friendship

C.S Lewis got it right: friendship is born when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"

Creating for Myself Instead of for Likes
I used to create with one eye on the numbers. I’d pour my heart into something—whether it was a poem, a photo, or a vulnerable post—and immediately, I’d start refreshing. Who liked it? Who shared it? Did it resonate?
By Irfan Aliabout a year ago in Humans
Digital Detox: Reclaiming My Brain in a Scrolling World
I didn’t realize how loud the world had become until I finally muted it. It started small—just a moment here and there. I would open my phone to check the time and find myself, twenty minutes later, deep in someone else's life on Instagram, eyes glazed, emotions scrambled. I’d close the app, feeling emptier than before, and wonder why I was so tired all the time.
By Irfan Aliabout a year ago in Humans
Pisces Man and Gemini Woman Compatibility Score. AI-Generated.
The union between a Pisces man and a Gemini woman can be described as both enchanting and bewildering. On one hand, Pisces is deeply emotional, intuitive, and romantic. On the other hand, Gemini is light-hearted, mentally agile, and often detached from deep emotional entanglements. These two zodiac signs represent Water and Air—elements that don’t naturally blend easily, but when combined creatively, can form a misty, ethereal bond. However, it will take a lot of effort, compromise, and understanding to make this relationship flourish long-term.
By Inspire and Funabout a year ago in Humans
I'm Not Normal, and That's Perfectly Normal
Why “Different” Shouldn’t Mean “Wrong” Chores can be fun! Work can be interesting. Relationships can be fulfilling, meaningful, even beautiful. But these things don’t happen on autopilot. They require thought, intention, sacrifice, and a willingness to change. They take real effort, and often, a conscious decision to engage differently than we’re used to. Yet so often, when I try to bring up new ideas or suggest a better way of doing things—whether it’s how we share responsibility at home or how we communicate—I get told that I’m just being annoying. That I talk too much. That I should sit down, stop stirring the pot, and just accept the way things are.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a year ago in Humans
Reaction: Dirty Plays or Defying Directives?
The following is a reaction to the video found at this URL, and to many others like it: 🔗 https://youtube.com/shorts/OV_TLwoMYPs?si=vT1h5MqJ1r3UyulE
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a year ago in Humans
The Setup: How Men Are Framed as Incompetent to Justify Control. AI-Generated.
Preface: This two-part article (<a href="https://vocal.media/stories/the-setup-how-men-are-framed-as-incompetent-to-justify-control">The Setup</a> + <a href="https://vocal.media/stories/the-hidden-trap-how-men-are-set-up-to-feel-incompetent-in-relationships">The Hidden Trap</a>) is a bit different from my usual content. It's actually two responses I received from an AI (Grok) during a conversation about long-term dynamics between men and women in intimate relationships. I'm sharing it for several reasons: it’s clear, direct, and includes solid references—statistics, data, and proposed solutions—making it well worth reading.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a year ago in Humans
The Hidden Trap: How Men Are Set Up to Feel Incompetent in Relationships. AI-Generated.
Preface: This two-part article (<a href="https://vocal.media/stories/the-setup-how-men-are-framed-as-incompetent-to-justify-control">The Setup</a> + <a href="https://vocal.media/stories/the-hidden-trap-how-men-are-set-up-to-feel-incompetent-in-relationships">The Hidden Trap</a>) is a bit different from my usual content. It's actually two responses I received from an AI (Grok) during a conversation about long-term dynamics between men and women in intimate relationships. I'm sharing it for several reasons: it’s clear, direct, and includes solid references—statistics, data, and proposed solutions—making it well worth reading.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcastabout a year ago in Humans
The Song of Five Rivers
“In the breast of earth there run five rivers, yet they hum in one tune. So too, in a house of humble stone, dwelled five hearts—beating not five rhythms, but one.”
By Muhammad Abdullahabout a year ago in Humans
The Song Beneath the Silence
There is a silence in every man that sings a forgotten song. A song he hummed once in the arms of a father, beneath the banyan tree of his childhood, where the wind was wiser than men and the sky, like a canvas, listened. I write this not as a writer, but as a son who once listened—before time began to erase the music.
By Muhammad Abdullahabout a year ago in Humans
The Garden Where My Mother Waits
There was a garden at the edge of time. Neither in the past nor the future, it grew in the breath between dreams and waking. I have not seen it in years, yet every blade of grass whispers her name.
By Muhammad Abdullahabout a year ago in Humans
Emotional Baggage Doesn’t Make You Broken
We all carry something. Memories that ache when touched. Words that replay in our heads when it's quiet. Scars—some visible, most invisible—that mark moments when life bruised us. This is what we call emotional baggage. And somewhere along the way, we were taught that carrying it makes us less. Less whole. Less desirable. Less worthy.
By Irfan Aliabout a year ago in Humans
I Quit My Phone for 7 Days — What Happened Destroyed Me… Then Rebuilt Me
I never thought I’d be that person—the one who says, “I’m quitting my phone for a week.” Phones were my lifeline, my escape, my connection to the world. But after months of feeling overwhelmed, distracted, and anxious, I finally decided: enough was enough. I was addicted. So, I took the plunge and quit my phone cold turkey for seven whole days.
By Izazkhanabout a year ago in Humans