Stream of Consciousness

Substance Use and Mental Health: The Unspoken Battle We All Need to Face
We live in a culture that glamorizes “a drink to unwind” after work and laughs off “needing something to take the edge off.” But beneath the jokes lies a quieter story — one where substance abuse becomes a substitute for self-care.
By Leigh Cala-or11 months ago in Humans
How Women Use Men’s Protective Instinct to Control Them
It starts with a glance. A flicker of vulnerability. A carefully placed sigh. And something ancient ignites in your chest — the protective instinct in men. You feel it before you think. A primal pull to step in, fix things, guard her, shield her. It feels right. It feels good. It feels noble.
By Randolphe Tanoguem11 months ago in Humans
If I was embarrassed, would you want to see it?
Creative writing has always been really funny to me because I never knew how to start a piece. How does one start this flow of consciousness just from pen to page to thoughts? Let’s begin! I mean, seriously, I can’t be the only one who finds writing and throwing up similar. Between feeling choked up with all these words that you want to say yet having no way to say them in a cohesive manner, let alone be able to tell a story good enough to read. Then you must go through the additional effort of editing and publishing all that word vomit and having other people look at it. It’s quite a crude feeling indeed. With that said, I’ve really taken this challenge to heart with wanting to write every single day. The permission has seemed to also manifest into writing multiple times a day. What’s really nice about setting the parameters of being allowed to write anything as long as it meets the word limits of vocal has really inspired me to just allow myself to let go and just put down thoughts to paper. It’s also posed the question: why is it so embarrassing to put ourselves out there? Creativity has always been a big part of my life (my most notable accomplishment being an art award from school, where the prize was about $50 worth of art supplies back in the 2000s) and it’s always bled into other areas of my life. Yet I still hate to show my work! It’s such a similar sentiment to vomiting and then asking you to please come over and look at it because I’ve cleaned it up a bit— truly a horrendous exchange— yet I believe that’s what makes art, art. It’s not easy to put yourself out there, let alone when you have complicated emotions like grief, love, lust, ambition— all these powerful sentiments other people can relate to, but that you’re just not sure they can relate to you quite exactly like you do. It’s in that singularity, that peculiarity that I believe is what makes a difference in how we view ourselves as artists alike. A signature print that we leave as we spend time on this earth— you know a Dali from a Van Gogh from a Tim Burton and even when there’s work that’s similar you still know that the essence is different. It’s a replica. That’s incredibly intimate; art is incredibly intimate in its singularity.
By Maria Sanchez11 months ago in Humans
The False Dilemma
The Mirage of Choice Every day, whether in politics, philosophy, or faith, people are pressured into false choices. You either believe this, or you must believe that. You either accept this statement entirely, or you reject truth altogether. These are not honest discussions. They are traps.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast11 months ago in Humans
Planting Truth In Hostile Soil
The Calling To Plant There has never been an age where truth was loved by the crowd. From the prophets of Israel to the apostles of Christ, those who spoke truth have always done so against the wind. Yet each generation faces its own form of resistance. Ours is not built on swords or prisons, but on sarcasm and pride. It mocks what it cannot refute and ridicules what it cannot understand.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast11 months ago in Humans
AI And Apologetics
The Tools of the Age Every generation faces the same question in a different form: how should faith engage with new tools of power? In one era it was the printing press. In another, the radio or television. Today, it is artificial intelligence.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast11 months ago in Humans
The Mirror Of Mockery
The Nature Of The Mirror Mockery has become the native language of the modern world. It fills screens, floods comment sections, and echoes through every arena where ideas are exchanged. What once required substance now survives through sarcasm. To ridicule is easier than to reason.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast11 months ago in Humans
The Logic of Faith: Why Reason Without God Collapses Under Its Own Weight
The Myth Of Neutral Logic Modern thinkers often claim that logic is neutral, belonging to no belief system and standing above faith. They insist that religion is emotional, while reason is empirical. But logic is not a freestanding structure. It rests on foundations, and those foundations must exist somewhere.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast11 months ago in Humans
Why does having you read my writing make me feel naked?
To pass the time and racing thoughts I paint, I knit, I write. Those are my main outlets, followed closely by sewing, baking, and clay molding. A variety of outlets that open you to criticism, such as the quality and mastery of your craft. How straight your seams are or how neat your edges are. How lifelike your art is. To create is a bold and scandalous act. It takes guts to pour your soul into your work and to bring into existence the noise or “flow” that comes from your mind.
By Maria Sanchez11 months ago in Humans
The Shift
Torn, hurting, and angry, I rebelled. I did some things I shouldn't have. I lashed out at people who didn't deserve it. I dropped friends in favor of those with looser values. Sometimes, I ignored schoolwork. I sought companionship with anyone willing, knowing it was wrong.
By Julie Lacksonen11 months ago in Humans
Shut up Sara. Runner-Up in Maps of the Self Challenge. Content Warning.
I used to be funny. I mean, really funny. Before the world chewed me up and spit me out, I was the class clown. The comedic relief. If you were having a bad day, I was the one cracking a little jokey-joke to lift the mood. I could always put a smile on someone’s face. They hated it sometimes, because some people just want to be sad. But not when I was around.
By Sara Wilson11 months ago in Humans
Who Hung the Stars?. Top Story - October 2025.
They say, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” That statement always stumped me, confused me, and made me question. Maybe because math wasn't my forte? So, I looked at it through the lens of language which translated to "amalgamation." The definitions and examples I found of that term turned out to be so sterile and business-like, even from a cultural standpoint, though. I wasn't satisfied.
By Shirley Belk11 months ago in Humans