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Viewers are hailing him a "musical genius."
Watching musically gifted children never gets old. Whether you credit it to being born under a lucky star, or a simple case of good genetics, it does at least feel like something of a miracle.
That was certainly the feeling evoked when shy 9-year-old Journeyy Belton stepped onto the stage for “America's Got Talent” on July 23, 2024, and blew audiences away with his powerful original song “Paradise.”
Showing off not just an incredibly soulful voice that belied his age, Journeyy also shared his exceptional songwriting skills as he brought to life an imaginary dream world filled with “purple clouds” and “automatic lullabies.”
Optimism is a mindset. Hope is an action-oriented skill—and one that can be honed.
Hope can be hard to find in tough times, and even when we catch a glimmer of hope, it can be hard to hold onto. And yet, the ability to remain hopeful in the face of hardship and adversity is an example of the human spirit we've seen displayed time and time again.
But what exactly is hope? How does hope differ from optimism, and how can we cultivate more of it in our lives?
Cynics may see hope as naive at best and as blind idealism at worst, but according to Thema Bryant, PhD, former president of the American Psychological Association, hope is really about staying open to the possibilities.
“Hope isn’t a denial of what is, but a belief that the current situation is not all that can be,” Bryant said, according to the APA. You can recognize something’s wrong, but also that it’s not the end of the story.”
It's a special kind of grief almost all parents experience at some point.
When you have kids, summers are a flurry of activities. Going to amusement parks and zoos, playing outside, eating ice cream—lots and lots of ice cream.
And then, the preteen years hit and all that changes. Suddenly a kid’s interest shifts. They spend less time hanging with the fam and more hanging with friends, or alone. Though this transition is natural, it can still be painful for parents and make them feel like they’re not doing enough to evoke that same kind of magic the season once held.
As Cyndy Gatewood’s three children have all entered teen and preteen chapters, she began to feel this particular kind of pain, which she called “summer guilt.”
This analogy can help you figure out where to start.
When taking on a daunting task, such as buying a house, starting a new career, or making a significant personal change, the most important thing is to establish one’s priorities to get the job done.
It makes sense to tackle the hard part first, but often, we get hung up on the smaller, easier tasks that prevent us from taking on the issue that could make or break the project. That’s when great thinkers use the “monkey and pedestal” analogy to decide where to place their time and energy.