The Bully

“The Bully” deals with the rational human fear of mortality and suggests that anger is born from that fear. There is also an implication that bullying behavior often comes from a lack of consciousness rather than simply an aggressive posture, and that a lack of consciousness — being inattentive to the suffering of others or numb to the world — is a poor coping strategy implemented by so-called bullies to try to stave off the reality of mortality. It also offers that a shared human connection in terms of acknowledgement regarding the tyranny of mortality can lessen suffering and, therefore, reduce fear and anger. **Based on a true story.**

Higher Power

By Sophia Falco 3 years ago

How can negative emotional experiences be transformed into opportunities for individual growth?
“This past August, the universe delivered to me the ocean as my higher power when in a deep depression. Though I cannot hold onto water, I can hold it in a special place in my heart. I love to take long walks on the beach to be in the presence of the water, and to witness the ocean’s vastness, blueness, and beauty.” — Sophia Falco

Death & Demons: How Souls Mediate Existence

By Brian Yapko 3 years ago

How do we come to terms with death, injustice, the artistic impulse, family, the past, and — most difficult of all — with one’s own demons? Each of these poems represent a dialogue between the heart and the mind as mediated by the soul, which tries to reach an understanding of life. Isn’t that what the human condition is really all about?

The Traveler

By Monica Arone 3 years ago

Are certain choices more meaningful than others? How do we justify or rationalize our actions in the absence of confirmation that they were correct (or, at the very least, appropriate given the information at the time)? In this short window into our protagonist’s life, we see a glimpse into his personal struggles as his inevitable mortality and death approach. He grapples with the sacrifices he made in his life that brought him to where he is today, and whether or not those sacrifices were worth the unknown outcome of his journey.

Fluid Contortions

By Dave Sims 3 years ago

The human body is infinitely amazing, particularly in its ability to move through space in small increments. The pieces in this series of digital paintings freeze some of these intricate and complex instants that occur when our muscles engage — with or without our conscious thought — in activities that require the full participation of our beings with another thing or person.

Quantum Entanglement Between Doppelgangers

By Sante Matteo 3 years ago

This recounted moment of personal history, which induced the author to reflect on the many times he’s been told that he looks just like someone else, started out as a holiday greeting to colleagues and friends a few years ago. Using analogies to quantum physics and to the distinction between particles and waves, it addresses how we are all connected to each other and mutually entangled, to make it resonate (albeit subtly) with some of the pressing issues of our day: e.g., isolation, identity politics, polarization, silo culture, and whose lives matter.

The Solipsist

By Michael Washburn 3 years ago

Can we ever truly understand anything beyond our own mind? If not, do assumptions form the backdrop of all human behavior? What assumptions do we make about others, and how does this affect our interactions? “The Solipsist” is a story about a clash of cultures, where either side is perhaps a little too certain of its understanding of the way things are and should be.

Beyond The Consequences Of Time

By Alexey Adonin 3 years ago

What is human life? We never quite have a full grasp on the whole, as it’s always just out of reach. The following visual art series is a parable on man’s destiny and his relationship with what is beyond. The conceptual and philosophical dialogue among different positions combines the downfall of an old world with the human tendency for something exalted. In both cases, what is interesting is not what is factually happening, but how we see reality and the world, and how we project in them our inner thoughts and feelings.

The Doorbell

By Thea Pueschel 3 years ago

Rejection and fear of rejection are universal themes that plague the lives of all. As children, we desire not to have to fulfill certain obligations; we hope and dream that something will cause a disruption, that it will give us a pass from having to participate. The following flash fiction piece, “The Doorbell,” answers the question: “What if, as an adult, I chose something different?”

Expanded Disco

By John OHare 3 years ago

In “Expanded Disco,” Britain has been fractured by ideological differences leaving cities resembling the surface of the moon and a proliferating network of tunnels to separate newly forming factions. Tunnel bureaucrats have been elevated to absolute power so long as the conflict continues. A Commander must dismantle the bureaucrats’ “conflict is freedom” ideology in order to be reunited with his family.

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