It’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to shake the deep-seated sense of dread about where the world is headed. Every day, we are subjected to images of bombs dropping on civilians, massive icebergs falling into the ocean due to climate change, masked men pulling people off the streets for deportation, constant political chaos, and a culture changing so fast due to technology, it’s easy to be overwhelmed.Added to this is a lingering sense of brokenness that persists from the COVID-19 pandemic era. The result is that in the United States, more people are being diagnosed with depression than ever before. To help our readers break free from the current sense of helplessness, we sat down with Deepak Chopra at Aspen Ideas: Health to hear his thoughts on overcoming depression.Chopra is a Consciousness Explorer and a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. He is also a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego, and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He told Upworthy that the most common problem people ask him about these days is depression. Deepak Chopra, author and guru, at the SXSW London festival hosted in London, England during June 2025.via Deepak Chopra/Wikimedia Commons“It's just people in general right now are stressed, anxious, and depressed. And that's because of all the things that are happening in their environment, social ecosystem, political systems, war, climate change, health,” he told Upworthy. He notes that although tough times aren’t new, modern stress seems to take a deeper toll.“Because we have modern capacities for war, drones, nuclear weapons, cyber warfare. And for the first time, I think we are risking extinction. [Instability] has been happening since Medieval times. But Medieval tribal bonds and modern technology is a dangerous combination. So it's much worse than it's ever been,” he said.What's the first step to overcoming depression, according to Deepak Chopra? A man holding his head in his hands.via Canva/PhotosChopra says that those who are experiencing depression or are just feeling down should ground themselves in their “essential being” (more on that later). But, more practically, they should spend time with people who lift them up. “Hang out with people who are joyful with only one purpose: to create joy in the world. Create joy for yourself. Hang out with joyful people and help create joy in the world,” he told Upworthy. “Joy is the only antidote for suffering. And joy is our fundamental state of being. It's not the same thing as happiness, which is the opposite of sadness. Joy is what you see in an innocent child that is happy for no reason whatsoever. It's our fundamental state of being before we get bamboozled by the hypnosis of social conditioning.”To find out what Chopra means by being “grounded in your essential being,” we consulted his digital twin at DigitalDeepak.AI. Chopra has created an AI that encapsulates all of his teachings throughout his illustrious career, allowing everyone to access his wisdom at any time.The concept of essential being, according to Digital Deepak:Being grounded in your essential being is about connecting with the deepest part of yourself—the true self that exists beyond the fluctuations of the mind and the distractions of daily life. It is about recognizing that, at your core, you are pure consciousness —a field of infinite possibilities and potential.When you are grounded in this essential state, you experience a profound sense of peace and stability. You become anchored in a state of awareness that transcends the temporary and ever-changing nature of the external world. This grounding allows you to navigate life's challenges with a sense of ease and fearlessness, as you are deeply connected to the eternal power within you. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Deepak Chopra (@deepakchopra) Sometimes, we can become so overwhelmed by world events that it's easy to overlook the basic things we need to be happy and healthy. That's why Chopra's belief in the importance of maintaining positive social relationships with others, especially during stressful times, is crucial to our mental well-being. If you are feeling down, it's essential to get out and spend time with positive, uplifting people. But it's also crucial to get help from a trained mental health professional.

When picturing the wildlife of New York City, pigeons and rats are likely to be at top of mind, not ducks. However, the rivers in Central Park and Prospect Park are teeming with them. During the spring and summer, you can expect to see waddlings of little ducklings out making their debut. And thanks to a video (aptly captioned “hopecore”) posted to TikTok by a publicist named Abby Decter, we get to witness the most wholesome interaction between 10 little ducklings getting ready to take a plunge into the Husdon and a group of onlookers cheering them on. One by one, the ducklings “worked up the courage” to take the leap to join their mama in the water as the crowd whooped and yelled “go go go!” Eventually only two shyer ducklings remained, but even they mustered up the gumption after a while (perhaps they responded to the encouragement of their fans). @abbydecter Hopecore? ♬ original sound - Downtown Abby "The feeling was electric, everyone just stopped what they were doing to watch. [It was] just one of those moments where everyone comes together," Decter told Newsweek. Indeed, just witnessing the love shared for these sweet babies seemed to be a precious gift that viewers immensely appreciated. "We don't want war, all of us just want to watch baby ducks." "They're so tiny and brave.”"I'm so proud of them.”"For anyone who identifies with the 'last duck' you got this. They all got in the water safely, and everyone's timing is different and their progress is NOT less valid." “If this doesn't prove animal sentience, they have fear, they overcome it, they have courage, etc., I don’t know what does.”Yes, nature hardwired us to get the feels when we see cuteness (who wasn’t obsessed over little Moo Deng, amirite?), but another part of why we get so invested in the journeys of these little creatures—as is evidenced by this video and the comments it inspired—is that we see ourselves in them. What a sweet reminder of just how connected all beings on this planet really are. Wishing these critters a safe time on the rest of their travels, including when they set out on their own adventures in a couple month’s time.

In a world of 8 billion people who speak thousands of different languages, it's fascinating to learn about how languages differ from one another. Even just among the most spoken languages in the world, there are completely different alphabets, scripts, phonetics, grammar rules, and more that bear little relationship to one another.The world has not yet collectively decided on a universal language, but English has become the default language in many international gatherings and business communications. For better or for worse, learning English is valuable, but as many English language learners find, it's…well…weird. - YouTube youtu.be Rob Words' YouTube channel "for lovers and learners of English" explores all aspects of the English language, including what makes it "weird."Here are 9 reasons English stands out as an oddity among the world's languages:1. English has has a lot of sounds, comparativelyEnglish has 44 phonemes, or distinct sounds, that we put together to form our words. The average for languages worldwide is 25 to 30. A lot of that discrepancy is due to English having a lot of different vowel sounds. And English includes some rare sounds that are found in very few other languages, such as the "th" sound (both in "the" and in "three") and the ubiquitous-in-American-English-but-rare-in-other-languages "er" sound. 2. The way we form questionsIn English, to change a statement into a question, we switch the order of the subject and the verb. "She is an architect," becomes "Is she an architect?" That's unusual among the world's languages. According to Rob Words, only 1.4% of languages do that kind of switcheroo to form questions. Do you? Do you? Giphy GIF by Paramount+ 3. Our meaningless "do"This is one that native English speakers likely never think about but is confusing for those trying to learn. We have our "do" that means doing something. But we also have "do" that we just toss into questions for no apparent reason. For instance, "You like coffee," doesn't become "You like coffee?" It becomes "Do you like coffee?" We also use it with "not" as in "I do not like coffee." But that "do" serves no purpose except to confuse English learners. We could just say "I not like coffee," but we don't. 4. Phrasal verbsIf there's one thing I learned teaching English in Japan, it's that phrasal verbs we use in everyday language make no sense whatsoever. Why do we say that an alarm "goes off" instead of "goes on"? Why do we "get in" a car but "get on" a bus? Why does "looking up" something have a totally different meaning than "looking at" something or "looking into" something, and how are people supposed to know which added preposition fits which meaning? jon favreau car GIF Giphy 5. Our lack of gendered wordsMany languages have masculine and feminine words, grammar rules, etc. But English is almost entirely devoid of such linguistic devices. We have gendered pronouns, but that's it. That's different than most Indo-European languages, which employ some kind of grammatical gender rules.6. Pronoun relianceSpeaking of gendered pronouns, another thing that sets English apart is our reliance on them. Many languages don't use pronouns as much as we do, and only about 10% of languages have obligatory pronouns like English. We don't say "am hungry," we say "I am hungry." We don't say "Like chocolate," we say "I/we/you/etc. like chocolate." That's totally natural for us, but it's unusual. Spelling in English is so hard we have competitions. Giphy 7. "Silly" spellingWe all know this one. Our spelling "rules" are like the flippin' Wild West. Or as Rob Words puts it "a monstrosity." Our silent letters, the way different combinations make letters have different sounds, but not in any way consistently—it's truly bonkers. "I don’t know of another language that has tried to create a written form that represents the sounds of that language and failed so spectacularly," Rob shares.8. TensesThis one is a little nerdy, but hear him out. "So far as linguists have researched it, English’s present tense is like no other," Rob says. "Because English is the only language in the whole world where the present tense only requires you to alter the third person singular form for regular verbs."Example: I smell. You smell. They smell. But he/she/it smells. That added "s" just with those specific pronouns is weird. I smell. You smell. He smells. Giphy 9. ArticlesPeople learning English have to learn the subtle nuances of when to use "the" and when to use "a" or "an." Apparently, German is worse on this front, but many languages don't have any articles or anything equivalent. So yeah, weird. 10. Things we're missing (BONUS) Rob Words actually listed 10 oddities, but the last one was technically just an absence of things. There are some things other languages have that English doesn't. For instance, we have aunts and uncles, but we don't have a gender-neutral umbrella term for that position in the family. We have mom/dad/parents and grandma/grandpa/grandparents, but then aunt/uncle/????s. We also don’t have a word for the day after tomorrow or the day before yesterday, but many other languages do. And so on and so forth.It's official: English truly is weird. Nothing but the utmost respect to everyone trying to learn it.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in April 2025, something extraordinary happened at California's most famous prison, San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQRC). The prison's chapel was transformed into a gorgeous ballroom: music filled the air, an illuminated dance floor beckoned, the scent of fresh flowers wafted through the room, and twinkling lights sparkled overhead. Outside, guests arrived on a ruby red carpet. Girls wore beautiful gowns and dresses; their fathers, in sharp tuxedos, held corsages ready to be tied onto their daughters' wrists. This wasn't a prom in the usual high school Never Been Kissed sense. Instead, it was a magical evening where 17 incarcerated fathers got the chance to do something many of us take for granted: simply dance with their daughters and make them feel special.Twenty-five daughters, ages 7 to 27, walked down that red carpet to reunite with their beloved fathers—some hadn't seen each other in years, others in over a decade. On the sidelines, “correctional officers, guardians, mothers, and volunteers cheered as each reunion took place. Some people were in tears, writes,” Localnewsmatters. SQRC's “Parenting Prom” was planned and hosted by The People in Blue (TPIB), a coalition of innovative incarcerated individuals working to reimagine California's prisons from the inside. This night in April was never meant to be a singular, one-off event—this is what rehabilitation can look like at its best: healing families and individuals, rather than warehousing people who have made mistakes. @drumarjojodinero 16 incarcerated fathers got to reunite with their daughters for a Daddy Daughter Dance in San Quentin Prison. They have waited years for this moment. Some have waited decades. These kind of moments are sacred to many parents who deeply appreciate, care about, and love their children. Most men are incarcerated don’t even get this opportunity. Let alone get a phone call/a visit/even a letter.. This is what rehabilitation should look like. This what restoration should look like ‼️? Such a beautiful event. For just a few hours, these men got to experience something different. For just a few hours, this didn’t feel like prison. #healing #happyfathersday #fatherdaughter #sanquentin #fyp #daddydaugtherdance #massincarceration If you think prison is just about punishment, you’re missing the bigger picture This is what healing looks like in action.“We want to promote healing,” said Arthur Jackson, The People in Blue’s president. “We want to promote healing for everybody, victims of crime, families, communities, and incarcerated individuals. We believe families are critical to rehabilitation and healing, and we want to normalize these reunions as much as possible.”Members of TPIB worked as ushers and servers, ensuring everyone in attendance—mothers, guardians, daughters, and fathers—were well cared for and enjoying themselves. The idea for the Parenting Prom began in 2023, when someone noticed Louis Sale (a TPIB member and the night's emcee) dancing with his daughter, Matalena, at the SQRC Hawaiian Makahiki celebration. The inspiration grew when residents at SQRC watched the documentary Daughters in 2024, which showcases a similar father-daughter dance in a Washington, D.C. jail. It resonated deeply. “We knew we had to make it happen,” says Sale. "We knew we needed to make it happen," said the emcee, Louis Sale. Credit: @drumarjojodinero (TikTok)San Quentin, California's oldest and most well-known prison, is undergoing a major transformation into a rehabilitation-focused facility. Inspired by Scandinavian models, the new San Quentin Rehabilitation Center prioritizes education, therapy, job training, and family connection while moving away from traditional punishment approaches. The goal? To reduce recidivism—the relapse into criminal behavior after release—and prepare incarcerated individuals for successful reentry into society. This revolutionary change has the prison now housing approximately 3,900 individuals, with a focus on lower-risk individuals who can benefit most from rehabilitation programs.“I can't stop crying” Each incarcerated father was required to complete and graduate from an eight-week family communication workshop. The workshop was created by Tam Nguyen, a TPIB member who has been incarcerated for 22 years and has prior training from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Offender Mentor Certification Program and the Youthful Offender Program.“I started this workshop to help bring families closer together,” said Nguyen. “If we don’t have strong family ties when we go back to our communities, it increases the recidivism rate.”One of those graduates was Steven Embrey, who danced with his three daughters, Ase (7), Anna (9), and Tiara (28). “This workshop helped me be more understanding. I listen more, and we talk about reasonable and unreasonable expectations,” he said. Some of the fathers hadn't seen their daughters in years. Credit: @drumarjojodinero (TikTok)The emotional impact of the night was immediate and profound. Carrington Russelle, another incarcerated father who graduated from the class, reunited with his 12- and 14-year-old daughters, Jazlyn and Jayla, who had traveled all the way from Georgia to see him.“It's the first time I saw them in person in more than a decade,” said Russelle. “I can't stop crying.”One of the most powerful moments came during the slow dance to Luther Vandross' “Dance with My Father.” There wasn't a dry eye in the room as correctional officers, volunteers, and family members watched fathers—some who hadn't seen their daughters in decades—embrace and share that special song together.“I have been at San Quentin over 20 years. I have probably witnessed hundreds of events, but nothing like this,” said acting chief deputy warden Eric Patao. “I have three daughters. I understand a father's love. We have a common bond today.” The Parenting Prom was a community event, cultivated with love. Credit: @drumarjojodinero (TikTok)Another beautiful aspect? The evening was truly a community effort: some daughters received free flights and hotel accommodations to see their fathers, thanks to God Behind Bars. Other organizations and individuals provided a DJ, decorations, and food. At the end of the night, daughters received flowers, goodie bags, and t-shirts reading “I Danced with My Father.”The Parenting Prom at San Quentin represents something much bigger than one beautiful evening. It's a glimpse into what our justice system could look like if we prioritized healing over punishment, connection over isolation, and hope over despair. Steven Warren, who danced with his 8-year-old daughter Wynter, captured this perfectly: “We did this to build long-lasting healthy relationships with our daughters. This is a memory that will last a lifetime.”

You probably know what it means to hit the hay, tie the knot or buy a lemon. Maybe you’ve already killed two birds with one stone today, so effortlessly that it was a piece of cake. But to a non-English speaker, using these phrases would probably make you sound crazy … or should I say gone crackers?That’s the fun thing about idioms. They change depending on the time, place and culture creating them. In other words, they usually sound ridiculous to anyone except those who normally use them. Looking at turns of phrase in different languages helps us see the world through different eyes. And man does it seem impressive at a party. — (@) Just think, instead of saying “it’s raining cats and dogs,” next time you could incorporate a more Lithuanian take, and say “it’s raining axes.” How metal is that?It can also be raining old women, barrels, buckets, pipe stems, frogs, female trolls, fire and brimstone … depending on where you’re from.Some of these idioms from around the world make a lot of sense. Others get so lost in translation, you can’t help but get tickled pink. "Now your fishes will be warmed."Photo credit: CanvaSwedish”Nu ska du få dina fiskar värmda.”Literal translation: Now your fishes will be warmed.It's another way of saying someone’s in trouble, or their “goose is cooked.”The Swedish language is definitely not lacking in the threats department. They also have a saying, “nu har du satt din sista potatis,” which translates to “now you have planted your last potato.”Imagine hearing Batman say “You’ve planted your last potato, Joker.” Doesn't have quite the intended effect. "To have one’s eyes lined with ham."Photo credit: CanvaItalian“Avere gli occhi foderati di prosciutto.”Literal translation: To have one’s eyes lined with ham.Leave it to the Italians to have food-related phrases. You can use this when someone can’t see what’s right in front of them. It can also be used when someone is blinded by love. Sadly, there is no “ham-colored glasses” idiom. "To lay your head in water."Photo credit: CanvaIcelandic“Að leggja höfuðið í bleyti.”Literal translation: To lay your head in water.You say this when you “need to sleep on something,” or “put your thinking cap on.” This one is hilarious because I cannot fathom getting any mental clarity from holding my head in the water. "Repetition teaches the donkey."Photo credit: CanvaArabic"At-Tikraar yu’allem al-Himaar.”Literal translation: Repetition teaches the donkey.Practice makes perfect, but it especially does for donkeys. Animal-themed wisdom at its finest. "I only understand train station."Photo credit: CanvaGerman"Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof."Literal translation: I only understand train station.It's another way of saying “it’s all Greek to me.”The history of this one is a bit mysterious. One theory is that it originated from WWI soldiers who had only one thing on their mind after getting discharged: returning home. Meaning, they could only comprehend the train station that would lead them there. Others say it refers to tourists new to Germany who have really only learned the German word for “train station.” Which would indicate that everything else is foreign to them.And let’s not forget “nicht mein bier, nicht meine sorgen,” translating to “not my beer, not my worries.”(Fun fact: The term “not my circus, not my monkeys” actually stems from a Polish proverb, not an English saying at all.) "To speak directly from the liver."Photo credit: CanvaNorwegian“Å snakke rett fra leveren.”Literal translation: To speak directly from the liver.When you say something without sugar-coating it, you are speaking directly from the liver. This dates back to a time when the liver was thought to be the magical organ that produced courage. So speaking from the liver is just like speaking from the heart, only down and to the right a little. "Horse horse, tiger tiger."Photo credit: CanvaChinese“Mama huhu.”Literal translation: Horse horse, tiger tiger.You can use it to say something is just okay. Not good, not bad, just … meh.As the story goes, a Chinese painter who, not very good at his craft, created a drawing of an animal that looked sort of like a tiger, and sort of like, you guessed it, a horse. That story actually has a tragic ending that serves as a cautionary tale against carelessness. But nowadays it takes on a lighter connotation.And like “comme ci, comme ca” in French, “horse horse, tiger tiger” isn’t quite as commonly spoken as non-native speakers would assume.Language continues to be an ever-evolving and always entertaining way to not only appreciate other cultures, but also note the similarities. Words might change slightly, but ultimately we're all expressing the same things.This article originally appeared three years ago.