A Swedish woman taking things into her own hands.
Sweden has existed for over 1,000 years, but travelers across the globe are confused because other places, inspired by the country’s untouched beauty and joyously inclusive culture, have taken its name.
Seven other places in the world call themselves Sweden, so to distinguish itself from the name-alikes, the Kingdom of Sweden is taking a bold, historic step that no country has before. It’s become the first to apply to trademark its name with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
Visit Sweden likens the country’s problem to a luxury brand that has to contend with dupes, knockoffs, or bootlegs that fall short of the glory of the genuine article.
“It’s flattering that other places want to be called Sweden, but let’s be honest, there should only be one. Our Sweden. The one with the Northern Lights, endless forests, and the world’s best flat-pack furniture,” says Susanne Andersson, CEO at Visit Sweden.
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
By trademarking its name, Sweden will make things much less confusing for travelers worldwide. It’d be a shame for someone looking to visit Sweden’s majestic Lapland to mistakenly wind up in a place with no reindeer, Aurora Borealis, or cloudberries to be found.
The world-class research team at Visit Sweden knew it had to act when it realized that other destinations with the same name had tripped up travelers. People looking to vacation in Portland, Oregon, have accidentally wound up in Portland, Maine. Travelers yearning to experience the fall in Manchester, New Hampshire, have been deplaning in Manchester, England. “It happens more than you think!” the researchers admitted.
The Northern Lights in Sweden. via Visit Sweden, Photographer: Jann Lipka/imagebank.sweden.se
The E.U. Intellectual Property Office must act swiftly and allow Sweden to trademark its name so that travelers worldwide don’t miss the opportunity to experience an utterly unique country known for its serene landscapes, commitment to deep relaxation and personal freedom.
No one should ever miss out on staying on one of Sweden’s 267,570 islands, more than any other country. The Swedish archipelagos offer luxurious glamping, peaceful hikes, tranquil solitude and awe-inspiring, pristine nature.
A woman camping in the Swedish archipelago.via Visit Sweden, Photographer: Anders Klapp/imagebank.sweden.se
Sweden is a beautiful place to visit all year round, with bright summers, colorful falls, vibrant springs and dark, crisp winters. It is also a place to delight your tastebuds with a cuisine centered on healthy, locally sourced produce, with some preparation methods dating back to the Viking era.
The original Sweden is a place where one can relish Old World European history while also enjoying the modern pleasures of the most progressive countries in the world. Travelers can be whisked back into history by visiting the Naval Port of Karlskona, a well-preserved European naval town from 1680. Or, enjoy cutting-edge design, delicacies, art, music and culture in hip metropolitan destinations such as Stockholm or Sweden’s “coolest city,” Gothenburg.
Did we mention Sweden has an ABBA museum? Wait till the other 7 Swedens find out about that.
As you can see, Sweden is an incredibly unique destination that cannot be duplicated. It would be a tragedy for anyone intending to visit the original Sweden to mistakenly find themselves in a name-alike place that lacks its Scandinavian charm. You can do your part to stop the confusion by signing a petition to let Sweden trademark Sweden at Visit Sweden (the original).
A Swedish Midsommar celebration. via Visit Sweden, Photographer: Stefan Berg/Folio/imagebank.sweden.se
Together, let’s help fuel the next big breakthrough in cancer research
There are many things that ten-year-old Reid Wolf Moritz loves. His family, making watches (yes, really), basketball, cars (especially Ferraris), collecting super, ultra-rare Pokémon cards…and putting the pedal to the medal at Cycle for Survival.
Cycle for Survival is the official rare cancer fundraising program of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). One hundred percent of every dollar raised at Cycle for Survival events supports rare cancer research and lifesaving clinical trials at MSK.
At only two years old, Reid was diagnosed with pilocytic astrocytoma, a rare type of brain tumor.
Pediatric cancer research is severely underfunded. When standard treatments don't work, families rely on breakthrough clinical trials to give their children a real shot at long-term survival.
When Reid’s chemotherapy and brain surgery didn’t work, he was able to participate in one of MSK’s clinical trials, where he’s received some incredible results. “Memorial Sloan Kettering has done so much for me. It's just so nice how they did all this for me. They're just the best hospital ever,” Reid recalls.
And that’s why every year, you’ll find Reid with his team, aptly named Reid's Wolfpack, riding at Cycle for Survival. It’s just Reid’s way of paying it forward so that even more kids can have similar opportunities.
“I love sharing my story to inspire other kids to PERSEVERE, STAY STRONG and NEVER GIVE UP while also raising money for my amazing doctors and researchers to help other kids like me.”
Reid remembers the joy felt bouncing on his father’s shoulder and hearing the crowd cheer during his first Cycle for Survival ride. As he can attest, each fundraising event feels more like a party, with plenty of dancing, singing and celebrating.
Hoping to spread more of that positivity, Reid and his family started the Cycle for Survival team, Reid’s Wolfpack, which has raised close to $750,000 over the past eight years. All that money goes directly to Reid’s Neuro-Oncology team at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
In addition to cheering on participants and raising good vibes at Cycle for Survival events, Reid even designs some pretty epic looking merch—like basketball shorts, jerseys, and hoodies—to help raise money.
If you’re looking to help kids just like Reid, and have a ton of fun doing it, you’re in luck. Cycle for Survival events are held at Equinox locations nationwide, and welcome experienced riders and complete newbies alike. You can even join Reid and his Wolfpack in select cities!
And if cycling in any form isn’t your thing, a little donation really does go a long way.
Together, let’s help fuel the next big breakthrough in cancer research. Find out more information by checking out cycleforsurvival.org or filling out this interest form.
A stunning 25% of marriages end, in large part, because of arguments over household chores. So the third most common reason for divorce after falling out of love and infidelity is... cooking and laundry.
It seems utterly ridiculous, on the surface. But when you've lived with someone long enough, you know that having the same arguments over and over — even over tiny things — can eventually push you over the edge.
Unsplash
Probably the stereotypical example is the husband loading the dishwasher but repeatedly being told he's doing it incorrectly.
This is where it's easy to fall into the trap of the "nagging wife" stereotype. Don't forget that husbands or male partners can be extremely particular and critical about certain things, too.
For example, Mom might pack all of the kids' lunches for school, but Dad sure has a lot to say about the nutritional content for those lunches.
Wife doesn't like the way Husband runs the kitchen while cooking. Husband badgers wife to fold the laundry a different way.
Even when the division of labor isn't a major problem, per se, sometimes spouses have trouble "letting go" of control when it comes to the "how" things get done.
In a recent Reddit thread asking for advice on this exact topic, one comment hit the nail on the head:
This stuck out to me because it reminds me so much of my own household.
I do all the dishes in our home, and one thing I really appreciate is that I never hear a word about it unless my wife or one of the kids needs a specific dish washed at a specific time. Otherwise, the kitchen sink is my domain!
Likewise, I don't moan about the mealplans that my wife makes. I'm happy to give my input when she wants it, or recommend something, but you won't catch me grumbling that I'm not in the mood for chili when she's gone through the immense trouble of planning that meal already.
It's a really solid rule of thumb. If you want it done a very specific way, and not just done, do it yourself.
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash
I asked Kelly Hubbell, who helps busy parents create a healthy division of labor in their household, for her tips on this common conundrum.
She sometimes asks couples who are in conflict over chores to think of division of labor instead of "partner collaboration," to get through to them that they need to work together to keep the household afloat.
"A great starting point is defining roles and expectations by setting up a 'standard of care' that both partners can agree on," she says.
In other words, have that conversation about what it truly means for someone to "do the dishes." When should they be done by, is it OK to leave a couple things in the sink if they won't fit in the dishwasher, do they need to be dried and put away or can that happen the next day? Hash it out in a collaborative way that you both agree on.
"By aligning on what’s most important for your family and agreeing (and compromising) ahead of time on how tasks will be done, you can avoid unnecessary conflict and focus on what really matters: quality time and shared goals."
Weaponized incompetence, division of labor, mental load. These are all hot button words that can put husbands on the defensive, but the truth is that none of this matters if men aren't showing up at home and doing their share.
(Plenty of data shows that, on average, women are still doing way more at home.)
Hubbell says that you have to both agree to a standard of care for your home.
Only occasionally doing the dishes when you feel like it, or only doing some of them, or making your wife do literally everything is not an acceptable standard.
And if she doesn't get to nitpick how you do your chores, you don't get to nitpick hers either.
Outside of that, we should all be able to agree that the only wrong way to load the dishwasher is if the dishes are coming out still dirty! If they're clean, live and let live.
97-year-old cheerleader cheers with high school squad one last time
For many people reminiscing on your time in high school can bring you moments of joy. The memories seem to bee especially fond for former high school athletes and those that participated in other activities, likely due to the additional time spent with peers. This sort of nostalgia doesn't stop just because you've reached an age that most would consider well beyond their glory years.
One of the funny things about growing older is you keep waiting to feel like an adult but oftentimes you simply feel like a slightly slower version of your teenaged self. It can feel like one moment you're flying through the air from a basket toss and the next you're putting grippy things in the bottom of your tub because a slippery surface means a hip breaking hazard.
But that reality doesn't stop some people from being as active as possible for as long as they physically can, like Michigan woman Ilagene Doehring. The elderly woman is 97-years-old and when she was in high school, more than 80 years ago, she was a cheerleader at Merrill High School on a squad she helped create after noticing the school didn't have one.
Doehring tells WNEM News, “I just felt bad that Merrill High School didn’t have cheerleaders when all the other schools had them,” she said. “So, we decided to do something about it. We had a hard time finding orange material to make our uniforms. We had a lady that sewed them for us and that was it."
women in black and white tank top
Photo by leah hetteberg on Unsplash
Recently Doehring was chatting with her caretakers at Candlestone Assisted Living about her days as a cheerleader and her desire to wear her old cheer uniform again when they got a brilliant idea. After hearing all about how the woman was the reason that the local high school even had cheerleaders, they reached out on social media to see if someone had an old uniform Doehring could wear one last time.
The cheer coach, Jena Glazier from Merrill High School was not only able to secure a uniform that fits the 97-year-old, but decided to go a step further. Glazier and the entire cheer team showed up to the assisted living facility to not only deliver the uniform but invite Doehring to cheer with them. The squad and Doehring were able to perform in front of the other residents in the facility. At one point, the former cheerleader got to take her high school nostalgia off the ground by being a flyer in a stunt.
will ferrell snl GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy
Don't worry, there were no basket tosses or heel stretches going on. It was a low stunt where the cheerleaders don't lift the flyer's feet above their chest, otherwise generally known as a "low elevator."
Her skills impressed the cheerleaders, "We had asked her if she remembered any cheers from when she was in school and we were figuring it was probably 84...85 years ago and she was right on top of it and she said yes. When we walked in the door she was already cheering before we could even start cheering she was ready to go," Glazier tells the news outlet.
But the staff at the assisted living facility are not surprised by her athleticism. According to Kati Roper, the Life and Enrichment Director at Candlestone Assisted Living, the woman can probably run faster than her and is full of spirit. Doehring taught the cheerleaders some cheers she used to do and while she admits that she was embarrassed to have all the attention on her that day, she reminded Glazier that she's the reason the cheer team exists.
“When I left, she said, ‘Without me, you wouldn’t have Merrill cheer.’ And I just thought on that, and I’m just so grateful for her because I know what it probably took to get that started, and she’s allowed me to come in after her – a foundation that she built and her and her girls, they built this program – and I get to come in behind her and mentor girls all the time because of that,” Glazier shares with WNEM.
Doehring has certainly left a legacy at her old high school and has made an impression on the current cheerleaders and everyone that gets to witness her revisit memory lane.
