Alex Cochrane writes a eulogy for his mother, who lived a unique and incredible life: “The lives of both my parents wildly oscillated between disaster and triumph – a drunken lurch between palace and dosshouse.”

“While there are environmental forces—such as leadership and workplace culture—that influence what we believe about ourselves, ultimately we are the stewards of our own stories.” On his personal blog, content strategist Paul Jun muses on the stories we tell ourselves about the work we do.

“Being a mother, a woman, a wife and a writer is different from being a writer-writer. It’s possibly more precarious.” This Longreads essay by an anonymous writer — which has gone viral — is about the struggle to write as a woman, a mother, and as the wife of another writer who is jealous of […]

“Reluctant to give up the exclamatory joy of seeing, I have built a life at the untranslated point of an outstretched finger.” Roxani Krystalli writes about exploring the Scottish landscape and learning to see differently.

“Some are tired. All are broke. Some are gay or trans and suffer for it. All have professional ambitions beyond what they can achieve on a blockaded island.” At Here is Havana, Conner Gorry reflects on emigration, loss, and Cuba.

“The impulse to see pregnancy as a sci-fi curiosity turns pregnant people into something that is not human, or at least adds an asterisk to their humanity.” In this longread, Sara Fredman writes about pregnancy, demons, and Stranger Things.

“For all I say I’m envious of my daughter’s freedoms, perhaps the older woman has more leeway, more agency.” Artist Myfanwy Tristram was irritated by her teenage daughter’s extreme fashions — until she took an illustrated journey into their origins.

“Just like the countless options on my office’s hot drinks machine, I fell in love with a fresh sense of possibility — that there was more than one way to live my life.” In this illustrated longread, Candace Rose Rardon reflects on coffee, life, and finding herself, no matter where she is in the world.

“Tomorrow, again, I’ll get up, do the Things That Are Necessary to help pay the bills and then I’ll turn to those Things That Matter.” At Parhelion, a new literary magazine, Evan Guilford-Blake reflects on why he writes.

Experiencing heartache? At Longreads, Jacqueline Alnes compiles a reading list of essays that have allowed her to grieve.

“These days, there are two main populations I end up mentoring: CEOs, and kids. At some level, they’re totally different. But at some level, they’re surprisingly similar.” On his personal blog, Stephen Wolfram reflects on his role as a mentor to people of all ages.

“I’ve come to believe that a long hike has a biological cycle. Like almost everything—life, relationships, civilizations, songs, stories, stars—it is born in explosive uncertainty.” At Appalachia Journal, Ben Montgomery writes on divorce, loss, and taking his kids on a 244-mile walk to make sense of it all.