8 Heartbreaking Pictures That Will Make You Appreciate Life

I hesitated to write this article. The purpose is to not remind you that there’s tragedy in the world or ruin your day, but rather to remind all of us that life can change in an instant. Spend every day as if it’s your last – tell your loved ones how you feel, treat people with kindness, and be someone who can honestly say the world is a better place thanks to your existence. These are 8 heartbreaking moments photographed that should never be forgotten. 1. The sister of a a teacher at Sandy Hook learns that she was killed.

2. A little boy is given the U.S. flag at his soldier father’s funeral.

3. A dog stays on the grave of his deceased owner. He was there for hours.

4. An injured family walks away from their destroyed neighborhood in Moore, Oklahoma.

5. The sister of a fallen soldier collapses at his grave.

6. A girl mourns the loss of those in the Boston Marathon.

7. At Kent State University in 1970, the friend of a killed student cries for help.

8. This man kneels at the 9/11 memorial over the loss of his son.

Via Viral Nova

20 Most Beautiful Places You Must Visit Before You Die

1. Santorini, Greece Santorini, classically Thera, and officially Thira, is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km southeast from Greece's mainland.

2. Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest national park in Southeast Europe and the largest national park in Croatia. The national park was founded in 1949 and is situated in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia, at the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The important north-south road connection, which passes through the national park area, connects the Croatian inland with the Adriatic coastal region.

3. Glacier National Park, Montana Glacier National Park is located in the U.S. state of Montana, south from the Canadian borders of Alberta and British Columbia. The park encompasses over 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2) and includes parts of two mountain ranges (sub-ranges of the Rocky Mountains), over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants and hundreds of species of animals.

4. Mount Emei Scenic Area: Leshan Giant Buddha, China The Leshan Giant Buddha is a statue of Maitreya (a Bodhisattva usually represented as a very stout monk with a broad smile on his face and with his naked breast and paunch exposed to view) in sitting posture. The Buddha is located to the east of Leshan City, Sichuan Province, at the confluence of three rivers, namely, Min River, Qingyi River, and Dadu River. The statue makes itself the most renowned scenic spot in that city.

5. Natural Pool - Santorini, Greece A legendary Oia Santorini Hotel in a Unique Location Inspiring deep emotions of enchantment and fascination, Katikies The Hotel in Oia Santorini is renowned for its leading luxury, unparallel services, warm atmosphere and sense of romance uniquely combined in an exceptional setting and natural environment in Oia Santorini, inviting its guests to experience moments of pure luxury.

6. Nishinomaru Garden in Japan The Osaka Castle Tower was recreated in 1931, investing approximately ¥1.5 million (equivalent to present ¥75 billion) votive offerings by citizens. With this tower as its center, there is the Osaka Castle Park, which has 13 important cultural properties, including the Otemon gate, the Sengan’yagura turret, and the Enshogura magazine, along with an ume (plum) orchard and the Nishinomaru Garden.

7. Bora Bora <3 Bora Bora is an island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the Pacific Ocean. The island, located about 230 km northwest of Papeete, is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef.

8. The Subway, Zion National Park, Utah The Subway is the most popular backcountry hike in Zion, and for good reason! In a park of exemplary beauty, The Subway is one of the most diverse and beautiful canyons -- NOT to be missed. A few short rappels and a couple of short, mandatory swims add spice to the adventure.

9. Infinite Pool, Hotel Marina Bay Sands, Singapore The Sands SkyPark Infinity Pool is for Marina Bay Sands Hotel Guests only. Simply register at the Front Desk upon check-in to receive your pool pass. Each registered guest is entitled to 1 pool pass. The maximum number of guests per room is either two (2) adults, two (2) child or three (3) adults. Additional children (12 years and below) registered to a room enjoy complimentary access to the pool.

10. Angkor Thom – Baphuon Temple, Cambodia Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara, meaning “city”. The Angkorian period began in AD 802, when the Khmer Hindu monarch Jayavarman II declared himself a “universal monarch” and “god-king”, until 1351, when Angkor first fell under Ayutthayan suzerainty, to 1431, when Ayutthaya put down a rebellion and sacked the Khmer capital, causing its population to migrate south to Longvek.

11. Antelope Canyon, Arizona Antelope Canyon is the most-visited and most-photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. It is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon or The Crack and Lower Antelope Canyon or The Corkscrew.

12. Carrera Lake, Buenos Aires

13. Bridge at summit, Langkawi

The STupid Station

Abandoned years ago, someone finally returned to this house. What they found was incredible...

This is the abandoned house from the outside.

After humans abandoned this beautiful old house, it gained some new inhabitants.

They had more fur than the previous residents.

And were way more adorable.

They needed a place to stay, to protect them from the elements.

And this big, old house suited them just fine.

We’re glad it did.

Portraying itself

Bringing back the beauty to the house.

Bringing back the house Alive

A new life begins.

With the side of Nature

Stepping into the Beautiful World 13/13 Seeing adorable woodland creatures inside of a house just makes our hearts happy.

Via The Stupid Station

Photos Of Total Strangers In Intimate Poses

This unique project is titled Touching Strangers, and the photographer behind this series of work is Richard Renaldi. Touching Strangers evolved out of a project Renaldi did back in 2003, titled See America By Bus. This project involved the photographer taking photos of people in Greyhound bus stations all over the country.

Since 2007, photographer Richard Renaldi has worked on a series of photographs for which he asks complete strangers to physically interact while posing together for a portrait.

His aim was simple: to encourage people to break away from who they are and pose with complete strangers with their bodies touching in some way.

Touching Strangers creates intimate and ephemeral relationships that exist only for the moment of the photograph. The images are beautiful and strange, crossing out of the zones of safe physical intimacy with strangers and into deep emotional landscapes never photographed before.

These two men might both be wearing a suit and tie, but that’s probably all they know about one another – they are strangers after all! Renaldi aims to push people out of their comfort zones and think beyond racial and ethnic divisions.

Not only does Richard Renaldi highlight the breaking down of boundaries between strangers, but he also highlights the height difference between this man and woman (not intentional, we’re sure!) The photographer’s project is so unique that He has recently launched a joint Kickstarter project with Aperture to fund a special edition book of these photographs.

Chris Boot states the photographer is “out there invoking people to touch each other, to breach taboos, to reach out to each other across race and class and age barriers. It says something about human society.”

I wonder what happens once the photograph has been taken. Do both individuals just walk away and get on with their day?

More about the inspiring photographer behind this series: Richard Renaldi was born in Chicago in 1968 and he received his BFA in photography from New York University in 1990. Exhibitions of his photographs have been mounted in galleries and museums throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe.

On his website alone, the photographer lists 41 exhibitions over the recent years that he has been involved with, either as solo exhibitions of his work, or group photographer exhibitions. Many photography critics are hailing his series Touching Strangers as an innovation in photography.

This is a beautifully simple gesture pressing both men’s palms against one another – a symbol of hope and unity. This series definitely strives towards these two themes, through hoping to unite strangers who would not normally cross paths

This photographer is awesome and I suggest you check him out. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aperturefoundation/touching-strangers-photographs-by-richard-renaldi

She Fell into a Coma While Pregnant. What Happened 2 Years Later is Unbelievable.

In 2010, an expectant mother named Zhang Rongxiang was in a terrible car crash. The crash caused her to slip into a coma and doctors were stunned to discover that she was with child. They cared for her, letting the baby grow for five months. Then, they delivered him via C-section. Ever since his birth, Gao Qianbo stayed by his mother’s side as she stayed in a coma. What happened next is amazing.

Her son even learned to feed her by chewing her food and transferring it to her via mouth-to-mouth. Then suddenly and miraculously one day, Zhang Rongxiang awoke to the sound of her son’s voice.

She was ecstatic to meet the beautiful baby she was pregnant with when she slipped into the coma.

Doctors didn’t think the baby would survive the crash and they thought the mother wouldn’t wake up… and this family proved everyone wrong.

This miraculous story is one you simply HAVE to share.