5 Good News Stories to Inspire You
Librarian Love
“People tend to underestimate the impact children’s books have on our lives,” reads one post on the Storybook Maze Instagram. Baltimore librarian Araba Maze has dedicated years to increasing literacy and access to books in impoverished neighborhoods.
From setting up a free book-vending machine, to reading aloud at “stoop storytimes,” and sharing book recommendations on social media, her creativity and resourcefulness help children discover the joy of reading. At time of writing, she’s fundraising for a book trolley: a quaint portable library to serve Baltimore’s book deserts.
Passion Project
Over the past 15 years, the married couple and filmmakers behind Wavecrest Films, Julie Bayer and Josh Salzman, have been using their craft to create a series of short documentary films, Mindful Shorts.
The first film, Just Breathe, is about anger in elementary school students; the second, Release, dives into anxiety in middle-school kids; the third, Into Light, covers depression in high-school students; the fourth, A Good Day, follows middle-aged adults in recovery from addiction. There are still two more films to come that will explore trauma and grief.
All the films are produced thanks to crowdfunding, and all are available to watch for free on the Wavecrest Films website. “I just felt like it was a really wonderful way of introducing people to something that is, to me, so fundamentally important to our collective survival right now,” Bayer says.
Supporting the Science of Mindfulness
The Mind and Life Institute is celebrating 20 years of Varela research grants, totaling 217 grants and $3.3 million awarded to researchers in 14 countries to support the field of contemplative science. Named for one of the Institute’s cofounders, scientist and philosopher Francisco J. Varela, the grant is based on his belief that contemplative practices offer modern science new and important ways to investigate human experience. Over the years, the grants have funded projects examining mindfulness and its medical applications, burgeoning neuroscience, mental health, and everything in between.
“We wanted to change the practices in schools from punitive to empowering.”
Ali Smith, cofounder, Holistic Life Foundation
Empowering Students
With the Mindful Moment program, the Holistic Life Foundation (HLF) set out to provide a detention alternative, sending disruptive students to a meditation and yoga room—a Mindful Moment Room—instead of to detention. “We wanted to change the practices in schools from punitive to empowering,” says HLF cofounder Ali Smith.
After three years in various Baltimore schools, HLF has seen success measured by enhanced student social and emotional well-being, leading to fewer suspensions, less school violence, and improved attendance. At the time of writing, HLF plans to expand Mindful Moments to six new cities where they will train local youths aged 18 to 24 to lead the program.
Wings of Change
Butterflies may be small, but Miami Shores resident Mary Benton believes they have the power to create big change. Her organization, Bound By Beauty, uses the captivating beauty of butterflies to show people how they can make a difference for the environment, starting right in their own backyards.
Not only do people use less water and harmful chemicals—they also begin to experience the joy and wonder of the natural world and begin to see themselves as nurturers and protectors of biodiversity.
Bound By Beauty encourages people to plant butterfly-attracting native plants in their yards. Not only do people use less water and harmful chemicals—they also begin to experience the joy and wonder of the natural world and begin to see themselves as nurturers and protectors of biodiversity. As Benton said to the Biscayne Times, “I believe butterflies have the power to create a paradigm shift that can also shift neighborhoods.”
Acts of Kindness
Pay It Furward
When a lost puppy hopped on the Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Colleague Bus Shuttle a week before Christmas, he had no idea he was stepping into a whole new future. When no one claimed him, hospital colleagues saw something special in this lost critter. An Animal Therapy volunteer adopted Teddy, and he’s on his way to helping others as a therapy dog!
Happy Birth-Tree
Climate activist Leah Namugerwa replaced her 15th birthday party with planting 200 trees. But that’s not all: Determined to counteract deforestation in Uganda, she then launched the Birthday Trees Project. Now a UN Youth Advisory Board Member, Namugerwa gives away seedlings for others to plant on their birthdays, showing that no action is too small to make a difference.
This Teen’s an Ace
When Acie Holland III felt his bus veering into oncoming traffic and noticed the driver slumped and unresponsive, the quick-thinking Wisconsin eighth-grader wasted no time. He moved to the front of the bus, pulled the driver’s foot off the gas, hit the brakes, and called 911—saving his driver and his classmates from a potentially deadly accident.
How to Garden Year-Round
We know that playing in the dirt and connecting with nature can feel deeply restorative, and science shows the presence of nature in our spaces offers wide-ranging benefits from stress reduction to increasing prosocial behavior. So why limit our gardening to just a couple months of the year? Here are some ways to tend to the plant babies in and around your home—and reap the benefits of connecting with nature—year-round:
- Spring: Start some seedlings and nurture them as they grow. Peas and beans are some of the easiest to grow.
- Summer: Move your plant outdoors and harvest the fruits of your labor when they’re ripe.
- Fall: Bring tropical potted plants indoors and slowly reduce watering.
- Winter: Tend to your houseplants and start planning next summer’s garden!
