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“A balm for the soul”
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GOOD PEOPLE Book
upworthy

Mary Rindlesbach

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Most people throw away tons of flowers after their wedding. She puts them back to work.

Why let good flowers go to waste? She made it her mission to recycle discarded wedding flowers, and the result is beautiful.

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Facebook #SheMeansBusiness

Shawn Chamberlain was tending the gardens at a hospice care facility one day when she noticed something unusual about one of the patients.

The woman, standing on a nearby patio, caught her off guard. Most of the patients Shawn had seen at the facility were older; hospice care is typically for those who are given six months or less to live, after all.

But this patient was young — a young mother.


A young mother herself, Shawn felt compelled to do something for the woman. Looking down and seeing the flowers in the garden, she quickly clipped a few and had a charge nurse deliver them to the patient.

Gathering up some love. Image via Rogue Heart Media.

In addition to being beautiful, flowers may actually lift people's moods.

According to a 2005 research study at Rutgers University, every single person who received flowers as part of an experiment had a positive response. Every. Single. Person.

Admit it: Flowers make you feel loved, special, adored, and remembered. Image via Shawn Chamberlain.

As a landscape designer, Shawn had seen the power of flowers to bring people delight. In that moment, she knew she wanted to bring flowery happiness to other people. But not just anyone: long-term care patients, people who could really use a few moments of unexpected joy.

There was only one problem — where on Earth could she obtain a massive amount of flowers without going completely broke in the process?

If you've ever had to buy flowers for any event, you know they're, uh, not cheap. Shawn was a young mom of five kids — not a millionaire by any stretch.

But then it came to her: weddings.

Wedding flowers — gorgeous, expensive, and only used for one day. Image via Shawn Chamberlain.

Weddings are a treasure trove of floral arrangements, bouquets, and other lovely things ... that often go straight in the trash once the event is over.

Shawn started making calls around town to wedding planners, event spaces, florists, anyone who dealt in bulk flowers. Amazingly, there was no hesitation; people were on board. The Full Bloom was born.

Flowers. Flowers everywhere! Image via Shawn Chamberlain.

Brides and grooms really took to the idea, thrilled that they could use their time of joy and happiness to give back. (All without a lot of effort because, as we know, weddings are super stressful!)

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something recycled! Image via Shawn Chamberlain.

Another cool thing? Through postings to The Full Bloom's Facebook page, donors can be connected with the receivers.

As Shawn put it, "They can see their flowers (through posting) actually go somewhere."

Brides, grooms, and other donors get to see how their contribution has brightened someone's day. And patients know someone was thinking of them and that, for a moment, they're feeling a little better because, you know, science.

Volunteers of all ages get involved and deliver arrangements to long-term care facilities. Image via Shawn Chamberlain.

To find out more about The Full Bloom and recycling the love, check out this video from Rogue Heart Media.

To get love, you give love. Let a woman from San Francisco show you how she does it.

Shannon Weber knows a thing or two about the power of a simple love note.

Ah, love.

GIF via Disney/Pixar's "Up."


Hugs. Gifts. Snuggles. High fives. Smiles. It's often simple gestures that have the power to truly make a person feel special, important, remembered, appreciated.

For Shannon Weber, it all started with a simple love note on a fridge.

A mom of three, Shannon wanted her kids to have a little reminder of her love all the time, so she stuck a note on her fridge. Seeing it every day made her (and her kids!) feel so great that she started placing love notes all over town; she wanted others to feel the same amazing positive mojo. "I feel alive when I do it. I feel connected to myself, to my kids, to the greater world."

Images by Shannon Weber, used with permission.

It's been four years since Shannon's kitchen note, and her movement has grown.

It's in every ZIP code of San Francisco thanks to a grant from the Awesome Foundation, and love notes are now a part of events at schools, street fairs, and Maker Faires. Participants write love notes and create large "Public Displays of Affection" for all to enjoy. It's public art with a purpose, and for Shannon, it's like a giant love affair with the universe.


Though she started solo, leaving love notes is now a family (and friends) affair.

Shannon and her three kids often go out undercover at night to leave notes around town so others will wake to a happy surprise.

Image via The Talking Fly.

The love has even expanded beyond San Fransisco to the likes of New York City, Utah, and Washington D.C. Shannon leaves a little piece of her heart wherever she goes.

Shannon's love notes bring happiness and comfort to those who see them — loved ones and strangers alike.

Recently Shannon was on a work trip in Washington, D.C., and was feeling some "mom guilt." Her son texted her a photo of one of her signs that he found while out on a walk, and that "You Rock" sign created a shared experience for them, even though they were thousands of miles apart. It lifted Shannon's spirits and connected mother and son.


Image via Shannon Weber.

One of Shannon's most profound experiences with her signs came from the parents of a 22-year-old who died in a freak car accident under an overpass in San Francisco. When these grieving parents went to the scene to look for evidence, they found one of Shannon's signs hanging there. It proclaimed boldly, "There Is No One Like You." It was a powerful reminder of their son's love.


Image via Shannon Weber.

The love continues to spread — and you can help.

Love is important. Everyone wants to feel loved and be part of something greater than themselves. It's ingrained in the human condition. Shannon knows that love has healing juju and the power to make a community stronger, so she's out there, making sure people feel loved.

"This experience of taking love or getting love from somewhere ... you have the capacity or the bandwidth to give love somewhere else."

For more of Shannon's story, check out this video from The Talking Fly:

Want to start a guerrilla-style love-fest of notes in your little corner of the world? Shannon has made it easy with printable templates on her website. Go forth, share love.

Heroes

A food delivery business is so into the idea of saving the world that you can see it.

“Pizza always tastes better when it's delivered by a man in spandex."

Pizza delivery people in capes and spandex, huh?

In uptown Minneapolis, you might see a bearded man in a cape driving a tiny electric car. And no, it wouldn't be a joke.

It would be Captain Awesome, the marquee superhero of Galactic Pizza, delivering a pie to a hungry customer. When he arrives at his destinations, sometimes people laugh, sometimes they stare, and if you ask him, he says dons the costume "for the kids."

But in reality, these costumes aren't just some crazy gimmick to get people to buy pizzas (OK, maybe a little.) They represent something much bigger.


Images via Zagat.

Pete Bonahoom, the owner of Galactic Pizza, had a vision of saving the planet when he started his business.

He knew he wanted to open a pizza joint, but it needed to be something different, something more epic than a boring old restaurant. It's what he liked to call a "values-led business," which means that the science-fiction-themed eatery puts its positive vision and values above turning a supervillain-sized profit.

So how does this "values-led," earth-saving, pizza-eating thing work?

Locally sourced, organic, fresh, and DELICIOUS.

For Galactic Pizza, there are as many ways to save the world as there are delicious toppings.

They offer organic menu items and, in season, try to use locally sourced ingredients.

They strive to use packaging that's either recycled or 100% biodegradable.

Menus are printed on hemp instead of regular paper (you can read into that whatever you want), and they are in 3D! Far out!

Since pizza boxes can't be recycled thanks to cheesy, greasy goodness, Galactic has implemented a composting program. In exchange for returning that grease magnet, customers get a discount.

The restaurant is run on renewable wind energy.

And the delivery cars, when conditions allow, are 100% electric and 100% awesome.

Galactic's futuristic fleet of adorable electric cars.

Each delivery driver has their own alter ego, complete with a costume and catchy superhero name.

Some, like Lights Out, have even made conservation their super power!

He wants to know: What's your superpower?

Galactic Pizza is navigating the "new frontier" of being community-focused and sustainable.

There are businesses with like-minded values in each of our communities. They understand their responsibility to us as customers, the neighborhood they are in, and the greater good of the earth.

As businesses continue to recognize that being good to the planet is everyone's responsibility and can be done with even a little extra effort, more of them will catch on and the vision will spread, which is awesome all the way around.

Galactic Pizza has envisioned a future where the world is a sustainable, harmonious place, and they are doing their part. Is Galactic Pizza perfect? Probably not. But they are laser-focused on making sure they do the best they can, and they are having a great time in the process.

Pizza and social good? I'll raise a slice to that.

Image via Giphy.

Take it from this little video-game dude: You've gotta keep moving forward, even if it seems impossible.

For clarity's sake, I'm going to call this little guy "Chip." He's an enthusiastic fellow, and he's ready to take on the challenge in front of him.


In many ways, Chip's video game world resembles the real world, the one inhabited by you and me. Yes, even though it's entirely two-dimensional, we can learn a lot from Chip's journey.

Here are five takeaways that apply to us nonvirtual human beings:

1. Life is full of obstacles.

You may not have to take on blob creatures or face monkeys throwing fruit at your head like Chip does, but stuff will always get in your way. Chip has to jump over chasms, and occasionally there are chasms he cannot cross.

Ah yes, that familiar "the ground isn't where I thought it is" feeling. All GIFs via Pipoca VFX.

These holes in the ground in Chip's world are like staring into an endless abyss; they mean certain demise.

But in our world? In the real world? Those moments don't have to mean certain demise. We all sometimes find ourselves staring into what seems like an endless abyss. Whether at work or at home or in our relationships, we've all been there. We all know that feeling. That feeling is part of the human condition. It happens — and it's normal.

And unlike Chip, we can pull ourselves back out of them without having to restart at the beginning of a level.

2. You have to go forward.

Chip's video game world is side-scrolling. (Remember those?) In Chip's world, he can't go backward — he can only move from left to right, or what our minds perceive as "forward."

Welcome to life. Tough break; you can't go back. If you mess something up or something bad happens, you can't undo it. You can only move forward and try to do better in the future.

3. Sometimes life is hard, and that's OK.

In this game, even though Chip's been stuck on the edge of that cliff, staring into the endless abyss for so long that it's starting to snow, he makes the best of his situation.


He can't make the jump, but he doesn't give up; he changes his plans and tackles the circumstances differently than anticipated. He still makes progress while he works on a solution.

When life gets hard, don't let it get you down. Do what Chip does. Find a way to keep yourself safe and work on a solution.

4. We're in this together.

Sometimes you are not the person who is meant to overcome the challenge. I know, it goes against every feel-good movie you've ever seen — you're the hero of your story and you can do it! But as Chip demonstrates here, sometimes in order to succeed, you need to let others help you.

Championing others and supporting them in their positive efforts is a vital part of living a full life, no matter our circumstances.

5. Give kids the tools they need to understand the world around them, then step back and let them jump.

Hey, parents — this one is hard. Chip and his partner have been stuck on the edge of this cliff for so long now, he's gone grey. But he knows his daughter doesn't need to spend her life on one side of the cliff.

So he teaches his daughter the best he can how to survive in this side-scrolling, chasm-filled world and lets her jump. And he knows she can't take anyone with her.

Now it's her story. And she has to go forward, independent, and follow her own side-scrolling adventure.

For those of us who have kids, we know that eventually they have to grow up and face the world. We can't hold them back or protect them forever, and we definitely can't live their lives for them. We just have to do the best we can and hope our kids will land safely when they make their own way.

Sure, life is hard. Obstacles threaten to stop our progress. Sometimes these obstacles are bigger than we are alone. When we work together, though, we can find a solution and make progress toward it. This progress will benefit those who come after we are long gone.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and jump!