【推荐3】Nearly 60% of people report experiencing loneliness at some point in their lives. Loneliness can happen to anyone. It can happen in short bursts throughout someone’s life or become a lasting condition. Lasting loneliness can cause someone to think negatively about themselves and increase their risk for depression and anxiety. Long term, it can disturb someone’s cognition(认知), such as problem solving and concentration. While it’s a journey to get through, you can cope and come out of loneliness.    1    

Acknowledge what you’re feeling

It might seem small, but naming what you’re feeling is one of the most important things you can do when coping with loneliness.    2    You can’t find a solution to something if you don’t know what you’re dealing with. Once you accept that you’re feeling lonely, you can step back and see how it’s impacting your life. Then you can decide what to do next.

Make connections with others

    3    One of the best ways to cope with loneliness would be to be intentional about meeting people and cultivating relationships. How you choose to put yourself out there is entirely up to you. It can be anything —volunteering, joining a class or hanging out with your family.

Use peer(伙伴) support groups

Meeting others is great.    4    There are various online support groups that will allow you to share experiences and build relationships with people who have similar interests.

Consider therapy(治疗)

There’s no exact cause for loneliness.    5    You sometimes need help with loneliness beyond self-help strategies, and that’s okay. Sometimes, the root problem needs to be addressed in therapy. Working with a therapist through cognitive behavioral therapy will help you challenge negative thinking and direct your thoughts, emotions and actions more constructively. Start looking for the best therapist through your healthcare provider, online resources or local groups. Loneliness can feel incredibly isolating, but you’re not alone.

【推荐1】Becoming Van Gogh: the Paris Years

Vincent van Gogh is considered among the greatest painters of all time. However, he remained needy and unknown throughout his life. In February 1886, Van Gogh was so poor that he could not pay his rent in Belgium. He hastened(赶往)to Paris and moved in with his brother, Theo.

The sudden move ended up being particularly influential to Van Gogh. The Dutch painter was immediately introduced to a community of young avant-garde(前卫派的)artists experimenting with new styles. It was the beginning of a two-year period that resulted in a remarkable shift in his work, from the dark hues(色调)of his early realist paintings to the colorful flowers and portraits that most people associate with Van Gogh today.

At the time, the Impressionists(印象派画家), who were already the dominant force on the French capital’s cultural scene, were busy with their explorations of light and shadow. The Pointillists(点彩派画家)were separating out colors into individual dots to form figures. The Cloisonnists(分隔派画家), meanwhile, were painting with bold and flat forms separated by dark outlines. Van Gogh became exposed to all these styles and many more, and he tried his hand at all of them.

Van Gogh was particularly inspired by the work of Adolphe Monticelli, a painter from Provence who was known for his thickly-painted and colorful flowers. Monticelli’s work was what later drew Van Gogh to the French city of Arles(阿尔勒).

“It was during that period that Van Gogh really became the artist we know today,” said Nicholas Maclean, co-director of the Eykyn Maclean Gallery in London. “He was soaking up all the influences around him. He used their techniques and developed his own style.”

However, it wasn’t only the art Van Gogh saw that influenced his style and choice of subjects. “One of the things that is probably the best-known aspect about Van Gogh is that he had little money, so he was relying on his brother all the time,” Maclean added. “He ended up focusing on flowers because they were available and cheap, but that was also the main factor that led him towards the study of color.”

【推荐2】The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was quitting my job and biking alone across western China.     1     So it was a huge physical challenge but I got stronger every day, and eventually, I could easily bike for eight hours each day.

One of the best parts of the whole experience was the people. I met people from across China and once got to attend a Tibetan wedding-something I never thought I would do.     2     One time I even met a group of Chinese men traveling by motorcycle, who invited me to cook fish that they caught in the lake over a fire with wood. Another instance was when I met a group of cyclists. They were in their 60s and 70s and still cycling better than I was.     3    

The people were some of the best parts of the trip, but mostly each day, I was alone with nature. Throughout the rolling hills and the flowing streams, western China is home to some of the most amazing scenery in the world.       4     With thick forests, icy glaciers, and peaceful lakes, there is so much to see in China.

    5     I got to taste local snacks in every place I went. There are so many different options! My favorite was the cooking of Sichuan, a province known for its hot flavors and interesting dishes. No matter how much I ate, I never got sick of having different Chinese foods.

It was indeed an experience I will never forget. If anyone has an interest in traveling, I would highly recommend going by bicycle!

【推荐3】Ever wonder what happens to spacecraft after they get launched to space? Well, that is where my job as an instrument operations engineer comes in. My job consists of planning, generating, and operating scientific instruments in-flight. I am grateful for having worked on missions at Saturn, the Moon, and our own planet Earth.

When I was a high-schooler, I was unsure of what college I wanted to attend, or what major I wanted to choose. After receiving an email from a college called Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), I decided to apply to a summer program they were offering with the encouragement of my mom. After participating in that program, I knew that MIT was the right university for me. The passionate students and boundless opportunities developed a feeling of belonging in me that led me to apply and eventually get accepted.

The most exciting and fulfilling part of being an engineer is that I am able to work on projects that benefit humanity. When people think of the space industry, they picture the outer reaches of our solar system. What they may not imagine is the great body of work being done to study our own home-Earth. I am thankful to have a career that allows me to commit myself to that responsibility.

The highlight of my career has been witnessing the end of the Cassini mission to Saturn. Some of the people on the team had been working on the mission for longer than I had been alive, but they still treated me as one of their own. I was given the opportunity to operate the cameras that would catch breathtaking images of the planet. And when the Cassini spacecraft had run out of fuel, I quickly learned that it was not just the end of the mission, but the end of a team. The night we watched with bittersweet longing as its signal faded to nothing is something that I will always keep in my memories. And while Cassini will be remembered for its historic contributions, what I will remember it for is the team it brought together.

My friends often ask why a girl could achieve all these. I always grew up a big fan of fiction. I read the Harry Potter books and loved anything fantasy. I realized that a common theme of hero stories is that the hero must always make a choice to start their adventure. If you don’t pick up the sword in your own story because you are afraid of what may happen next, you risk not having a story at all.