Invited by the IPA to participate in a worldwide short essay contest, in this book the winners, 120 authors from 34 countries, share their thoughts about the challenges and complexities of our times. They show how wars, migration, climate change, racial prejudice, gun violence, and child abuse affect us; they explore, dream, muse, reason, mourn, and remember; they grapple with loss, alienation, anxiety, fear, and despair; and they find love, hope, comfort, patience, new answers, and creative ways to think about the conflicts and difficulties we are facing. The IPA in the Community and the World committees on Climate, Culture, Education, Health, Humanitarian Fields & United Nations, Law, Migrants & Refugees, Violence, and Prejudice, Discrimination & Racism have selected these texts to inspire a dialogue with all who want to develop a deeper understanding of the world we’re living in.