Seeking Success: A Non-Traditional Path
Hide and seek. A simple game with one seeker and players that hide. All but one of the players go to hidden places to hide, while the seeker closes their eyes and counts for a certain number of seconds. Upon reaching the time, the seeker opens their eyes to start searching for the hiders. As…
Ophir’s Gold – Our Immeasurable Value in the Eyes of the Divine
“Anastasi. Anastasi. Come, I am thirsty,” Marina’s voice croaked. The Roman servant’s bare feet shuffled along the mosaic tile at her mistress’ call. She dipped a small silver ladle into a pitcher, then raised the watered-down falernum to Marina’s quivering lips. Marina swallowed with a grimace. Anastasi’s eyes wandered up to the handcrafted wooden instruments…
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The Work of Being Rooted
What is grounding when the rain is pounding;A hammer from the sky beating on branches.The fruit clings to its narrow stem,As the tree cries with the rain. How does the tree stay steady when holding hurts—When wind demands a choice:To hold tight what’s been nurtured or trustBeyond itself by letting go. Its roots sink deeply,…
Redirecting Ambition
Ambition is a word that necessitates a variety of responses. For some, it evokes drive, courage, and excellence; for others, it suggests ego, stress, and the collateral damage of people treated as obstacles or tools. The truth sits somewhere in the tension. Ambition, in itself, is merely energy aimed at a goal. However, whether that…
Inheritance of Darkness
In the arcane mystery surrounding darkness, voices bemoan, “Out of it you were taken.” A moment passes, and a quiet bears its countenance upon a cursed woman, who clings to the air for breath. Her eyes bear gold in the light. Her voice calls out, “You are dust…and to dust, you shall return.” 🟍🟍🟍 Here…
Love: The Tension Between Truth and Grace
More often than not, commitment to being a “truth-teller” without a commitment to humility, love, and empathy causes one to lose the very people they are trying to reach. In the current landscape of dialogue, particularly online, many people tend to talk at each other, rarely finding common ground. Put plainly, we love to be…
Community: the Brokenness We Crave
By some cruel paradox, 8.2 billion individuals crowded onto this planet still ache for community. Despite growing populations and a resurgence in urban migration, it takes more than human proximity to quiet the loneliness each one of us feels in our search for a place to belong. The Survey Center on American Life recently found…
The Creation
I imagine infinities prior. The galaxies have always just existed. Steady State. No beginning. No end. Thirteen point eight billion years ago. I feel a wave of heat pierce my skin, like a breath of fire, fleeting and sharp in its encounter. The rush of a million hot, oozing particles— flying like comets through the…
Sandpipers
Nothingness is too simple (i was running up
the mountain before it got dark. a storm was
moving in, almost imperceptible—the subtle
changes. wind speed, cloud cover, humidity.
The landscape sunken, thirsting for rain)
only a crazy sort of nothingness could flip into something;
cannot nothing be known from nothing?
Wonder: In Praise of Slowing Down
“Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?” — Mary Oliver [1] The older I get, the more often I find myself grieving the ache of passing time. I’ve often reflected with peers on how so many adults told us that time would pass quicker as we got older, but no…
Beyond Productivity and Into Purpose
At any given Wednesday around 1 AM, you can find the libraries of Vanderbilt filled with computer screens, energy drinks, and students furiously typing away at assignments, prepping for job interviews, or cramming for exams, driven by a hunger to work. This obsession over work has practically become an identity that we pride ourselves in.…
Reflection: Becoming What We Behold
We live in a world of mirrors. On any given day, we are forced to face our own reflection countless times—in bathroom mirrors, hallway mirrors, car windows, and front-facing phone cameras. It often feels impossible to escape our reflection and the constant reminder that we are being seen and perceived by others. We strive to…
Beauty: The Transfigured Bride
The first literary piece that I remember writing was in my fourth-grade class. We were tasked with writing a personal narrative about any event in our lives, and I wrote about my family’s trip to Yellowstone National Park that summer. Its majestic mountains, gentle, babbling streams, and sprawling plains dotted with bison remained deeply ingrained…
Letter From The Editor, Issue XVIII – “Foundations: The Values Behind Our Vision”
“The joy of a new year is not its magical ability to grant a new start, but in the deep work of returning to one’s purpose. Reflection is often not the most comfortable work, but it is certainly necessary work in living a life of intention.”
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