Our theme for March is PARALLEL. It was chosen by our Kuala Lumpur chapter in Malaysia and illustrated by OLI.

Like train tracks receding into the distance, our lives eventually reach the end of the line. And for a large part of our journey, most people tend to live parallel lives. We go to school, hang out with friends, get jobs, and take care of our families.

Just look out the window at the home or office across the street. We exist side by side with strangers. Always keeping the same distance of anonymity between us – even though we have so much in common. All of us trying to build a better life for ourselves and our loved ones.

Of course, we are not carbon copies. The differences make our lives our own. Her black coffee. His energy drink. Their chamomile tea. So, we may never see eye to eye. After all, mathematics prove that parallel lines never meet.

But unlike those train tracks, our paths don’t run in straight lines. We can meet someone new at every turn. Look someone in the eye and smile. Reach across that gap between us and make a connection.

We may be living parallel lives. But we don’t have to go through them alone.

INSPIRATION FROM OUR COMMUNITY:

Each month, we ask the readers of our Weekly Highlights newsletter to submit creative work inspired by our global theme.

Here are this month’s featured works.

EARTH STAR by Colleen O’Brien in Medicine Hat, Canada.

Acrylic painting 36”x36”. Parallels are part of creation. Parallels happened spontaneously in this work.

Parallel of the Horizon by Alena Aichlmanova in Prague.

This acrylic painting represents light that I see parallel to a horizon always when I start something new.

A Calculated Faith by Jodie Bass in Singapore.

It’s a short story about two sisters living separated, parrallel lives

It was hot, and she couldn’t entirely remember which territory she was in. Fruit picking had meant her stay in Australia could be extended but it was gruelling and transitory work and she was tired of new people every few weeks. After a slog of a day with a early start the last thing she felt like doing was drinking tonight. But it was soon going to be over, 80 long days on farms moving to where the work was and she only had just over a week to go.

You can see read the rest on Jodie’s site.

“Subhanallah” Qawwali / Bhajan Finger by Sangeetha Kowsik in New York City.

The Subhanallah Finger design in Arabic Calligraphy celebrates interconnectedness of cultures, faiths, and artistic traditions, revealing shared narratives often seen as separate.

Inspired by the unity of Indian classical music, it symbolizes how devotion transcends boundaries, uniting Hindu and Islamic traditions through movement, both Qawwali (Muslim devotional singers) and Bhajan (Hindu devotional singers) stick their fingers up in the air symbolizing the oneness of the divine so “Subhanallah” or God is perfect in Arabic.

Tuesday Morning by Marion Batts (pen name AngieDoe) in New York, NY.

This is a poem that draws a parallel of joy from little things in life like cleaning the streets or cleaning our ears.

The street sweeper softly caresses the curb across the lane
with a tender-bristled kiss
Sopping wet from the rain but
as inoffensive as possible
Gentle
As the sound whisks on the insides of my ear
right where a Q-Tip had swept the day prior
Making me thankful
for such careful attention
to detail from God
when he created a sensation
quite wonderful
from something as mundane
as cleaning our ears
Or streets
It’s the little things

You can see more work on Marion’s instagram.

To my very favorite son in the multiverse by Jessie Van Arman in Brooklyn, United States.

An essay about the What Ifs - both in this universe and others.

“Happy Valentine’s Day to my very favorite son in the entire universe, including all the planets, even those I’ve not been to, extending even into other multiverses.”
I scribbled this on a piece of scrap paper from my kitchen on a recent Thursday night to accompany a box of fair trade chocolates, organized to fit in a heart-shaped box to celebrate the silliest commercialization of a Saint there ever was.

You can read the rest on Jessie’s substack and see more work on Jessie’s site.

Blind portrait reveals placic alter ego by Hannah in Oxford, UK.

These are done on the same page - the pencil is the bleed page of the blind portrait. They are the same person, showing two sides.

Want to see your creative work featured on our blog? Subscribe to our Weekly Highlight newsletter to find out when submissions for next month’s theme are open.