It was raining hard and nearing dark. I was late for an appointment (预约) in a nearby city that I know only by GPS. And now my phone has died. The usual exits (出口) were closed. I didn't know how to get where I was going or how to let my appointment know I might not make it there.

I stopped at a KFC in a poor part of town and walked up to a mother and her teen daughter.

“I'm sorry, but is it possible for me to look up a number on your phone and then call the place and let them know I'm lost?” She handed me her phone and then told me I was lucky she had her phone, for it was getting ready to be turned off because she didn't have enough money to pay the phone bill.

The young girl and the mother didn't pay me much attention when I made a call. The appointment told me how to get there by another road.

Before I left. suddenly, I reached into my wallet where I don't usually have cash (现金) and pulled out all I had, a $20 bill. I gave it into the mother's hand and then turned to leave quickly. I heard her daughter calling after me, “Thanks, sir. You have no idea how you just helped us.” And yet, they really helped me.

【推荐3】Flowers feel feelings. It’s a secret well known by flower lovers. They expect flowers to come out with quiet and soft encouragements.

So it should be no surprise that the Yellowbright Flower growing in a large red field trembled (颤抖) with strong feelings now. He trembled because he felt different. He was the only Yellowbright Flower flowering in a field of red plants, whatever they were. He knew walkers stopped and stared before walking on. He knew he was some special thing, the only thing of his kind. And the only thing of anything is always a very lonely thing to be, no matter what thing it is.

Until one bright midnight, as he danced in the summer wind, the field spoke to him. Yes, a voice came from one red plant in the field. This plant, whatever it was, now spoke to him by saying this, “You’re not really alone, you know.” No one and nothing had ever spoken to him before. To say he was surprised would be an understatement (轻描淡写). Remember, flowers feel strong feelings.

“You’ve been wrong before,” the red plant went on. “You’re a rose. So am I. So are we all, all of us in this big field. If you re yellow, with a different bloom (开花), ________. But it’s all of us, together, that the walkers stop walking to see. Not just you. Together, we’re a garden. Alone, you’re only one pretty but very small blossom (花).” Funny how this changed things for the Yellowbright Flower, who now realized he was really a Yellowbright Rose. Funny how those few words changed everything. Because nothing is really the only thing of anything, no matter how special that one thing is.

We stop feeling different and lonely when we understand we’re part of something larger than ourselves.

【推荐1】What is poetry?

For many of us, it’s something that lives on the dusty end of the bookshelf, inside the collections of Homer and George Byron; something that is hard to understand and almost impossible to relate to.

But there’s a new generation of writers, who are redefining (重新定义) this art form by taking it to social media platforms like Instagram, reminding us just how relevant (有现实意义的) and powerful poetry can actually be.

Called “Instapoets” , Indian-Canadian writer Rupi Kaur, 25, is one of them. By writing poems on Instagram, she has attracted over 2 million followers and has now published two poetry books, with both topping the New York Times Best Seller list. She writes about everything, but, most importantly, she writes in a language that people can actually understand. About being confident, for example, she wrote: “If you are not enough for yourself/ you will never be enough/ for someone else.”

“I’m writing for the generation that’s reading my work,” Kaur told The Economist. “I’m not talking down to them; I’m having the same experiences as them.”

This sense of intimacy (亲近感) -which is the opposite to the usually condescending (居高临下的) attitude that traditional poetry has-is probably why Instapoets are so popular today. According to global information company the NPD Group, last year, 47 percent-almost half-of poetry books sold in the US were the works of Instapoets, and as many as 12 of the top 20 best-selling poetry writers were Instapoets.

But there are criticisms that the poems by Instapoets are so simple that they don’t qualify as “real” literature-just like when US singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was given the Nobel Prize in literature (文学) in 2016.

However, the popularity of Instapoets isn’t surprising to Kaur at all. “Good art will always break boundaries(界线).” she told the Los Angeles Times.

In fact, Kaur knows all about “serious” poetry, as she studied English literature at school. But she still chose to keep her poems simple. “I want readers to open up this book, start the poem, and from beginning to end I want their reading experience to be simple.” she told CBS News. “But when they finish that poem, I want their stomach to turn.”

And as so many things have evolved (进化) along with technology-communication and shopping, to name two-who’s to say that literature shouldn’t evolve along with it?

【推荐2】Time flies. My summer vacation ended in the blink of an eye, but one thing is still on my mind. From July 25 to 27, I worked as a volunteer at the Wolong China Giant Panda Garden in Sichuan. I experienced the life of being a panda keeper.

My work included cleaning the pandas’ home, feeding the pandas and making food for them. The panda I took care of was named Jingke. When I went to feed him, he would stretch(伸出) one of his forefeet out on a shelf that hung on the fence and wait for his food. He would quickly grab the food as soon as I brought it to him. Can you guess what would happened next? Jingke would lie down and begin to eat. I could hear him crunching(嘎吱作响地咀嚼) on his food and see him twisting his body around like a dancer. It was really cute. This was one of the most interesting things I saw when I worked there.

When I fed Jingke, I touched his fur(毛). Most people think that panda's fur would be soft. But actually, panda's fur is very hard. I felt like I was touching needles.I looked at his teeth, too— they were sharp and big. No wonder the panda keepers told us that pandas are not only cute, but also dangerous.

I am happy to be so close to the pandas. This experience lets me know that it is no easy to be a panda keeper.