini yoga teacher recently featured in Los Angeles Magazine and pictured below, will have titles out with HarperElixir in the upcoming year. For Boutote, any one of these new authors could be the spiritual powerhouses of tomorrow.

“When wisdom is very pure and authentic, it’s lasting, and it really does stand the test of time,” Boutote told HuffPost. “Those are the authors we are looking to publish here -- authors who will have something to publish for today, but what they say will be relevant for years to come.”

Seeker spirituality is broad and can include many different practices and worldviews, which is why books published under HarperElixir will cover everything from yoga and happiness coaching to astrology and healing crystals. What unites the titles, Boutote said, is that they all strive to help people trying to answer questions like “Where am I going? What happens when I die? How can I connect with the divine?” 

“We’re asking these big questions and hoping to help answer them for people,” she said.

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On Monday afternoon, comedian Beth Stelling posted a jarring image on Instagram. In it, there are four photos: three of them show her bruised legs and arms, and in the fourth she's smiling, performing onstage. 

"Same girl in all of these photos (me)," wrote Stelling under the image. "I've had an amazing year and you've seen the highlights here, so these photos are an uncommon thing to share but not an uncommon issue."

Stelling, who has appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and has a special on Comedy Central, went on to describe the abusive relationship she got out of last summer, and the shame and fear that surrounds opening up about the realities of such a relationship -- especially when your ex is a part of your professional community.

"It's embarrassing," she wrote. "I feel stupid. After being verbally, physically abused and raped, I dated him for two more months. It's not simple." (Read the full, powerful post below.)

Stelling also wrote about why she finally chose to speak about her abusive relationship publicly:

I don't want revenge or to hurt him now, but it's unhealthy to keep this inside because my stand-up is pulled directly from my life. It's how I make my living. My personal is my professional... 

Already since talking about this onstage, many women have come to me after shows asking me to keep doing it. Men have shown their solidarity.

Since Stelling posted her story on Instagram, she has received an outpouring of public love and support.

Words matter. Stories matter. Thank you for sharing yours, Beth Stelling. 

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

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Even master travelers need to stop and savor the scenery. And that's exactly why we love National Geographic's top travel photos of the year.

The set of images, known as National Geographic Daily Travel Photo: Best of 2015, show how explorers across the globe have perfected the art of the travel photo at some of our all-time favorite destinations, from South Africa's sparkling coastline to Iceland's frosty tundra to America's oldest national park. Take a look at the images below, with captions provided by National Geographic, and book a trip for 2016. 

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New Year's resolutions are, for the most part, a terrible drag. But there is a certain pleasure to mapping out the year in stellar museum exhibitions, plotting the dream cross-country art road trip that may only ever come to fruition in your imagination. 

The following 21 exhibitions constitute a motley and promising bunch, including legendary names like Edgar Degas, buzzy emerging artists like Pia Camil, barely known outsiders like Clarence and Grace Woolsey and everything in between. There's Abstract Expressionism, found photography, fashion, children's book illustration, assemblages and an immersive disco installation. And, yes, lots of feminist art. 

Behold, 21 exhibitions throughout the country that should definitely be put on your New Year's to-do list. 

1. "Agnes Martin"

Where: The Guggenheim

When: October 2016 - January 2017

Why: This will be the first comprehensive survey of minimalist artist Agnes Martin’s work since her death in 2004. Throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, she developed a signature grid-pattern method consisting of horizontal and vertical lines hand drawn in pencil on large square canvases that, at first glance, seem to appear blank. While MoMA and other museums are paying homage to great male painters and sculptors, we’re excited to see Martin getting her due. 

2. "Art at the Center: Guerrilla Girls"

Where: Walker Art Center

When: Jan. 21, 2016 - Dec. 31, 2016

Why: Since the 1980s, our favorite gorilla mask-wearing feminist art collective has been raising a much-needed ruckus over the gender and racial inequality in the art world. The Walker, which started collecting the Guerrilla Girls’ work early on, will be presenting 88 posters created by the anonymous female artists between 1985 (the year of the group’s founding) and 2012. But that’s not all -- in celebration of the Guerrilla Girls’ 30th anniversary, over 30 arts and cultural organizations in Minneapolis and surrounding cities will be collaborating with the collective for the Guerrilla Girls Twin Cities Takeover, an eight-week period with more than 50 exhibitions, discussions, performances and special events.

3. "Lisa Yuskavage: The Brood"

Where: Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

When: Jan. 15, 2016 - April 3, 2016

Why: Since the 1990s, New York-based painter Lisa Yuskavage has created a signature crop of luscious portraits of scantily dressed women, their curvaceous figures so intensely sexualized they become almost monstrous. Breasts, buttocks and bellies bulge to alien proportions, as the subjects, at once eroticized and empowered, challenge the viewer not to blush. Frosting pinks, seafoam greens and aquamarine punctuate Yuskavage’s visual playground, conjuring a hallucinatory space somewhere between childhood curiosity and adult fantasy. The show, spanning 25 years of painting, features diptychs, triptychs, and “symbiotic portraits,” single panels filled with multiple, often entwined bodies. Dangerous and decadent, Yuskavage’s visions are as warped as the ones that appear in the deep caverns of the sexual imagination, never meant to reach the outside world.

4. "I See a Story: The Art of Eric Carle"

Where: The High Museum in Atlanta 

When: April 2, 2016 - Jan. 8, 2017

Why: Eric Carle, who is now 86 years old, gave the world iconic children’s books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Grouchy Ladybug. The High Museum’s retrospective of Carle’s 50-year career will include 80 of his signature collages from 15 of his most popular books. The show will give visitors an insider’s look at his process of painting white tissue papers, cutting and tearing the results into fantastical shapes we’re all familiar with today.

5. "Firelei Báez: Bloodlines"

Where: Pérez Art Museum Miami

When: Oct. 15, 2015 - March 6, 2016

Why: "Bloodlines," the exhibit of new works by New York-based artist Firelei Báez, is inspired by methods of resistance in black communities within the United States and the Caribbean. Her provocative exploration of historically decorative elements, textiles, hair designs and body ornaments enriches obscured narratives of the black experience, illustrating complex settings where skin tone is no longer a sufficient signifier of race.

6. Catherine Opie: "Portraits" and "O"

Where: The Hammer and LACMA

When: Jan. 23, 2016 - May 8, 2016 and Feb. 13, 2016–Sept. 5, 2016

Why: This year photographer Catherine Opie has two major exhibitions in LA. At The Hammer, Opie will show a series of 12 recent portraits, depicting contemporary creatives in a style reminiscent of the portraits of the Old Masters, the background cast in darkness with the main figures seemingly glowing from within. Capturing figures like author Jonathan Franzen and artist Glenn Ligon, Opie’s stark, shadowy portraits capture the artistic giants of our generation. Over at LACMA, a very different Opie series is on view. Titled “O,” the series chronicles the sexual habits in San Francisco that often remain out of view. Originally a response to Robert Mapplethorpe’s explicit “X,” an exploration into gay sadomasochism, Opie’s “O” is less about shock and more about suggestion. Her intimate photos come together as half-recalled memories or partially dissolved fantasies.

7. "Edgar Degas: A Strange New Beauty"

Where: Museum of Modern Art

When: March 26, 2016 - July 24, 2016

Why: We all know Edgar Degas for his work as a painter of the ballet, but this MoMA show will focus on the artist’s role as printmaker. The show will include 120 rarely seen monotypes and around 50 related paintings, drawings, pastels, sketchbooks and prints. For any Degas fan, this exhibition is a treat.

8. "Nothing Personal: Zoe Leonard, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson"

Where: Art Institute of Chicago 

When: Jan. 23, 2016 – May 1, 2016

Why: The ironically titled show explores personality, personhood, and what it means to be, or not be, able to be your own person. The three American artists in the show -- Zoe Leonard, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson -- have been individually exploring the personal in their artwork, but by bringing them together, the exhibit creates a fascinating dialogue spanning across decades, media and identities. Sherman’s "Untitled Film Stills" alone are a must-see — the 69 black-and-white photographs are a major contribution to contemporary art.

9. "Lise Haller Baggesen: Mothernism"

Where: The Contemporary Austin

When: Feb. 13, 2016 - May 22, 2016

Why: Danish artist Baggesen, now based in Chicago, centers her newest exhibition around her desire to “locate the ‘mother-shaped’ hole in contemporary art discourse.” And thus, “Mothernism” was born, a multimedia, glittery snarl of disco, sci-fi and feminism. Taking cues from David Bowie and Donna Sommers, Baggesen creates a disco den with purple carpet, shimmering disco balls, Color Field paintings, political banners and a Dutch therapy technique from the 1970s. The artist likens entering the space to entering a painting, thereby challenging the traditional understanding of experiencing artwork as primarily visual. "If Punk is dad,” Baggesen writes, “Disco is your eternal mother, into whose pulsating bosom you can always return … "

10. "Rodney McMillian: The Black Show"

Where: Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia 

When: Feb. 3, 2016 - Aug. 14, 2016

Why: Colombian born, Los Angeles-based artist Rodney McMillian creates sculptures, paintings, room-sized constructions, videos and performances that explore class, economic status, culture, race, gender and history in the U.S, sometimes using sci-fi imagery to mine the unraveling of social justice in our country. For Philly residents and tourists, this is a must-see.

11. "Women of Abstract Expressionism"

Where: Denver Art Museum

When: June 12, 2016 - Sept. 25, 2016

Why: Abstract expressionism is typically associated with the masculine energy of male action painters, but this groundbreaking exhibition will celebrate the often unknown female artists of the post-World War II art movement. From Elaine de Kooning to Helen Frankenthaler, this will be the first full-scale presentation of works by these 12 artists. Krasner and de Kooning, both women who lived in the shadow of their husbands’ artistic success, will finally be placed in a context independent of their male counterparts.

12. "Maude Schuyler Clay: Mississippi History"

Where: Ogden Museum, New Orleans

When: Oct. 1, 2016 - Jan. 15, 2017

Why: For 25 years, fifth generation Mississipian Maude Schuyler Clay photographed her family and friends in the city she called home. After receiving her first camera in 1975, Clay embarked on “The Mississippians,” a photography project dedicated to Julia Margaret Cameron, a 19th-century artist known for her sepia-tinged fanciful portraits that foreshadowed Cindy Sherman and a selfie-crazed generation. Clay’s images, airy and drenched with light, document her Mississippi friends and family, creating a subjective history that otherwise would have never been documented.

13. "Pia Camil: A Pot for a Latch"

Where: New Museum, New York

When: Jan. 13, 2016 - April 17, 2016

Why: Mexico City native Pia Camil made headlines when she doled out handmade ponchos at New York’s Frieze art fair earlier this year. Now, she’s getting her own solo show at the New Museum. Her paintings, sculptures, performances and installations expose, as the New Museum points out, “the inherent problems as well as the latent possibilities within urban ruin, exploring what she refers to as the ‘aesthetization of failure.’” The title of the exhibition refers to the potlatch: a ceremonial gift-giving festival practiced by the Native American peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast, for whom it was a central system of wealth redistribution. In a similar fashion, Camil is inviting museum goers to bring their own unique items to the museum to exchange for one of her own, turning the Lobby Gallery into a makeshift “shop.”

14. "Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective"

Where: de Young, San Francisco

When: March 12, 2016 - May 30, 2016

Why: Curated by André Leon Talley, former American editor-at-large for Vogue, the world premiere retrospective will celebrate the life and career of the influential designer with more than 130 pieces produced over five decades. Expect to swoon over the lush florals, elaborate ball gowns and glam red carpet ensembles.

15. "Caparena: The Clarence and Grace Woolsey Figures"

Where: Intuit, Chicago

When: Jan. 15, 2016 - March 27, 2016

Why: For the uninitiated, “Caparena” or “arena of caps,” is the word Clarence and Grace Woolsey used to describe their bottle-cap creatures. Clarence, a former rodeo rider, wed Grace at the age of 18, and the two became farmhands. In their spare time, the two began creating sculptures from leftover bottle caps, making humans and animals and windmills and architectural forms of various sizes, some referencing fairy tales and nursery rhymes. The little cap-clad extraterrestrials were not discovered until 1993, after both Clarence and Grace had passed away, when they were found in Grace’s brother’s barn. 200 of them sold at auction for only $57. Today, the sculptures are recognized as folk art gems, secret manifestations of a couple’s creativity and love.

16. "Alex Da Corte: Free Roses"

Where: Mass MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts

When: From March 26, 2016

Why: Mass MOCA describes Alex Da Corte’s work as “provocative, puzzling, and visually seductive.” He is known for blending the theory of abstraction with the banality of tchotchkes and household items, amounting to acid-colored mashups that will soon take over the museum’s second floor. The centerpiece of the exhibition was created for the museum’s 100-foot long, 30-foot tall gallery. It is the sixth installment in a series of works based on Arthur Rimbaud's poem “A Season in Hell,” in which the 19th-century poet's angst-ridden words are used to reflect Da Corte’s own suburban upbringing.

17. "Dance: American Art, 1830-1960"

Where: Detroit Institute of Arts 

When: March 20, 2016 - June 12, 2016

Why: You’ll want to bust a move after visiting this multimedia exhibition of artworks and videos celebrating dance as central to American life and culture. "Dance" brings together 19th-century painters such as John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, and Mary Cassatt; the superstars of the Harlem Renaissance including Aaron Douglas, William Johnson and James Van Der Zee; and the artists who shaped the aesthetics of modern dance including Isamu Noguchi, Jasper Johns, and Andy Warhol. 

18. "Physical: Sex and the Body in the 1980s"

Where: LACMA 

When: March 20, 2016 – July 31, 2016

Why: Nan Goldin, Andres Serrano, Peter Hujar and Kiki Smith are just some of the iconic artists who explored the relationship between the body and art in the 1980s. Dealing with the rise of feminism, transgressive sexuality, the language of advertising, the crisis of AIDS and the politics of the debilitated body, artists explored the image of the body in sickness and in health. Robert Mapplethorpe hovers at the center of the show; although his work is not included, many of the exhibiting artists were close friends with Mapplethorpe and worked in dialogue with his graphic depictions of the sexual male body.

19. "An Anonymous Art: American Snapshots from the Peter J. Cohen Gift"

Where: Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

When: April 15, 2016 - Sept. 04, 2016 

Why: “Amateur snapshots are the ‘folk art’ of photography.” So begins the exhibition description of this survey of amateur and anonymous snapshots taken before the end of analog photography’s reign. Walking through this show will be like spying on a distant family’s photo album, tipsy snapshots and all.

20. "Converging Lines: Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt"

Where: Cleveland Museum of Art

When: April 3, 2016 - July 31, 2016

Why: In the art game, it helps to have a cheerleader encouraging you to continue. Through "Converging Lines," we get to see firsthand a celebration of the close friendship between two of the most significant American artists of the postwar era. While Eva Hesse’s and Sol LeWitt’s artistic processes diverged in innumerable ways, this exhibition highlights the crucial influence they had on each other’s art and lives. Their close bond was also evident in their extensive correspondence over the course of their friendship, which lasted more than a decade.

21. "Betye Saar: Still Tickin'"

Where: Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona

When: Jan. 30, 2016 - May 1, 2016

Why: Betye Saar is an assemblage artist, scavenging and collaging found objects to seduce viewers into a state of rebellion. The black artist, of African, Irish and American Indian descent, used her work to dismantle negative stereotypes about blacks, women, and black women in the 1970s, often incorporating figures like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Tom into her conglomerations. The traveling retrospective, titled “Still Tickin’,” honors the 90-year-old artist’s lifetime dedication to recycling, creativity and political upheaval.

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After a long hiatus, "The Bachelor" has (nearly) returned. Chiseled and "unlovable" Ben Higgins is about to start his journey, and there will be a whole lot of women along for the ride. 

This week's "Here To Make Friends" podcast breaks down the good, the bad and the crazy of what we know about Ben's suitors. Here's a few fun facts about this season's ladies, by the numbers:

28

The number of women hoping to end up engaged to Ben at the end of all this.

4 

The number of women named Lauren. 

2

The number of "Bachelor" returnees who have come to woo Ben Higgins. Hey there, Becca Tilley and Amber James!

22

The age of the youngest contestants.

30

The age of the oldest contestants, whose ovaries are probably shriveling up as we type, since life totally ends at 30, according to most of these women.

2

The number of women with the occupation "Twin."

1

The number of women with the occupation "Chicken Enthusiast."

1

The number of women with the occupation "Cowgirl."

1

The number of women with the occupation "Unemployed."

2

The number of women who wish they could be Taylor Swift for a day.

20

The number of seasons "The Bachelor" has been airing. Long may the so-bad-it's-good reality TV show reign. 

Do people love "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette" and "Bachelor in Paradise," or do they love to hate these shows? It's unclear. But here at "Here To Make Friends," we both love and love to hate them -- and we love to snarkily dissect each episode in vivid detail. Podcast edited by Nick Offenberg.

Here are photos of all 28 of Ben Higgins' suitors:

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Courtney Bonnet knows how to manage mischief. 

Upon moving into her new home, the librarian and mother of two was faced with a "dark, dirty storage space" under the stairs, she told HuffPost. But all that changed with the wave of a paintbrush and a wand, as Bonnet quickly transformed the space into a hideout of magical proportions.

Just swing open the door...

Bonnet's project involved patching up a hole in the wall, sanding it down and adding some extra wood panels, she told HuffPost. She then made a low-cost wallpaper from the pages of recycled Harry Potter books and laid down fresh carpet and pillows. After adding a few decorations, she estimates the total cost fell between $250 and $300.

We'd imagine similar accents -- a vintage steamer trunk, authentic Potter poster and lightning bolt fabric across the ceiling -- would spice up any interior alcove.

"My favorite part is that from the outside, you would have no idea what is inside," Bonnet said. "It's really fun having a secret hideout." 

Well done for a muggle!

H/T Bored Panda

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The editor and publisher of a weekly newspaper in rural Idaho has taken a rather candid approach to finding his next employee.

"We have an opening for a reporter who reads," begins a help-wanted advertisement for the full-time position at the St. Maries Gazette Record in St. Maries, Idaho.

Owner Dan Hammes told The Huffington Post Monday that his posting is no joke. Hammes wants a journalist who is informed and curious -- someone who is excited to learn about the world.

And while it may seem obvious, Hammes stresses that anyone who works at his newspaper must read newspapers. 

"I'm old and I'm grouchy," Hammes laughed. "So many kids you hire these days don't read anything."

"Not to mention you can't write very well if you don't read," Hammes told HuffPost.

The posting elaborates:

It goes without saying the person we hire will be able to write, spell and edit. What also needs to be said is we prefer to hire reporters who read because we strongly believe that knowledgeable, informed people make superior reporters. We can excuse you if you have not read a book or two in a while, but the person we hire will be a newspaper reader. We are convinced that in order to be a respectable reporter, you must be informed.

Hammes compared his situation to that of a vegetable farmer: "Some people don't like spinach. Some people do. But if you're in the business, you better like your spinach."

"Don't be a reporter and not care about current events," he said.

The listing, posted Dec. 17 on JournalismJobs.com, is honest from start to finish, including about the small-town feel of St. Maries, a quiet logging town about 150 miles from the Canadian border with a population of about 2,800.

So ... let's get the info about the community out of the way. Ours is a successful community newspaper in St. Maries, Idaho. This is a rural area. Think small town, rivers, lakes, mountains. Great outdoors recreation but no shopping centers, no crowds, no stoplights. If this appeals to you, you'll love it here. If you like shopping malls and Starbucks then you might want to move on to the next ad.

While some might find Hammes' words harsh or pessimistic, he is anything but. There are talented, hungry reporters out there, he said, and the ad is his way of getting their attention so that he can offer one of them a good job.

"I'm not going to hire the wrong person," he said.

See below for the full help wanted ad. 

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This year, Pablo Picasso's "Les femmes d’Alger" sold for a whopping $179.4 million, setting a new world record for a single artwork purchased at auction. A nude painting by Amedeo Modigliani wasn't far behind: "Nu couché" sold for $170.4 million at auction. 

These price tags are roughly equal to the cost of a luxury yacht equipped with a helicopter garage, salon and cinema.

Reflecting on the year's high auction prices, experts hypothesize that the skyrocketing bids were fueled by artworks' increasing investment value and wealthy collectors' appetite for "the very best works."

"I don't really see an end to it, unless interest rates drop sharply, which I don't see happening in the near future," dealer Richard Feigen said.

As the end of the year approaches, here's a look back on the paintings and sculptures that sold big this year -- and the luxury goods buyers could have owned for the same price. Prepare for a lot of yachts.

David Hockney's "Arranged Felled Trees": $5.3 million

What could you buy for this price? A dozen Lamborghinis.

Georgia O'Keeffe's "White Calla Lily": $9 million

What could you buy for this price? Nearly three 17-carat diamonds.

Peter Doig's "Swamped": $26 million

What could you buy for this price? Around 3,700 65-inch plasma televisions.

Andy Warhol's "One Dollar Bill": $20.9 million

What could you buy for this price? This six-bedroom condo on Central Park South.

Claude Monet's "Le Grand Canal": $35.6 million

What could you buy for this price? Around 3,000 of these collector Robin action figures. 

Roy Lichtenstein's "The Ring (Engagement)": $41.7 million

What could you buy for this price? Around 200 Bentleys.

Gerhard Richter's "Abstraktes Bild": $46.3 million

What could you buy for this price? This 58,000-square-foot Miami Beach mansion.

Vincent van Gogh’s "Paysage sous un ciel mouvementé": $54 million

What could you buy for this price? Over a million of these luxury instant noodle meals, which come with gold leaf pots and table linen. (Too bad only 100 exist.)

Claude Monet’s "Nymphéas": $54 million

What could you buy for this price? Around 80 of this 1907 gold coin.

Vincent van Gogh’s "L’Allée des Alyscamps": $66.3 million

What could you buy for this price? At least 250 Ferraris.

Pablo Picasso’s "La Gommeuse": $67.5 million

What could you buy for this price? This Los Angeles mansion with 11 bathrooms.

Cy Twombly’s "Untitled": $70.5 million

What could you buy for this price? Around 5,400 in-ground pools.

Mark Rothko’s "No. 10": $81.9 million

What could you buy for this price? Over 2,340 sable stolls.

Roy Lichtenstein’s "Nurse": $95.4 million

What could you buy for this price? Around 360 Porsches. 

Alberto Giacometti’s "L'homme au doigt": $141.3 million

What could you buy for this price? This modest yacht with a spa, gym and dining for 16.

Amedeo Modigliani’s "Nu couché": $170.4 million

What could you buy for this price? This Fifth Avenue townhouse and this 1,400-person cruise ship.

Pablo Picasso's "Les femmes d’Alger": $179.4 million

What could you buy for this price? We give up. Money has no meaning anymore.

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An old handbag. Some vintage jewelry. A beloved sewing machine. All heirlooms of sorts passed on from one generation of women to the next. They might seem like small things at first, but a new photo series captures how important these presents truly are to those who gave them and those who received them.

Photographer Ugne Henriko's new series, "The Gift," was born in collaboration with jeweler Giedre Duoble to show the beauty of the intergenerational relationship. They photographed several Lithuanian grandmother-granddaughter duos, from age 23 to 65, with the gifts passed down. 

"The bond between women and their grandmothers is very different from the one between mothers and daughters," Henriko told The Huffington Post in an email. She describes it as, "two women from different generations sharing something spiritual."

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A new year is upon us, so you know what that means: It's time to peel some potatoes, eat a bunch of grapes, clean your home, and grab a couple of handfuls of lentils. That is, if you want the new year to be a good one.

Many superstitious Latinos believe performing these rituals will ensure them a better, more prosperous new year. 

Whether you believe them or not, you’d be wise to give at least one of the following New Year’s Eve rituals a whirl. At the very least you’ll end up with a clean home, full belly and a few fun stories to tell in 2016. Happy New Year!

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Tangled hair. Smudged Eyeliner. Outfit fatigue. 

Artist Cassandra Calin, a 21-year-old Romanian graphic design student studying in Montreal, manages to perfectly capture some of the peskiest style struggles in her illustrations.  

"All my comics are inspired by my real life experiences and the little things that I sometimes consider frustrating," Calin, who began drawing comics when she was 10 years old, told The Huffington Post in an email. "It's a way for me to rant about silly 'misfortunes' in a humorous way, with a bit of sarcasm."

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An introvert's heart is a multi-faceted landscape. 

Illustrator Gemma Correll, author of The Worrier's Guide to Life and a self-proclaimed introvert, sketched out the unique, varied terrain in a drawing called "A Map of the Introvert's Heart" last year. The illustration resurfaced on Medium this week.

"[The drawing] was inspired by the Victorian 'maps' of women's and men's hearts, which are slightly sexist but beautiful depictions of what women and men [supposedly] love," she explained to The Huffington Post Tuesday. "I thought about the things that I, as an introvert, appreciate and cherish the most and added them to my own map."

Happy travels! 

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A rainbow and a black flag feature in the top portion of a mural that covers one entire side of a building in a housing project in west São Paulo. The mural, which depicts black children at play on the roofs of high-rise buildings, is the work of Fel, a 28-year-old graffiti artist who belongs to the large community of taggers in São Paulo. His creation contains a traditional symbol for anarchy, but also represents the LGBT movement and the Latin-American indigenous populations.

Fel's mural, which occupies one of the gable ends of the Água Branca housing project in the Lapa district of São Paulo, isn’t meant to be conventionally beautiful or aesthetically flawless. Rather, its value lies in its provocative function. For Fel, that function takes precedence over aesthetics, and he’s not the only one who feels this way.

Fel works with Revivarte, an independent initiative that seeks to revitalize urban spaces through art. With the support of "Tudo de cor para você," or "Everything colorful for you," a project initiated by the art supply company Coral Paints, Revivarte seeks to offer residents a brief respite from their daily struggles and to empower them culturally and politically.

"Art by itself won't change people's lives. Police oppression, lack of money, the lack of public policies … Art won't change that. But it brings the community together. It brings them closer to acquiring human and political capital to then mobilize for other demands," Fel says.

São Paulo is home to a widespread drug trade and organized criminal groups. Security forces in São Paulo and other major cities in Brazil have a reputation for tackling violence with violence. According to the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, 11,197 people were killed by Brazilian police between 2009 and 2013. 

If graffiti is meant to change things on that front, things are definitely moving in the right direction at the Água Branca housing project. Since the painting project kicked off in September, the artwork has had palpable effects.

"Before then, children were concerned with the presence of plainclothes agents hanging around," Fel said. "Now, they stop to look at the graffiti, they talk, and enjoy their day."

Our goal is clear: we want social transformation through art.
Fel, a 28-year-old graffiti artist

On street corners, you can hear people talking about the immediate effects that graffiti has had on the area's overt police presence.

"The community is quite small and very close to the Marginal Tiete highway. So it is easy for the policemen to show up unannounced. And they are here every day," says Subtu, a graffiti artist and creator of the Revivarte project.

"The community itself wants us to stay," Subtu adds. "With our presence the police are taking it easy. They see that people are taking pictures ... Then they approach us differently."

There are eight graffitied gables, and the murals are each eight to ten meters high. When everything is ready, an area of 850 square meters will have been taken over by art. With these murals, the artists aim to captivate the attention of those who live in the housing project, rather than those who are just passing by or visiting. Residents appreciated the effort to focus back on the community.

Subtu is currently working on an idea for a mural that will speak to the need for better relationships between the police and residents.

"It will be a clown juggling the word PEACE," he says," because the police force is very repressive here."

Subtu points to one particular alley in the housing project whose identity is about to be redefined, thanks to the artwork. "This alley has experienced some tragic stories," he said.

Ana Carolina Pereira dos Santos, a 30-year-old hairdresser and representative of the Neighborhood Association, echoes the artist’s sentiments.

"Actually, drug users and other people died in the alley," she says. "It was an area avoided by everyone. Now people are renaming it. It will be called "Art Alley" or "Happiness Alley."

The artists were invited by the residents of the community, who learned of the success of the murals at the Parque do Gato, another low-income housing project, and decided to try their luck. It was an opportunity to put some color on buildings that had deteriorated due to the passage of time and the negligence of public authorities. It has been almost 20 years since the walls of the Água Branca housing project were last painted.

The proposal was like music to the ears of Mundano, Fel, Subtu and RMI, the Revivarte project's resident artists. Each one had already secured a space for their work, but they -- and the community -- wanted more. The remaining space would be occupied by graffiti artists chosen from the local community, and several eager artists applied.

The artists and the residents had only one non-negotiable stipulation: There had to be a woman among the selected artists. "Everyone wanted a woman artist, not only the young ones. They all said: One of the artists must be a woman," dos Santos, the community representative, recalls. So they selected Suzue, an artist who had studied painting techniques in Japan.

Besides the inclusion of women artists, other elements of the project were established democratically as well.

"Seven hundred people voted for the four main paintings," dos Santos said.

Italo, 24, was one of the artists selected directly by the community. He's painted murals since 2008.

"I am not from here. I come from the east side of town," he said. "I saw what was going on, and my mural … represents people who wish to go beyond their daily experiences, to escape the space they live in. It is a window open to other worlds."

Italo says that the community was involved every step of the way.

"People here want to understand what is going on. They all greet you, they exchange ideas ... People know each other and they help however they can.” Such support comes in the form of food, drinks, encouragement and chatting. A lot of chatting.

Severina Josefa Cardoso, 50, runs a small bar in the housing project. She's been suggesting that the artists paint her bar’s exterior.

"It's very beautiful, isn't it?" she says. "When they finish painting there, let's hope they find the time to do something here."

Ultimately, the idea is for residents to become artists, not just spectators. Who knows: The effort may reveal another talented graffiti artist who will help challenge the dull grayness of the largest city in Latin America.

If the graffiti's intention is to start a new phase for the community, it is hard to find someone who doubts the plan is working.

"Our goal is clear: We want social transformation through art," says Fel. "Graffiti is the armed wing of hip-hop -- armed with paints and ideas. And when an idea is expressed through art, it is much more effective. We attack the eye, the vision.”

Scroll down for more photos of the artists' work. 

This post first appeared on HuffPost Brazil. It has been translated into English and edited for clarity.

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There are roughly 1.7 zillion photography apps out there. All of them offer a slew of options to improve your snapshots before you share them, but after testing a whole bunch, we've pinpointed one that'll work great for most smartphone owners.

It's called Afterlight.

Maybe you've heard of it. The app launched in 2012, so it's kind of a dinosaur. Still, it stands out for a few reasons: It's very straightforward, it does a lot of the heavy lifting for you and it lets you make everything from minor aesthetic tweaks to major image overhauls with a few simple taps.

True, the same could be said of many photography apps, but we've yet to find another that balances complexity and usability so perfectly. A confused smartphone newbie could get something out of Afterlight, and so could a photo obsessive.

The app offers a mountain of options, all of which you can take or leave. They operate on a simple "slider" system just like Instagram's. You can mess with the brightness of a photograph on a scale of -100 to 100, for example. Afterlight also packs a ton of filters that go well beyond what you'll see on Instagram -- you can edit their intensity, too.

There are also some gimmicky -- but pretty cool -- film effects that can make your shots look like they were taken on a traditional analog camera. Add fake wear to the image or light leaks: Why not? That photo above was originally a pretty unremarkable shot of my fiancée's backyard in Atlanta -- I put a bunch of light-junk over it in Afterlight, and now it looks like Endor or something. See if you can spot the Ewoks.

You can use Afterlight for minor tweaks, too. Most importantly, the app is just fun to use -- be careful not to get sucked into editing every shot you take. Unlike other apps, it doesn't make a constant effort to sell you something or connect to social networks you're not interested in.

Afterlight is available on Android, iOS and Windows Phone. All of the links are here.

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The power that feminism currently wields has been described as a “moment” or a “trend” -- but it’s much more than that. The last 10 years of feminist work have paved the way for a feminism that’s deeply resonant and embedded in the culture, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

And no matter how you cut it, gender justice has been at the forefront of the national conversation and a lot of people’s minds this past year.

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A is for Albert DeSalvo, also known as the "Boston Strangler." He killed 13 women in the Boston Area. B is for BTK, or "Bind, Torture, Kill," as he was known. He, well, you can probably infer. C is for Andrei Chikatilo, the "Butcher of Rostov," or the "Red Ripper," who confessed to 56 murders of women and children. 

Welcome to the "Alphabet of Serial Killers," where each new letter introduces you to a new gripping tale of violence and and horror. Prepare to fall into 26 terrifying Wikipedia holes and never sleep again.

Your dreams will be haunted courtesy of New York-based artist Maggie Dunlap, who renders her selected killers with soft intensity. The simple pencil drawings, eerie in their cleanliness, seem almost as if pulled from a diary recalling crushes, acquaintances and lost friends. "I really like playing around with hard and soft, pretty and ugly," Dunlap explained to The Huffington Post. "I think the most powerful emotion is the one that teeters on the edge of repulsion and intrigue."

"Last year in my drawing class at school, we were given the assignment to create any sort of alphabet we wanted," the artist continued. "Sadly, there is an abundance of serial killers -- definitely more than 26. I’ve always had immense curiosity in murders and true crime, and spend countless hours listening to podcasts and documentaries on the topic while I work. It was only a matter of time before they made their way into my art."

Excluding her Serial Killer phase, the majority of Dunlap's work combines traditional feminine crafts with radical feminist politics. She illustrates the "Ask a Porn Star" segment of sexuality and relationship site Slutever's blog and created blood-spattered illustrations for Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber. Her embroideries are adorned with handcuffs, her weavings intertwined with chains and hair. Much of her work feels like a no-boys-allowed sleepover party that's taken a sinister turn. 

Bondage gear and bloody panties are one thing, but delving into the sick minds of history's most notorious violent criminals is quite another. Dunlap is very aware of the complex factors that contribute to such grisly compulsions. "My morbid obsessions have definitely been something that I’ve had to reconcile and unpack in regards to being a feminist," she said. "Both have been an integral part of my work and life for as long as I can remember."

"Obviously, my fascination with crime and killers does not equal any sort admiration," Dunlap continued. "Western society is so obsessed by death and simultaneously removed from it. Stories of serial killers appeal to people’s dark curiosity, it is human nature. If it wasn’t so prevalent, then there wouldn't be a million shows on TV like 'Dateline' or 'SVU' or 'CSI.' It feels like we’re accessing a sort of danger that is disconnected enough from our daily lives -- like watching a horror movie. Except these villains are real, making their stories all the more terrifying."

Dunlap is far from the first artist whose work scrutinized the darkest of criminal minds. Mike Kelley's "Pay for Your Pleasure" comes to mind; the 1988 installation takes the shape of a narrow hallway made of rainbow panels, each depicting a renowned thinker with a quote relating art to crime. (Piet Mondrian's line, "I think the destructive element is too much neglected in art," is one.) At the end of the hall sits a work of art made by a vicious criminal; in one case, serial killer clown John Wayne Gacy.

The stomach-turning piece ridicules the romantic notion of art as a soul-cleansing method of self-expression. "Almost laughably, art in the prison context is promoted as useful sublimation -- as 'therapy,'" Kelley wrote. Rather, Kelley sees the roles of criminal and artist as closely connected -- both explore the darkest aspects of human nature and invite an audience to take a peek. In Kelley's words: "We are not interested in Gacy’s brushwork or images, we are interested in the man behind them, the person capable of incredible atrocities. The paintings allow us to stare safely at the forbidden."

Another artist in this vein is painter Joe Coleman, who has, like Dunlap, created portraits of Ed Gein and Charles Manson. The hyper-detailed portraits, made with a one-hair brush, delve into the dirty details that shaped Coleman's subjects into the monstrous icons they've become.

For Coleman, these grim figures play a crucial role in contemporary society; they're figures of morbid fascination, both repulsive and magnetic. "I'm not trying to free anyone or lessen the atrocity," Coleman said in an interview with The Huffington Post. "What I'm trying to do is exorcise the pain and the horror and the suffering." Although the victims of violence suffer, the perpetrators, Coleman stresses, clearly face demons as well. His work investigates and hopes to alleviate their pain. 

For Dunlap, as a young woman, there is an additional layer of fraught intrigue. "I was talking to a friend, Alissa Bennet, recently," Dunlap said, "and she said she believes women are especially drawn to serial killers, mysterious deaths, gore, etc. because it’s the only place that we are able to access violence, through this kind of remote channel where it's disconnected from our bodies."

In fact, for women, who have all either experienced or feared being victims, targets, and prey, violence becomes deeply imprinted on the female psyche. "Being a woman can be (and, unfortunately, usually is) a violent experience," explained Dunlap. "From daily aggressions like catcalling and other systematic oppressions, to the fact that physical and sexual violence is something always right around the corner, looming on the horizon. Girlhood is inextricably linked with violence, and it makes perfect sense to me that many women are bloodthirsty themselves."

And yet, although women may be the ones glued to their televisions, fascinated by the horror unfurling onscreen, they are rarely the ones committing the acts themselves. "When you see them all together, you start to connect the dots -- many of them were white, privileged and male," said Dunlap. 

Dunlap's pencil drawings are simple, unembellished, almost sweet. There are no weapons, no blood -- if you weren't familiar with the legendary names, you may not find their faces quite so menacing. But type their names into your search bar and stories of mangled bodies and lost lives invade the imagination. The violence that's omitted from the page proliferates wildly in the mind.

"You can’t draw serial killers without imagining their crimes and the destruction left in their wake," Dunlap explains. "In the same way you can’t represent things like bones, teeth, hair, and even BDSM paraphernalia (as I often do in my art) without thinking about their connection to the human body. These are universal themes that everyone can relate to, because we all have bodies with an expiration date, and we all interested in the macabre to some extent."

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A new year, a new you! Right? It's tough to keep those New Year's resolutions, though, and a little guidance or inspiration never hurts. The right book means you're never going it alone with your plan to be more generous with your time, to commit to hitting the gym, to become your best self.

That book doesn't need to be a self-help book, either. If you've never envisioned yourself accumulating a shelf full of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and He's Just Not That Into You and The Four-Hour Body, you can still turn to your bookcases for motivation and instruction. 

The Arts & Culture team put our heads together to compile some of our favorite inspirational reads -- ones even self-help skeptics will love -- to start your year off right.

Maddie Crum:

 The Folded Clock: A Diary by Heidi Julavits

The subtitle of Heidi Julavits's latest book -- "A diary" -- is a bit of a misnomer. While The Folded Clock brims with thoughtful self-analysis and goofy anecdotes, the author knew it would never be a top-secret endeavor. More than a private soul-bearing project, it began as more of a family bonding activity. Julavits set out to record her life as she knew it after being diagnosed with a painful, terminal illness. The diagnoses turned out to be false, but her desire to relate her inner life to her daughters remained intact. When she began jotting down her thoughts, Julavits decided her diary would have a rule: each entry would begin with the phrase "Today I," rooting her observations firmly in the present. What resulted was a fun discussion of time, memory, and the narratives we enforce on our lives. Julavits boldly, snarkily eschews such restrictions, leaving the reader feeling open and ready to face the world anew.

Dorothy Parker's Complete Poems

Poetry may be the farthest type of writing from self-help. It's sensual and ethereal rather than concrete; it actively opposes directives, instead recalling feelings, settings and experiences without judgement. Which, if you think about it, sounds a little bit like meditation. Reading a (good) poem can be as soul-cleansing as practicing breathing techniques; both are rhythmic, and both often center on the ebbs and flows of anxious thoughts. This is especially true with poems about nature, of course. But just as reinvigorating as mellow woodland strolls is the cathartic snark of one Dorothy Parker. For reflections on how to be a badass and brush off bad vibes, start with "Threnody" and read on. If you're really not one for poetry, there's even an album of cover songs you can cozy up with instead. 

Levels of Life by Julian Barnes

If you've read Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking or Blue Nights, you've learned that her penchant for understanding grief makes for heartbreaking reading, even for those of us who've not lost a loved one. Just as self-aware of his own coping mechanisms is Julian Barnes, whose Levels of Life recalls the long road to healing after the death of his wife. He falls in love with opera, an art form he once found too maudlin, and creates wonderful metaphors for the beauty of his marriage, comparing it to the truth and magic of taking photos from a hot air balloon. He also writes bluntly about grief: "Grief-work. It sounds such a clear and solid concept, with its confident two-part name. But it is fluid, slippery, metamorphic." For an honest yet optimistic take on heartbreak, it doesn't get much better than this.

Claire Fallon:

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Remember 2015? (Yeah, me neither.) It was the year of KonMari, the life-redefining minimalist cleaning method created and evangelized by Marie Kondo, largely through her hit book. If you haven’t read it, somehow, you’ve seen its dreamy, watercolor-washed blue cover in bookstore windows and in magazines. Maybe you scoffed. Well, I’m skeptical of inspirational self-help-y crazes myself, but I’m here to tell you: If you’re such a trend-avoidant curmudgeon that you missed out on this book, make 2016 your year of KonMari. You’ll develop a whole new relationship with your possessions. You’ll see yourself more clearly. You’ll learn the best way to fold your T-shirts and receive carte blanche to recycle those shoeboxes stuffed with old IKEA booklets and gadget instruction manuals. You’ll be surrounded only by those things that fill you with joy. Don’t let your cynical side snicker at her earnest disquisitions on how to properly thank an old pair of shoes for its valiant service, just open up and let Marie Kondo work her life-changing magic on you.

Note Book by Jeff Nunokawa

Sometimes you wake up and you just need a little pick-me-up, something to brighten your heart and clear your mind. Sure, you could invest in a daily calendar of napping kittens, and you probably should, but if you want something a bit more literary, even spiritual, this compendium of mini-essays and musings can be opened basically at random for a moment of reaffirming meditation. (Full disclosure: Nunokawa was a favorite professor of mine during my college years.) Most of the notes -- which originally appeared on Facebook -- open with a brief quote from John Milton, Nunokawa’s feisty mother, George Eliot, Robert Frost, or a myriad of other writers and thinkers. His succinct ruminations on these quotes aim more to provoke thought and feeling than to resolve a question, prompting you to experience the full bittersweet beauty and truth of each literary nugget.

The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty by Amanda Filipacchi

This odd novel may be painful to read at times, or discouraging, but its unconventional examination of beauty, talent, and self-worth will undoubtedly prompt any reader to question the sources of his or her self-esteem and what we most value about ourselves. The book follows a woman who routinely disguises herself with a fat suit, false teeth, and a sparse wig to mask her intoxicating beauty; she’s so afraid that people will simply pursue her for her physical charms without really knowing her that she prefers to hide. Her best friend, a brilliant pianist, is so homely that she’s constantly rejected by men despite her big heart and immense talent. Filipacchi doesn’t flinch from the realities of how much the world values superficial beauty, but allows readers avenues to explore how we might maintain our sense of self instead of being dragged down by a desire to change ourselves to fit in.

Katherine Brooks:

Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein

At the start of her memoir, “Portlandia” star and Sleater-Kinney member Carrie Brownstein recounts her childhood as a try-too-hard nerd. How nerdy? When she ran for student government in elementary school, she adopted the slogan: “We built this city on rock ’n’ roll, but we should build this school upon leadership.” This is just one of the vignettes that introduces us to the Brownstein behind the guitar, a woman who, though fearless from a young age, feels insecurity on stage, in romance, among friends and family. Reading her candid words is like listening to a good friend confess her own shortcomings as a means to letting you know that we all make mistakes, and we all pick ourselves back up.

A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin

Lucia Berlin’s posthumous short story collection is certainly not anything close to a self-help book in structure. In A Manual for Cleaning Women, a narrator relays the fragmented memories of fictional women, all of them -- though some may be the same person at different stages in her life -- drawn to drinking or destruction. Their lives are not privileged or luxurious or set in stone, they are trying and unpredictable and unfinished. Sitting with this book is sure to induce introspection on how you’ve lived your life so far and how the women around you struggle and persevere.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Subtitled A Family Tragicomic, this graphic memoir tells the story of the author’s upbringing in rural Pennsylvania, and the close but complex relationship she forged with her late father. In the non-linear retelling of her life, both Bechdel and her father grapple with their respective sexual identities, bringing to light both sweetly funny and deeply sad memories, alluding to mythology and other literary references along the way. For any parent or offspring struggling with familial loss or discontent, this book -- which took seven years to complete -- is a beautiful read.

Priscilla Frank:

There Is No Right Way To Meditate And Other Lessons by Yumi Sakugawa

Sakugawa’s gorgeous illustrated book is the perfect quick read for anyone who has ever felt compelled to meditate but way too intimidated to know where to start. Filled with lines like, “Sometimes it’s okay if the only thing you did today was breathe,” Sakugawa’s words are like a warm hug from a mindful stranger you wish was in your family. Her airy drawings and dry sense of humor complete what has the be the least stressful introduction to meditation of all time.

Drawing Blood by Molly Crabapple

“The right way for a white girl to be angry is to turn her anger inward. She should be a victim, like a patient in Reviving Ophelia, the late-nineties ode to broken girlhood. She should starve or cut or blow boys who treat her badly.” This is a quick introduction into the sharp mind and sharper pen of artist and writer Molly Crabapple. In her memoir, the artist vividly describes her time growing up a precocious outcast in New York City whose sketchbook was her lifeblood. The book chronicles her adventures through Europe, Rikers Island, Suicide Girls, famous New York nightclubs, Syria, Occupy Wall Street and Guantanamo Bay. It will definitely inspire you to find your inner badass and get to work.

How Should A Person Be? by Sheila Heti

Most young women in their lives have looked at another young woman with a certain indescribable envy. You don’t want to be her, exactly, but you want to be as good at being you as she is at being her. Sheila Heti’s title riffs off of self-help book jargon while delving into the mind of woman who spends so much time wondering who and how she wants to be that she never has the time to actually do the things that might make her into someone. “What was the right way to react to people? Who was I to talk to at parties? How was I to be?” Heti delivers the messy wonderful realness in a dialogue-heavy, pseudo-memoir format somewhere between a beguiling abstract painting and a juicy episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

Tricia Tongco:

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Reading about Stevens, a long-serving butler who defines himself by his occupation, will make you question your own work-life balance. This story has tragic elements but is also a comedy of manners, with Stevens agonizing over how to banter with his new employer for multiple pages. The title of the novel comes from the time at the end of the day after you’re done with work and other obligations. How do you choose to spend those precious moments? Maybe you’ll fall in love, create something meaningful to you, or connect with friends and family. Stevens doesn’t necessarily do any of these things, but his story brings up the important idea that if you’re going to dedicate your life to something, make sure it’s worth it.

Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel: A Graphic Novel by Anya Ulinich

While this graphic novel is fictional, this look at “grown-up” dating is painfully honest and familiar. After Lena Finkle gets a divorce after 15 years of marriage, she’s thrown into the wild world of online dating while raising two teenage daughters. Her outrageous romantic encounters are full of longing, illustrating that the author has that rare capability of being simultaneously serious and funny. This book is for anyone who has found themselves with lots of love to give but without anyone worth receiving it.

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

This sprawling, dazzling tale of winged circus-performer Sophie Fevers (part woman, part swan) will connect women to the pain of womanhood as well as help them rejoice in its power. The magical, raunchy and surreal world that Angela Carter has created reminds us that many seemingly impossible things are, in fact, possible and that living up to who you’re “supposed” to be can be nonsense.

Jillian Capewell: 

 Marbles by Ellen Forney

There's no instruction manual on how to have depression or bipolar disorder, but cartoonist Ellen Forney's graphic memoir is like a textual friend that understands because she's been through it all before. This read is especially helpful for those grappling with taking medication for mental illness, as Forney's journey to find the right dosage and drugs for her brain -- still, in this day, an inexact science -- while maintaining her creativity and fun-loving personality is a striking thread at this memoir's center. Her high highs and low lows are captured without cliche in both words and drawings, with one form coming in to bolster the other to hit on an exact feeling. 

Get Over It by Corinne Mucha

You can probably guess by the title and cover of this graphic memoir what self-helpy message it's trying to send -- but fear not, as illustrator Corinne Mucha gets neither too sentimental nor too hard-edged when addressing a longterm relationship gone sour. Ending coupledom is rarely easy or simple, and Mucha's cute drawings (yes, that is an anatomical heart talking on the phone) will make even the most heartbroken smile and nod in recognition.  

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When you’re stuck in suburbia with your parents over the holidays, you, like many others, might look to Netflix for an escape.

The recently released "Jessica Jones" is one of its most binge-worthy shows, centering on a hard-drinking, superhero-turned-private eye (played by Krysten Ritter). At the beginning of the series, we find her a year after she has escaped the mind control of the show’s villain, Kilgrave, who held Jones captive for eight months and forced her to act out a romantic relationship with him.

One of the reasons fans praise the series is because it paints an unflinching portrayal of intimate partner violence and the accompanying trauma that survivors must learn to live with. Others praise it as a rarity onscreen for depicting a female crime-drama lead with the same depth and agency as a man.

Luckily for us, the Marvel show has found a fan in illustrator Sha'an d’Anthes (better known as Furry Little Peach). She debuted her watercolor illustrations of Jones and Kilgrave on her Instagram account, where she has more than 96,000 followers. In an email to The Huffington Post, the Sydney-based designer discussed her thoughts on the show and why it inspired her first foray into fan art.

(She joked that "Kilgrave made me do it," but we're pretty sure she's joking.)

What about Jessica Jones inspired you to create these illustrations?

My work is actually quite similar to the artwork of the opening credits -- hats off to David Mack for the incredible visual sequence. I use a lot of bleeding and washes in my works so the way the watercolor is animated and moves at the beginning of the show is reminiscent of what I see when I'm painting.

Besides that initial connection, I've always been drawn to layers -- whether it be layering pigment, or layering images and textures. As I watched the show, it became quite clear early on that there [were] incredible layers to the main characters.

How did you decide what elements to include in your illustrations of Jessica Jones and Kilgrave?

I tried to include elements and a palette that I thought spoke to who the characters were in a way that was more than just two-dimensional. Initially I was going to make Kilgrave the darker character because he's the villain -- typical, but throughout the show he was almost more light, and more human than Jessica in some ways. Especially toward the end of the series.

Kilgrave is also known as The Purple Man, so I chose to use really electric purples. I wanted to use the brightness and vibrancy of the palette as a sort of contrast to the elements of the double exposure: the invasive photographs of Jessica, the puppeteer-like nature of his power, and the way he makes people do things against their will. David Tennant brought a lot of life and almost humor to a villain who was doing some really dark things.

Jessica was a different story; she was a good person who had experienced a lot of tragedy that gave her a dark demeanor, which is why I painted her in that way. I made Hell's Kitchen a big portion of her double exposure because although she didn't want to admit it, she wanted to protect people -- she was on the city's side. The street names and street sign were a motif at the beginning of the show, where Jessica was using their recital as a coping mechanism. I included them because one of the things that stood out to me most was the fact that she had super-human strength, but she was also very vulnerable.

What do you enjoy about the show? Why do you think it's so popular and well-received?

I think my favorite things about the show may not be why the show is so well-received, but I like the focus on female lead characters and their complexities. The women in the show are strong, complicated characters with strengths and weaknesses. They're gritty, and I love that.

I love the on-screen gender stereotype switches that happen throughout the series. The female characters are the ones problem-solving. They don't turn to a man and say, "So what do we do now?" Men are the ones caught with their pants down and half-naked, and Jessica dominates Luke in sex scenes in a way that doesn't fetishize the character. Having said all this, I think the show switches the roles in a way that doesn't belittle or ostracize male audiences -- it's just a change that becomes very noticeable from a female perspective.

I also appreciate that the show touches on subjects that are still somewhat taboo. The grey areas and definitions of rape and abortion are two I distinctly remember.

How do you feel about Kilgrave? Why did you choose to illustrate him as well?

Ugh! Even having finished the series I have mixed feelings about Kilgrave. I pity him, I like him, I loathe him. His character is maniacal, but still shows human emotion: love, the want to be accepted, pain.

I think David Tennant makes an excellent villain. I really loved his performance in this series. He's just so charismatic! I found myself forgiving him when he tried to be with Jessica, and then I stopped myself, like, "Hold on, he is evil. He is the aggressor in an emotionally abusive and one-sided relationship. You can't like him!"

I chose to paint him because he is the other side of the story. Without him, would Jessica have found a larger purpose, or would she only have used her powers to protect herself and her loved ones? They are painted in profile so that they face each other, two examples of people who faced traumatic events and came out on opposite sides of the spectrum.

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