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Author: Confluence

Informed

Kim Kardashian West Takes a Stand on Something That Matters and the Internet Goes Insane

Reading Time: 4 minutes Here’s the thing: It’s not a theory, it’s a fact. Black people and White people in the U.S. are not sentenced the same for similar crimes, especially when it comes to drug-related offenses. There is no one more vulnerable to the criminal justice system than a black woman without resources.

Alice Johnson’s story isn’t about prison reform. It’s about sentencing reform and it’s long overdue. The fact that it took a meeting of the likes of Kim Kardashian West and Donald Trump to put this story in the media headlines is a clear demonstration of how far we have to go when it comes to even an awareness about sentencing inequity let alone reform.

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Evolve

SPELLS AND RITUALS AND BASIC HUMAN NEEDS

Reading Time: 3 minutes When you take good care of yourself by taking full responsibility for getting your own needs met you send an energetic message to the Universe that having your needs met is important to you. This is some of the most powerful spell-work you can do!

Making magic begins with taking care of you. Begin with a deep breath. Magic always happens in the present moment, start now.

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RelateWeekly

Why Royal Weddings Matter Part 8: The Language of Flowers: After Harry and Meghan

Reading Time: 3 minutes Nothing could be as sincere and sentimentally dear as Meghan Markle’s small, almost childlike arrangement bound in a raw silk ribbon. The morning before their wedding, Prince Harry picked a handful of white flowers from the couple’s private garden at Kensington Palace for the florist to use in his bride’s bouquet—including scented sweet peas, jasmine and forget-me-nots; other petite blossoms were astilbe, lily of the valley and astrantia. Sweet peas represent ‘delicate pleasures’; jasmine, ‘sensuality’ and ‘grace’; and the fabled forget-me-nots (a favorite of Harry’s mother) speak for themselves—yet for an added heart-tug, they also indicate ‘true love’.

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Informed

The success of nonviolent civil resistance: Erica Chenoweth at TEDxBoulder

Reading Time: < 1 minute Between 1900-2006, campaigns of nonviolent civil resistance were twice as successful as violent campaigns. Erica will talk about her research on the impressive historical record of civil resistance in the 20th century and discuss the promise of unarmed struggle in the 21st century. She will focus on the so-called “3.5% rule”—the notion that no government can withstand a challenge of 3.5% of its population without either accommodating the movement or (in extreme cases) disintegrating. In addition to explaining why nonviolent resistance has been so effective, she will also share some lessons learned about why it sometimes fails.

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Evolve

Your City is Living Energy. You Can Make it Better

Reading Time: 4 minutes There is a lot of unrest, stress, anxiety, pain and fear going around the world. But each of these is within us too which is why they show up in the collective. Our cities and towns are a direct reflection of the people living there and even though it’s difficult to fathom, a slight change in our individual energy can pull hundreds of others up. One person can help multiple people shift which will start a chain reaction in no time.    

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Informed

Model Feminist?

Reading Time: 5 minutes I’ve long had a contradictory relationship with the beauty industry. On one hand, I think physical beauty is meaningless, revealing nothing other than our genes, our talent with makeup, and/or the skill of our plastic surgeon. Having a fit body does require work, however, no amount of working out can give a person long legs. On the other hand, humans are hard-wired to respond to whatever beauty standard currently prevails (and beauty is cultural and dynamic, though the internet has made the standards more and more similar, if my brief exposure to last year’s Miss Universe pageant is any indication). But on yet another hand (work with me here), I can’t say I’m immune to such things, as a longtime admirer of the male form and subscriber to both Vogue and Elle. Which have excellent articles, but are mainly about pretty people in pretty clothes.

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