“Where's it written in the good book that it's wrong for nuns to break away from the strict disciplines of their daily lives and get out and experience some of the real beauty of God's creation?” This is the question Warren Miller Entertainment, a longstanding ski and snowboard film company, asks as the nuns from the Mary Immaculate Queen Order take to the slopes. “They’re nuns on the runs,” as it says in a video that’s now gone viral.
The sisters, clad in cozy, bright blue and white habits for skiing, carry their skis from the church after completing their Sunday tasks. Then they traverse the mountain with aplomb. Some wear goggles and one or two even take a spill into the fluffy snow. Their slopes of choice are at Idaho’s Schweitzer Basin, not far from their home near Spokane, Washington. At the Basin, as the video shares, they’re known as “The Flying Nuns of St. Michael’s Convent.”
The video, which now has over 203K likes on Instagram and 598.6K views on TikTok, is prompting a bevy of delighted responses from viewers, like, “He bled so we may shred” and “Ave, Our Lady of Perpetual Powder!” and, “The hills are alive with flying nuns!!!”
If the beauty of nature really is God’s creation, for these nuns skiing must be “a real spiritual experience,” as the video shares. “They have the habit of going skiing to help free their spirit, and enhance their souls,” it continues.
It’s like a page out of the 2008 book Nuns Having Fun, (or its subsequent calendars) which featured photographs of nuns from the 1950s and 1960s bowling or playing in the surf. But why should we be surprised? As one commenter shared, “My aunt is a nun and she used to go roller skating when she was younger. But she'd change into regular sports clothes. And she still rides her bike up to this day in her uniform. We tend to forget that nuns are human individuals. They have interests, they need to keep their bodies healthy through exercise, they like a lot of things non-nuns like. So why not skiing😍”
But the appreciation for the Great Outdoors doesn’t stop here. As more than one commenter also shared, Pope John Paul II was an avid skier, too. Prior to assuming the papacy, as Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, he was once asked if it was “becoming of a cardinal to ski,” and famously quipped, "It's unbecoming for a cardinal to ski badly."
As writer John Howard shared in the 1979 issue of SKI Magazine, the Pope made a pronouncement “just seconds after his inauguration as the 264th successor to St. Peter and Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, that ‘I will ski again when they let me.’” Later on, Howard shared, the pope was known as the “Daredevil of the Tatras,” referencing the European mountain range. Indeed, from the time he assumed the papacy, Pope John Paul II continued to ski for nine years, according to the International Skiing History Association.
To this day there’s an annual skiing competition for priests in Poland inspired by Pope John Paul II, who gave the event his blessing in the 1990s. “The priest is with the people and for the people,” Father Damian Kopek, a co-organizer, said in 2013. “I can give an example of how to have a good time – without alcohol, with honest competition, and also with the communal spirit of the mountain.”
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21 products that are gaslighting us into thinking they’re essential when they’re not
Some things in life are actually necessary—clean water, decent healthcare, basic human decency. But then there are the things that feel like they’re gaslighting us. The things we’re told we can’t live without, even though we survived just fine before they existed. Things like "smart" fridges, lawn fertilizer services, and yes—whole body deodorant.
Recently, our sister-site Upworthy asked their Facebook audience the question: What's a product or service that feels like it's gaslighting all of us into thinking it's necessary? More than 8,000 responses poured in. The answers were passionate, funny, and surprisingly unified.
Here are 21 products, services, and systems people called out for pretending to be essential—when they might actually be optional, overpriced, or flat-out invented.
1. Whole body deodorant
"Take a shower," said Shannon H.
“How did we ever manage all those years without it!! 😂😵💫” added Karen R.
Others noted it may help people with medical conditions—but for the average person, it's definitely a marketing creation.
2. Health insurance
It topped the list. Erica L. explained: “My doctor prescribes, the pharmacist issues meds, nurses care for people, surgeons do surgery—Health Insurance stands between health care and patients and says no, exclusively on whether they think it’s financially effective to treat you.”
Important note: Health insurance can provide life-saving access for many—but what people are frustrated by here is the profit-first system, not care itself.
3. The wedding industry
Multiple people slammed the high cost of modern weddings.
JoElla B. put it plainly: “We spend too much time and money planning one day, and not enough thought on how to blend two lives in a mutually beneficial one.”
Others called out expensive dresses, venues, and pressure to perform for social media.
4. Bottled water
Carole D. said: “Water in plastic bottles! Get a cup!”
While bottled water has value in emergencies, it’s often just filtered tap water—sold for profit in plastic.
5. Baby product overload
“Most baby products,” wrote Kelli O. “They really aren’t as needy and complicated as companies want us to think.”
6. Fabric softener
“It’s bad for clothes, bad for the Earth, bad for the wallet, and totally unnecessary,” said Gail H.
Some experts agree—many softeners contain chemicals that can reduce fabric lifespan and irritate skin.
7. Smart appliances
“Adding ‘phone controls’ to every appliance instead of making them last as long as they used to,” wrote Sherry S.
When your fridge needs a software update, something’s gone off the rails.
8. Makeup and anti-aging products
“Anything anti-aging,” said Melissa T., “Please just let me age into the gargoyle I was meant to become.”
Others questioned products designed to “fix” eyelashes, eyebrows, pores, and graying hair.
April S. added, “Products that women are convinced they MUST have in order to be ‘beautiful’ and therefore ‘loved.’”
9. Cosmetic surgery
Ron P. called out the industry as a whole. And while body autonomy matters, many commenters questioned whether insecurities are being commodified and sold back to us.
10. Ticketmaster and “convenience fees”
“Let’s go back to waiting in line at a record store,” wrote Nicole C.
Zaida B. added: “Convenience fee for online purchases—then charging $10 more at the actual event.”
11. Engagement rings
James P. didn’t mince words: “Engagement rings.”
The diamond industry has long been criticized for manufactured scarcity and marketing-fueled necessity.
12. Lawn chemicals and services
“Plant native grasses and you don’t have the pests or need for constant watering,” wrote Jamie B.
Environmental groups have raised similar concerns over runoff and unnecessary pesticide use.
13. AI and generative tech
“This stuff squeezes the lifeblood and individuality out of the human experience,” said Teresa L.
Saskia D. and others echoed skepticism about its necessity, even as many of us are being pushed to use it.
14. Funeral services
Amy W. shared: “My parents both have already paid to have themselves cremated and are very adamant that they do not want anything big done for them. In their words, ‘I won’t care, I’m dead.’”
Of course, some families find comfort in tradition—but the cost and pressure can feel overwhelming and predatory.
15. Rinse and repeat
Amy D. nailed it: “It’s just to sell more. Not even sure you need it at all.”
16. Credit Card Surcharges
Shawn S. took aim at the extra fees popping up at checkout: “That is the cost of doing business and shouldn’t be the burden of the purchaser.”
Many questioned why customers are increasingly being asked to pay extra simply for the convenience of using a card.
17. Constant phone upgrades
“Apple are notorious for releasing the same shit every year,” said Steph S.
Diana H. added, “Needing to upgrade our phones so frequently.”
Built-in obsolescence and marketing cycles drive most of the demand.
18. Vitamins and supplements
“If I took every supplement they say I NEED I wouldn’t need food. Nor could I afford it,” said Tausha L.
19. Fake pockets on women’s pants
Jessica W. said, “I have to buy men’s pants for work because women’s pants would just get torn up too fast!”
Form over function, and then they charge more for it.
20. Disposable everything
“The ‘convenience’ of disposable everything,” said Rick R.
It’s killing the planet—and draining wallets.
21. Tipping
“I’m sick of supplementing for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage,” wrote Susan V.
Tipping culture has evolved into something far removed from its original intent, and for many, it now feels like a burden shifted onto the customer.
The bigger picture
People aren’t saying all these things should vanish tomorrow. But when we start seeing convenience sold as necessity, and insecurity turned into billion-dollar markets, it's worth asking: who benefits from all of this?
And more importantly—who pays?
This article originally appeared earlier this year.