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“The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy and the power to transform and resurrect.” ~Peter Levine

I was sitting in the conference room at work with the CEO and my abusive male boss.

The same boss who had been love-bombing and manipulating me since I started nine months earlier, slowly pushing my nervous system into a constant state of fight-or-flight.

When I was four months into the job, this boss went on a three-day bender during an overnight work conference at a fancy hotel in Boston.

He skipped client meetings or showed up smelling …

“The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy and the power to transform and resurrect.” ~Peter Levine

I was sitting in the conference room at work with the CEO and my abusive male boss.

The same boss who had been love-bombing and manipulating me since I started nine months earlier, slowly pushing my nervous system into a constant state of fight-or-flight.

When I was four months into the job, this boss went on a three-day bender during an overnight work conference at a fancy hotel in Boston.

He skipped client meetings or showed up smelling like alcohol, wearing yesterday’s clothes.

When I texted him to ask where he was, he replied, “I f**king hate you.”

When my CEO found out and called me five minutes after I got home, I told him I trusted him to handle it however he saw fit.

I really believed he would. But over the next five months, the abuse didn’t stop. I just didn’t know it was abuse yet.

He was over-the-top obsessed with me. He regularly told me:

• “You’re going to make so much money here.”
• “You have the ‘it’ factor.”
• “You know how I feel about you.”
• “I’m going to fast-track you.”
• “You’re such a good culture fit.”
• “This has been your home all along.”

He told me everything I wanted to hear.

I had spent the prior fifteen years in corporate America, wondering where I belonged. Wondering where my work family was.

At first, I felt like I had finally found it.

Then the attention escalated. What started as friendly check-ins became constant interruptions. The group Teams chats turned into direct messages. The work texts turned into personal texts—at night and on the weekends.

He asked to go to dinner with me and my husband. He offered to buy me lunch while ignoring my coworkers. He brought in cookies for the office but made sure I knew they were for me. He singled me out in meetings and asked how I was doing while ignoring everyone else.

I told myself, “There are worse things than your boss liking you.” But over time…I started to feel unsafe.

My body started to send signals. I was having panic attacks on Sunday nights. I couldn’t sleep. I found myself using PTO just to get away from him. My fight-or-flight response was fully activated, and I finally had to admit I wasn’t in control anymore.

Eventually, a coworker reported it to the CEO. Which brings me back to the conference room.

I sat across from the CEO, body tense, heart racing, but filled with hope. I was ready for resolution. Support. Justice.

That’s not what happened.

Whatever the CEO said that day affected me in a way I didn’t expect. I felt minimized. Judged. Dismissed.

Then my body reacted.

The pressure in my chest started to build until I couldn’t control it anymore. I started shaking—full-body, uncontrollable shaking. I tried to sit still, tried to pretend nothing was happening, but it was too late.

There was no hiding it. No escaping it.

Just a forty-two-year-old corporate woman, uncontrollably shaking in a conference room across from the CEO.

I excused myself and ran to the restroom.

I lay on the floor of the public bathroom and cried harder than I ever had. My body was forcing the energy out of me. There was nothing I could do but let it come out.

Once the tears slowed, I left the building as fast as I could.

What had just happened to me?
Why did it feel like a gaping wound had opened in my chest?
Why did I feel physically damaged?

It would take almost a year before I understood: that was trauma. That was new trauma layered on top of old trauma.

Almost exactly twenty years earlier, I had been sexually assaulted by a coworker.

I reported it to the police, and they didn’t even take a statement. I was sent away. Dismissed. Minimized.

My brain had filed this memory away. But my body remembered.

That moment in the conference room—being in a position of vulnerability, being ignored, unheard, unprotected—triggered a trauma response that had been waiting quietly inside of me for decades.

My brain couldn’t tell the difference between past and present. It just knew I wasn’t safe. So it mobilized. It tried to protect me. And it left me raw, shut down, and checked out from the world—including my own kids—for a long time afterward.

It was the worst time of my life.

Several months after the conference room incident, I got a new job.

It wasn’t easy to leave despite everything that had happened. I liked my job. I was good at it. My coworkers were my friends, and we had been through so much together. But I had become a shell of myself, and leaving seemed like the only way to get myself back.

Even so, the first six months at my new job were not easy. I remained hypervigilant and emotionally reactive. Standard feedback and performance reviews brought me right back to that conference room, no matter what was said.

That’s when I learned: trauma doesn’t stay with the toxic job. It comes with you. And this was trauma.

What I Learned About Trauma

I needed to learn everything I could, so I enrolled in a trauma-informed coaching program and studied my experience through that lens.

From a trauma perspective, I learned:

• The brain constantly scans the environment for safety and danger, a process called neuroception.
• My brain perceived danger in countless ways during my employment and alerted me through my nervous system.
• I rationalized those signals away, telling myself I could handle it.
• But the signals—racing heart, insomnia, panic, emotional reactivity—only got louder until they could no longer be ignored.

It felt like my body was attacking me. In reality, it was trying to save me.

Trauma is what happens when your system struggles to cope with overwhelming distress, leaving a wound behind. Those wounds don’t need your permission to exist; they only need a trigger.

That day in the conference room, multiple unhealed wounds surfaced all at once—sexual trauma, financial trauma, friendship trauma, life purpose trauma, and institutional betrayal trauma.

The new trauma stacked on the old was simply too much for my system to manage. So my body did what it was designed to do: protect me.

Learning this allowed me to release the shame I was carrying. It allowed me to have compassion for myself and others.

It made me stop looking backward and start looking forward.

What I Learned About Work

While I was learning about trauma, I started asking bigger questions in my new role as an HR consultant.

I had never worked in HR before, so I studied every conversation, policy, and process to understand how the system works behind the scenes and to view my own experience through the employer’s lens.

Who really has the power?
What rights do employees have?
What responsibilities do employers have to protect them?

Here’s what I learned:

• The employment agreement is simple—employees agree to perform the duties on their job description, and employers agree to compensate them for performing those duties.
• Both parties can end the agreement at any time.
• HR and employment attorneys are paid to protect the company from risk. Period.

That’s it. Anything beyond that is optional, unless required by law.

Work is a contract. It is not a family. It is a system built for labor, not love.

And this system is not immune to abuse. It is not immune to trauma.

Just because it’s a professional setting doesn’t mean it’s a safe one. And just because you’re a high performer doesn’t mean you’re not vulnerable to harm.

The idea that work is a family, that it should provide belonging, meaning, and loyalty, didn’t come from nowhere—it reflects how work itself has changed over time.

In the past, belonging came from many places at once: tight-knit communities, extended families, faith traditions, and work that was often woven into local or family life.

When industrialization pulled people into factories, corporations, and offices, many of those community anchors began to lose influence. To fill the void, workplaces leaned into family language—promising connection and loyalty in exchange for more of people’s time, energy, and devotion.

For a time, many companies did try to live up to that promise with pensions, long-term employment, and mutual loyalty between employer and employee.

But as work has become more globalized and transactional, that loyalty has faded. Today, organizations still borrow the language of family, but the commitment is one-sided. When it serves them, they lean on employees’ devotion; when it doesn’t, the illusion disappears.

That’s how we know work is not family—because families don’t withdraw love, belonging, or loyalty the moment it no longer serves them.

What Helped Me Heal

The good news is healing is possible.

For me, healing meant more than just learning about trauma in a classroom and HR policies in an office. It meant implementing daily practices into my life that rebuilt my sense of safety and helped me trust myself again. This included:

Monitoring my nervous system and honoring my body’s responses to triggers.

I started noticing the small cues—a clenched jaw, a racing heart, a stomach that wouldn’t settle. Instead of pushing through, I learned to pause, breathe, and respond with care. These moments of noticing became the foundation of feeling safe in my own body again.

Exploring my past experiences with compassion instead of judgment.

For years, I believed I had compassion for myself, but it was shallow—more like telling myself to “let it go” than honoring what I had lived through. It wasn’t until I became aware of the experiences that shaped my patterns and behaviors that I finally understood real self-compassion.

Recognizing the subconscious behaviors that put me at risk.

Perfectionism, rationalizing red flags, unhealthy coping strategies—these were patterns I had carried for decades. Becoming aware of them gave me the power to make different choices, rather than repeating the same painful cycles.

Setting boundaries at work to protect my energy and healing.

I learned how to say no without guilt, how to step away from people who drain me, and how to handle the frustrations of work without getting emotionally activated. Boundaries have become an act of self-love.

Honoring the complexity of the human body and lived experience.

This was the hardest lesson of all. I carry a body, brain, and nervous system that remember everything I’ve been through, even the parts I’ve tried to forget. My responsibility now is to honor that complexity in every environment I step into—including work.

That doesn’t mean molding myself to whatever the workplace demands. It means protecting my well-being first and remembering that I am more than a role, a paycheck, or the approval of others.

It took time, but these practices slowly closed the wound that had once left me gasping for air on the floor of that bathroom. The open wound in my chest has now been closed for over a year and has been replaced with peace.

That day in the conference room broke me. But it also cracked me open. I put myself back together, stronger than ever.

And you can, too.

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The Sorel-Tracy site is the first decentralized clean UHP hydrogen production facility in Quebec and is positioned as a model for North America. The plant is part of CHARBONE’s five-phase plan to deploy a network of modular hydrogen production facilities across the continent, supported by the company’s growing specialty-gas distribution platform.

The post Charbone produces first hydrogen at Quebec’s local “model” UHP plant appeared first on Green Prophet.

Pope Leo XIV left Rome for a tour of Turkey and Lebanon and prayed Tuesday at the ruins of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, a site that has become a stark symbol of Lebanon’s dysfunction, impunity, and unresolved trauma. His visit marks the final day of his trip to the country.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the blast stood silently as Leo arrived, holding photos of their loved ones. They gathered beside the skeletal remains of the last surviving grain silo and the charred piles of cars ignited by the explosion. Pope Leo stood in silent prayer amid the wreckage.

The August 4, 2020 blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history of the world — occurred when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated in a port warehouse. The explosion tore through Beirut, caused billions of dollars in damage, and devastated entire neighborhoods. The explosion generated a seismic event measuring 3.3 in magnitude, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. Its effects were felt in Lebanon and neighbouring regions, including Syria, Israel, and Cyprus, over 240 km (150 mi) away.

Five years later, families of the victims are still demanding justice. No officials have been convicted, and the judicial investigation has faced years of obstruction. Locals say that the Hezbollah, a terror state, within a state is to blame. Of course it’s hard for people to say that publicly or they will be assassinated in Lebanon.

Later, the pope celebrated Mass along the Beirut waterfront, calling for Lebanon to be a “home of justice and fraternity” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region.

In his homily, Leo acknowledged the many layers of crisis that have scarred Lebanon, referencing the port blast, economic collapse, and “the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”

He said it is natural for people to feel “paralyzed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”

But the pope urged the Lebanese not to surrender to despair, insisting that hope and justice are essential parts of the country’s future.

“Let us cast off the armor of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious confessions to mutual encounter and reawaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon,” he said. “A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.”

“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”

Lebanon was never meant to be a Catholic country, but it was designed as a multi-confessional state with political power shared between Christians and Muslims. Under the 1943 National Pact, the president must be a Maronite Christian, giving Christians a guaranteed leadership role. Decades of civil war, demographic shifts seeing Christians flee, and regional conflicts have since eroded that balance, leaving the system strained and often paralyzed.

The post The Pope visits Lebanon and the site of the deadly Beirut blast appeared first on Green Prophet.

The IPCC provides the world’s policymakers with comprehensive summaries that synthesise and contextualise what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks. Through its assessments, the IPCC identifies the strength of scientific agreement in different areas and indicates where further research is needed.

The post 600 experts fly to Paris to solve climate change for the IPCC appeared first on Green Prophet.

Pope Leo XIV left Rome for a tour of Turkey and Lebanon and prayed Tuesday at the ruins of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, a site that has become a stark symbol of Lebanon’s dysfunction, impunity, and unresolved trauma. His visit marks the final day of his trip to the country.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the blast stood silently as Leo arrived, holding photos of their loved ones. They gathered beside the skeletal remains of the last surviving grain silo and the charred piles of cars ignited by the explosion. Pope Leo stood in silent prayer amid the wreckage.

The August 4, 2020 blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history of the world — occurred when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated in a port warehouse. The explosion tore through Beirut, caused billions of dollars in damage, and devastated entire neighborhoods. The explosion generated a seismic event measuring 3.3 in magnitude, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. Its effects were felt in Lebanon and neighbouring regions, including Syria, Israel, and Cyprus, over 240 km (150 mi) away.

Five years later, families of the victims are still demanding justice. No officials have been convicted, and the judicial investigation has faced years of obstruction. Locals say that the Hezbollah, a terror state, within a state is to blame. Of course it’s hard for people to say that publicly or they will be assassinated in Lebanon.

Later, the pope celebrated Mass along the Beirut waterfront, calling for Lebanon to be a “home of justice and fraternity” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region.

In his homily, Leo acknowledged the many layers of crisis that have scarred Lebanon, referencing the port blast, economic collapse, and “the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”

He said it is natural for people to feel “paralyzed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”

But the pope urged the Lebanese not to surrender to despair, insisting that hope and justice are essential parts of the country’s future.

“Let us cast off the armor of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious confessions to mutual encounter and reawaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon,” he said. “A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.”

“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”

Lebanon was never meant to be a Catholic country, but it was designed as a multi-confessional state with political power shared between Christians and Muslims. Under the 1943 National Pact, the president must be a Maronite Christian, giving Christians a guaranteed leadership role. Decades of civil war, demographic shifts seeing Christians flee, and regional conflicts have since eroded that balance, leaving the system strained and often paralyzed.

The post The Pope visits Lebanon and the site of the deadly Beirut blast appeared first on Green Prophet.

Egypt is building a nuclear energy plant, expected to go online in 2026 when countries like Germany have shut down all its domestic nuclear power. The El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant is the first nuclear power plant planned for Egypt and will be located at El Dabaa, Matrouh Governorate, Egypt, about 320 kilometers northwest of Cairo. 

The post Egypt building nuclear power appeared first on Green Prophet.

Pope Leo XIV left Rome for a tour of Turkey and Lebanon and prayed Tuesday at the ruins of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, a site that has become a stark symbol of Lebanon’s dysfunction, impunity, and unresolved trauma. His visit marks the final day of his trip to the country.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the blast stood silently as Leo arrived, holding photos of their loved ones. They gathered beside the skeletal remains of the last surviving grain silo and the charred piles of cars ignited by the explosion. Pope Leo stood in silent prayer amid the wreckage.

The August 4, 2020 blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history of the world — occurred when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated in a port warehouse. The explosion tore through Beirut, caused billions of dollars in damage, and devastated entire neighborhoods. The explosion generated a seismic event measuring 3.3 in magnitude, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. Its effects were felt in Lebanon and neighbouring regions, including Syria, Israel, and Cyprus, over 240 km (150 mi) away.

Five years later, families of the victims are still demanding justice. No officials have been convicted, and the judicial investigation has faced years of obstruction. Locals say that the Hezbollah, a terror state, within a state is to blame. Of course it’s hard for people to say that publicly or they will be assassinated in Lebanon.

Later, the pope celebrated Mass along the Beirut waterfront, calling for Lebanon to be a “home of justice and fraternity” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region.

In his homily, Leo acknowledged the many layers of crisis that have scarred Lebanon, referencing the port blast, economic collapse, and “the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”

He said it is natural for people to feel “paralyzed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”

But the pope urged the Lebanese not to surrender to despair, insisting that hope and justice are essential parts of the country’s future.

“Let us cast off the armor of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious confessions to mutual encounter and reawaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon,” he said. “A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.”

“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”

Lebanon was never meant to be a Catholic country, but it was designed as a multi-confessional state with political power shared between Christians and Muslims. Under the 1943 National Pact, the president must be a Maronite Christian, giving Christians a guaranteed leadership role. Decades of civil war, demographic shifts seeing Christians flee, and regional conflicts have since eroded that balance, leaving the system strained and often paralyzed.

The post The Pope visits Lebanon and the site of the deadly Beirut blast appeared first on Green Prophet.

Survivors and their descendants welcomed the new panels as a tangible sign that their suffering has not been forgotten. “We lost entire families to the gas,” said one resident who asked not to be named. “Now our children study under electric light and we can store our produce all year round. This is justice in the form of sunlight.”

The post Solar power brings life to Kurdish village decades after chemical attack appeared first on Green Prophet.

Pope Leo XIV left Rome for a tour of Turkey and Lebanon and prayed Tuesday at the ruins of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, a site that has become a stark symbol of Lebanon’s dysfunction, impunity, and unresolved trauma. His visit marks the final day of his trip to the country.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the blast stood silently as Leo arrived, holding photos of their loved ones. They gathered beside the skeletal remains of the last surviving grain silo and the charred piles of cars ignited by the explosion. Pope Leo stood in silent prayer amid the wreckage.

The August 4, 2020 blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history of the world — occurred when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated in a port warehouse. The explosion tore through Beirut, caused billions of dollars in damage, and devastated entire neighborhoods. The explosion generated a seismic event measuring 3.3 in magnitude, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. Its effects were felt in Lebanon and neighbouring regions, including Syria, Israel, and Cyprus, over 240 km (150 mi) away.

Five years later, families of the victims are still demanding justice. No officials have been convicted, and the judicial investigation has faced years of obstruction. Locals say that the Hezbollah, a terror state, within a state is to blame. Of course it’s hard for people to say that publicly or they will be assassinated in Lebanon.

Later, the pope celebrated Mass along the Beirut waterfront, calling for Lebanon to be a “home of justice and fraternity” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region.

In his homily, Leo acknowledged the many layers of crisis that have scarred Lebanon, referencing the port blast, economic collapse, and “the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”

He said it is natural for people to feel “paralyzed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”

But the pope urged the Lebanese not to surrender to despair, insisting that hope and justice are essential parts of the country’s future.

“Let us cast off the armor of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious confessions to mutual encounter and reawaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon,” he said. “A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.”

“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”

Lebanon was never meant to be a Catholic country, but it was designed as a multi-confessional state with political power shared between Christians and Muslims. Under the 1943 National Pact, the president must be a Maronite Christian, giving Christians a guaranteed leadership role. Decades of civil war, demographic shifts seeing Christians flee, and regional conflicts have since eroded that balance, leaving the system strained and often paralyzed.

The post The Pope visits Lebanon and the site of the deadly Beirut blast appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Gulf is undergoing an extraordinary phase of transformation, propelled by ambitious national visions aimed at economic diversification, enhanced global competitiveness, and long-term prosperity.

The post Gulf’s logistics industry needs to do heavy lifting for the environment appeared first on Green Prophet.

Pope Leo XIV left Rome for a tour of Turkey and Lebanon and prayed Tuesday at the ruins of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, a site that has become a stark symbol of Lebanon’s dysfunction, impunity, and unresolved trauma. His visit marks the final day of his trip to the country.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the blast stood silently as Leo arrived, holding photos of their loved ones. They gathered beside the skeletal remains of the last surviving grain silo and the charred piles of cars ignited by the explosion. Pope Leo stood in silent prayer amid the wreckage.

The August 4, 2020 blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history of the world — occurred when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated in a port warehouse. The explosion tore through Beirut, caused billions of dollars in damage, and devastated entire neighborhoods. The explosion generated a seismic event measuring 3.3 in magnitude, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. Its effects were felt in Lebanon and neighbouring regions, including Syria, Israel, and Cyprus, over 240 km (150 mi) away.

Five years later, families of the victims are still demanding justice. No officials have been convicted, and the judicial investigation has faced years of obstruction. Locals say that the Hezbollah, a terror state, within a state is to blame. Of course it’s hard for people to say that publicly or they will be assassinated in Lebanon.

Later, the pope celebrated Mass along the Beirut waterfront, calling for Lebanon to be a “home of justice and fraternity” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region.

In his homily, Leo acknowledged the many layers of crisis that have scarred Lebanon, referencing the port blast, economic collapse, and “the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”

He said it is natural for people to feel “paralyzed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”

But the pope urged the Lebanese not to surrender to despair, insisting that hope and justice are essential parts of the country’s future.

“Let us cast off the armor of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious confessions to mutual encounter and reawaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon,” he said. “A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.”

“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”

Lebanon was never meant to be a Catholic country, but it was designed as a multi-confessional state with political power shared between Christians and Muslims. Under the 1943 National Pact, the president must be a Maronite Christian, giving Christians a guaranteed leadership role. Decades of civil war, demographic shifts seeing Christians flee, and regional conflicts have since eroded that balance, leaving the system strained and often paralyzed.

The post The Pope visits Lebanon and the site of the deadly Beirut blast appeared first on Green Prophet.

“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”

The post The Pope visits Lebanon and the site of the deadly Beirut blast appeared first on Green Prophet.

Pope Leo XIV left Rome for a tour of Turkey and Lebanon and prayed Tuesday at the ruins of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, a site that has become a stark symbol of Lebanon’s dysfunction, impunity, and unresolved trauma. His visit marks the final day of his trip to the country.

Relatives of some of the 218 people killed in the blast stood silently as Leo arrived, holding photos of their loved ones. They gathered beside the skeletal remains of the last surviving grain silo and the charred piles of cars ignited by the explosion. Pope Leo stood in silent prayer amid the wreckage.

The August 4, 2020 blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the history of the world — occurred when hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate detonated in a port warehouse. The explosion tore through Beirut, caused billions of dollars in damage, and devastated entire neighborhoods. The explosion generated a seismic event measuring 3.3 in magnitude, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. Its effects were felt in Lebanon and neighbouring regions, including Syria, Israel, and Cyprus, over 240 km (150 mi) away.

Five years later, families of the victims are still demanding justice. No officials have been convicted, and the judicial investigation has faced years of obstruction. Locals say that the Hezbollah, a terror state, within a state is to blame. Of course it’s hard for people to say that publicly or they will be assassinated in Lebanon.

Later, the pope celebrated Mass along the Beirut waterfront, calling for Lebanon to be a “home of justice and fraternity” and a “prophetic sign of peace” in the region.

In his homily, Leo acknowledged the many layers of crisis that have scarred Lebanon, referencing the port blast, economic collapse, and “the violence and conflicts that have reawakened ancient fears.”

He said it is natural for people to feel “paralyzed by powerlessness in the face of evil and oppressed by so many difficult situations.”

But the pope urged the Lebanese not to surrender to despair, insisting that hope and justice are essential parts of the country’s future.

“Let us cast off the armor of our ethnic and political divisions, open our religious confessions to mutual encounter and reawaken in our hearts the dream of a united Lebanon,” he said. “A Lebanon where peace and justice reign, where all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.”

“Lebanon, stand up,” he added. “Be a home of justice and fraternity! Be a prophetic sign of peace for the whole of the Levant!”

Lebanon was never meant to be a Catholic country, but it was designed as a multi-confessional state with political power shared between Christians and Muslims. Under the 1943 National Pact, the president must be a Maronite Christian, giving Christians a guaranteed leadership role. Decades of civil war, demographic shifts seeing Christians flee, and regional conflicts have since eroded that balance, leaving the system strained and often paralyzed.

The post The Pope visits Lebanon and the site of the deadly Beirut blast appeared first on Green Prophet.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ever since I was about four years old, I knew I was different from the other kids. I was always on the outside looking in. As I approach middle age, I’ve never shaken that feeling—the knowing—of being different.

We live in a noisy world where we find whatever we seek. If we’re looking for validation that we don’t belong, that’s exactly what we’ll find.

While flawed, the standard ‘life blueprint’ hasn’t quite sailed off into …

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ever since I was about four years old, I knew I was different from the other kids. I was always on the outside looking in. As I approach middle age, I’ve never shaken that feeling—the knowing—of being different.

We live in a noisy world where we find whatever we seek. If we’re looking for validation that we don’t belong, that’s exactly what we’ll find.

While flawed, the standard ‘life blueprint’ hasn’t quite sailed off into the sunset. The path to happiness, according to societal norms and expectations, goes something like:

• Getting the degree
• Climbing the corporate ladder
• Finding ‘the one’
• Having children and the ‘dream’ family
• Buying the fancy house, the car or whatever else we desire
• Buckling up for retirement and living ‘happily ever after’

Let’s Stop Selling People the Fairytale

For many, life’s expectations sink so deeply into their bones that they hardly pause to ask: Do I actually want this life? Am I simply following the path I was told to walk?

The reality is that, as someone living through the experience, choosing a life that doesn’t look like everyone else’s can be confronting. I’m single at thirty-eight and have no kids and live alone.

I always say everything has its pros and cons, but when I am alone with no outside noise to sway me, I am genuinely content. I feel this at my core. I’m home.

The Heavy Weight of the Word ‘Should’

I despise the word “should.” It’s a heavy word because it comes wrapped in fear. More pointedly, fear of letting people down, of being rejected, of daring to dream of something that isn’t on the tried and tested path, and ultimately, the fear of getting lost in uncertainty.

I was never a fan of ticking boxes. Even more so when I learned through experience that every box left me feeling emptier.

Recently, I’ve become increasingly interested in the origins of societal ideas. We are the only people walking in our shoes and experiencing this world as we do. Checklists may seem comforting thanks to their supposed certainty, but I speak from experience when I say they are suffocating when they fail to align with who we truly are.

What would happen if you engaged in a self-audit on the “shoulds” in your life? You’d be surprised at how often the word pops up. I know I was.

Being Open to Curiosity

Curiosity is a superpower. If people asked questions more than they assumed, the world would be a softer place.

When I was younger, I remember a family member saying something along the lines of, “Everyone wants to find their person, settle down, and have kids.”

Even as a teenager, I knew that assertion didn’t sit right with me. How can everyone on this planet have the same life path and desires?

Permitting ourselves to ask the uncomfortable questions is a gift in the long term because it helps to prevent us from creating a life where we are playing a character rather than truly living.

• What if I don’t want children?
• What if owning a home isn’t important to me?
• What if [enter whatever your greatest desire is] doesn’t make me feel how I think it will?

Listening to the Wisdom of Our Body

It’s odd to me how we compartmentalize mental, physical, and emotional health and well-being. There’s no mental health without physical health and vice versa. The body knows before the mind latches on.

That sinking heaviness in your chest when you picture a future you don’t truly want. The flutter of lightness when you imagine an alternative that feels more aligned, even if it scares you. This is not your imagination.

Our bodies are constantly speaking to us on a 24/7 basis, willing us to listen. Learning to listen to our body’s signals can be a compass.

If a decision leaves you feeling constricted, drained, or resentful, it may not be congruent with your values. If it leaves you feeling expansive, calm, or quietly excited, it may be pointing you toward your version of freedom.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the path will always be easy (it won’t), but it will be yours. And there is peace in that.

Facing the Fear of Judgment

Let’s be honest: choosing a life that is counterculture often means facing judgement. Lots of people think all kinds of things about me. I let them because correcting them isn’t important to me.

Here’s what I know for sure:

• Family often question our choices
• Friends don’t always understand
• People fear change and the uncommon

Here’s the truth: People are often most unsettled not by our choices, but by the mirror our choices reflect back to them.

When you step outside the script, you remind others that they, too, have the option to choose differently. For some, that’s inspiring. For others, it’s threatening.

Creating Your Own Life, Not Someone Else’s

The beauty of life lies in diversity. Your version of a meaningful life may shift and evolve as you do, and that’s okay. What matters most is you choose it consciously rather than by default.

Choosing a life that doesn’t look like everyone else’s isn’t about rebellion for the sake of it. It’s about alignment.

It’s about living in a way that honors your values, nourishes your well-being, and allows you to show up authentically.

I’m not here to offer fun tips and tricks. I assure you that if you feel you are destined for something greater or more, you’re not alone.

So what will you choose?

If you feel your life doesn’t fit into a standard mold, you aren’t broken. You are simply hearing the call to create something authentic for yourself.

It takes courage to step off the well-worn path. And every time you choose your own version of enough—your own rhythms, joys, and definitions of success—you make space for others to do the same.

The world doesn’t need more cookie-cutter lives; it needs people who are brave enough to live in alignment with their hearts.

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Overall, links between climate change and biodiversity are relatively well covered in national strategies, but the relationships involving pollution — including how climate and biodiversity pressures heighten pollution risks — are often missing. Policies designed to explicitly manage trade-offs, especially around pollution, remain limited.

The post OECD: Renewable Energy Expansion Must Avoid New Ecological Trade-Offs appeared first on Green Prophet.

At a time when global shipping is under scrutiny after multiple cargo ship explosions and fires linked to fuel loads, lithium batteries, and overloaded containers, the debut of the Neoliner Origin signals a dramatically different path for maritime transport. Developed by the French company Neoline, Neoliner Origin is the world’s first industrial-scale wind-powered roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) cargo vessel—built to cut fuel use and emissions by more than 80% and reduce reliance on volatile fossil fuels.

The vessel uses rigid wing sails, advanced aerodynamic design, and optimized routing to harness wind as its primary propulsion system. Unlike conventional vessels that depend almost entirely on heavy fuel oil—and whose fuel or cargo can ignite under extreme conditions—Neoliner Origin is engineered to minimize combustible fuel loads. This alone positions it as a safer and more sustainable alternative in a sector increasingly rattled by catastrophic maritime accidents.

Related: Ecoclipper sets sail to deliver cargo by sail

Neoline’s model is simple but revolutionary: revive proven elements of maritime tradition, combine them with cutting-edge engineering, and create a commercial shipping line connecting France, Canada, and the United States with near-zero-emission sail-powered vessels. The company aims to provide shippers with a logistics option that is resilient to fuel price spikes, port restrictions, and the physical dangers associated with transporting hazardous cargo in conventional ships.

The arrival of Neoliner Origin to the port in Baltimore represents more than technological novelty—it suggests a new direction for global trade. Wind propulsion, once displaced by diesel engines, is re-emerging as one of the only scalable, immediately deployable solutions capable of drastically reducing emissions while improving safety.

As cargo ship fires and explosions grow more frequent, Neoline’s approach offers a compelling blueprint: a return to wind, no more oil spills and cargo transport upgraded for the 21st century.

 

The post Wind-powered cargo ship Neoliner sails into Baltimore appeared first on Green Prophet.

Benban isn’t a single solar plant at all, but a collection of 41 facilities, each developed by different companies but connected through shared infrastructure. This structure is what makes Benban unique: dozens of developers working like nodes in a vast energy network, each feeding electricity into shared substations and Egypt’s national grid.

The post Benban solar in Egypt and the companies that make the energy shine appeared first on Green Prophet.

At a time when global shipping is under scrutiny after multiple cargo ship explosions and fires linked to fuel loads, lithium batteries, and overloaded containers, the debut of the Neoliner Origin signals a dramatically different path for maritime transport. Developed by the French company Neoline, Neoliner Origin is the world’s first industrial-scale wind-powered roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) cargo vessel—built to cut fuel use and emissions by more than 80% and reduce reliance on volatile fossil fuels.

The vessel uses rigid wing sails, advanced aerodynamic design, and optimized routing to harness wind as its primary propulsion system. Unlike conventional vessels that depend almost entirely on heavy fuel oil—and whose fuel or cargo can ignite under extreme conditions—Neoliner Origin is engineered to minimize combustible fuel loads. This alone positions it as a safer and more sustainable alternative in a sector increasingly rattled by catastrophic maritime accidents.

Related: Ecoclipper sets sail to deliver cargo by sail

Neoline’s model is simple but revolutionary: revive proven elements of maritime tradition, combine them with cutting-edge engineering, and create a commercial shipping line connecting France, Canada, and the United States with near-zero-emission sail-powered vessels. The company aims to provide shippers with a logistics option that is resilient to fuel price spikes, port restrictions, and the physical dangers associated with transporting hazardous cargo in conventional ships.

The arrival of Neoliner Origin to the port in Baltimore represents more than technological novelty—it suggests a new direction for global trade. Wind propulsion, once displaced by diesel engines, is re-emerging as one of the only scalable, immediately deployable solutions capable of drastically reducing emissions while improving safety.

As cargo ship fires and explosions grow more frequent, Neoline’s approach offers a compelling blueprint: a return to wind, no more oil spills and cargo transport upgraded for the 21st century.

 

The post Wind-powered cargo ship Neoliner sails into Baltimore appeared first on Green Prophet.