Age: 30 - 50

The essays below were written by people between 30 and 50 years of age.

January 22, 2024

Misspelling the Word “Of”

When Jason Oda was in the first grade, he had an experience that has stuck with him into adulthood. As he has grown older, he has realized the importance of questioning the rules and traditions of the past and not accepting "just because" as a valid answer to life's questions.
March 10, 2023

Connecting to a Global Tribe

Matt Harding has been to 70 countries to dance–badly–in front of a camera, and videos of his travels are an Internet sensation. Harding believes interacting with so many people is challenging his primitive brain to see more of what unites humanity.
December 16, 2022

It’s Better to Give…and Receive

Like many of us, Lisa Dunlap had always heard the adage that it's better to give than to receive. But having been on the receiving end of many acts of kindness, Ms. Dunlap has come to believe that while it is indeed good to give, it's also good to receive.
July 22, 2022

There Is No Such Thing as Too Much Barbecue

Restaurant critic Jason Sheehan has a passion for barbecue with all the homemade fixings on the side. He believes barbecue unites us, comforts us and is the only thing he can’t get enough of.
May 6, 2022

The Guts to Keep Going

Amy Lyles Wilson helped her newly widowed mother adjust to life alone, teaching her how to do things her father had always done. It inspired Wilson’s belief in the courage of “gutsy, wrinkled broads.”
February 23, 2022

Health Care Is a Human Right

As an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Paul Farmer has traveled the planet to organize and provide medical treatment for the poor. He believes good health care is vital, but it’s just the first step in creating a world free of all human suffering.
May 1, 2020

Dance Is Life

Although he makes his living with words, poet Fred D'Aguiar is enthralled by dance: from the physicality of the art, to its powers to inspire and heal. D’Aguiar believes dance can be a source for peace, if we all join in and move to the global groove.
April 13, 2020

Finding Freedom in Forgiveness

Jennifer Thompson-Cannino was certain that Ronald Cotton was the man who raped her in 1984. But she was wrong. After 11 years in jail, DNA evidence proved Cotton’s innocence. Now, the two have a friendship based on their belief in forgiveness.
April 6, 2020

The Hardest Work You Will Ever Do

As a hospice volunteer, Mary Cook shares in the grief of others. But it was her own loss that taught her how to heal. She believes that recovering from grief requires not a battle, but surrender.