Top 5 Feel Goods 8.28.20

This week in a lot of ways was really tough. So much of the news cycle has been bleak so I hope these few items help you find a bit of joy amidst it all. They helped me. Happy Friday and weekend!

My new podcast Feel the Good launched this week! If you haven’t listened yet, go do it now! I’ve already received tons of great feedback and I’m so, so grateful to all of my guests who said yes to being on the show. I dropped three episodes initially and all are full of heartwarming life stories and tons of wisdom. It feels so good to finally put this out there and have all of you share in the conversation with me! Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Special request: If you listen on Apple Podcasts, please do a rate and review for me so more people find the podcast. Hope you leave every conversation Feeling the Good!

2. Talk about doing good! Kate Deiter-Maredei created Project for Equitable Access to Remote Learning, or PEARL, to help ALL students do their best while remote learning. PEARL links college students and retired teachers as mentors to remote learning students who need the help. So many don’t have access to hiring a private tutor to assist their child in remote learning so this is a way to make it equitable for all students. We need this in every state! They are currently accepting donations as they would like to pay their mentors who are participating in the program. Very admirable. You can choose to donate if you’d like here.

3. This was a trending item this week so you might have already seen it, but 2000 year old redwoods survived a California wildfire! This quote from the NBC News article, of Laura McLendon, a conservationist dedicated to the protection of redwoods and their habitats made me so happy: “Redwood forests are meant to burn, she said, “But the forest is not gone,” McLendon said. “It will regrow. Every old growth redwood I’ve ever seen, in Big Basin and other parks, has fire scars on them. They’ve been through multiple fires, possibly worse than this.” After I read that, I kinda felt like it might be a metaphor for our lives right now. These are challenging times, but we will rebuild, we will grow, we will sustain, just like these magnificent redwoods.

4. What a smile Miss Eleanor has! Way to go JoJoMamanBebe for making this toddler with Down syndrome the star of your fashion campaign! This was one of the most heartwarming stories I saw this week. You can’t help but grin and feel warm when you see Eleanor’s radiant energy. I loved what Eleanor’s mom had to say in this article: “It’s important for people with Down syndrome to be seen in the mainstream media,”the proud mom explained. “The more people like Eleanor that are out there in mainstream inclusive fashion then the better it will be.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what Eleanor stars in next.

5. Squid! Farm Sanctuary recently shared the story of this lamb and how he had suffered a broken leg before he was rescued, but after being in the Sanctuary’s loving care, he’s got a new cart to help him get around! Farm Sanctuary is an incredible place if you aren’t familiar with it. The compassion and kindness they show farm animals and all animals is beyond commendable. Go Squid, go! The world is all yours.