Right now, hurricane Fiona is bearing down on the Atlantic provinces.  So if you’re there, I hope you’re reading this from safe shelter.  Otherwise, put this down and get to safe shelter right away, please.

Have you noticed how things seem to pile on? COVID-19 brought health care crises and supply issues that sparked inflation both here and around the globe, while a war starting up in Eastern Europe and the resulting sanctions served to magnify it.   Now it seems the reaction to that inflation is threatening recession at a time when many people are already feeling pinched.  This while the weather is causing various crop failures around the globe, including a significant reduction in corn crops in the northern US, and now let’s just throw a massive hurricane on top of that.

Or maybe I just read too much news.

The 24-hour news cycle has a vested interest in keeping me interested, and the easiest way to do that is to point out the problems in the world, as we’re hardwired to pay attention to possible threats—even though, in reality, many of those threats won’t ever hit us directly and there’s little we can do about the few that will.

So that’s why it’s important to keep an eye out for good news, when you can find it.  It’s not denial, after all, to simply decide to not think about the bad for a little while when you’re already overwhelmed.  The trick is to keep a little while to a little while.  Not dealing with issues means, unsurprisingly, that they don’t get dealt with, and so have the opportunity to become much worse.

But in this case, the good news is that we’ve got a fresh new “Minds We Meet” ready for this issue, and I’m told a few more already lined up.  It seems I’ve asked and some of you answered, so thanks for that!  And since it worked once, I’d be foolish not to try again, but this time the ask is bigger.  I’m still looking for more current and active students to try their hands at writing for The Voice Magazine.  Have a passion you’d love to get more people into?  Why not convince Voice readers to give it a try?  Is there something that you’re concerned about in the world?  You’re probably not alone, and people like you would love to find out that they’re not alone either.  Not to mention you’ll earn a little bit of extra pocket money doing so.  I don’t’ think that’s something anybody would mind, these days.

Still, if that’s not your cup of tea, then just settle back and check out what’s on the mind of other folks from the AU community.  Like our article on  “How to Cope When Your Kids are Driving  You Crazy” with some helpful advice for the parents trying to juggle everything.  Or a  look at “For the Love of Science”, where Alek wonders about whether we’re going too far in the pursuit of not offending anyone when it intrudes on scientific publishing.

Plus, we’ve got a new course exam this week, fashion advice, music reviews, an article on finding which vegetables are in season and why you’d want to, plus, of course, relationship advice, scholarships, events, thoughtful contemplations and more. So, enjoy the read and The Voice Magazine will be back in October as I’m taking a short break to recharge.  Maybe I’ll try to avoid the news while I do.