【推荐1】Mom had read about geraniums (天竺葵) in a magazine—pretty, easy to grow—and, she became possessed with a vision of a house flooded with flowers. She sprang into action and started to grow them enthusiastically. She could be like that: my mother always had sudden bursts of creativity.

Mom transformed the backyard into a flower factory, crowded with pots and plants and bags of soil. She called for my help, and we arranged the roots of the flowers in elegant containers. It was the ripe height of summer. Mom wore long gardening gloves over her hands. She had bought me gloves too, but I refused to wear them. She burst with annoyance. For half an hour she would not talk to me, but then she softened, so engaged in the completion of her project that she forgot my offence, or perhaps for fear that I might abandon the project altogether.

She needn’t have worried. I wouldn’t leave. It was a rare chance to spend time with my mother without the pressure of speaking to one another. We could crouch (蹲下) side by side, our attention on the plants. Although I was her daughter, we often struggled to communicate with each other as though we were strangers or beginners of a language. I wanted to learn her language, if only to better understand her and to increase the chances of her understanding me. There was so much I longed to tell her, but I also feared that if I started, other matters not meant to be spoken might leap out. Better not to risk the opening. Over the course of our three days, I would dream of seeing a great geranium with its root bared until my hands arrived full of soil to cover it back up.

When all the flowers were ready in their decorated pots, Mom spent a fourth day distributing them through the house, moving a wooden stand here and now there, there and now here, until at last every geranium was moved into the house and she collapsed onto the sofa. Flowers at every turn.

【推荐2】There’s no doubt that loneliness hurts. Functional MRIs show that the area of the brain triggered by social rejection is the same area that’s triggered by physical pain. To understand why loneliness hurts, let’s take a closer look at friendship through the eyes of two heavyweight philosophers.

In one corner we have Aristotle, who wrote that without friends, there’s no reason to live. The Greek great believed that friendships are based on the virtues of the friend.     1     But the problem with Aristotle’s theory is that if you lose some virtues, you should also expect to lose some friends. And that’s not how friendships work — at least not the good ones.     2    

So as a sharp counterpunch to Aristotle, let’s turn to the renowned Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant, who said that all people have value regardless of their virtues. Since we view our true friends with this kind of unconditional love and respect, we can assume they view us the same way.     3     Being away from our friends takes away these life-affirming interactions. Worse, having no friends means our value, or dignity, isn’t being appreciated.

    4     This may seem obvious, but there’s a catch. Your connection has to be oriented (以……为方向) toward the other person — not in what they can do for you and your loneliness. So say hi to a neighbor, hold the door for someone, or volunteer at the soup kitchen.     5     However, they’ll help you feel more connected to the world. And the more of these small steps you take toward connection, the farther away from loneliness you’ll get.

【推荐3】How to build a personal brand (品牌)

People tend to think about a personal brand as bragging (自吹自擂) , self- promotion and all about yourself. But it's actually something much more important.     1     In other words, it's how people see you. Below are some suggestions to build a strong personal brand.

Figure out your goal. What do you want your personal brand to help you achieve? Are you looking to change jobs or enter a new industry, and you need your brand to reflect a new skill set?     2    

Get clear on what you want to be known for.     3    Are you a teacher who focuses on social and emotional learning? Or maybe you're a project manager who is reliable and always gets things done on time. Dig deeper into the what, how and why behind your work so you can make it easy to remember.

    4    I once coached someone who called herself a "death midwife", which no one understood. But when she started introducing herself as a grief advisor who works with families during a time of loss, all of a sudden everyone got it.

Bring value to others online.     5    Share interesting articles related to you industry, post ideas or opinions that can benefit co-workers, and like or comment on posts shared by the people you follow.