As a longtime Pinterest failure, I am in awe of every single person we’ve highlighted in both our wellness and arts features this month. It’s amazing to me, too, just how much overlap there is between these two topics. Murals are mingled with activity in our stories on the new Hillside Park basketball courts (page 54) and the Mural Durham bike tours (page 60). Elsewhere in the issue, a documentary filmmaker helped bring a community together through a storytelling series on specific pillars of health (page 48); and a group of five men with a dream to start a business built one on the healing power of laughter (page 56).
Being creative requires you to take a risk, whether you’re posting your journey on Instagram like our fitness influencers on page 34, or winning national acclaim like blues singer-songwriter Jon Shain (page 63); it requires you to bare a piece of your soul to the world, and that can be a scary thing. Because what if no one likes what you’ve made? But after you put it out there, don’t you feel fulfilled knowing that this is you at your best, and who cares how anyone else responds to it?
Lucky for us, Durham lifts up people who put themselves out there in innovative ways.
It’s so easy in our day-to-day lives to get wrapped up in the routine and not take time to be artistic or to be active – trust me, binging “Stranger Things” postponed me from writing this letter. But if we allow ourselves just a bit of time each week, if not every day, to do one thing that’s healthy – whether that means we go to the gym or work in our garden or make something that is an expression of ourselves – then we all might feel a little better for it. Maybe one day I’ll finish that cactus, and you’ll find it on Pinterest.
THE WELLNESS ISSUE
34 Power of the Post
What it’s like to be a young fitness influencer in the Bull City
40 Rooted in Faith
Farm Church cultivates both food and fellowship
48 Making It Personal
‘Health and Happiness’ is a monthly storytelling series that focuses
on the different pillars of health
50 Strength in Numbers
Women lift one another up in a weekly strength training class
FALL ARTS PREVIEW
54 Can’t-miss events, plus a closer look at creative endeavors around our city, including beautiful basketball courts, a comedic bus tour, a farewell to The Carrack and more
DURHAM INC.
78 Shop Talk
Roger Perry, who has helped develop much of Chapel Hill and Durham, speaks about the difference between the two
84 The Productivity of Perks
Many business leaders say a commitment to work-life balance is crucial to getting the most out of their employees
SPONSORED CONTENT
28 Healthy Durham: 17 Years Focused on the Health of Durham
52 Adopt A Pet
Two cats at The Animal Protection Society of Durham who are looking for forever homes
DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS
8 Go. See. Do.
August’s hottest events
24 Noted
What we’ve heard around town …
30 A Tale of Two Nicknames
Duke’s Dr. David S. Pisetsky discusses Durham’s commitment to health care and wellness
32 A Golden Era
Bites of Bull City’s Amber Watson reflects on the innovative projects and progress happening at Golden Belt Campus
64 What We Love About Living in Rockwood
A small family begins a new chapter in this historic neighborhood
94 Taste
Discover our city’s best restaurants
103 Engagement & Wedding
Tying the knot, Bull City-style
CITY PICS
14 Durham Blues and Brews Festival
16 Beth El Synagogue and Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church march together
