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Mary Rindlesbach

I'm a pug-loving, red-headed feminist who spends her days traveling to the furthest edges of the Internet. I'm a sometimes college instructor, an all-the-time spouse and parent, a running enthusiast, and an armchair movie critic. I'm more than a little obsessed with '80s New Wave. I believe that everyone should have access to good mental health care, that we should never be ashamed of our bodies, and that there's a whole lot of awesome out there that needs to be shared! Come hang out with me on Twitter.

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

True

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.

From Your Site Articles

The program is called Read and Ride, and it's making kids smarter and healthier at the same time.

True

Scott Ertl was reading a book while riding a stationary bike at the gym when he had an idea.

Like many busy adults, the only time he really got to read was when he squeezed it in while on an exercise bike.

These things are like the ultimate multitasking machines. GIF via "Reposessed."

Ertl was an elementary school counselor in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the experience got him thinking, "I bet a bunch of kids would find it fun to read while exercising ... we could get some exercise bikes and give it a shot."

The principal at his school, Ward Elementary, was on board, so he hatched a plan and put it in motion.

The experiment started with a single bike in the corner of a classroom.

The solo bike was so well received that Ertl knew they needed more.

He's got legs, and he knows how to use them — to get his mind and body moving! Images via Read and Ride, used with permission.

With the help of Craigslist and garage sales, he outfitted an entire spare classroom with stationary exercise bikes.

Teachers signed their classes up for 15- to 20-minute blocks of time in the bike room, and students brought a book or picked up an educational magazine. The program was dubbed Read and Ride.

Movin' and groovin' — and reading!

The kids loved it, and they were reading and moving more.

The school wanted to know if there were real learning benefits attached to Read and Ride. They compiled data that showed that reading test scores and proficiency were up — and the more time students spent in the Read and Ride room, the better they did on state reading tests.

Read and Ride programs now exist (at least informally) in 30 states across the country, and educators all over are getting behind the trend. They aren't just using exercise bikes — under-desk ellipticals, something called Bouncy Bands, and exercise balls used as chairs are showing up in classrooms, too.

Movement helps kids like these be more fully engaged in learning. It's a win-win scenario for everyone!

As an added bonus, these types of exercises are especially good for students who are, um, a little less gifted in the athletic department (*raises own hand*). Since the rider controls the speed and intensity, each student can set their own pace, and there's no scrutiny or pressure — and no one ever gets picked last. Score!

Getting smarter and more confident, one pedal at a time.

Most Read and Ride programs get their bevy of stationary bikes via donation programs. If you've got an exercise bike collecting dust in your garage, consider finding out if your favorite school would like to have it donated.

This program has been so inspiring that it has expanded internationally!

At the Europe Region Medical Command in Sembach, Germany, they're using these portable movement machines in a pilot initiative based on this program.

And it looks like the kids are enjoying it just as much.

"The teachers said that they're already getting a positive change in attitude towards reading," SSG Carlos Molinares says in the video below.

Check it out:

From Your Site Articles

'Bluey' changes 'Exercise' episode after complaints online - Upworthy ›

Family

This badass runner is using her body to crush weight stigma and shut down fat shamers.

Runner Mirna Valerio is no stranger to people who stop and stare at her.

Passersby often do a double-take when they see Valerio, a fat, African-American woman, running around the small, mostly white and very rural Rabun County, Georgia.

But the stares don't faze her; Valerio is too focused on her goals, which she documents on her blog, Fat Girl Running, to care about haters.

"People do look, and they say things," Valerio told Upworthy. "But I know what I have to do, and whatever my goal is for the day, I know I need to get it done, and so I go do it."

Valerio after one of her dozens of races. Her enthusiasm for the sport of running is infectious. All photos via Mirna Valerio, used with permission.

In a foot race, Valerio could probably outrun most of us. Easily.

She's been running consistently since 2008 — completing multiple 5ks, 10ks, half marathons, marathons, ultramarathons — and is currently training for the pièce de résistance of her running career thus far: the Javelina Jundred, a 100k race (that's just over 62 miles, people! SIXTY! TWO! MILES!).

She also happens to be "clinically obese" at 240 pounds. But that label means nothing because whatever, it takes serious physical and mental strength to run 62 freaking miles. Sixty! Two! Miles! To put that in perspective, 62 miles is the same distance you'd have to travel up from Earth if you wanted to go to outer space. Valerio does not mess around.

Valerio in the mountain snow; weather is never an excuse to miss a run!

Valerio's story has gotten attention recently for breaking down the stigma around fat athletes.

Her story took off after she was included in a Wall Street Journal article that led to a 12-page spread in the August 2015 edition of Runner's World.

While the reaction from the running community has been mostly positive, there have been naysayers who refuse to believe that someone who looks like Valerio could possibly be a good role model.

But it's Valerio's inspirational devil-may-care attitude toward her critics and her messages of body love and fitness accessibility for every body type and shape that has empowered people to challenge the negative stereotypes surrounding higher weight people and fitness.

Valerio, in motion, doing what she loves.

“One of the major reasons people don't want to go to the gym is that people are saying 'Oh, you need to go work out,'" Valerio says, explaining the the anxiety and double standard fat people face when they try to participate in athletic activities. "You feel as if you need to lose fifty pounds before you can show yourself at the gym or show up at a race because people do look twice and people do wonder why you're there."

But it's all just background noise to Valerio, and to her, none of that nonsense matters.

She claims her body as it is and loves it and its ability to carry her for miles.

She's not interested in running to lose weight; she's a runner because she loves running. She loves the views from the top of a mountain trail. She loves spending time talking to her friends, mile after mile. She loves seeing what her body can accomplish.

In short: She's a seriously badass athlete.

Mountain mud? No problem. Time to take a "shoefie."

“Having run for a couple of years now, I know the physical condition that I'm in, and I know what I can do. I know that I can get over whatever kind of hump that it is because I've done it and I know how it feels to get over it, and I'm always looking for that feeling."

Runner's high, indeed.

Valerio preaches the gospel of body love and health wherever she goes.

While she's one of a rare few, amazing people who've managed to dodge the "body shame bullet" in her personal life, she also knows that it's a pretty powerful force (usually in the form of judgment and fat shaming from others) that stops people from getting outside and being active, even when it's something they love to do.

Her advice? Do what you need and want to do in a way that feels good for your body. "You've gotta know yourself and what you are and who you are," she says.

We don't all fit into a one-size-fits all mold when it comes to fitness and health, and that's cool.

She also hikes! Is there anything this woman can't do?

“I really want people to feel good about their bodies," Valerio encourages. "Your body is spectacular and can do so many things — and you don't know half of the stuff that it can do!"

If you aren't an aspiring road runner like Valerio, don't fret! There are numerous other ways to embrace your desire to be active; everything from Fat Yoga (or Curvy Yoga) to dancing like Whitney Thore of TLC's "My Big Fat Fabulous Life" tobody positive swimming and any other ways to move that you can imagine. There are so many options, but what's important is that you find something that you enjoy doing and that feels good for your body, whatever shape or size it may be.

Find what you love and do you!

He calls himself Big Cat Derek, and he makes some of the Internet's most addictive Vines.

Meet the man who made a cougar Internet-famous. Like, an actual cougar.

In 2014, a cougar named Cassie started an Internet trend when, despite being told not to, she just couldn't keep from squeaking.

Cassie gives zero flips and doesn't even try. All images and Vines via Big Cat Derek.

Big cat and not-so-big cat lovers everywhere followed suit, making Vines to show off their cats' cheeky lack of cooperation and using the hashtag #trynottosqueak.

Big Cat Derek is the man responsible for Cassie's fame. He lives at a cat sanctuary and keeps a three-legged llama in his backyard.

Nearly a million people follow his hilarious Vines of animals who live at the Center for Animal Research and Education. Derek Krahn — known among social media as Big Cat Derek — has loved tigers since he was little, so when the opportunity arose to volunteer at CARE, he was floored.

“I fortuitously stumbled upon an opportunity to become a volunteer at the facility, and they couldn't get rid of me after that point," he said.

An aviation meteorologist by day and a badass volunteer big cat advocate and caregiver by night, Derek has been with the foundation since 2006 and is now on their board of directors. He even met his wife — human, not cat — there.

Baby lions really love Derek. And not in the "love him for dinner" kind of way.

Upworthy asked Big Cat Derek to share some of his stories about the totally #dorbs cats he interacts with every day.

You've started a lot of trends on social media. Which of your videos went viral first?

Derek: It was our tiger, Levi, and he was just walking around in the snow, and the snow was muffling his steps, and how he was moving and how he approached the camera was a beautiful shot. I remember thinking to myself when I first shot that video that it was a special one.

This is one freaking majestic animal.

And then you had your biggest trend, "Try not to squeak."

Derek: Cassie was quickly becoming one of my biggest Vine stars — I call them the “celebrikitties." Almost every single squeak ... in a Vine is taken within the first 40 seconds of me approaching her enclosure because that's when she's excited. So I walked up to the enclosure and said, "Try not to squeak," and of course she did. And it was a hit!

It's adorable every. single. time. #cassie #trynottosqueak

I try to capture the different personalities of the cats because I've been working with the cats for almost a decade. Pawi (Kannapalli) has this kind of Lenny from "Of Mice and Men" air about him, and he's a little bit derpy and a little bit feisty.

Derp.

Each cat is very different. When I do Vines of them or I do posts of them, it's not just like, "Hey look at this beautiful tiger," but rather, “Hey, look at Chompers, and here are moments of Chomper's personality," and people relate.

Luca's always been a bit of a shithead! The jokes kind of capture him perfectly.

Ba-dum-tssss. #LucaJokes

It's a cool thing — you aren't just seeing this generic animal; you're seeing this creature with its own personality.

So ... big cats in the middle of Texas? This isn't a natural habitat for lions and tigers. How does this happen?

Derek: Many of the other cats have been rescued from … less than savory circumstances. A lot of them come from people who had them as pets that obviously shouldn't have them as pets. People have these romantic notions about a lion or a tiger living in their house, and they don't really think it all the way through; they don't know exactly what they're getting into. Our organization is set up to provide a stable, permanent, and loving home for these animals.

Happy big cats, livin' in Texas, roamin' around.

Can you tell me a story about how one particular cat wound up at CARE?

Derek: I can tell you about Tabula, she's one of our lionesses. She actually came in 2008.

There was a private collector up in Midland who had about a dozen or so lions and tigers living in these really ramshackle cages out in his backyard, and they were these really small, tight spaces. She was declawed when she first came over to CARE, and she was accustomed to living in a cage of about 10 by 10 feet, and she'd been living in that cage for close to a decade. ...

When she first got to CARE, the enclosure was spacious and big and there was grass and there were blue skies and it was overwhelming, and she lost her cookies. She hid underneath a wooden housing unit for about three weeks.

Eventually, she started to come out of her shell, lose weight, and approach the fence to actually show affection. She's a lot better off than she was, that's for sure.

Derek + Tabula = <3

People who get these animals as pets and then they declaw them, that's pretty brutal. That comes from the idea that it makes these cats safer, and in a lot of ways, it actually makes them more dangerous. Anyone who works with big cats should know the phrase “claws hurt, teeth kill," and if you take away the “hurt" set of weapons, the only thing that's left is the “kill" set of weapons.

And then the added detriment to the well-being of the animals themselves — you're talking wild animals that weigh 400, 500, 600 pounds that now have to hold themselves on portions of their paws that aren't normally being utilized for sustaining lots of weight like that. … I've seen a lot of cats that have experienced difficulties as they've gotten older; they've become a lot more arthritic too, even, with some of the cats literally having years shaved off of their lives because of the way that they're holding their bodies. We've never declawed any of our cats. The only cats that are declawed are the ones that come to the facility already declawed.

Any final thoughts?

Derek: I'm going to keep on doing this as long as my body will let me! You look at a lot of these Vines on social media. There are a lot of people on social media who have a tailored approach. Yes, my content revolves around big cats because, you know, I'm called Big Cat Derek, but sometimes it's going to be funny, sometimes it's going to be educational, sometimes it's going to be condemning things that I find to be bad, sometimes it's going to be me putting my heart and my feeling and my emotions out there.

NOTE: While these cuddly lion cubs and baby tigers are adorable, remember that a 500-pound wild beast with dangerous #peets and giant teeth does not make a good pet. Instead of taking in a stray leopard, why not try virtually adopting one of CARE's cats?

From Your Site Articles

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.

From Your Site Articles

This family’s journey to adoption demonstrates the transformative power of 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.

You can't scroll backward through life.

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.

Mary Rindlesbach

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

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

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

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

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.

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

The program is called Read and Ride, and it's making kids smarter and healthier at the same time.

Scott Ertl was reading a book while riding a stationary bike at the gym when he had an idea.

The experiment started with a single bike in the corner of a classroom.

With the help of Craigslist and garage sales, he outfitted an entire spare classroom with stationary exercise bikes.

The kids loved it, and they were reading and moving more.

This program has been so inspiring that it has expanded internationally!

Runner Mirna Valerio is no stranger to people who stop and stare at her.

In a foot race, Valerio could probably outrun most of us. Easily.

Valerio's story has gotten attention recently for breaking down the stigma around fat athletes.

She claims her body as it is and loves it and its ability to carry her for miles.

Valerio preaches the gospel of body love and health wherever she goes.

Meet the man who made a cougar Internet-famous. Like, an actual cougar.

In 2014, a cougar named Cassie started an Internet trend when, despite being told not to, she just couldn't keep from squeaking.

Big Cat Derek is the man responsible for Cassie's fame. He lives at a cat sanctuary and keeps a three-legged llama in his backyard.

Upworthy asked Big Cat Derek to share some of his stories about the totally #dorbs cats he interacts with every day.

You've started a lot of trends on social media. Which of your videos went viral first?

And then you had your biggest trend, "Try not to squeak."

So ... big cats in the middle of Texas? This isn't a natural habitat for lions and tigers. How does this happen?

Can you tell me a story about how one particular cat wound up at CARE?

Any final thoughts?

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

Ah, love.

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

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

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

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

The love continues to spread — and you can help.

“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.

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

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

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

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

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

You can't scroll backward through life.

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

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

1. Life is full of obstacles.

2. You have to go forward.

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

4. We're in this together.

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

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