Even as a child, I could feel that each place had its own rhythm. In Karachi, the social world felt close-knit and rooted in family. In Lusaka, youth culture and public life felt more open to the wider world. That contrast taught me early that culture is not a single thing; it is a collection of habits, accents, expectations, and unspoken rules.

When the starter fired her gun (at least I choose to remember it as a gun), the athletic kids among us bolted toward the distance. A few steps in, I realized I didn't have a chance.

“As federal relief funds gradually ended, assuming business was back as usual, many arts organizations found that those assumptions needed to be revised. As a director at one Philadelphia theater noted in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “People are really happy with their yoga pants and Netflix.””

Facebook and social media are not all-or-nothing scenarios. We have choices, and we can choose how we approach them.