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Hopping Through Time With Ursula K. Le Guin

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In a 1966 novel, Ursula K. Le Guin wrote about a little device -- about the size of a lunchbox -- that allows its owner to communicate across land masses, even planets, in a flash. Though the ansible isn't currently a reality, we're constantly working to improve the speed with which we can deliver electronic information to far-flung readers. 


That Le Guin could even conceive of such a technology decades ago speaks to the powers of her imagination. "You move along with your time," she said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post, noting that some of the more radical concepts she penned in the 1990s would've never occurred to her when she set out to start writing.


Though she's lauded as a feminist novelist and poet who's used fictional societies to criticize gender norms, she admits that she was slow to grow into her own beliefs. After all, she was raised on the hard sci-fi of male physicists and engineers -- great books not unlike last year's The Martian, but far removed from her interests, which are centered on social sciences, anthropology and religion.


Over the phone -- a sort of proto-ansible -- the author discussed her development as a feminist, her thoughts on this year's Hugo Awards, and her concerns about Amazon. She punctuated most of her steadfast opinions with a good-humored laugh -- a reminder of the amusement and wonder that underlies so much of her work.


I wanted to ask a little about your slightly more recent stories -- in a story from the '90s, “Coming of Age in Karhide,” you return to the world of The Left Hand of Darkness, but explore the characters’ sexuality more closely. Why did you feel you were able to do this decades after the world was created?


Science-fiction was not doing sex, essentially. The sexuality of the Gethenians could be considered rather kinky back then. This was the late '60s. The '60s were swinging, but fiction in a way hadn’t really caught up. The whole idea of questioning the construction of gender, and the fact that people can be intergender, that was not being discussed then. So, to show this kind of sexuality which is different from human sexuality -- where people go into heat as it were, like an animal -- if it had been published back then, it would’ve been published as porn or something. So by the '90s, I could write what I couldn’t write in the '60s, and what, in a way, I couldn’t even fully imagine. You move along with your time.




By the 90s, I could write what I couldn’t write in the 60s, and what, in a way, I couldn’t even fully imagine. You move along with your time.

In a later story, “The Birthday of the World,” you created a female character whose name was God. There were all these elements of that story that were in some ways much more directly feminist than your earlier books. Why was that?


I was a kind of slow-developing feminist. There were a lot of people ahead of me in writing feminist fiction. But I did catch up slowly, and thoroughly. It’s not a matter of feminists waving some sort of banner, it’s just restoring a balance to fiction that was missing. Fiction was pretty thoroughly male, and male-centered. That’s like hopping along on one foot. I’d rather walk with both feet.


On that topic, did you follow any of the controversy surrounding Worldcon and the Hugo Awards this year?


Oh, yeah. How could you not follow something weird like that? These Puppy people. I think what they were mostly after was a great, big, flaming quarrel that science fiction has always been very good at. Everybody shouting insults at everybody else. [Laughs] It kind of fizzled. It sounds like the convention was actually very cheerful and happy. And the people they were attacking didn’t get out the fire bombs and throw them back. They sort of went on doing their thing, and George R.R. Martin was a very good influence on everybody. He was saying, "Come on, let’s not have one of these stupid wars."


Were you surprised this controversy was even happening in 2015?


No, no, no. There are always these insecure white guys. I’m afraid they’re sort of a fact of life.


I thought it tied in so neatly with the themes of many of your novels -- fear of difference between genders. Do you think that fear is receding at all?


It’s always been there. There’s always been this sort of retrograde pool within science-fiction as a field. The guys who want all the science to be what they call hard science. And for all the people to be white males. And for some reason they say, “It’s more fun that way!” Well, maybe for you boys! After all, science fiction was, for quite a while, kind of a boy engineer's toy set.


And your work is more influenced by social sciences -- anthropology, religion. Are you ever influenced by so-called hard science fiction?


Some very good stories were written in that tradition. In the '30s, '40s, '50s -- that’s when I was growing up. So, sure, I read it. There are some very fine short stories written purely within that tradition. The thing is, times change, and you can’t keep writing within one tradition for very long, or else it gets stale and stupid.


Along with more diverse authors and themes, some science-fiction writers have become more politically-oriented, using fantasy to highlight society’s problems. What is your opinion on more overtly political fiction?


Well, it’s such a complicated question. I hate to give a sweeping answer. I will just talk about my own practice. I think the less explicitly political fiction is, the less it’s aimed at some particular problem, the more effective it may be. It’s a matter of hiding a message. It’s a matter of not having a message at all, but just writing about something that concerns you very deeply, and putting your heart into it. I don’t think preachy stories and novels are ever anywhere as effective as novels written from the heart about something.


The personal is the political. That’s the old feminist mantra. But that means if you politicize your work, you are narrowing its focus. It may be intensely effective for a while, for some people. It will alienate other people, and it won’t mean anything 10 years from now. I don’t mean there’s anything wrong with having a message and delivering it, and using fiction to do it. But that’s just not what I really wanted to spend my time doing.


There are books like Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Lincoln said to Harriet Beecher Stowe, “You’re the little lady who caused the Civil War.” It is preachy, but it’s also absolutely written from the heart. She just felt so deeply that we were wronging ourselves by having slaves and making people slaves. Her passion still comes through after all these years. That’s the kind of book that, even if it’s preaching message, it hits something deeper, too. 




There’ve been an awful lot of dystopias lately. You can open a book and say, “Oh no, not again! Here we go, stumbling across the country while things die around us.” It’s boring!

I read a review you wrote of a dystopian book -- On Such a Full Sea -- where you argued dystopia is a limited form. Why do you think that is?


 [Laughs] Well, it is limited by its own nature. It’s about a certain type of world. There’ve been an awful lot of dystopias lately. You can open a book and say, “Oh no, not again! Here we go, stumbling across the country while things die around us.”It’s boring!


Do you have any insight into why they might be so wildly popular?


No, I don’t. I suspect it’s kind of connected with horror and zombies and all that. That people are scared, so they want to read fiction where they can be scared without any real reason to be. To sort of play at being scared instead of being really scared. I don’t read that stuff. I’ve never been able to read horror, so I don’t know why people do, but they sure do! And there are some good writers writing it. China Miéville, my God.


So which books do you love? I read somewhere that you differentiate between books that get into your head and the books that get into your bones.


I wonder what I meant. Of course, the books you read early, before 20, and love passionately, they get to you. Even if later on you can’t read them again. You were shaped by certain books. All of us that read a lot, we’re partly book-manufactured. It’s really hard to talk about the influence of such books on you because it goes so deep. It’s like, what was your father’s influence on you, what was your mother’s influence. How can you say? You grew up with it. So, you will find I dodge all questions about favorite books and so on. What does it matter what I like?


So, maybe a more pointed question about what you like to read. You’ve said you’re worried about writers like Grace Paley disappearing from the canon. Are there other women writers you believe deserve more acknowledgement?


You have to worry about all women fiction writers. The prizes go predominantly to men, even when the juries are women. Awards are tremendously important nowadays. Bookstores have whole shelves of books that won awards. You don’t win the award, you never get on those shelves. The university canon of what’s read in colleges has been very heavily male, and they still tend to sort of drop women out of it as soon as they die. And that’s exactly what I’m afraid of with Grace, whose work was never bestseller popular. It’s just that everybody who values really good fiction reads Grace Paley and goes, "Oh my God." There’s nobody like her. And that’s a problem for a writer, too. They can’t compare her to a well-known male name. Because there aren’t men who write anything like that. And I don’t know any women who do, either.


So it’s just my general worry, about all women writers, including myself. We go along happily in our lifetime, and then, poof! All of a sudden we have to be dug out by feminists 50 years later.




It’s just my general worry, about all women writers, including myself. We go along happily in our lifetime, and then, poof! All of a sudden we have to be dug out by feminists 50 years later.

Speaking of awards, I heard your wonderful speech about Amazon at The National Book Awards last year. You began the speech by saying, “Hard times are coming.” So, do you have any predictions for the future of bookselling and publishing if things continue as they are?


It’s so chaotic and uncertain now. And it has been for quite a while. I don’t think anybody honestly has any idea where it’s going. It’s important that no one entity of any kind -- and it’s likely to be a corporation, because that’s who’s governing us now -- be allowed to take control. It’s really bad when a government controls publishing, and it’s just as bad when a corporation does.


But, we’ll work out how to handle ebooks. Hopefully, we’ll preserve copyright in some way, so piracy isn’t so common and unpunishable. Piracy is just so easy, and our government is not defending copyright adequately. But where it’s all headed in the future, I don’t know.


Somehow or other you must feed the writer. It’s kind of like saying, we can give everybody a free automobile, but there isn’t any gas. There’s a lot of idealism behind the mantra, “Information wants to be free.” But there’s also a lot of self-deception or lying, because actually the people who make it there are supported by advertising. It isn’t free. And they are profiting. So it isn’t some lovely, hippie paradise.


You’ve said realism is a very grown-up form of literature, and that that may be its weakness. Do you think grown-up literature benefits, or could benefit, from a more childlike approach.


That’s very complicated. Childishness is not what we want in adult literature. You don’t even want it in kiddie lit.


Realism and imaginative fiction are intersecting more and more. This is great, because it puts a spirit back into realism -- it can get awfully heavy, full and grim. But fantasy can float off like a balloon. When they collaborate, when the fantasy is realistic in its details, that’s where we’re at in some of the best writing that’s being done now. And I like it very much. I just wish all the books weren’t 500 to 600 pages long. I have to get that in.


There are great, magical short stories being written, though!


Oh, sure. But the novels. Have you noticed? They’re these huge door stops. David Mitchell's, especially. Honestly, the last five novels that’ve been sent to me to blurb or review have been over 500 pages. 


I don’t like reading electronically, and I like to read lying down. When you get a 500 or 600-page novel on your stomach, it’s awfully heavy.


One of my very favorite forms of fiction is novella. A very long short story of a very short novel. It’s a beautiful length, you can do anything at that length. You can tell a really big story. And yet, a good reader can read it in an evening. And I really like that.


You’re releasing an updated book about craft, based on a seminar you’ve taught. Though it takes many skills to develop as a writer, which skill or asset would you say is most essential?


Commitment. And I stole that from Philip Glass. Somebody asked what it takes to be a composer, and he just thought a second, and said, “Commitment.”


Also on HuffPost:


 


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Fate Of Palmyra’s Temple Of Bel Unclear After ISIS Explosion

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BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian official in charge of antiquities said Monday his government has not been able to determine how much damage an explosion near the ancient Temple of Bel caused the ancient structure in the militant-controlled city of Palmyra.


Activists, including a resident of the city, said an Islamic State bombing extensively damaged the 2,000-year old temple Sunday. The resident described a massive explosion, adding that he saw pictures of the damage but could not get near the site.


Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in Damascus, said that "undoubtedly" a large explosion took place near the temple, which lies in a sprawling Roman-era complex. But he said the extent of the damage remains unclear.


An Islamic State operative told The Associated Press over Skype on Monday that the temple had been destroyed, without elaborating. He spoke on condition of anonymity because members of the group are not allowed to speak to journalists.


The extremists destroyed the smaller Temple of Baalshamin in the complex last week. It posted images of the destruction days later.



Amr Al-Azm, a former Syrian government antiquities official who now is a professor at Shawnee State University in Ohio, said he believed a very large amount of explosives was used and the damage to the Temple of Bel is likely extensive. However, he cautioned that information remains scarce.


"This is the most devastating act yet in my opinion. It truly demonstrates ISIS's ability to act with impunity and the impotence of the international community to stop them," al-Azm said, using another acronym for the group.


The temple, dating back to 32 AD, shows a unique merging of ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman architecture. It is dedicated to the Semitic God of Bel and is considered one of the most important religious buildings of the first century. The temple consists of a central shrine within a colonnaded courtyard with a large gateway, and lies within a complex that has other ruins, including an amphitheater and some tombs.


Palmyra was one of the important markets and caravan cities of the Roman Empire, linking it to India, China, Persia— something reflected in the city's arts and architecture.


Also on HuffPost:


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You Can Buy An Old Menu From The Actual Titanic For Just $50,000

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NEW YORK (AP) — The Titanic's last lunch menu — saved by a passenger who climbed aboard the so-called "Money Boat" before the ocean liner went down — is going to auction, where it's estimated it will bring $50,000 to $70,000.


The online New York auctioneer Lion Heart Autographs is offering the menu and two other previously unknown artifacts from Lifeboat 1 on Sept. 30. The auction marks the 30th anniversary of the wreckage's discovery at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.


Abraham Lincoln Salomon was one of a handful of first-class passengers who boarded the lifeboat — dubbed the "Money Boat" or "Millionaire's Boat" by the press because of unfounded rumors one of them bribed seven crew members to quickly row the boat away from the sinking ship rather than rescue others.


The menu, which listed corned beef, dumplings and other savory items, is signed on the back in pencil by another first-class passenger, Isaac Gerald Frauenthal, who escaped on another lifeboat. It's believed the two men lunched together that fateful day in 1912.


Salomon also took away a printed ticket from the Titanic's opulent Turkish baths, which recorded a person's weight when seated in a specially designed upholstered lounge chair. It bears the names of three of the five other first-class passengers with him on Lifeboat 1. One of four weighing-chair tickets known to exist, it's estimated it will bring $7,500 to $10,000.



The third artifact is a letter written by Mabel Francatelli to Salomon on New York's Plaza Hotel stationery six months after the disaster. She had climbed into the No. 1 lifeboat with her employer, aristocratic fashion designer Lucy Duff-Gordon and her Scottish husband Lord Cosmo Duff-Gordon, who it was alleged bribed the crew to row them to safety in the boat that had a capacity of 40.


The Duff-Gordons, who were the only passengers to testify about the disaster, were cleared by the British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry, which determined that they did not deter the crew from attempting to rescue other people but that others might have been saved if the boat had turned around.


A letter by Lady Duff-Gordon grumbling about the "disgraceful" treatment they received from the press and public upon their return to England sold at an auction in Boston earlier this year for nearly $12,000.


"We do hope you have now quite recovered from the terrible experience," Francatelli wrote to Salomon. "I am afraid our nerves are still bad, as we had such trouble & anxiety added to our already awful experience by the very unjust inquiry when we arrived in London." It's estimated it will sell for $4,000 to $6,000.


Lion Heart Autographs says the seller is the son of a man who was given the items by a direct descendent of one of the survivors of Lifeboat 1.





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I Went Undercover As A Topless Performer In Times Square

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A little girl in a hot pink T-shirt looks up at me as if staring at a princess. “You’re so pretty! Can I take a selfie with you?” she asks.


“Of course!” I say, crouching down so my feathered headdress and star-spangled painted boobs fit into the picture, her little brother also squeezing in.

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The Beatiful, Dark And Very Twisted Fantasies Of Surrealist Pierre Molinier

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Warning: We're serious. It gets (gloriously) dirty down there.



At the age of 50, well before his death in 1976, French photographer Pierre Molinier fashioned himself an imaginary grave. It read: "Here lies Pierre Molinier born on 13 April 1900 -- died around 1950 -- He was a man without morals -- He didn’t give a fuck of glory and honour -- Useless to pray for him."


"The Temptations of Pierre Molinier," currently on view at London's Richard Saltoun Gallery, revisits the work of one of the most giddily depraved photographers of all time. I'm talking seriously perverse, like claiming to pleasure himself on his sister's corpse perverse. But, of course, this deranged kinkiness constitutes the infectious magic of Molinier's work, bored with questions of authenticity and morality, instead intrigued by the endless possibility of multiplied, mutated and tangled limbs. 


Molinier's photographs, mostly made in the 1960s and '70s, are black-and-white vignettes, granular glimpses into dark fantasies enacted and made flesh. Most of his smallscale, home-developed silver gelatin prints depict Molinier himself, dressed in drag and drenched in shadow. Fishnets, high heels, corsets, doll masks, dildos, guns, bound feet and exposed bodies -- such fetishistic objects appeared constantly throughout the work.



Molinier was born in 1900 in Agen, France, though he spent most of his life in Bordeaux. He was trained as a house painter and later became interested in art, working mostly in realistic painted landscapes. He explored different movements, testing the waters of Impressionism, abstraction and Symbolism. The latter provided the most inspiration, mainly when coupled with Satanic rituals and ancient Egyptian religions.



It was in 1955 that Molinier met Andre Breton, one of the most promising living Surrealists of the time. Soon after, Molinier pinpointed a purpose for his artistic ventures -- in his words: "for my own stimulation." 


At times, Molinier meant this quite literally. He managed to fashion a set of stocks that enabled him to practice auto-fellatio, which he would perform while releasing the camera's shutter. He would have sex with dolls he was photographing and use his sperm to mix color pigments. He'd use his body parts to manipulate his negatives, very manually.




In the images himself, Molinier also indulged in a heavy dose of eroticism. In one photo, he sticks a dildo inside himself while donning a masquerade veil. In others, he collaged multiple images of himself -- some in drag, some from years prior, some themselves a mashup of male and female parts, into nonsensical, fantastical orgies, available only on film.


Through his photographic peepholes, Molinier invited viewers into the boudoir of his dreams and nightmares, not quite summoning them but thrusting access upon them, plunging down their throats images that can't easily be unseen. Molinier was joyfully perverse, and wanted his viewers to be, as well. In fact, he didn't give them much of a choice. 


Molinier used the camera to create theatrical realities that otherwise would have been impossible. Namely, making love to himself -- as both man and woman, dominatrix and succuba, self and stranger. "At the core of his art," Adrian Searle wrote in The Guardian, "his transvestism signaled the merging of sexes, a multiplication of organs and limbs and selves. He became the object of his own desire, a self that was other."



Molinier's influence on future artists is everywhere -- in the piercing eroticism of Robert Mapplethorpe, the brutal intensity of Ron Athey, the shapeshifting selfies of Cindy Sherman, the masked provocations of Narcissister, the power-pleasure plays of FKA twigs


Another icon hugely impacted by Molinier's work is Genesis BREYER P-ORRIDGE, the avant-avant-garde artist known for merging genders and identities with her late lover, Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge. Molinier's interest in proliferating the self, and masking it as other, was central to P-ORRIDGE's work. "The irreversible compulsion of Molinier’s montages, where men become women, become clones of themselves, become animalistic, become erotic, become gross, become romantic, generates a maelstrom of fluid possibilities," the artist explained to The Huffington Post in an earlier interview.


"We are in the eye of his tornado, red slippers flash past, a witch, a dildo, a mask always a mask. Pierre Molinier insists we face the impenetrable fact of our obliteration,"P-ORRIDGE continued. "Yet simultaneously he describes a frolicking masqued ball, a carnival of interchangeable characters. All of who can be him and equally therefore all can be ourselves as well."


"The Temptations of Pierre Molinier" runs until October 2, 2015 at Richard Saltoun Gallery in London.



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The Menu From The Titanic's Last Lunch Is Going Up For Auction

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NEW YORK (AP) — The Titanic's last lunch menu — saved by a passenger who climbed aboard the so-called "Money Boat" before the ocean liner went down — is going to auction, where it's estimated it will bring $50,000 to $70,000.


The online New York auctioneer Lion Heart Autographs is offering the menu and two other previously unknown artifacts from Lifeboat 1 on Sept. 30. The auction marks the 30th anniversary of the wreckage's discovery at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.


Abraham Lincoln Salomon was one of a handful of first-class passengers who boarded the lifeboat — dubbed the "Money Boat" or "Millionaire's Boat" by the press because of unfounded rumors one of them bribed seven crew members to quickly row the boat away from the sinking ship rather than rescue others.



 The menu, which listed corned beef, dumplings and other savory items, is signed on the back in pencil by another first-class passenger, Isaac Gerald Frauenthal, who escaped on another lifeboat. It's believed the two men lunched together that fateful day in 1912.


Salomon also took away a printed ticket from the Titanic's opulent Turkish baths, which recorded a person's weight when seated in a specially designed upholstered lounge chair. It bears the names of three of the five other first-class passengers with him on Lifeboat 1. One of four weighing-chair tickets known to exist, it's estimated it will bring $7,500 to $10,000.


The third artifact is a letter written by Mabel Francatelli to Salomon on New York's Plaza Hotel stationery six months after the disaster. She had climbed into the No. 1 lifeboat with her employer, aristocratic fashion designer Lucy Duff-Gordon and her Scottish husband Lord Cosmo Duff-Gordon, who it was alleged bribed the crew to row them to safety in the boat that had a capacity of 40.



The Duff-Gordons, who were the only passengers to testify about the disaster, were cleared by the British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry, which determined that they did not deter the crew from attempting to rescue other people but that others might have been saved if the boat had turned around.


A letter by Lady Duff-Gordon grumbling about the "disgraceful" treatment they received from the press and public upon their return to England sold at an auction in Boston earlier this year for nearly $12,000.



"We do hope you have now quite recovered from the terrible experience," Francatelli wrote to Salomon. "I am afraid our nerves are still bad, as we had such trouble & anxiety added to our already awful experience by the very unjust inquiry when we arrived in London." It's estimated it will sell for $4,000 to $6,000.


Lion Heart Autographs says the seller is the son of a man who was given the items by a direct descendent of one of the survivors of Lifeboat 1.


Also on HuffPost:


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What A School Talent Show Taught Goldie Hawn About Perfection

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To most people, Goldie Hawn is known as an actress, a mother and a woman who knows who she is. But before the 69-year-old became one of Hollywood's most famous faces, she was something else: an aspiring dancer.


As a child, Goldie adored dancing. She began taking classes when she was 3 years old and fell in love, dancing several days a week. Soon after she started, Goldie couldn't envision a future that didn't include dance, and she had her sights set on it being her chosen profession someday.


"Dancing was the most extraordinary experience of my life," she tells "Oprah's Master Class" in the above video. "After school, recitals, performances -- it was the very thing that I knew I was going to do when I grew up."


Goldie's parents were also supportive of their daughter's dream to pursue dancing and recognized both her drive and talent. "I'd bring home a C in school, but they weren't too worried about it because they knew, basically, what my vocation was going to be from early on," Goldie says with a smile.



 
So, when Goldie's third-grade talent show came around, she knew just what she would be doing on the school stage.


"I was going to just dance and arabesque and jump and sauté and twirl," she says. "You know, I had no routine."


Goldie was completely comfortable improvising on stage to the music, until her teacher said something that made the blood drain from her face. "Mrs. Toomey said, 'Now, boys and girls, I want everybody to be perfect!'" Goldie recalls.


Being a child and therefore quite literal, Goldie immediately became concerned. "I went, 'Oh, Mrs. Toomey, I'm not perfect,'" she says. "Then my brain just went into overdrive. I just lost it."


Goldie's mother noticed how upset she was and asked what happened.


"I said, 'Mom, I'm not perfect... Mrs. Toomey said that I had to be perfect, and I'm not perfect,'" Goldie says. "Mrs. Toomey came in and my mother said to her, basically, 'What the hell are you talking about, you have to be perfect? We can't tell our children they have to be perfect because, you know what, nothing's perfect!'"



 


Even after her mother had stepped in, Goldie had butterflies in her stomach when she went on stage on the day of the talent show.


"I was so nervous. I still had this idea that perfection was something that I had to achieve," she says. "But when they played the music, I forgot everything, and I danced. I had the best time. And my mother was sitting out there, giving me the thumbs-up. I knew that I could fly to the beat, to the tone, to what I hear, of my own drum. I wanted to feel the expression of the music, freely, unencumbered."


The dance didn't just make Goldie feel free; it also had an impact on her teacher.


"I looked down and Mrs. Toomey was sobbing!" Goldie says.


That moving talent show may have been decades ago, but its lesson is something Goldie continues to carry with her.


"Even today, I don't like anything perfect. It's sort of [like] being encaged with a concept," Goldie says. "Living in fear of not being perfect is something that actually can destabilize us and narrow our scope of life experience. The idea that we walk around with the idea of perfection? Nothing is perfect."


More: Goldie on the most important thing a parent can do for a child


"Oprah's Master Class" returns for its fifth season on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m. ET. Upcoming masters include Ellen DeGeneres, Robert Duvall, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, Smokey Robinson, Jeff Bridges, James Taylor and Patti LaBelle.


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13 Words That Have Been Turned Into Baby Names

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Nameberry

With "word" names from GenesisJustice, Miracle and Heaven now used for thousands of children every year, we wonder where the trend of turning words into baby names will go next. These names from the 2014 Social Security list are our picks for the most interesting words that parents are using as baby names. 


Alias



Given that Alias means an assumed name, this choice used for 28 boys last year feels particularly meta. A related name: Cypher, used for eight little boys. We like Genuine, a name given to five baby boys.


Awesome


Eight little boys born last year can say with all sincerity, “I’m Awesome.” Add to that the 25 girls who are Savvy, the 15 each who are Honest and Holy, 11 kids who can call themselves Majestic, nine boys named Wise and six who are Handsome.


Boss 


Every parent who’s survived life with a newborn knows who’s the Boss, so why not come right out and choose it as your baby’s name? Twelve boys were called Boss last year, with another 26 named Captain, 16 called Chief, and 12 named Master. On the girls’ side, there were 24 little Goddesses, along with 10 named Czarina.


Couture



The world of fashion has been highly influential on baby names, with hundreds of parents naming children after such designers such as Chanel and Armani, models such as Gisele and Elle, and even fabrics like Denim and Velvet. There were 19 boys named Styles in 2014 and nine named Stylez, along with eight girls given the high-fashion name Couture.


Gamble


Five boys were named Gamble last year. Fifty-four boys and 11 girls were named Lucky, while the parents of nine girls decided to go with Trust and another nine chose Fate. Seven girls were called Victorious and six emerged as Winner.


Halo



Some of the parents who chose to name their 22 baby boys Halo may have inspired by the video game, but we’re going to focus instead on the beautiful Beyonce song as well as that circular thing angels have over their heads. Word names that relate to all things heavenly have long been popular, with Heaven Number 338 in the U.S. for girls and Nevaeh -- Heaven spelled backwards – all the way up at Number 65.


Harsh


There’s a legion of tough new names on the march, and Harsh, used for 18 boys last year, is one of the, well, harshest. There were also eight boys named Ruckus, six named Mayhem, five named Furious and another five called Rage.


Indica and Sativa


Indica and Sativa are the two main varieties of weed. Indica was used as a name for 26 baby girls last year, while Sativa was given to 14 girls. Interestingly, no baby girls were named Marijuana, which is a previously established name. Lest you worry the boys were left out, six baby boys were name Kilo.


Kindle



It’s an electronic reading device and now it’s a baby name, used for 15 baby girls last year. We’re not sure what makes Kindle an exclusively female choice, except perhaps its resemblance to Kendall. Surprisingly, there were no babies named Amazon though 19 girls were called Apple… and ten named Lemon.


Remedy


We suspect that at least some of the 27 parents who named their baby girls Remedy were more attracted to its sound than its meaning. While Remedy may be upbeat in that it’s a cure for what ails you, it seems unusual to name a baby after something you can buy in the pharmacy.


Shanty


A Shanty is a rickety shack and it’s also a name given to six baby girls. Fourteen girls were called Sham, 12 boys were called Shade, ten girls were named Sway and five called Southern. As names, these S-starting choices are all very Shiny -- itself used for five baby girls.


Zeppelin 



This name may be inspired by the band Led Zeppelin or just the giant floating blimp. Interestingly, 42 baby boys and 11 girls were given this name in 2014.


 


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Chemical-Soaked Photographs Explore The Wild Realities Of Polluted Places

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According to his online biography, artist Brandon Seidler grew up in a part of New Jersey "where the ocean and the mountains met," a place that taught him to see the beauty in imperfections. These days, those early imperfections take center stage in Seidler's career as a photographer. His hallucinatory series, "Impure," features landscapes that appear to be ripped straight from a vintage science-fiction film, with colors and shapes blending in ways both creepily familiar and altogether alien.


But sci-fi they are not. Seidler captures real places, mostly lands in and around New Jersey and the Hudson River, that have been historically contaminated by various chemical pollutants. He then takes his photographic negatives and soaks them in the very same chemicals found to be befouling the bodies of water and land he's documenting. The results attempt to reveal the tainted realities of America's natural havens.



"I started this project my senior year at Ramapo College of New Jersey," Seidler explained to The Huffington Post. "Originally I was just taking pictures and finding ways to alter the camera or film with chemicals. After a few critiques I decided that I needed to add something to my images to help give them meaning, and that’s when I decided to research chemical spills in the area and pair those chemicals with the film negatives."


Even prior to college, Seidler had become interested in chemistry and the various environmental issues plaguing his home state, inspired by his marine biologist sister and chemical engineer grandfather. "Impure" proved to be a good way to blend these interests with art, allowing the photographer to embark upon an impassioned process of trial and error. After snapping photos of mountains and oceans, using at first disposable cameras and then a Nikon F100, he would introduce chemicals from those sites into his negatives in a variety of ways -- mixing, spraying, submerging, painting -- never really knowing how they would interact.



"At first I would submerge the negatives into the chemicals," he elaborated. "I later tried spraying chemicals onto the negatives, painting the chemicals on, and mixing the chemicals with the film in a sealed container so that the chemicals become bubbly and frothy." Aesthetically, he was looking for asymmetry, unique pairings and loud colors.


"I find that the images I gravitate towards the most are loud and vibrant," he added. "I like colors that grab your eye and stand out from the environment. I like how unpredictable the end results look, and love when lots of contrasting colors are left on the negatives creating some fun combinations. I also love the images that stand out with broken symmetry ... For me, it’s all about mismatched sides and unpredictable images so that every part of the image is new and unexpected."



But in a broader sense, beyond the visuals, he hoped those viewing his images would ask themselves: "If these are the effects the chemicals have on film, what are the effects it will have on nature?" 


According to EPA research from 2014, there were 1,770 instances where contaminants had tainted waters across the state of New Jersey, with PCBs, arsenic, phosphorus and low dissolved oxygen ranking among the most common pollutants. And while we might not always be able to physically assess the damage that manmade toxins are wreaking on our shores -- save for the dark contamination of a massive oil spill -- Seidler's photos help us visualize the ways events like fertilizer runoff and chemical spillage are infiltrating natural spaces. Slowly and gradually, but ever impactful.


Seidler has been using social media to gauge the impact of his own photographs, eventually turning to Kickstarter with hopes of turning his most "liked" images into a book chock full of research and art. "I also have another project in mind," he told us, "where I would like to move from landscapes to portraits, and interview subjects to find out what kinds of products they use on a daily basis. I think it would be fun to explore the chemicals we put on our bodies on a daily basis."


For more on Seidler's work, head over to his Facebook and Instagram accounts, or check out a preview of "Impure" below.








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How The 'Art Hoe' Movement Is Redefining The Selfie For Black Teens

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If you've never heard or seen the phrase "art hoe" before, it might seem a little jarring. The term has been popular on the Internet and social media platforms for at least a year, but recently, it was introduced to a wider audience as a new movement in which women of color are revolutionizing the selfie as an art form.  


Searching the phrase "art hoe" on Tumblr, Instagram, or Twitter, will bring up an array of brilliantly colorful, creative selfies by young people of color around the world. Many of these selfies feature their subjects posing in art museums and in front of important works of arts. Others feature the selfie-takers in front of superimposed images from pieces by Monet or Van Gogh. Others simply include a few well-placed Keith Haring-esque flourishes and squiggles. All of them are fly as hell. 




A photo posted by SBP (@sensitiveblackperson) on


 Art hoe co-founder, Mars 


According to Dazed Digital, the term "art hoe" was originally coined by rapper Babeo Baggins, while the art hoe aesthetic and movement was founded and popularized by teen artist and blogger Mars, in collaboration with fellow creator Jam. The 15-year-old Mars, who identifies as genderfluid, has described the art hoe movement as an opportunity to shift paradigms and redefine blackness by challenging stereotypes about people of color.  


From just a few selfies posted to their Tumblr, "art hoe" has expanded into an entire movement and collective, consisting of young people of color from all over the world. For the collective, the art hoe movement is an opportunity to give power to marginalized groups. 


"This isn't a popularity contest. I and a myriad of others don't have a mass following," Arthoecollective curator Sandra told The Huffington Post via email. "We have a personal understanding of what it's like to be excluded... and we made this movement to make a space for that."



A photo posted by SBP (@sensitiveblackperson) on




                                                        Art hoe co-founder, Jam 


Thus far the movement has supporters like Willow Smith and Amandla Stenberg, and is generating interest in both the art and music worlds. Naturally, anything cool and hop and different (and black) prompts curiosity and eventually imitation -- already, the art hoe tag now includes a growing number of participants who are non-black or non-POC. But it's important to remember the impetus behind the movement -- giving a platform for marginalized young people to express themselves fully and honestly. 


 Much has been written in the defense of the selfie as an empowering form of self-love and self validation. The art hoe selfie, then, is a kind of radical and revolutionary statement of acceptance of blackness and otherness, recontextualizing what is "art" and what is "beautiful" by giving people of color of all genders and expressions the ability to control their own images and identities. "Art-hoeism" has now gone beyond the simple idea of the selfie -- it's a political movement as much as an aesthetic one. 


"Honestly my goals start and end with representation and self love/acceptance," co-founder Jam told The Huffington Post. "Seeing a disabled trans black woman superimposing herself over a white man's painting saying 'I am here, I have worth, and my existence and art matters!' is so wildly radical and revolutionary." 


 The Art Hoe Collective is an inclusive space for disabled, POC, non-binary, LGBT and other underrepresented communities. To submit art/stories/concerns contact arthoecoreps@gmail.com. For more info on the art hoe movement visit the collective's official Instagram: Arthoecollective.


 


T R U E. R O M A N C E.

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A photo posted by Marie (@s.m00n) on





 


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These Rare Photos Of 19th-Century Black Citizens Are Revolutionary

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- Some faces are pensive; others are proud. Some are known; others are obscure. All are black.


Rare, striking and never-before-seen portraits of black citizens in Victorian-era England are going on display for the first time in the U.S., and organizers say the photographs have a powerful message for contemporary Americans riven by racism.


"There's a healing aspect to seeing these exquisite images," said Vera Ingrid Grant, director of the Cooper Gallery of African & African-American Art at Harvard University. The show, "Black Chronicles II," opens there Wednesday and runs through Dec. 11.


"It changes our perceptions of the past, and can reverberate and change how we view the present," she said.



Researchers found the trove of glass plates wrapped in brown paper and tied with string in storage at London's Hulton Archive. Originally snapped well over a century ago and an ocean away, they debunk any notion that Britons of African heritage were all but invisible in 19th-century society.


Life-size black-and-white prints are interspersed with small snapshots, some culled from privately owned collections. They show ordinary people and a few minor celebrities posing for portraits in their Sunday best. Sequential shots capture a few playfully mugging for the box cameras that made the images, just as today's wedding guests might goof around in a festive photo booth.


Together, they help write what Grant calls "a missing chapter" - that blacks of the era not only were very present in daily public life, but also prospered and enjoyed a certain dignity and social status.


Many of the more than 100 photographs on display were taken for "cartes de visite," or calling cards: small, wildly popular postcards with an emblematic image and a splash of text. Much like a modern Facebook profile, they were designed to sum up the essence of a person.


"How many of these stories were hidden in the attic and never saw the light of day? Look what was covered up," said Grant.



The show, curated by London-based arts agency Autograph ABP, depicts both ordinary and prominent citizens: artists, dignitaries, military personnel, missionaries, students, businessmen and international royalty.


Among the better-known subjects are Sarah Forbes Bonetta, born in Sierra Leone and a goddaughter to Queen Victoria; Prince Alemayehu of Ethiopia, who was taken to Britain as a young boy after his father killed himself following defeat by the British; and heavyweight boxing champion Peter Jackson of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which belonged to Denmark at the time.


"At the heart of the exhibition is the desire to resurrect black figures from oblivion and reintroduce them into contemporary consciousness," said Renee Mussai, curator and head of archives at Autograph ABP.


Grant believes the British photographs have more to say to Americans battling a resurgence of racism, racial profiling and white-on-black police brutality.


She also hopes the show will inspire researchers to dig deeper into the role of blacks in U.S. photographic history.


"The full narrative of Africans in the world is an untold story," she said. "There are similar excavations to be done here. The archive in America has not been fully delved into. The presence of these photographs says, `What's waiting for us here?'"


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Hi, Internet, Here's The Best Way To Hate On Miley Cyrus

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Guys, it's important that we gather as an Internet to collectively criticize Miley Cyrus today, but there's a right and a wrong way to do that. Here, "wrong" means "shamelessly paternalistic." Let's make sure we enjoy this moment of virtual catharsis without any sexism, okay?


Now, Cyrus's hosting job last night was precisely the personification of a cultural appropriation think piece we expected. She wore her hair in dreads, spoke in a "blaccent" and referred to her grandmother as "mammy." Yet, when Nicki Minaj called her out for her comments to The New York Times, she turned into a shruggy emoji. "We're all in this industry," she snapped back, dismissing Minaj not unlike she'd dismiss Kanye West for his Video Vanguard speech later in the evening.


"Oh, prominent black artists," she seems to think, flipping her matted pony tail. "So funny and animated! LOL drugs and stuff."



Cyrus accessorizes herself with black culture like she's ordering from a menu à la carte. The whole thing may as well be the McDonald's drive thru after she's smoked some marijuana: she'll have the grills and the twerking; hold the institutionalized racism, please. 


Even that drag show at the end, while certainly not her worst infraction to date, felt a bit icky. As Roxane Gay tweeted, "The way she parades The Other in her performances is truly uncomfortable."


But this is all so obvious. The number of think pieces being published, even as you read this particular think piece, surpasses the total number of individual glitter specks that covered Miley's private parts last night.


That's the other thing the Internet is talking about this morning: Miley Cyrus' tits. To be fair, she talked about them, too. She thought it was hilarious when she wore pants mid-way through the evening. One of her outfits was made of just Mentos and Saran wrap. We were threatened with a "nip slip" before the show even started. 


There's a sense -- a perhaps not entirely wrong sense -- that Cyrus does all this to be shocking. Although, she has made some valid statements about the way we police women's bodies: "America's actually fine with tits," she told Jimmy Kimmel matter-of-factly last Wednesday. "It's nipples they don't like."


As I told "So POPular" host Janet Mock, Miley's 7-year-old, lost-at-a-rave aesthetic diminishes her overall impact, but she has a point. The stigmatization of the nipple is one of the clearest ways we control female sexuality. Show us your boobs, but God forbid we catch sight of that devil's paw print of an areola.



So, yeah, there's a lot going on here. Almost as much as whatever was going on in all of her Dov Charney for Party City ensembles Sunday night. There's Miley the Minstrel Show and Miley the Beacon for Sex Positivity. It's too nuanced for our typical outrage culture. How can we be feminists and eschew racism simultaneously? (Well, the white feminists are probably all set there either way, but what about those of us with awareness of intersectionality?!)


One solution would be calling out the specific issues instead of hurling pitch forks at the person as an entity. But that's ridiculous! We're the Internet! That's like asking for there to be a logical reason why grown-ass, successful woman Mariska Hargitay is part of Taylor Swift's girl squad. Rationality, who has the time?


Still, there is an ethics to discussing all that is capital-P Problematic with Cyrus. The way she capitalizes on otherness is tasteless at best and fully racist at worst. But questioning her promiscuity or asking what her dad thinks of the whole thing would be misogynistic bullshit even if she did her opening monologue in full black face. Holding Miley accountable for her bigoted nonsense is valid. Belittling her sexuality to do so is participating in another realm of oppression.


A more interesting way to parse together her polarizing presence is the effect of Cyrus being so complexly "laid back." She's both good laid back (accepting! sex positive!) and bad laid back (flippant, ignorant). And yet, from sexual liberation to cultural appropriation, it's less likely that she's thinking critically about any of the concepts we are reading on to her than the supposition that a mere wig was able to disguise her identity in "Hannah Montana."  


That doesn't make the dialogue in either space less valid, just something to take note of while we write our 140-character thesis statements. There are other stars who are champions in one realm and a disgrace in another. Amy Schumer, for example, is great at feminism and an embarrassment when it comes to dealing with race. Although, that's not a precise comparison, because she's a writer, with a deliberately crafted mission and message. Cyrus's presence is more hapless and chaotic than most other examples. Her destruction is forceful and unmeditated, like the corrosion caused by acid rain. Except it's a racist, sexually-empowered sequin rain. And that's probably worse.


If it helps at all, hive mind, know that probably the only part of Cyrus' brand that she's explicitly worked to build is the weed-smoking thing. Did you notice that at all during the VMAs? Yeah! Weed, weed, weed. She doesn't care what you say, she loves to smoke weed. It's pretty edgy. Weed.


Correction: A previous version of this article confused innocuous late-night Jimmies. Cyrus spoke with Kimmel not Fallon.

 

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Here's What Trump Would Look Like As Various Disney Villains

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What has the bewigged thumb we call Donald Trump been up to lately?


Notably, he's clarified that his proposed fence along the U.S.-Mexican border is not actually a fence but a wall, and those who ignore the distinction are foolish mortals. He's not -- seriously, not -- interested in buying an Argentinian soccer team, but remains very interested in bullying the second-eldest Bush progeny. He continues to spew hateful and ignorant comments about women and minorities


Is any of that "evil"? Probably not quite. Maybe. Yet as an experiment in thought and graphics, the pseudonymous artist Saint Hoax decided to reimagine some iconic villains from our childhoods with the paunchy face of Donald Trump. 


Voilà.



A photo posted by Saint Hoax (@sainthoax) on








 


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Everything You Need To Decorate Your Home Is In Your Pocket

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Oh, Instagram -- that beautiful, tricky minx. It inspires anxiety over missing out on everything at the same time, while simultaneously dishing out some of the most inspiring ideas on how to decorate your humble abode.


Here at HuffPost, we love tapping into IG's most creative accounts for inspiration, whether they belong to interior designers, brand consultants, rug collectors or menswear directors.


Follow them, and we promise you'll feel refreshed when their pictures pop up between your frenemy's latest scone selfie or Chihuahua portrait (not that there's anything wrong with those). Your home will appreciate it.



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The Single Most Important Question You Can Ask Yourself

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What’s your life story?

I don’t mean where you grew up, went to school, got your first job, etc. I mean what’s your STORY? What narrative have you constructed from the events of your life? And do you know that this is the single most important question you can ask yourself?

According to the fascinating field of “narrative psychology,” the stories we tell about ourselves are the key to our well-being. If you’ve interpreted the events of your life to mean that you’re unlucky or unwise, it’s hard to look optimistically at the future. Conversely, if you acknowledge that you’ve made mistakes and faced difficulties but seek (or have already glimpsed) redemption, you’ll feel a much greater sense of agency over your life.

That time you were laid off, for example, is it further proof that your career’s going nowhere? Or is it the best thing that ever happened, liberating you to find work that suits you better?

What about your divorce? Is it a sign you’re unlucky in love or a difficult passage to a more hopeful romance?

The idea is not to delude yourself that bad things are actually good. It is, instead, to find meaning in the progression from one event to the next. It is to recognize that everything constantly changes. In your life, you will move from triumph to heartbreak to boredom and back again, sometimes in the space of a single day. What are you to make of so many emotions, so many events?

The facts matter less than the narrative.

Once upon a time, an 18-year-old Frenchwoman named Sophie Serrano gave birth to a baby girl, who suffered from neonatal jaundice.

The baby spent her first days in an incubator under artificial light and was returned to her mother four days later. Unbeknownst to Sophie, it wasn’t her baby. It was another 4-day-old with jaundice. The nurse had switched the babies by accident.

Sophie named her daughter Manon. As she grew older, Manon looked nothing like her parents. She had darker skin and frizzy hair, and the neighbors started to gossip about her origins.

But Sophie never faltered. The nurse had explained that the artificial light used to treat jaundice could affect hair color. Even more, Sophie loved Manon. She knew the story of her life: her cries, her coos, her first words.

It was only when Sophie’s husband accused her of giving birth to another man’s baby that she went for paternity tests and discovered that her husband was right (sort of). The baby, then aged 10, wasn’t his, but she wasn’t Sophie’s either. She belonged to another set of parents, who had been raising Sophie’s biological daughter in a town several miles away.

It’s a typically fascinating “switched at birth” tale. But here’s where it takes an unexpected turn.

A meeting was arranged for the two mothers and their daughters. Sophie saw that her biological daughter looked just like her in a way that Manon did not and never would.

But she felt no connection to this other girl. It was Manon she had nursed, Manon whose nightmares she’d soothed, and Manon whose stories she knew. This other daughter looked just like Sophie—but what did that even mean, when she didn’t know her stories? The other mother felt the same way.

“It is not the blood that makes a family,” Ms. Serrano told The New York Times (where I read this story). “What makes a family is what we build together, what we tell each other.”

Our stories are everything. They are the heart of love and of meaning.

--------
So what is your story? Are you telling the right one? And are you telling it to the right people?

Here are three sets of people to tell your stories to:

1. “Declare yourself” to your colleagues at work.Doug Conant, the much-admired former CEO of Campbell Soup and founder of Conant Leadership (and one of my favorite people), is an introvert who’s not inclined to schmooze and self-disclose. So he scheduled “Declare Yourself” meetings, one at a time, with each of his direct reports. The purpose of these meetings was to tell his employees his story: how he liked to work, his management philosophy, and the things and people that mattered to him most. (We at Quiet Revolution are partnering with Conant Leadership to develop a “Declare Yourself” tool that you can use with your colleagues. Stay tuned on that.)

2. Share your stories with your family. A few weeks ago, I told my 7-year-old son about a story I’m writing for kids. I mentioned that I’d been working on this story for months. “How come you never told me before?” he wanted to know. He was genuinely shocked—maybe even a little hurt—that I’d kept the plot points to myself. “I guess I didn't think you'd be interested,” I told him truthfully. He is obsessed with soccer and ice hockey, and mine is a story of girls, time travel, and shyness. But it bothered him that I had a story I’d chosen not to mention. From now on, I’ll err on the side of sharing the things I dream up even if they have nothing to do with soccer balls and hockey pucks.

3. Tell your story to yourself—and make sure you tell the right one. If you’re having trouble constructing an honest yet positive life narrative, here is an exercise to help you. Just ask yourself these three things:

  • Can you think of an early part of your life when you felt strong and happy? If you had a difficult childhood or other challenges that prevent you from identifying this starting place, try thinking of the time when you were still cradled in the womb.

  • What was the challenge, or series of challenges, that came along to threaten your strength and peace?

  • Can you find meaning in these challenges? You don’t need a classic happy ending as long as you’ve found meaning. And don’t worry if you’re not there yet. Just think of the outcome you’d like to see one day. And remember the words of mythologist Joseph Campbell: “Where you stumble is where your treasure lies.”


Want to share your story? I'd love to hear them! 

2015-02-04-Joni_Blecher_150x150.jpg
This article originally appeared on QuietRev.com.

You can find more insights from Quiet Revolution on work, life, and parenting as an introvert at QuietRev.com.

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Little Ballerina Shows The Beauty In Helping Kids Pursue Their Dreams

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Romanian photographer Mihai-Cristian Andrei hopes his photos of a young ballerina will inspire people of all ages to pursue their passions.


Andrei photographed 12-year-old Anca dancing in the streets of Bucharest as part of a project he calls "Urban Swan," which contrasts the beauty of the ballerina's grace and the roughness of her urban surroundings. Anca has been dancing for five years and has always impressed her parents and family friends with her expressiveness, the photographer told The Huffington Post.



"Ballet is an art of expression, and that’s how she expresses best, through grace and devotion," Andrei told The Huffington Post. "She wants to share with the world what can be achieved through hard work and dedication."


Anca had a bit of a stomachache on the day of the photo shoot, but the dancer was determined to push through. "The whole experience was a big lesson for me," the photographer said. "Anca showed me that she’s not dreaming for success but working hard for it even though she is only a child."


The photographer hopes that people who see his photos learn that kids can be "tough as iron" and powerful in their commitment to their dreams. “Children aren't coloring books," he said. "You don't get to fill them with your favorite colors. Believe in them, guide them, give them the opportunity and with their passion they can move mountains."


Keep scrolling to see more photos.



 


H/T BoredPanda


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This Tom Brady Courtoom Sketch Is Much Better Than The Last One

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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was in a Manhattan court on Monday morning for a hearing over his ongoing Deflategate lawsuit against the NFL. With NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also in attendance, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman announced that he'd rule on Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension later this week, reported ESPN. Neither side will compromise for a settlement. 


But more important, the hearing gave New York-based courtroom artist Jane Rosenberg another chance to draw Brady. At Brady's first Deflategate court hearing on Aug. 12, Rosenberg produced a sketch that ended up as the butt of countless #BradySketch memes





On Monday, Rosenberg, who apologized to Brady for the first sketch in an interview with Vice Sports, whipped this up in the 10 minutes she had to draw.





Now that's much, much better. 


While the first sketch was objectively funny -- and for that we're thankful, given the boorishly boring and predictable nature of this Deflategate case -- Rosenberg, in the interest of accuracy, made something today that could conceivably pass as a portrait of Brady. 


Rosenberg, however, still doesn't seem satisfied with her work. "I still think I made him look like Lurch," she told courthouse reporters after the hearing.




Given the fanaticism surrounding Brady's suspension and subsequent court case, one can imagine an overzealous Brady fan paying an unholy amount for these sketches, which are, again, brilliant in their own right.





In the weeks that have passed since Brady's last court date, Rosenberg has also produced a "redemption" sketch, although this softer, fatherly interpretation of Brady looks like it's out of a steamy teen romance novel. We could get lost in those oil pastel eyes for days.





Wake us up when Delfategate blows over. 


 


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The Top 10 Most Expensive Women Artists At Auction

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Read the original article on artnet News.


georgia-okeeffe-museum-auction

Georgia O'Keeffe, Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 sold for $44.4 million at Sotheby's American art sale this past November. (Courtesy the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe.)


 



We continue our series of the most expensive artists at auction with women artists. Taking a long view—over the past ten years—and looking at artists dead or living (as opposed to our last post on living women artists), Georgia O'Keeffe is still the head of this group. The 2014 sale of O'Keeffe's Jimson weed/White flower no. 1 (1932) for the sizable sum of $44 million is way ahead of the next record. Though the list hasn't changed much from that of this past year, there have been some minor shifts in rankings. Cady Noland, for example, makes a notable debut with her recent record sale of Bluewald (1989) in May. Some artists grace two or more of these lists. Following, is our compilation of the most expensive women artists at auction.


TOP TEN ARTISTS BY LOT 2005–2015


Georgia O'Keeffe, White Calla Lily (1972). Photo: courtesy of Sotheby's.

Georgia O'Keeffe, White Calla Lily (1927). Photo: courtesy of Sotheby's.



1. Georgia O'Keeffe


O'Keeffe's record sale of Jimson weed/White Flower no. 1 (1932) keeps her at the top again this year tens of millions above the next highest record. While the price of $44 million is impressive for any artist, the November 2014 sale at Sotheby's New Yorkmarked O'Keeffe as the most expensive female at auction. Her work continues to do well at auction. Another painting, White Calla Lily (1927), sold for close to $9 million in a recent sale at Sotheby's New York this year.


 


Joan Mitchell, Untitled (1960). Image: Christie's.

Joan Mitchell, Untitled (1960). Image: Christie's.



2. Joan Mitchell


Abstract Expressionist Joan Mitchell ranks second with the $12 million sale of Untitled (1960). And she continues to be popular at auction evidenced by being the top artist on our list by value (see below).


 


Berthe Morisot, Après le déjeuner(1881) sold at Christie's London on February 6, 2013 for $10,933,245.

Berthe Morisot, Après le déjeuner (1881)  sold at Christie's London on February 6, 2013 for $10,933,245.



3. Berthe Morisot


As a young artist, Morisot's paintings were shown at the Salon de Paris. A contemporary of Impressionists Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, and Claude Monet, her painting Après le déjeuner (1881) set her record in 2013 when it sold for $11 million at Christie's London.


 


Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova, Les fleurs (1912) sold at Christie's London on June 24, 2008 for $10,860,833.

Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova, Les fleurs (1912) sold at Christie's London on June 24, 2008 for $10,860,833.



4. Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova


The Russian avant-garde artist had her record set with the sale of the fieryLes fleurs (1912) for $10.8 million back in 2008.


 


Louise Bourgeois, Spider (1996), bronze. Photo via Christie's.

Louise Bourgeois, Spider (1996), bronze. Photo via Christie's.



5. Louise Bourgeois


A spider that's larger-than-life, Bourgeois's spindly bronze sculpture sold for $10.7 million at Christie's New York in 2011.


 


Cady Noland, Bluewald (1989), screenprint on aluminum with printed cotton flag.

Cady Noland, Bluewald (1989), screenprint on aluminum with printed cotton flag. Photo via Christie's.



6. Cady Noland


The $9.8 million sale of Bluewald (1989) at Christie's New York in May brought Noland on to the list.


 


Tamara de Lempicka, Le rêve (Rafaëla sur fond vert) (1927) sold at Sotheby's New York on November 2, 2011 for $8,482,500.

Tamara de Lempicka, Le rêve (Rafaëla sur fond vert) (1927) sold at Sotheby's New York on November 2, 2011 for $8,482,500.



7. Tamara de Lempicka


Known for her portraiture, Tamara de Lempicka's record was set with a 2011 sale at Sotheby's New York: Le réve (Rafaëla sur fond vert) (1927) sold for $8.5 million. She's also known to be a favorite artist of Madonna.


 


Camile Claudel The Waltz (executed 1892, cast 1893), sold for a record $8 million at Sotheby's London in June 2013. Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's

Camille Claudel, The Waltz (executed 1892, cast 1893). Photo: Courtesy Sotheby's



8. Camille Claudel


Sculptor Claudel's The Waltz (1892-93) sold for $8 million at Sotheby's London Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in 2013 proving, perhaps, that she was finally out from under her teacher and lover Auguste Rodin's shadow.


 


Yayoi Kusama, White No. 28 (1960) sold at Christie's New York on November 12, 2014 for $7,109,000.

Yayoi Kusama, White No. 28 (1960) sold at Christie's New York on November 12, 2014 for $7,109,000.



9. Yayoi Kusama


Yayoi Kusama's record at auction was set with the $7 million sale of White No. 28 (1960), but the volume of her work sold recently (3323 lots during this time frame) speaks of her enduring popularity at auction. She's also, we might add, exceedingly popular with the Instagram crowd and drew masses of selfie-snapping fans to two recent shows at David Zwirner.


 


Barbara Hepworth, Figure for Landscape (1960) Photo: Courtesy Christie's London

Barbara Hepworth, Figure for Landscape (1960). Photo: Courtesy Christie's London



10. Barbara Hepworth


The 2014 sale of Figure for Landscape (1960) at Christie's London set the sculptor's record at auction. The $7.08 million result keeps Hepworth in our top ten.


 


TOP TEN ARTISTS BY VALUE 2005-2015


While she may be second on our list of artists by lot, Joan Mitchell tops the list by value, with 407 lots sold for this period. Kusama has had the most lots sold by a considerable margin: she has had 3323 pieces of work sold, with Sherman next at 804.


1. Joan Mitchell                                     $286,117,725
2. Yayoi Kusama                                    $215,702,079
3. Georgia O'Keeffe                               $129,445,340
4. Louise Bourgeois                             $118,020,052
5. Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova      $109,386,465
6. Agnes Martin                                    $109,085,447
7. Cindy Sherman                                 $106,562,956
8. Tamara de Lempicka                       $97,748,009
9. Irma Stern                                         $92,359,264
10. Barbara Hepworth                         $82,597,323


 


Credit for featured image: Barbara Hepworth, New Penwith (1974). Courtesy of Pace Gallery.


Related stories:


Who Are the Most Expensive Women Artists at Auction?


artnet News's Top 10 Most Expensive Living Women Artists 2015


O'Keeffe Painting Sells for $44 Million at Sotheby's, Sets Record for Work by Female Artist


Take a Look Inside Madonna's Collection


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Boko Haram's Young Victims Process Trauma Through Heartbreaking Drawings

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After Abeni, 16, escaped Boko Haram’s wrath in Nigeria, she hoped her increasing nightmare would come to an end.


The terror group killed her parents and her neighbors, according to Doctors Without Borders. Abeni grabbed her little brother, nephew and four neighbors and eventually made her way to the Dar es Salaam refugee camp in Chad. But her troubles are far from over.


Abeni hasn’t yet received her refugee card, so she and the children she arrived with aren’t receiving any food.


As of April, there were 126 other separated and unaccompanied children at the camp, according to UNICEF. 


The kids who have witnessed Boko Haram’s horrors, which include rape, kidnapping and brutal attacks, among other crimes, are at a high risk for psychological disorders. But they barely have the resources to survive, let alone to process their traumatizing experiences.



That’s why after developing a clinic in Dar es Salaam refugee camp in March, Doctors Without Borders introduced psychological support.


Part of that treatment includes giving young patients the opportunity to draw the atrocities they’ve seen first hand.


Aurelia Morabito, a psychologist who works in Lake Chad, told Doctors Without Borders she’s counseled children who have drawn guns, helicopters and decapitated bodies, among other unspeakable images.


In the six years that Boko Haram’s tried creating an Islamic caliphate, thousands of people have been killed and about 1.5 million have been displaced. 


Over the course of a few days alone in May, the military reported rescuing more than 700 women and children from Boko Haram. 


Even after escaping, though, the children suffer feelings of instability because of the lack of structure and support in the camp.



"'Home' is now a gathering of exposed tents in the middle of a desert, where they may be vulnerable to future attacks," Doctors Without Borders said in a statement.


Of those seeking help at the Chad refugee camp clinic, one in four exhibit signs of depression. It’s also common for patients to develop sleeping disorders and trauma-related anxiety, according to Doctors Without Borders.


Giving traumatized kids the opportunity to draw creates a safe environment for them to express their deepest worries.


“It is easier for children to express their fears through drawing,” Morabito told Doctors Without Borders.


The psychologists then talk about the images, which helps them manage and control their fears.


Since launching the program, which includes individual, family or couples’ counseling, Doctors Without Borders has seen 524 patients.

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The Politics Of N.W.A. And Hip Hop Feminism

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