Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Carly was an ordinary sixteen-year-old, and like most girls her age, she had been eagerly anticipating prom as the biggest event of her year. However, with her family’s ongoing financial difficulties, the idea of wearing her dream prom dress seemed out of reach. Carly’s mother, Dina, and her grandmother, Holly, had worked tirelessly to save…

My wife and I are both white. Recently, as our extended family gathered in the delivery room, the air was thick with excitement as we eagerly awaited the arrival of our baby. But when the baby was born, everything took a surprising twist. The first words that came out of my wife’s mouth were unforgettable.…

When my school announced prom, I wasn’t exactly excited. But then I looked over at my great-grandma, Alma, sitting in her recliner, watching some old black-and-white movie. “You ever go to prom?” I asked her. She laughed. “Honey, back in my day, girls like me didn’t get asked to prom.” That stuck with me. She’d…

I only turned my back for two minutes. I swear. Long enough to toss a load of laundry in and forget—just briefly—that silence in this house usually means disaster. When I came back into the kitchen, it took a second for my brain to process what I was seeing. My toddler, Miri, was literally standing…

I found my prom dress at a thrift store for $12. But hidden in the lining was a handwritten note meant for someone else: a mother’s plea for forgiveness from a daughter named Ellie. She never read it — but I did. And I couldn’t just let it go. I’d always been the quiet kid…

For over a decade, my husband, Tom, had gone on the same family vacation—to the islands, for a full week, every single year. And every year, I stayed behind with our kids. I had asked, many times, why we couldn’t go. His answer was always the same. “My mom doesn’t want in-laws there. It’s just…

The groom’s mother, Maria, finally got the chance to meet her in-laws—but they didn’t treat her well. When asked what degree she had, Maria answered: “I didn’t have the opportunity to finish my studies.” Her response was met with condescending laughter from the bride’s parents. Throughout the wedding, they whispered behind her back, making sarcastic…

A little girl shares her lunch with a hungry classmate — years later he shows up at her wedding, and who would have thought It all began in the bustling corridor of an elementary school, where children’s laughter echoed under the ceiling, and the air was filled with the smell of hot lunches — cutlets,…

Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, her partner Jacquen Appollis, and their friend Steveno van Rhyn were sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and trafficking Kelly’s 6-year-old daughter, Joshlin, who disappeared in February 2024 in Western Cape, South Africa. Authorities are still searching for Joshlin. Witnesses revealed Kelly discussed selling her children for money, and a neighbor…