Quote of the Day: “Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.” – Rumi
Photo: by David Leicken, CC license via Flickr
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This installment of the Science of Kindness is reprinted with permission from Envision Kindness.
In addition to being a physician, I am also a scientist – someone who likes to understand how things work and loves doing experiments that ask (and answer) these questions.
In this session, I am going to dive into Envision Kindness’ own research, which focuses on defining how images of kindness affect people. Short answer? These images potently inspire large increases in joy, hope, love, gratitude, and compassion, much more than even pretty pictures like puppies in a basket or a beautiful landscape. My aim for this lesson? To convince you, the reader, to rebalance your visual diet and improve it by adding more pictures of kindness. Your sense of joy and connection could change markedly.
Doing experiments allows for discovery—the pursuit of the truth; because if we understand the truth, we can better make sense of, and benefit from, our world. I’ve been doing experiments for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, maybe 9 years old, I was taking clocks apart to see how they worked (my parents were less than thrilled when I couldn’t put them back together).
After my son Jesse and I set out on the road to build Envision Kindness, Jesse was a strong proponent of measuring people’s responses to images of kindness. We already knew that we (and other people) felt good after looking at pictures of kindness – a warm, relaxed, and uplifted feeling.
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We also knew that other scientists – some of whom were described in the second installment of the Science of Kindness — had shown that a few minutes of a video about kindness caused significant changes in people, including how they felt and their willingness to volunteer. So we decided to measure the response not to a single video, but to several still photographs of acts of kindness and compare them to other types of images.
I have done a lot of research on people—although it has always been in human metabolism or physiology. Since this was about psychology, we designed a study with the help of our scientific advisors that asked how people responded to a variety of types of images.
The images we studied included “negative” images—those of violence, destruction, and neglect; “neutral” images—hammers, towels, or doorknobs; and “positive” or pretty images—puppies in a basket, bunnies, flowers, etc. These three types of images were from a standard set that psychologists have used for years.
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The last type of photo we used was images of kindness. Examples of these included a woman in distress on a dark stairwell being comforted by a police officer and a young man with a shaven head looking up from a sea of shaven heads.
Before they saw any of the images, every one of the 400 participants completed questionnaires on how they were feeling. All were feeling pretty happy at the beginning of the study. They were then each assigned to look at images in one of the groups—so 100 people saw negative images, 100 neutral, etc. After seeing one type of image, they again completed the questionnaires on how they felt.
The negative images did exactly what they had been shown to do before, and it was really impressive how quickly and dramatically the negative images affected the participants. People reported marked increases in sadness, fear, and anxiety and decreases in joy, optimism, gratitude, etc.
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The “neutral” images didn’t do much of anything, which made sense. The “positive” or pretty images—the usual go to images for people who may be sad—like puppies in a basket—did make people feel more happy, more optimistic, or more grateful. Positive images increased their reports of feeling love or trust. These responses were consistent with what has been observed before, which is great.
What was really interesting was that the 100 people who saw the images of kindness experienced roughly twice as much joy, optimism, and gratitude than the 100 people who saw the positive images. Double the effect on self-reported love and trust and a bunch of other measured emotions and states.
I have looked at a lot of data in my scientific career and these results impressed me. Although they are not yet published in peer-reviewed literature, they are consistent with (and expand upon) what had been observed by others.
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So why would people respond to these kindness images more than pretty pictures? Especially when the images weren’t pretty—each had a problem or challenge to meet and someone trying to help, but not necessarily being able to fix their problem.
Maybe it’s because these images touched on real life situations that people could relate to. They had emotion associated with them, rather than just being cute or beautiful. Or maybe it is because at birth we are already “programmed” or “equipped” to recognize these scenes and respond to them. Or some combination. I welcome suggestions from our readers.
Altogether, the results suggest that images like these can help people a lot. As part of Envision’s work, we are using the images from our large portfolio and combining them into unique presentations to amplify the responses further. Our goal: to inspire people as much as we can by stirring the inborn quality of kindness and compassion. This, in turn, allows for connection to one another (and ourselves) through our shared humanity. When people feel connected to others, joy, love, optimism, and compassion flow much more naturally. From that, as connection, collaboration, and cooperation are all strengthened, more of all of these good things manifest.
Just think of the possibilities.
Interested in learning more about the science of kindness and its role in your life? Visit EnvisionKindness.org to learn more.
Pass On This Positive Piece Of Science To Your Friends By Sharing It To Social Media… (Ducking photo by hehaden, CC license)
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This 7-year-old boy was lucky that his elementary school teacher was in the right place at the right time last week – otherwise, his father may have been in big trouble.
Cameron Simoncic, a second-grader at Ellen Woodside Elementary in Greenville, South Carolina, had just returned home from a day of school when he found his dad had fallen unconscious on their kitchen floor.
The episode was a result of his dad’s diabetes, and Cameron knew that he had to call for help.
When he tried to use his father’s phone, however, he got locked out because he did not know the password. Cameron ran to his neighbor’s house, but no one was home.
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The trepidatious youngster then grabbed his bike and started pedaling down the highway in hopes of reaching his grandmother’s house.
Meanwhile, elementary school teacher Keller Sutherland told WSPA that she had been having a lousy day. Upon questioning her career decisions, she had left school earlier than usual and started driving home when she saw a boy riding his bike through traffic.
Her instincts told her to turn her car around and check on the boy – and she was stunned to find that the youngster was actually a former student of hers: Cameron.
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Cameron told Sutherland about his predicament and she did her best to keep him calm. Once paramedics were called to the scene, Cameron gave them directions to his house so they could help his father.
Thanks to emergency responders delivering the necessary injections to Cameron’s dad, his blood sugar levels quickly returned to normal – and Sutherland says the whole experience renewed her faith in her profession.
“There’s no doubt that God placed me where he did when he needed me,” Sutherland told WSPA.
(WATCH the WSPA News coverage below) – Photo by WSPA
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Legislators from both sides of the aisle are rejoicing in the sweeping bipartisan approval of the biggest public lands package of the decade.
Earlier this week, the Senate passed a 662-page measure that will designate over 1.3 million acres as nationally-protected wilderness and create four new national monuments honoring Civil Rights and Union heroes.
The bill was passed in a 92-8 vote, and White House officials have divulged that the president has agreed to sign it, according to The Washington Post.
The S. 47 legislation includes a provision that will ensure the federal government fulfills its decades-old promise to provide allotments to Alaska Natives who served in the Vietnam War. Another provision will ban mining practices on more than 370,000 acres of land surrounding two national parks.
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The bill also expands the boundaries of six national parks, including Death Valley and the Mojave; it will allow elementary schoolers in fourth grade or below to visit parks with their families for free; and it will offer various protections against damming and pollution for roughly 620 miles of rivers.
“We have worked for months on a bipartisan, bicameral basis to truly negotiate every single word in this bill — literally down to one one-tenth of a mile for [a] certain designation,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who is also the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman and co-author of the bill.
Additionally, the legislation includes a notable provision that will permanently reauthorize a program that finances these conservation efforts by diverting money generated from off-shore drilling projects, which is expected to save taxpayers over $9 million.
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In the past, the program – known as the Land and Water Conservation Fund, has been “described as one of the country’s most important conservation programs.” Over the course of the last five decades since its creation, it has supported more than 42,000 state and local projects throughout the United States.
The LWCF has also been described as a key component of the nation’s booming outdoor recreational economy, which generates over $887 billion in annual consumer spending and supports 7.6 million American jobs.
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Congress failed to reauthorize the program in September, which was the second described as one of the country’s most important conservation programs – but thanks to S.47, the fund is now permanently authorized so that it can continue to support public parks and recreation spaces.
“Today marks an overdue but critical victory for America’s most important conservation funding program and for protecting our wild lands,” said Jamie Williams, President of the Wilderness Society. “It’s encouraging to see the new Congress immediately moving bipartisan legislation that conserves our land and water for today and for future generations.”
Be Sure And Share The Good News With Your Friends On Social Media; And On The Other Side Of The Aisle – File photo by Phaedra, CC
This 9-year-old boy is now cancer-free after undergoing a cutting-edge stem cell transplant that used a donated umbilical cord.
Jenson Wright was first diagnosed with lymphoma in November 2013 when he was just 4 years old.
The brave youngster managed to beat the deadly disease following several rounds of chemotherapy, but the cancer returned for a second time and medics discovered he was now battling acute myeloid leukemia – and the cancer was more aggressive than ever, spreading to 70% of Jenson’s body.
Jenson, who is from Penketh, England, underwent two more rounds of chemotherapy, but unfortunately, it didn’t work as they had hoped.
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The only remaining option for the youngster was a life-saving stem cell transplant using an umbilical cord from Texas which had been stored in a freezer for an unknown amount of time.
After he underwent the operation in December 2016, doctors were shocked to find that he had incredibly responded to the treatment in just five days.
More than two years after the transplant, Jenson has now been told he is completely cured of cancer.
His 46-year-old mum Carolyn said: “It came completely out the blue, it was a complete shock. It was quite emotional when they said it because you never expect to hear those words when you’ve been going through so much.
“Jenson took it in his stride – he was quite blasé about it really. I don’t think the severity of the illness he had has ever really hit him,” she added. “We’re quite fortunate because he was so young at the time he was diagnosed, so he didn’t really understand it like an adult would.
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“It’s always in the back of your mind, wondering what the tests they’re doing are going to find. That’s why it was such a shock when they said he was cured, and that they didn’t want to see him again – it’s a bit surreal really. He can just be like any other child again now.”
Jenson’s cancer battle started when his mum noticed a swelling on the side of his face in the rear-view mirror while driving.
Upon taking a closer look, she realized the swelling was actually a hard lump and she immediately took him to the hospital. After various tests and X-rays, they were told to bring Jenson back for an urgent biopsy.
When the results came back, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer, minutes after he had started school.
Jenson started treatment straight away and underwent nine months of intensive chemotherapy. He lost his hair, his face and body were swollen, he was constantly hungry, and he experienced angry mood swings.
Now that the stem cell treatment has cured his cancer, however, Jenson has been going “from strength to strength”.
“The early stages of the treatment were quite hard to comprehend, and quite difficult for us emotionally,” said Carolyn. “Without the transplant we would be in a completely different situation – that saved him.”
A 2013 study that was published in the scientific journal Blood says: “Umbilical cord blood is an alternative … stem cell source for patients with hematologic diseases who can be cured by allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
“Initially, umbilical cord blood transplantation was limited to children, given the low cell dose infused. Both related and unrelated cord blood transplants have been performed with high rates of success for a variety of hematologic disorders and … diseases in the pediatric setting.”
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Another article from Lancaster University says that pregnant women should talk to a medical professional about donating their umbilical cords so that it can save other kids like Jenson.
“We will never get to find out who the donor was, but by donating it, they’ve given life to somebody else,” said Carolyn. “In the last two years, we’ve managed to get our lives back to some normality.”
Jenson, his dad, mom, and 18-year-old older brother recently had a family meal to celebrate the news that the youngster is now free from cancer.
“He’s actually got different DNA now because of the stem cell transplant – he’s basically been reborn again,” she pondered. “Now it’s just a case of getting our heads around the fact that this part of our lives is over, and hopefully we won’t have to revisit it again. We can just enjoy our future.”
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Quote of the Day: “Socrates used to nickname the opinions of the multitude ‘Ghouls’, bogies to terrify children.” – Marcus Aurelius
Photo: by James Cridland, CC license, via Flickr
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
As a means of rewarding her hardworking students, this middle school teacher gave them the chance to experience the joy of painting – all while they were dressed as Bob Ross.
Brady Sloane is an eighth grade art teacher at Madison Middle School in Abilene, Texas. She teaches 48 students between two pre-Advanced Placement classes, and the majority of her pupils are low-income.
Sloane recently began to notice that a lot of the kids were stressed out over their workload, and she wondered how she could reward her students for their hard work and offer them a break from the stress – and that’s when she got the idea to draw some inspiration from the artistic zen master himself: Bob Ross.
Sloane decided to host a Bob Ross flash mob for her students. Thanks to a successful fundraiser on Donors Choose, she was able to raise $500 to buy enough paints for four dozen students. Not only that, she and the students whipped up four dozen Bob Ross costumes.
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“When my students were told about this project, they were so excited, we immediately began putting together costumes and sourcing wigs,” says Sloane.
Last week, their efforts came to fruition when Sloane set up a projector in the school auditorium and screened an episode of Ross’s beloved television show. With palettes in hand, the students used music stands as makeshift easels so they could peacefully paint their stress away and create happy little accidents of their own.
“The day of the event was amazing,” says Sloane. “Students came in, got their wigs on and got to work! They worked so hard and had great focus… they are always great workers and do well in my class, but I was so proud of them!”
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by KRBC
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The world is literally a greener place than it was 20 years ago, and the data from NASA satellites has revealed a counterintuitive source for much of this new foliage: China and India.
This surprising new study shows that the two emerging countries with the world’s biggest populations are leading the improvement in greening on land. The effect stems mainly from ambitious tree planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries. In 2017 alone, India broke its own world record for the most trees planted after volunteers gathered to plant 66 million saplings in just 12 hours.
The greening phenomenon was first detected by researchers using satellite data in the mid-1990s, but they did not know whether human activity was one of its chief, direct causes.
This new insight was made possible by a nearly 20-year-long data record from a NASA instrument orbiting the Earth on two satellites. It’s called the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, and its high-resolution data provides very accurate information, helping researchers work out details of what’s happening with Earth’s vegetation, down to the level of 500 meters, or about 1,600 feet, on the ground.
Taken all together, the greening of the planet over the last two decades represents an increase in leaf area on plants and trees equivalent to the area covered by all the Amazon rainforests. There are now more than two million square miles of extra green leaf area per year, compared to the early 2000s – which amounts to a 5% increase.
“China and India account for one-third of the greening, but contain only 9% of the planet’s land area covered in vegetation – a surprising finding, considering the general notion of land degradation in populous countries from overexploitation,” said Chi Chen of the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University and lead author of the study.
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An advantage of the MODIS satellite sensor is the intensive coverage it provides, both in space and time: MODIS has captured as many as four shots of every place on Earth, every day for the last 20 years.
“This long-term data lets us dig deeper,” said Rama Nemani, a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center and a co-author of the new work. “When the greening of the Earth was first observed, we thought it was due to a warmer, wetter climate and fertilization from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to more leaf growth in northern forests, for instance. Now, with the MODIS data that lets us understand the phenomenon at really small scales, we see that humans are also contributing.”
China’s outsized contribution to the global greening trend comes in large part (42%) from programs to conserve and expand forests. These were developed in an effort to reduce the effects of soil erosion, air pollution and climate change. Another 32% there – and 82% of the greening seen in India – comes from intensive cultivation of food crops.
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The land area used to grow crops – more than 770,000 square miles – is comparable in China and India and it has not changed much since the early 2000s; yet these regions have greatly increased both their annual total green leaf area and their food production. This was achieved through multiple cropping practices, where a field is replanted to produce another harvest several times a year. Production of grains, vegetables, fruits, and more have increased by about 35-40% since 2000 to feed their large populations.
How the greening trend may change in the future depends on numerous factors, both on a global scale and the local human level. For example, increased food production in India is facilitated by groundwater irrigation. If the groundwater is depleted, this trend may change.
“But, now that we know direct human influence is a key driver of the greening Earth, we need to factor this into our climate models,” Nemani said. “This will help scientists make better predictions about the behavior of different Earth systems, which will help countries make better decisions about how and when to take action.”
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The researchers point out that the gain in greenness seen around the world, which is dominated by India and China, does not offset the damage from loss of natural vegetation in tropical regions, such as Brazil and Indonesia. The consequences for sustainability and biodiversity in those ecosystems remain, but overall, Nemani sees a positive message in the new findings.
“Once people realize there’s a problem, they tend to fix it,” he said. “In the 70s and 80s in India and China, the situation around vegetation loss wasn’t good; in the 90s, people realized it; and today things have improved. Humans are incredibly resilient. That’s what we see in the satellite data.”
This research was published online this week in the journal Nature Sustainability.
(Source: NASA Ames)
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A super-fit amateur cyclist pedaled his way up the toughest stage of the Tour de France – and he did it all without a seat on his bicycle.
Rob Holden managed to climb roughly 13 miles (21.5 kilometers) up Mont Ventoux – the notorious stage in the world’s most famous cycling race – in an impressive two hours, despite not being able to sit down the entire way.
The 52-year-old Englishman from Teddington, Surrey, is no stranger to the mountain, having cycled the same stage in 2013 on a heavy Boris Bike, but he says that this was his hardest challenge.
“There’s debate in the cycling community as to whether it’s better to sit or to stand when cycling uphill,” said Holden. “I had the conversation with my friends and we couldn’t settle on an answer, so we decided to test it out.”
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Unlike his previous challenges, Holden used a carbon-fiber road bike instead of a heavy hire cycle in order to get up the French mountain.
“It was really strange at first, cycling without a seat,” says Holden. “Thankfully the crossbar was flush where the seat goes, otherwise I might have had a nasty surprise had I sat down accidentally.”
It took just two hours for the exploring geologist to get from the bottom of the mountain in the Provence village of Bedoin to the top, saying: “I took the same path up from when I was riding the Boris Bike.
“It wasn’t a race and I didn’t have a specific completion time in mind – I just wanted to do an endurance challenge,” he added. “It’s the longest and most iconic climb on Le Tour.
“For a few years there has been debate about whether you should stand or sit when climbing. Chris Froome sits when he climbs whereas Alberto Contador stands. Some say you should sit but I wanted to test the limits of my own endurance uphill.”
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Holden reckons he might be the first person to have ever attempted the massive feat without a seat.
“I might be the first to have tried it – I couldn’t find anything online about other people taking on the same challenge.
Holden completed the challenge with pals Matt Winstone and filmmaker Ian Laurie. Winstone, who was apparently the logistics expert behind the initiative, said: “We had plans to present him with a seat when he got to the top, but we forgot.
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“The original plan was for Rob to cycle down again, because freewheeling all the way down is the fun bit, but he was so tired that he didn’t want to.
“We wanted to present him with a saddle in a presentation box, but we couldn’t find one so didn’t bother in the end.”
Holden and his mates took on the challenge back in October in order to raise money for several prostate cancer charities.
“It was a lovely day at the bottom – around 25 degrees (Celsius),” says the cyclist. “But at the top it was only about seven degrees. It was really cold and I was absolutely drained. It was definitely the toughest challenge I’ve ever done.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to top it – but, then again, I’m not sure whether I want to,” he added.
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Pret a Manger will soon be providing dozens of homeless people with housing and employment thanks to a new hostel that they will be opening in London this week.
The café chain’s charity, the Pret Foundation, is opening up the homeless hostel in partnership with West London Mission, a nonprofit that provides assistance and resources to people living in poverty.
Located in Kennington, the hostel will be able to house 13 people for up to one year. The company’s CEO, Clive Schlee, says that he hopes to expand the hostel so that it can accommodate 26 people by the end of the year.
He also says that the spacious building is equipped with shared bathroom facilities, kitchen space, and entertainment areas so that it can feel “feel like a home and not a hostel.”
The hostel will also work in conjunction with the company’s Rising Stars project which offers employment in their cafés to formerly homeless people. Over the course of the last 10 years, the program has employed over 450 people; although many participants have still had difficulty finding affordable housing and saving up money for deposits.
That’s why the new hostel will also be offering discounted rent that is proportional to their employee wages – and they won’t be required to put down a deposit.
“Ever since Pret opened its first shop in London, helping the homeless has been part of our promise to our customers and the communities in which we operate,” said Schlee.
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“We set up the Pret Foundation with the singular purpose of breaking the cycle of homelessness, and to do that, we believe that people need three things: food, employment and shelter.”
Schlee says that they chose London as the first location for their homeless hostel initiative because it is home to one-third of the nation’s homeless population. The Pret Foundation will be investing roughly $250,000 (£200,000) per year in maintaining the hostel, but hopefully, it will be the first of many company facilities that will contribute to eventually ending homelessness.
Serve Up Some Positivity To Your Friends By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – File photo by Choilocif, CC
An 11-year-old pit bull is being hailed as a hero after she went to great lengths in order to escape from her home and bring police officers to the door.
In all the years that Sadie has lived with her owners in Tuckahoe, New York, she has never ran away from home – but last week, Sadie escaped through her back door and started wandering up and down city streets barking up a storm.
When the police department received several calls about a noisy runaway pit bull, they arrived on the scene only to have Sadie take off running through the neighborhood.
Police officers chased the pit bull until she finally led them all the way to the backyard of her home – and they were surprised to find that the sliding door was open and the fence was broken. Not only that, they detected the odor of gas coming from inside the house.
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The responders then found that the smell was coming from a gas leak in the basement.
If Sadie had not alerted law enforcement to the impending danger, the leak could have led to an explosion – or maybe something worse.
At the time of their discovery, Sadie’s owner Serena Costello had been out with her 4-year-old daughter. Even though they weren’t home, further investigation of the house showed that Sadie had gone to great lengths to ensure her family’s safety; the canine hero had left bloodied claw marks on the door frame trying to escape and she only managed to open the sliding door by digging out a wooden door blocker from its resting place.
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Upon hearing that her pup had prevented a disaster in the making, Costello was overwhelmed with gratitude for her furry companion.
“She is a hero,” Costello told WABC. “She is our hero. It’s just so out of character for her to do. She saved our lives. Yeah. Emotional.
“[Police] had to write me a summons, which they didn’t want to, but I guess it’s the law for having an unleashed dog in the area,” Costello added. “But one of the police officers, I guess after [they said that it] was a gas leak, took the summons and ripped it up.”
(WATCH the news coverage below or our international viewers can watch the video on the CBS News website) – Photo by WLNY
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Quote of the Day: “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
Photo: copyright 2018, GWC
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Instead of using his winnings on sports cars or luxury goods, this British boxing champion donated all of it to charity.
After spending years of his life struggling with drug addiction and mental health issues, Tyson Fury became a heavyweight boxing champion.
The 30-year-old fighter, who is also known as “The Gypsy King” in the ring, squared off against Deontay Wilder in December, 2018. Though Fury’s purse for the fight was about $3.5 million, the total amount of pay-per-view income brought his payment to roughly $9 million – all of which he donated to charity.
He initially announced that he would be donating his purse for the fight after he traveled to Los Angeles for a media conference and he was shocked by the amount of homeless people he saw on the streets.
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Though the fight against Wilder ended in a controversial draw, he recently confirmed that he had indeed donated his entire purse to several UK charities that specialize in providing housing for recovering alcoholics and addicts.
Fury confirmed the donation after a fan asked him about his financial pledge during a Q&A segment of a charity auction in Cardiff last week.
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“I did give away my last purse, but I don’t do charity work for a pat on the back,” said Fury, as reported by The Sun. “I do it to help people, but I do not want praise for it, I don’t want to be called a do-gooder.”
(WATCH the fighter’s inspiring message for his viewers below) – Screen grab from BT Sport video
There will be people who need a lift in spirits today, maybe yesterday and maybe even tomorrow. I hope this little message can help you
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) February 8, 2019
?❤️? pic.twitter.com/ulD1Lm9HzJ
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In partnership with The Moth, a nonprofit dedicated to the art of storytelling, Good News Network is debuting Moth Monday, a series of inspiring tales brought to you from live stages across the world.
David Cole and his wife received a box full of Christmas presents from grandma—but it wasn’t their grandmother.
They didn’t know what to do with the gifts—all addressed “To Ben, Love Grandma,” and with no return address to guide them in shipping. So, they opened them.
The first items were pretty standard trinkets, but David’s wife began to sign when she saw the teddy bear. Then, when they unwrapped the hand-knit sweater, they both felt genuine sadness for the mistakenly delivered gifts.
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All this didn’t prepare them for what was in the last box: the original bed covering, decorated with a fire truck, that Ben’s father had slept under when he was a boy.
Now, the Houston couple HAD to find Ben—but, how?
LISTEN to the story below…
The Moth gives people an opportunity to tell a true story in front of a live audience, and sometimes their stories are chosen to air on the radio show, now celebrating its tenth year, and broadcasting on 485+ public radio stations—and on The Moth podcast, which is downloaded over 52 million times a year.
The Moth’s third book, Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible will be published in March 2019 and is available for pre-order from your favorite bookseller now.
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While LEGO bricks are generally considered to be toys meant for fun and amusement, David Aguilar used the bricks to build his own prosthetic arms.
Due to a rare genetic condition, Aguilar was born without a right forearm. He has always loved building with LEGOs – so as a means of addressing his disability, he constructed his first prosthetic arm out of the toy bricks when he was only 9 years old.
The LEGO arm worked, but it wasn’t very strong. 9 years later, he built another model arm that was so durable, Aguilar could use it to do pushups.
The 19-year-old is now studying bioengineering at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Spain. He also hosts a popular YouTube channel under the pseudonym of “Hand Solo”.
Once Aguilar graduates, he hopes to design prosthetic solutions for other disabled kids so they can benefit from the same positivity that he has experienced with his LEGO arms.
(WATCH this 2018 interview with Aguilar in the video below) – Photo by Great Big Story
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In a prison system where a 15-minute phone conversation can cost up to $20, many convicts and their loved ones are unable to afford the costs of communication.
Thankfully, an ingenious new app designed by ex-convicts is offering an inexpensive and convenient way for inmates and their families to keep in touch.
Most prison facilities charge prisoners upwards of 25 cents per minute on the phone, and 40 cents per email. This cost, paired with the difficulty of sending photos and letters through traditional means, often results in a lack of communication between inmates and their families.
Pigeonly is a service that allows users to share their photos with inmates simply by taking a picture with their cell phone and uploading it to the app. The photo is then screened by Pigeonly employees so that it can be sent to the appropriate prison, printed onto paper, and delivered to the convicted recipient.
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Pigeonly, which has been called “Instagram for Prisons”, also offers postcard, letter, and greeting card-sending services. They even have an unlimited phone plan that reduces the cost of a call from 25 cents or more per minute to a flat $4.99 per month – all for the sake of facilitating a connection to the outside world for prisoners
Frederick Hudson was inspired to create Pigeonly after spending 5 years in a federal penitentiary.
“I saw first-hand how difficult and expensive it was to stay in touch,” Hudson told Bloomberg in an interview. “I also saw how much of an impact that made on the person behind bars. I would see the guys that had the financial means to stay in touch and when they left prison I would hear that they were doing well, but those who didn’t have the support network on the outside – I’d see them coming back in.”
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Hutson is not alone in this observation. Studies show that maintaining contact with friends and families decreases the likelihood of recidivism and increases chances of employment after release, which also spares taxpayers the burden of substantial prison costs. Furthermore, children who maintain close bonds with incarcerated parents are also shown to display reduced rates of delinquency and behavioral problems.
After receiving a photo from his girlfriend, 43-year-old Cedric Benton stared at it for hours before pinning it to his prison cell wall, full of photos of loved ones.
“It might sound small, but that’s something we weren’t able to do before,” Benton told Bloomberg. “It also makes me think of my freedom and how I got to get out and stay out.”
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Though rescue animals are typically put up for adoption after waiting 30 days for the owners to come forward, the recovery center is allowing the cats to stay for longer periods of time in order to maximize their chances of being reunited with their rightful families.
“As we’ve seen so often, the weeks after a disaster slips from the headlines are very challenging for rescue organizations such as our friends at FieldHaven,” said Alley Cat Allies president and founder, Becky Robinson. “It’s important that they’re able to [run] this critical recovery center and transfer station so residents can recover their animals.
WATCH: 170 Foxes Are Rescued From Fur Farm and Given New Home at a Buddhist Monastery
A teenager named Destene was recently reunited with her beloved furry companion after the feline escaped during the wildfires.
“Destene was carrying Mama Kitty to the car when they heard an explosion and she jumped from her arms,” said recovery center workers. “Destene at first refused to leave, stating that she would stay there and die trying to save her baby if she had to. Her dad was a voice of reason and told her they had to leave.”
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After checking with dozens of animal shelters, Destene had given up hope that Mama Kitty had survived the fire until a family member saw a photo of the feline from the recovery center on social media.
“When Destene came to the Recovery Center, Mama instantly recognized her and put her front paws on Destene’s shoulders and hugged her. THIS is why we are NOT putting cats up for adoption after they’ve been with us for 30 days. We STILL have work to do to find people like Destene who have given up hope.”
If you would like to donate to the recovery center and help them continue with their rescue efforts, you can visit the Alley Cat Allies website.
(WATCH the reunion video below)
Quote of the Day: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Photo: by Leif E., CC license via Flickr
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
The Urban Dictionary defines “Bae” as a shortened version of baby or babe, or an acronym meaning “before anyone else.” A fun new study discovered that how and when couples navigated their first ‘baecation’ together can be a defining moment in their relationship.
Why are romantic getaways important? The survey found that 37% of participants fell in love on their first baecation, while 23% broke up because of the trip!
88% percent of respondents say their first trip with a significant other was a success—even while planning, booking and budgeting for the trip left 24% overwhelmed by the stress.
When is the best time for couples to go? For the best results, the study shows that new couples should take their first vacation together about 10 months into the relationship.
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Commissioned by Visit Anaheim, a California vacation destination, and conducted by OnePoll, the survey of 2,000 American adults who have traveled with a partner showed that even with a few bumps in the road, the first vacation together is generally a success story – so much so, that over half of respondents (52%) have returned to the same destination of their first trip.
For a vacation to be successful, respondents say the most important factors are picking the right destination (69%), having a budget that works for both partners (61%) and good planning (60%).
Making sure you and your partner are serious about each other (51%) and being able to compromise (44%) were also contributing factors.
Three-quarters of participants say the trip had a positive effect on their overall relationship, while half (49%) reported a positive effect on how romantic they are with their partner – and after traveling together for the first time, 74% reported feeling more comfortable with their partner.
That being said, it’s not all smooth sailing: The most common couple disagreements were in regard to the destination (32%), where to stay (31%) and how long the vacation should be (29%).
When choosing a destination, respondents say cost was the most important factor (62%), followed by the activities offered in the area (54%) and the mode of transportation needed to arrive (44%).
Additionally, 4 in 10 wanted to travel somewhere with a mix of active and laid-back activities. Bon Voyage!
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