Ever wonder what you can do to make an impact on Earth Day?  

Well,  this Friday is Earth Day and we couldn't think of a better episode to rerun than our conversation with Vikas Narula - founder of Neighborhood Forest. We talked to Vikas earlier this year and it was such an amazing and inspiring conversation that we just had to replay the episode this week to celebrate what he and his team are bringing the world

Neighborhood Forest is a non-profit that provides children the priceless joy of planting and watching trees grow. Over the last few months, Vikas and his group of tree-loving volunteers have worked tirelessly to get ready to provide trees to a record 40,000 kids in 48 states (including Canada) for Earth Day 2022!  FORTY THOUSAND!!!!!

The goal of Neighborhood Forest is  to beautify our neighborhoods, to put a significant dent in our carbon footprint, and to help instill in the hearts of our little ones a sense of magic, wonder, and love for our planet.

So let's listen in again as we celebrate our amazing planet this week with Vikas Narula.

You can learn more about what Vikas is doing at: https://www.neighborhoodforest.org

Have you done it?  I bet you have.  What is your immediate reaction when someone says "How are you doing?".  Your answer is "I'm fine" ... or something pretty close to it.  But are you really?  Fine?

On today's episode we're chatting with Lori Sites who is the CEO of Zen Rabbit and host of the podcast “Fine is a 4-Letter Word.” Lori is an award-winning writer, speaker, and broadcaster...oh, and one fantastic podcast guest. 

The experience of leaving a 22-year marriage inspired her transformational program called  "F*ck Being Fine" program. Through it, she guides corporate teams and private clients who are finished living in a dumpster fire, to a place of unprecedented clarity, peace, and productivity. Using a collaborative approach, she’s teaching the world to be grounded and centered, which leads to improved relationships, increased sales, and better overall health.

As a bonus, Lori is inviting you to take part in a 6-minute "Gratitude Meditation".  Just click here: https://zenrabbit.com/meditation

So with that...enjoy.

So, I have a question for you. 

How would you handle it?

When Isabelle Mosca learned that one of her twins was on the Autism Spectrum, she went searching for resources.  She scoured for information and support, but hit a wall that changed her life. 

In an attempt to carve out her path, she spoke with a man from an organization in Northern NJ who said, "well, we don't have enough people in your area to support an organization, but you can start one”. 

And thus began her non-profit, Faces4Autism - where she and her children have supported thousands of families affected by Autism.  Since then, they’ve written a children’s book and she’s also created a support group for caregivers called “Life on the Bright Side”, where she shares the lifestyle she’s adopted since becoming the parent of a neurodivergent child.  

Isabelle chooses to live each day in joy and gratitude BECAUSE of the opportunities she’s recognized in special-needs parenting, and she’s here to tell us how her journey has her Living “Life on the Bright Side”.

Ever wonder how you might teach a child about gratitude?  Yeah?  Well, listen in!

Welcome to our last conversation for  Women's History Month where we celebrate the incredible and often-overlooked contributions of women to our countrys history.  Just like every episode this month, it's an opportunity for us to choose  to honor strong and grateful women that have been part of The Gratitude Spark Podcast.

Today we are jumping  back to Episode 13  which was recorded in April of 2021.  It was an amazing conversation with Tara Gettles who, along with her French Bulldog named Awesome Butch, has put together a pretty amazing journal for kids. She talks about what it means to Be Grateful and to Be Awesome. 

On today's episode, we are chatting with Tara Gettles, and we couldn't be more excited to share the project she's been working on.

Tara and her French Bulldog "Awesome Butch" have teamed up to end bullying and bring a practice of gratitude to children in their developmental years.

She decided to use the mindfulness practices that work for her colleagues in their professional life and simplify the process to give children an early start on this journey. To that end, Tara created the beAwesome Journal which is a seasonal, quarterly gratitude journal designed to help children develop daily positive mindset rituals. This simple and fun journal provides instruction and encourages children to begin each day with a grateful heart, growth mindset, and awesome intentions.

Listen as Tara and Awesome Butch tell us how the beAwesome Journal was created and what they are doing to create am attitude of gratitude in the very early years.

You can find Tara's beAwesome Journals on Amazon and learn more about what she is doing by visiting her Facebook page called "Be Awesome Journal" (https://www.facebook.com/beawesomejournal).

Enjoy!

How would YOU whip this world into SHAPE?

Today we're talking with Amanda Lindsey.  She's been a long time and highly engaged member of the Gratitude Spark  and you may be remember her from a podcast episode she did with us about a year ago.  Amanda has dealt with chronic illness for the past 25 years, and we just wanted to chat with her to find out how she keeps such a positive vibe and grateful attitude while her body literally attacks itself at times.  You can hear all about it in Episode 11 of Season 1.

It’s been one heck of a year for Amanda since that episode.  Even In the midst of surviving a hurricane and losing her home to a fire, Amanda has taken big steps, both literally and metaphorically, and we're gonna hear about that today.

Last year, Amanda created a Facebook community called Project SHAPE, which stands for Spreading Happiness around Planet Earth, and proves everyday that she's well on her way to doing just that.  She shares Hugs and Smiles with each person lucky enough to have contact with her, and she continuously inspires others by living this quote of hers:  

"I have chosen to work with the ups and downs, twists and turns, to the best of my ability. Instead of fighting with futility to have the life I had prior to my illness, I aim to enjoy every moment of my current situation and live my best life—the one that I am blessed with."

In addition to Project SHAPE, she writes about her Chronically Fabulous journey in her own chapter of a new book coming out called "Sacred Surrender" that is coming out on April 1, 2022.

Lets talk with Amanda about all the goodness she's putting out into Planet Earth - I can pretty much guarantee it’ll put a smile on your face.

So with that…enjoy.

Welcome to our next conversation for Women's History Month where we celebrate the incredible and often-overlooked contributions of women to United States history.  Just like last week, it's an opportunity for us to choose to honor strong and grateful women that have been part of The Gratitude Spark Podcast.

Today we are jumping back an earlier conversation with Julie Cara Hoffenberg who showed us all what it means to go from homeless to happy.

Julie is a spiritual artist and author. Her latest book is "Homeless to Happy in a Split Second", in which she shares her story of life behind the wheel while living in her Hyundai Tucson, and how it allowed her to tap more deeply into her joy and purpose. She feels her purpose here on earth is simply to love and be loved, and her art and books are the channel through which she does this. She's passionate about seeing someone's eyes light up when they have an "a-ha" moment, and loves connecting deeply with those around her. Nature is her greatest inspiration and can often be found on van trips with her wife or photographing the beauty she finds on a trail. It's Julie's hope that her books and art will bring a sense of love and grace to the world, encouraging people to claim their innate power within and live the lives they feel most aligned with! To learn more, please visit www.JulieCaraHoffenberg.com.

In this episode, Julie will share her story about how she camped on cliffsides, attained work in an unfamiliar town, met a hugging saint, and spent nearly a year watching sunrises and sunsets along the California coast. She talks about resistance and surrender, pain and pleasure, and an abundance of gratitude along the way.

Join us as Julie takes us on her journey from homeless to happy.  

Have you ever felt defeated?

It's Women's History Month and we couldn't think of a better way to do this than to devote the entire month of March to women and their incredible journeys of gratitude. 

To that end, we are jumping all the way back to Episode 2 which was recorded in February of 2021. It was an amazing conversation with Amy Christiansen who showed us all what it means to be strong, powerful, resilient and grateful.

Amy has been a member of The Gratitude Spark since late 2019 and has an amazing story about the power of gratitude and how it's shown up in her life - through some pretty incredible circumstances.  She will share with us how gratitude has helped shape her life and how it has provided an amazing perspective...a perspective that helped her navigate a next-to-impossible traumatic situation on her path to healing and recovery.

Can you remember a time you thought you were fully committed to an idea or the meaning behind a quote, and then something quickly swept the rug out from underneath you?  

In this episode, Gina and I are talking about just that.  Some time ago, we created an Alexa routine called "Sparks of Gratitude" which provides you with a different gratitude quote every day (if you don't know about it, definitely check it out!).

Gina happened to hear one of the quotes that we included in Sparks of Gratitude that took her by surprise, so we just had to explore why.  And with that, we’re having an important and much needed discussion about discernment.  

So join us for some of our opinions that just might surprise you…but in a good way.