1 . Imagine a plate holding two strawberries, identical in appearance. One came out of a supermarket box, meaning it was probably harvested when it was still unripe. By the time it reached the plate it may have been off the vine for two weeks. The other strawberry was picked from a garden minutes before being eaten.

Supermarket strawberries are not entirely without advantages: they are convenient and still available even in winter months. But the two berries differ from each other in the same way that hearing music in a concert hall differs from listening to it on an old CD player. The home-grown fruit is an eatable case for making a home garden.

Your columnist, who long considered gardening a complete waste of time, advances this argument with great enthusiasm. Planting cool-weather greens, as gardeners across the north-east of America are now doing, can seem nonsense, since convenient, continuously well-stocked supermarket shelves are available all week. But the same could be said of cooking: there are many cheap and decent restaurants around, so why bother to make your own meals?

That attitude misconstrues the ultimate appeal of gardening: it mistakes the product for the purpose. It is true that a garden can produce tomatoes and carrots of incomparable sweetness, and celtuce and herbs that taste like themselves rather than the plastic they are usually packaged in. While finding, let’s say, celtuce in the shops can take some time, effort, and expense, growing your own vegetables ensures a reliable supply.

On the other hand, a garden, especially in the early   years, can produce little but frustration. Green hands may plant the wrong crops for their soil. And even expert gardeners can lose a season’s harvest to uncooperative weather.

No matter. The real joy of gardening is the time spent doing it. The deepest pleasure-as with cooking. Writing or almost anything worthwhile — is in the work itself. To garden is to patiently, lovingly and diligently help life become strong and healthy, in the ground and above it.

3 . According to a study done by University of Michigan, shopping to reduce stress was 40 times more effective at giving people a sense of control and shoppers were three times less sad than those only looking at items.

More than half of the 1,000 consumers surveyed by Credit Karma, head researcher of the study, said they have shopped to deal with feelings of stress or depression. About 48 percent of men and 31 percent of women who have stress shopping said they had purchased alcohol when stressed. About 82 percent of women spend on clothing compared to 52 percent of men. Women also lead shopping for jewellery, 42 percent, compared to 22 percent for men.

In some sense, stress shopping can actually help you live a healthier life by making sure that your blood pressure is lowered. The survey found 82 percent had only positive feelings about their purchases and that the positive mood was long-lasting. However, stress shopping, for many, could grow into a drive that uses up money, causes conflict, and therefore adds great stress to life.

Despite the in-time joy from purchases, stress shopping never proves a long-lasting cure to stress or depression. Actually it needs to be avoided anyhow. Whether you’re purchasing Christmas presents or buying groceries having the items you need written down will provide you with brightness while shopping. Reward yourself for sticking to your list and you’ll be more likely to commit to it.

In addition always think about what you struggle with most financially. Do you spend too much money at the mall? Eating out? Vacations? Make a list of where your money is going and take necessary steps to resist your desire. For example, if you spend too much money on dining out on weekends, stuff your cupboard with food on Friday. So you’ll be more likely to stay in and cook. And you need to give up the need to keep up with others. Everyone’s financial situation is different and comparison may lead to debt and dissatisfaction with what you already have.

6 . That youngsters were glued to online games on their smart phones was a great concern for Ngurang Meena, a school teacher in Nirjuli.The 30­year­old social science teacher, who ran the Ngurang Learning Institute, an adult literacy centre, said that she felt disheartened when she read student papers.“The graph of student performance is falling every year.It breaks my heart whenever I see answer sheets — basic grammar skills are missing and there’s an absence of any cohesive (连贯的) expression.They lack guidance and their reading culture is almost zero,” Meena said.When her school and the centre she ran had to close due to infectious diseases, she planned to do something to address the   problem.

Inspired by a similar proposal in Mizoram, Meena set up a bookshelf with around 80 books as well as some benches on the side of the road in Nirjuli on 30 August 2020, where passers­by could spend time reading.The selections included motivational books, biographies and novels as well as comics for young children.“I have to please the minors with sweets to sit and read, but that is okay,” she laughed.

Meena’s bookshelf became a hit among youngsters who spent hours in the reading corner.Within two months, her effort became the talk of the town.

Now, generous contributions of books come in from the public and she is even receiving requests to set up such libraries in other parts of the state, including one in the capital, Itanagar.Since the tiny libraries are far from the main town, she also lends books out to those who want to read at home.

“I never thought that this would become such a big inspiration,” Meena said.“Since childhood, we have been told that books are our best friends.The next generation of kids is focused on games and other things.I don’t want them to head on the wrong track,” she added.

7 . We humans love to stare into our smart devices. We gaze for hours—about 10 hours and 39 minutes a day—at our computers, smartphones, tablets and televisions. Is all this staring bad for us?   It might be, mainly because as we stare at our devices we are exposing ourselves to blue light.

Blue light is a type of electromagnetic radiation with a very short wavelength that produces a high amount of energy. While it’s true that light can damage our eyes under certain circumstances, there’s no scientific evidence suggesting that blue light is harmful to our eyes. But many people still think it is, which is why blue-light-blocking glasses are so popular. So, do the glasses work?

“Everyone is very concerned that blue light may be causing damage to the eye, but there’s no evidence that it may be causing serious damage, ” Dr. Rahul Khurana, a clinical spokesman, told Business Insider.

Blue light exposure is nothing new. In fact, the sun is the largest source of blue light. Moreover, blue light is also present in LED light. But if blue light isn’t harmful, then why are we constantly rubbing our eyes when we’re looking at our screens?   The answer is eyestrain (眼疲劳). More than 60 percent of people experience eye problems associated with digital eyestrain. And blue light, it seems isn’t the cause. Instead, our eyes are so strained because most of us blink less when we stare at our digital devices. So, if eyestrain is the real issue, blue-light-blocking glasses are probably of little use.

8 . Vijay Gupta is known to classical music lovers across the United States. He serves as the first violinist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In that job, he often plays to large crowds, including many very rich people. When he is not performing, he organizes concerts for homeless people. “They have reminded me why I became a musician.” He said.

Last week, Gupta was recognized for being a founder and the artistic director of Street Symphony. The group has performed at homeless shelters, jails and halfway houses for about eight years. Gupta is among the 25 winners of the 2018 MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the “Genius Grant”. Each winner will receive $ 625,000 over five years to use as they wish. The money is coming from a private group, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. It awards grants (补助金) to people whose work it considers exceptional and whose work “inspires hope in us all”. Gupta said he got the idea for Street Symphony while teaching Nathaniel Ayers, a trained musician whose mental illness led to his homelessness.

The 31-year-old winner said he did not know yet how he would spend the money. He has been a performer since the age of seven and the award will give him “space to breathe, plan and look ahead”.

Another winner is Rebecca Sandefur, an associate professor (副教授) of sociology and law in the University of Illinois. The Associated Press says her research actively supports new ways to involve poor communities in the U. S. justice system.

47-year-old Sandefur created the first national mapping of civil legal aid providers. It shows which states have the financial(金融的)resources to provide such aid and which don’t. She also found that the cost of legal services was only one of the things preventing poor people from getting lawyers. Among the others were fears of unfairness(不公平)in the legal system. Sandefur noted that a lot of attention had been paid to problems with the criminal justice system, but more attention must be paid to the civil side of the law, which also affected millions of people.