Love & Wisdom
Discovering Taylor Swift
A mosh-pit era music fan attends the Taylor Swift concert and finds a culture of kindness in Seattle
The takeover was complete. King County Council named July 18th-25th Taylor Swift Week, “for serving as a positive role model for women and girls,” the proclamation read. She would become the first artist to play Lumen Field two nights in a row. I said to myself: that’s cool, with a shrug. I was not a Taylor…
Summer of Swipe
A newly divorced mom recounts her first attempts at online dating
“Persians love white girls,” he said before kissing my clavicle. His assertion took me by surprise. The whole situation did. I couldn’t have imagined I’d be necking with a 28-year-old, part-time DJ as a 36-year-old all-the-time mom. How did I get here? A few months before, a wild Saturday night might have involved a babysitter…
Clarity – Confidence or Cash: a Paradox
CAN MONEY BUY SELF-ESTEEM? IT’S COMPLICATED.
Sensitive men are having their moment right now, which means it should be my time to shine. I see my therapist every other week. I talk about my feelings. I cried in public before it was ever considered a sign of strength. You want vulnerable? I’m so freaking vulnerable. I’m the kind of guy who…
Heartbeat: Showing Up
Be there for life’s biggest moments
It’s been an odd wedding season. Basically, a large number of weddings have been on hold because of Covid and now, anxious to finally make their commitment legal, weekend after weekend, couples are lined up with local and destination weddings. The destination weddings have me thinking. It started when I called dear friends from San…
Clarity – Exasperated and Exhausted
Burnout is more complicated than you may think
I woke up in Florida on a Sunday morning with a hangover and a patch of angry red bumps on the small of my back. I also couldn’t find the Montreal Expos cap I had been wearing the night before. I had a Seattle Seahawks game to cover that afternoon in Tampa, multiple stories to…
Letter to Seattle: Little Things Matter
A small gesture has big meaning for uplift Northwest client
Letter to Seattle highlights the good deeds and positive experiences in our region. This is a letter from Devin Pullium to Uplift Northwest, a Seattle nonprofit that provides job opportunities and job-preparation services to people experiencing poverty and homelessness. I’ve been with Uplift Northwest since 2016 as a day laborer. I love working with Uplift…
The Art of Weathering Winter: Insights from a Money Expert and a Sounders Legend
Tori Dunlap and Fredy Montero share the ordinary routines that help them get by
In the dead of winter, yearning for brighter days can feel like a metaphor for the general “grass is greener” syndrome I sometimes feel about life. As a freelancer and new parent, I’ll find myself thinking, “If only I can get our child to this age, or see this amount in our bank account, everything…
Essay: Blind Spot
I'm white and he's Asian. Coupled, everywhere we went people assumed we weren't together
I could be at the supermarket with my husband, in line at a movie theater, or looking for furniture at Crate and Barrel, and people assume we aren’t a couple. Assume we’re strangers even. Salespeople, mechanics, hair stylists, real estate agents, and even our neighbors, at first, look confused. Until we stand close together or…
Letter to Seattle: Acts On Stage Opens Minds
Acts on Stage challenges white Seattle
Image caption: Acts On Stage supporter Jess Bielman, left, with Leroy Barber, praises the nonprofit for opening his mind. Letter to Seattle highlights the good deeds and positive experiences in our region. This is a letter from Jess Bielman, a patron of Acts on Stage, a nonprofit, professional theater company in Seattle that emphasizes people…
The Art of Weathering Winter: What “Self-Care” Really Is (and Isn’t)
How to cultivate more community, according to author Angela Garbes & State Representative Darya Farivar
The term “self-care” has become so overused that its meaning can be bent to almost any purpose. Is it indulging in a cocktail or abstaining from booze? Is it splurging on a skincare product or making peace with fine lines? Some have begun to use the term “community care” to refer to a commitment toward…
Publisher’s Note: The True Seattle Influencers
Forget social media. These are the real heroes.
In-flu-ence /ˈinflo͝oəns/. The power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways. An emanation of spiritual or moral force. An ethereal fluid held to flow from the stars and to affect the actions of humans. With all the attention on “influencers” on social media, I think we’ve lost the true meaning of…
The Art of Weathering Winter: How a gardener and a gallerist embrace the Seattle gray
Walk a mile (or twelve) in the shoes of Ciscoe Morris and Tariqa Waters
By Annie Midori Atherton Trudging into midwinter, I sometimes find myself counting down the days to spring with the melodrama of a 19th-century sailor making scratches on the wall to mark how long I’ve been at sea. In an effort to enjoy the season more, I’ve been speaking with a diverse array of locals. What’s…
Sober: Why Dry January Means Something Different to Me
An alcoholic reflects on his journey
I was nearing the end of my screed against holier-than-thou practitioners of Dry January when I came to a startling realization: My brain was broken. This was somewhat alarming as you might imagine, but not totally unexpected. As with many crises, it happened slowly at first and then all at once. Years of arguing on…
Join The Must List
Don't miss a thing.
Get Seattle's best events,handpicked
and delivered to your inbox weekly.