Lifestyle

Explosions booming in the air. Festive music and good food. Merriment and fellowship while celebrating our liberty—and that was in 1777. Fast-forward 244 years and celebrating Independence Day in grand fashion is still a beloved tradition. Speaking of traditions, after many cancelations in 2020, fireworks shows are back and here are five of the biggest annual Fourth of July celebrations from across the nation: The 45th Annual Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks®—New York City at 8 p.m. ET Each year, this fireworks spectacular is usually attended by millions of people, and each year, approximately 75,000 pounds of fireworks go off. What’s more, after years on the Hudson, the event is returning to the East River with the Brooklyn Bridge as the launchpad for the 2022 celebrations. This event can be seen from multiple unobstructed areas along the river and midtown. If you’re not in New York, you can watch the festivities live on NBC. This year will also feature a drone light show during the Jonas Brothers’ performance. Check you Macys.com for entertainment lineups and viewing information. Wawa Welcome America! Festival—Philadelphia at 7 p.m. ET This weeklong extravaganza literally happens on the steps of where it all began. From the historic parade in front of Independence Hall to the “largest free concert” in America to the Grand Finale Fireworks display on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the City of Brotherly Love will be jam-packed with blocks of patriotic parties this Fourth of July. This year’s concert headliners include: Bebe Rexha, Flo Rida and a special performance from the Philly POPS. More information can be found at WelcomeAmerica.com. Kaboom Town!—Addison, Texas at 7:30 p.m. CT For nearly three decades, thousands of people have descended upon the Dallas suburb of Addison on July 3 to catch the nationally recognized fireworks display. The all-night, family-friendly event features live music, food from local restaurants and even historic warplane flyovers. More information can be found at Addison KaboomTown and a livestream broadcast of the event can be found on the Town of Addison’s YouTube Channel. 2022 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular—Boston at 8 p.m. ET Often called “America’s Orchestra,” the Boston Pops will be performed at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA, lead by Keith Lockhart for a live televised and streamed performance. Special guests include The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s Jon Batiste and legendary singer Mavis Staples. In partnership with the City of Boston, the fireworks finale will be held at the Boston Commons. While this event is sold out, much of the performances and fireworks show will be televised from 8 – 10:30 p.m. ET. A Capitol Fourth—Washington, D.C. at 8 p.m. ET This free annual concert and fireworks show is held on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with live broadcasts on PBS and NPR. This year, viewers will also be able to see the festivities from multiple viewpoints online, including Northern Virginia, Grant Memorial over the U.S. Capitol and the White House. To cap off the evening, the National Symphony Orchestra will synchronize with an elaborate fireworks arrangement, creating a dazzling display over the buildings and monuments that decorate our nation’s capital. For musical lineups and entrainment, schedules go to PBS.org.

In Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, people say you have to talk sweetly to the bees, or they will fly away. “The bees are very sensitive,” said Maria Torres Tzab, who shares backyard beekeeping duties with her daughter and husband, Nicolas Castillo Ucam, in the village of Mani. Nicolas’ father warned him never to insult the bees. “Be happy when you see them,” Nicolas said, surrounded by a handful of friends and family, all nodding in agreement. “Have a good aura. They will leave if people fight—they are sad because they understand.” Sensitivity is just one characteristic that sets this particular genus of bee, Melipona, apart from the more well-known European honeybee (genus Apis). Melipona bees are commonly known as stingless bees for an obvious reason—they have no stingers. Additionally, Melipona honey is better than a trip to the pharmacy: proponents swear it cures coughs, sore throats, childhood asthma and poor body odor. Stingless bee pollen is good for anemia and natural energy, and eye drops clean and disinfect the eyes. Melipona beekeeping has been a part of Mayan culture for thousands of years. But for the last 40 years, it has been rare to find the native bees in the Yucatan, due to the introduction of European bees, use of pesticides and deforestation. Today, most people in the Yucatan have never seen a bee without a stinger. “People have vague recollections of their grandparents tending to the bees or seeing them in the tree trunks,” said Atilano Ceballos Loeza, director of the U Yits Ka’an school of ecological agriculture. “The knowledge is there. The memory is in the heart of the people.” The reinvigoration of that cultural memory became the key component of a collaboration between U Yits Ka’an and Heifer International Mexico, a branch office of the international sustainable development nonprofit. The project is called Kuxan Suum (“The Thread of Life”) after a Mayan legend of a rope that connected Mani and other communities. In this tradition, the project connects 13 communities through distribution of Melipona bees, which restore native biodiversity, promote pollination of local flora and recover Mayan culture. As part of the cultural component, the project emphasizes the ceremonies that Mayans used to bless and protect the bees, and ask for rain to nourish bee-friendly plants. Maria, like her husband, grew up hearing about Meliponas. Her father entertained her with old Mayan legends about the bees. But she never saw the sacred bees until a few years ago, when her daughter, Fatima Castillo Torres, now 26 years old, brought tree trunks of Meliponas home from U Yits Ka’an. “My dad told me how nice they were,” Maria said, her face lighting up. “It made me happy when my daughter got interested in them.” Now Maria, as well as her husband, friends and neighbors, carry on the tradition of their Mayan ancestors while bringing back an important part of the local ecosystem. And, of course, they all make sure to speak sweetly while doing so. This article orginal appeared in the April 2015 edition of Live Happy magazine.

When Susan Froetschel, a mystery writer, moved from Washington, D.C., to East Lansing, Michigan, for her husband’s teaching job, she had only a week to find their new home. Her real-estate broker was certain she had the perfect house. It was in the location Susan wanted—just blocks from the town’s main street—and at $130,000 well within the couple’s budget. Still, Susan balked. “From the front it was completely plain and boxy without any outdoor space,” she says. “I didn’t even want to walk inside.” But the interior was lovely, and Susan had a vision of an enclosed front porch lined with windows on three sides. Today, some three years later, the 20-by-8-foot porch, with its view of a maple tree, is the blissful center of Susan’s home. “The porch is shelter and observatory,” Susan says. “It connects us to nature and to our neighborhood. It’s where my husband and I eat, entertain, work and talk late into the night. Neighbors walk by, and we wave them in for a cup of tea or a glass of wine.” Four months before her August 2013 wedding, while working nonstop to launch a new website, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jessica Greenwalt broke her engagement. She moved from the San Francisco apartment she’d shared with her fiancé into a rental in Berkeley. With its layers of beige paint and bare lightbulbs standing in for fixtures, “it was depressing,” Jessica says, “and it was making me even more depressed.” Once she got her startup off the ground, Jessica devoted a week to create a place that reflected her frilly, ornate taste. She painted her living room walls antique yellow, replaced those naked bulbs with chandeliers, filled the apartment with vintage French Victorian furniture and placed antique knickknacks on the favorite landing places of her parakeet Lord Jello Worthington II. “I took a comically rundown apartment,” Jessica says, “and turned it into a home that reflects who I am and what I love.” In 1997, Esther Sternberg, a neuroimmunologist, lost her mother to breast cancer. Along with her grief, she was experiencing intense pain from inflammatory arthritis in her knees, wrists and shoulders. When friends invited Esther to stay in their cottage on the Greek Island of Crete, she was grateful for the change of scenery. Every day she swam in the Mediterranean and climbed the pebbly pathways, “at first hesitating,” she says, “then with increasing confidence,” to a stone chapel that sat on the ruins of an ancient temple to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. By the time she left Crete 10 days later, Esther was on the path to healing. She was also on her way to becoming one of the most prominent scientists studying the interaction between our environment and our physical and psychological wellbeing. “What we see, what we smell, what we touch in our environment can improve our mood and our health and help us heal,” says Esther, the founding director of the University of Arizona’s Institute on Place and Wellbeing. We may not be conscious of it, she writes in Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well-Being, but a place can trigger memories and habits that can “cause us to spiral down into despair” or “rescue us in times of need.” All of us, Esther says, can create surroundings that tap our brain’s “internal pharmacies.” And it’s in our homes where we have the greatest capacity to take advantage of this environmental Prozac, says Travis Stork, an emergency-room physician and co-host of the syndicated talk show The Doctors. “People underestimate the impact our homes have on our health,” Travis says. “But, I’ve seen in the ER and in my own life that our home can go a long way in either undermining or enhancing our physiological and emotional health.” Sitting pretty If you want a blueprint for happiness, modern science can help provide it. As environmental psychologists study the effects of physical space on mood and emotions, neuroarchitects—a mashup of neuroscience and design—investigate how our physical surroundings influence brain processes such as stress, emotion and memory. Together, their findings suggest that the purchases we make at Home Depot or Pottery Barn can affect us in ways we never would have imagined. Consider the matter of buying a chair. Sally Augustin, Ph.D., editor of Research Design Connections, says that psychologists studying the implications of the way we sit found that our posture influences “the rich chemical stew in our brains.” People sitting up straighter have more positive views of themselves than people slouching. Sitting in a way that allows you to take up as much room as possible leads you to feel more powerful and have a higher tolerance for risk. Even padding matters. People perched on hard chairs are much more inflexible during negotiations than those on soft seats. So, when it comes to planning the family vacation, move the conversation from the stiff-backed Queen Anne chairs in your dining room into the living room with its upholstered sofa and easy chairs. Science also explains why we’re so willing to pay more for a room with a view: it’s good medicine. A 1984 study by psychologist Roger Ulrich found that surgical patients in a Pennsylvania hospital whose windows overlooked a small stand of trees left the hospital a full day sooner, had fewer complications and required less pain medication than patients with views of a brick wall. In 2006, neuroscientist Irving Biederman of the University of Southern California would discover that there’s a part of our brains, the parahippocampal cortex, that responds to sweeping views. Rich in opiate receptors, the site releases endorphins, our feel-good hormones, when we gaze at pleasing vistas. What Esther calls the brain’s “beautiful view spot” can be tickled not just by the hills of Crete but by a sliver of sky above a city skyline. Or, even by a painting or photography. In a recent study at a men’s detention center in Sonoma County, California, a mural of a savanna grassland was installed in the booking area, and versions of the same scene were placed over the cell blocks. The researchers wanted to see what, if any, impact the landscape would have on the correctional officers. They outfitted them with heart monitors, and the findings were striking. After the murals were mounted, the heart rates of the correctional officers were considerably slower when they began their shifts than they were pre-mural. And their heart rates didn’t spike by the end of their shifts the way they typically did. Researchers say we’re hard-wired to respond to nature because our survival as a species depended on careful observation of it. We needed to know how to respond to weather, spot predators, find refuge, farm and hunt when there was sunlight and sleep when there was none. Roger Ulrich, who did the study of hospital-room views, has said, “When we recognize those elements today, even if we’re highly stressed or sick, our blood pressure lowers, our immune system functions better, and we feel less stressed.” Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson coined the term “biophilic design” to describe architecture or design that connects us with a living environment. To get a biophilic buzz, we don’t need to let goats graze in our living room. We can stay in touch with the cycle of sunlight—and our own circadian rhythms—by placing sheer curtains on our windows. Or, says Sally, even incorporating visible wood grain into our environment, through hardwood floors or unpainted maple or walnut furniture, will have a calming effect. Happy places Creating what Sally calls a more “place happy” home isn’t rocket science. Or even neuroscience. But it does require us to approach buying, remodeling or decorating tweaks to our home with introspection. Architect Sarah Susanka is the author of a series of best-selling books such as The Not So Big House, Not So Big Remodeling and Not So Big Solutions for Your Home. Her philosophy is that instead of focusing on square footage and traditional room plans, we think instead about what it takes to create a home that’s an expression of our authentic self. “When our houses reflect who we really are,” she says, “we end up feeling much more at home in our lives.” Sarah says her clients are often uneasy ceding control to an interior designer. “It’s like walking onto the stage set of somebody else’s home,” she says. “It’s filled with beautiful things but it doesn’t feel like their home because these objects don’t have any meaning to them.” Jessica understands that feeling. She says her “extravagant design outburst,” was unleashed by the disquiet she felt when she moved into her former fiancé’s apartment, which was furnished to suit his tastes. “He preferred industrial-style design,” she says, “and while everything was nice, it didn’t reflect me at all. I always felt like a visitor in my own home.” Sarah suggests keeping a place journal for home-improvement projects—large or small. Make notes about the places in your life that make you comfortable and uncomfortable. Take photos and make diagrams; you might admire the beauty of a soaring greenhouse but feel diminished by the scale of the space. Supplement with pages from your favorite magazines or websites. “Our home is not just a visual thing, it’s a feel thing,” says Maxwell Ryan, creator of the design website Apartment Therapy. Sound and texture, Maxwell says, are important elements in creating an environment that feels nurturing. “Most people want their homes to be a retreat from the world,” he says, “a place where they can recharge. You won’t achieve that with rooms that feel noisy and harsh.” Maxwell is a strong advocate of the noise dampening effect of fabric. “Whether it’s curtains, rugs, wall hangings or upholstered furniture,” he says, “fabric can give a room a quieter and more peaceful feeling.” 8 Steps to a Happier Home Use space creatively. Make a dining room double as a library by adding bookshelves. Place area rugs beneath furniture arrangements to define areas for reading, conversation and work. Bring in the houseplants. Greenery helps sharpen focus, boost immunity, clear the air and boost our spirits. For a natural sleep aid, keep potted lavender in your bedroom. According to NASA, plants can remove up to 87 percent of gases like benzene and formaldehyde within 24 hours. Make a breeze. Movement in a room will remind us of a meadow on a spring day. Arrange seating for conversation. Not every chair should face the TV. Have a focal point in each room. A fireplace, bay window, sculpture or potted palm tree are all good forms of visual punctuation. Move away from the walls. Place furniture in a way that lets people meander around the space, but make sure everyone’s back is protected. Create “symbolic” points of protection with standing lamps and console tables. Create a space of your own. We all yearn for an area of retreat. This can be a window seat or a corner of a room framed with a folding screen for quiet contemplation. Cultivate smart messiness. For all the books on banishing clutter, décor that’s too minimalist can rob us of ways to highlight our values and interests. Decorate with travel mementos, family photos and objects that evoke happy memories. This article was originally published in the January 2015 edition of Live Happy magazine.

Since his first hit single “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)” in 2002, Jason Mraz has built his musical career by crafting positive, upbeat music. This week sees the release of his new album, Look For The Good, a collection of songs that encourages us to find hope, optimism and gratitude despite the turmoil the world is experiencing right now. The two-time Grammy winner talked with Live Happy to explain how this collection of songs came about, what he learned in the process of writing and recording this album, and what he hopes every listener takes away from it. This is an exciting album to talk about because it's so timely. Can you tell us how this whole project came about? I knew it was going to be an election year, and election years usually bring out the debates and they’re very just heated, which is good. It’s a good thing because I think it helps us know ourselves and it helps us hear ourselves for what we are craving, what's working, what's not working. On a debate year, I wanted to make sure we release some music that wouldn’t necessarily influence debates, but just would remind us to be kind; remind us to be human and treat the others on the other side of the aisle with dignity and respect, regardless of our beliefs. At the end of the day, we’re all still these very fragile human bodies made up of microorganisms and bacterias and viruses and things. Regardless of our political beliefs and geographical borders, let’s remember that we’re human. That’s kind of what the songs are about. Let’s just remember that we’re human and we’re fragile and that there should be love for each other. I love the reggae influence on this album, and I always feel like reggae is such a great carrier for positivity anyway. Can you talk about why you wanted it on this particular set of songs? It really began as an experiment. It was something I wanted to make because as a live performer, whenever I would play a reggae song or I would say convert an older song of mine to a reggae style or fashion, I would get a different sensation from it. Then I would notice the audience would also connect to it in a different way. So, I thought there’s something magical about reggae that causes people to dance and connect. As a performer, you pair that with some positive layers, like you pair that dance with and it feels like church in a way. I'm able to sing a positive message but I'm also able to dance on the fringe of ideas that are not as easily sung in traditional pop. The reggae genre allows me to breathe life not only into love and positivity but into transformational messaging or the kind of message that breathes life into an ever-changing world. I've not been able to do that necessarily in the pop category as easily. Your music has always been so positive and uplifting. In that sense, you’ve always kind of swam upstream from the rest of the industry because positivity isn't necessarily what we get out of what’s playing on the radio. Why has that always been important to you? It starts with the love of performing and love of songwriting. I love singing, and so I became a songwriter because I love to sing. If I sit down with an instrument to sing, I just feel joy. So, it seems like what should be coming out of my mouth is something joyous, not something sad and depressing. Then if I have the luxury of someone's ear and if they're giving me their time and listening, I want to share with them my joy, not my sadness. I always found myself wanting to share joy. Usually, I sit down at a piano to celebrate joy because life has gotten dark and out of balance. I say, “Okay, I’ve got to get to my instruments because that's where joy lives. That's where a bigger spirit in me dwells.” For some reason, joy songs just work better for me. They keep me going. Does your positivity come to you naturally? Some people really have to work to think positive, and it seems like maybe you lean that way anyway. Well, I do but I have to work at it because I get it through my music practice. Trust me, I get long periods of just melancholy and sadness, so I will shift to music and I will work on music or crafting something creative until that melancholy blows over, rather than just sit with the melancholy and start adding extra weight to it. I work at it, I shift, I go to music, I go to crafting and I write. I go to journaling. I go to poetry until I feel that transformation and that transformation goes, “Aha, I am a powerful creator. I am worthy. I am new. I am renewed.” All of that comes through the creative process. "Look for the Good" is the lead single, and it’s also the name of the album. Where did that come from? That was actually a title that Michael Goldwasser submitted. Michael was the producer of this album, and he had heard his rabbi sermonize, “Look for the good and you will see the good.” So, if you go out in the world looking for it, you’ll find it. Same as bad news, look for the bad and you'll find the bad. It’s easy to find. Look for the good and you'll find the good. That was a title he submitted to this project. When he sent me an instrumental, a musical idea to work on, that was the title. All I had to do was sit down and expound upon that idea, which is what I love to do. It's just another version of gratitude. When you're asked to look for the good or when you're asked to say thank you like, “Hey, what are you thankful for?” the first thing we do is we start scanning either our memories or our environment for something good because we want to say thank you for that thing or that person or that experience in our life. That’s excellent and it’s a great leadoff. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to this whole collection. Another song that I wanted to talk to you about is “You Do You” which features Tiffany Haddish. I love how it celebrates individuality. When people listen to that, what do you hope that they hear? First, joy. Always joy. Freedom and joy. Those are my two favorite things, freedom and joy. They’re a favorite because I've been given those things in life through my parents, through the resources, through my public school. Just the system was designed for a kid like me to have freedom and joy, and so it's been my work in my adult life to make sure others and every other human being also gets to experience freedom and joy. “You Do You” is a song that says let us all be free to be ourselves and let us be joyous and let us celebrate each other for each other's freedoms. We’re all going to have a different version of what that feels like, and we’re all going to have different versions of joy. There’s a lot of different ice cream flavors in that frozen food section. Everybody wants something different. Freedom and joy, that’s what I hope people get out of “You Do You.” That’s certainly what I get out of it. Before we let you go, your wish to make the world a better place certainly doesn't end with your music, so can you tell us a little bit about your foundation? Yes, the Jason Mraz Foundation. It’s something I started back in 2011. Three years ago, we refocused it to focus specifically on inclusive arts education and the advancement of equality, and that is similar to programs that I came up through as a kid. Arts education is just such a great medium for collaboration. When you add inclusivity to that arts education, you’re not only getting a great arts training but you're getting compassion and empathy and acceptance. You’re learning how to…you’re basically learning how to sit on that subway or train car and see the good in everybody. Basically, it’s what inclusive arts education does for the purpose of the advancement of quality. Because as I said earlier, I came up through great public school that made it easy for me to experience freedom and joy, so the Jason Mraz Foundation is helping to breathe life into programs that exist, as well as create new programs that can hopefully also create experiences of freedom and joy for young people who are pursuing the arts. Everything from dancers to visual artists, to poets, to songwriters, singers, you name it, we’re out there trying to help them get a hand up in the world to experience their freedom and joy.

I wish we could chalk this year up to a Stephen King novel we could all slam the book on, but sadly the COVID-19 pandemic is not fiction and very real. It’s safe to say we are in unchartered territory and never dreamed we would ever experience in our lifetime what has become this surreal “new normal.” While the world spirals out of our control as we watch helplessly self-quarantined on our couches, the uncertainty is daunting. One thing that is for certain is it is vitally important for us to maintain our mental and physical well-being during the coronavirus climate. As I sit here at home self-isolated during the 15-day plan to stay at home, I have an overwhelming need to share something good and spread light into the darkness. It is important for us to practice gratitude during this time and embrace what we do have. While most of the outside world is canceled right now, these activities are not: Going outdoors (as long as we are six feet apart), listening to music, quality family time, reading a book, singing out loud, speaking with friends, laughing and sharing hope with others. We are all in this together, even if it’s virtually. Hopefully, we can close the distance emotionally with a sense of community since we can’t be together physically. I curated a “Stay Home Things to Do List” to allow you some well-deserved “Me Time.” Take a break from binge-watching CNN 24-7 to be healthy and strong both mentally and physically for the coming days. Don’t Forget Fitness Exercise is vital for reducing stress and maintaining your physical and mental health. Since the gyms are closed for the foreseeable future, online fitness courses are available for constant streaming. An acronym for “Our Body Electric,” Obe Fitness offers an incredible array of live and on-demand fitness classes for home. The platform boasts a daily schedule of 14 live classes and more than 4,000 on-demand classes available for replay. Classes include kickboxing, yoga, cardio dance, pilates, meditation and much more. All Obe instructors are upbeat and motivating and so is the brightly designed studio space where all the classes are held (and filmed). Offering a seven-day free trial, this fun immersive fitness experience is well worth the $27 per month price tag (less than a dollar a day). So get on your mat and check it out! A DIY Spa Day The term “self-care” has been thrown around quite a lot in the past, but now it’s taking on a whole new meaning. It’s safe to say you’re not venturing out for a manicure these days, and let’s face it…you might not be in the mood with your new role as “beauty squad party of one.” To maintain the all-important “look good, feel good” mentality, my suggestion is to create a designated “Staycation Spa Day” to keep up with your beauty routine in a Day Spa environment and make it fun. If you’re lucky enough to have a steam in your shower, now is the time to use it. Even if you don’t, you can create your own “steam therapy” in an enclosed shower. Put the “ahh-in-spa” by adding a few drops of eucalyptus or lavender aromatherapy oil and relax and allow yourself to detox and unwind. Moist hot steam has so many incredible health benefits, such as helping circulation, reducing stress, lowering blood pressure by releasing a hormone called aldosterone and even acts as an immune booster. The key is to limit your steam sessions to 10 minutes a day to not get dehydrated. You can alternate a hot steam session with a cold plunge interval by running ice water in a nearby bathtub and soaking for 3-5 minutes for more immune-boosting benefits, however, my friends at the Wim Hof Method state this is not recommended if you are feeling sick. Cold therapy adds an additional stressor onto the immune system that already has its hands full fighting off viruses. If you’re a bath person like myself, pour in some Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt and take a hot detox soak to relax your body and calm your mind. While you’re there it’s a perfect time for a DIY facial. Some of my personal favorites are the Onyx Youth Magnet Mask and the G. M. Collins Hydrating Aqua Mask. Stream Arts and Culture Getting stir-crazy at home and need a dose of culture? Streaming is the answer with a plethora of incredible resources at your fingertips. Take a virtual tour of the leading museums around the world with Google Arts & Culture for incredible curated content bringing the world’s most famous art collections directly into your home. The Royal Opera House's channel has a selection of some of the top performances from famous operas and ballets, just a click away. If a Broadway play strikes your fancy, check out the BroadwayHD streaming service that’s just $8.99 a month and there's a one-month free trial. Musical stars are getting in on the act, reminding us we are all in this “Together at Home” with live, at-home performances on Instagram for fans who are self-isolating. On March 16, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin kicked off the new virtual concert series officially dubbed “Together at Home: Who-Global Citizen Solidarity Sessions.” The initiative is presented by the World Health Organization and Global Citizen. John Legend took the baton shortly after Chris, Charlie Puth followed, and other singers like Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello will be getting in on the action in the coming weeks, too. Spring Cleaning Side Hustle Looking for a money-making project you can do at home? Tidy up and cash out with my personal favorite selling app Poshmark. This fun, interactive social commerce marketplace is an amazing resource to buy and sell new and used clothing, accessories, beauty products, shoes and even home goods. Just sign up to become a “Posher,” create your own closet, list items for sale and voila…you’re in business. This is selling made simple and Poshmark provides a shipping label to you once an item is sold. You keep 80 percent of the profits and Spring cleaning has never been more fun! These are trying times for us all. Please self-isolate to help slow this deadly virus and stay strong. We are all in this together and we are AmeriCANS! We can do it. My final note, I would like to send a heartfelt thank you to all our incredible healthcare workers on the frontlines fighting this awful pandemic. God speed and God Bless America.

If you are a fan of the Hallmark Channel, then you are familiar with Nikki DeLoach. Having starred in multiple Hallmark hits, including Two Turtle Doves, A Dream of Christmas, The Perfect Catch and Reunited at Christmas, she is quickly becoming the channel’s most recognizable face. With more than 50 credits to her name, Nikki has been in front of the camera for most of her life. But, acting isn’t her only true passion. After a series of adversities involving the people closest to her—her father suffering from dementia and her son born with serious heart issues—she uses her platform to shine the light on issues and organizations that are dear to her heart. “I lost my grandfather and I’m currently losing my dad—who is only 65 years old—dementia. I’ve become a spokesperson for both the Alzheimer’s Association and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles,” Nikki explains. “I am now also on the board for Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Through my personal experiences with my son’s heart condition and my father’s dementia, it’s so important for me to be actively making a difference in these organizations.” Nikki is also an advocate for women’s empowerment. Recently, Nikki cofounded the What We Are blog with her friend Jen Dede, with the goal of uniting women of all walks of life by giving them a platform that focuses on their issues. “We wanted to build a community of women where we preach that vulnerability is your superpower and sharing your story—your real story, your real self—is one of the most powerful things you can do,” Nikki says. Covering topics ranging from health and wellness to work and motherhood,What We Are’sblogs are written by women for women without all of the filters. What inspired you to create the “What We Are” blog and become an advocate for empowering women? Jen Dede walked into my life at a point where I was seeking to become the most authentic version of myself. She was at the same place in her life. For the first time in our lives, we weren’t concerned with being messy or ugly or if our messiness would make people uncomfortable. For years, as women, we’ve been taught not to be authentic. Instead, we were taught to look pretty and keep our opinions to ourselves, don’t let anyone see that you are struggling to be the perfect mom, wife, friend, citizen, etc. We have been imprisoned, and I wanted to live a life of authenticity and honesty. I was looking to destroy this glass house of perfection that had been built around us and celebrate the richness, deepness and complexity of women! So, it started with this beautiful friendship we built and then grew from there. Who taught you the most about happiness? I’ve had some amazing teachers in my life. I’ve been truly blessed, but it has been my relationship and connection to God that has been the biggest teacher. I’ve certainly had guides, healers, therapists and counselors along the way that have helped me to develop a skill set to release trauma, heal the past or figure out complex relationships with others. But I think happiness is an inside job. You have to want it. You have to fight for it. And it has been me and my connection with the sacred that is not only within, but also around us (I call that God, but you can call it anything you’d like!) that has taught me the most about happiness. What is the kindest act someone has done for you? When I was pregnant with my youngest son, we learned that he had multiple life-threatening heart defects. Without immediate intervention, he wouldn’t survive. The way in which my friends, family and community surrounded us and supported us through all of that will never be forgotten. I am a forever changed human from the outpouring of love, prayers and support we received. Food delivery, hospital visits, people taking my oldest son for play dates so he wouldn’t have to feel the weight of our reality…you name it. I received cards from churches that I had never visited, people I didn’t even know across the country who had been praying for Bennett. I remind people all the time that, despite what we see and read on the news, the world is full of incredible human beings doing incredible things for others. How do you make others close to you happy? I am present with them. I see them, hear them. I don’t just listen with my ears, but also with my heart. I remind them of their gifts, talents and what makes them so special. It’s important to empower people, to remind them of just how important they are to us and to society. I think being present with someone is the greatest gift you can give them. And the result is always happiness and joy. What do you do to pay it forward? I truly believe that we are all in this together. When one rises, that person brings everyone along. Just as when one is in need, it is our job to go to that person and ask how we can be of service. I believe that living a purpose-driven life with a service-driven heart is what it’s all about. We are only as strong as our weakest link. Think about that for a moment. Think about the weak links we have in our society. Not the people who are vulnerable. Vulnerability is a strength, it’s a superpower. I am talking about the leaders of our society who are leading with hate, fear and separation. There is a lot of work to be done. I’ve been blessed in my life to have a good job, a wonderful husband, a family who would do anything to help me, a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food in my mouth, a son whose life has been saved THREE times! When you’ve been given a lot, I feel like it is necessary to pay it forward as much as possible. What are you passionate about? I am passionate about my family, friends and building community. I am passionate about living a life of purpose. I want to leave the world better than when I came into it. I’m passionate about staying true to that sentiment. I am passionate about learning and implementing ways to become a healthier individual on a mental, spiritual, emotional and physical level. I am passionate about my faith. I am passionate about connecting. When is the last time you laughed out loud? Today! I was coaching with my friend, Stephen Van Dorn, on an audition I have for tomorrow. We always have a great time together. He makes me laugh out loud all the time. I believe in laughter and its ability to heal, change the day and make you happy. It’s true that it is often the best medicine. Where is your happy place? It can be anywhere as long as I am present and in my body. I have certainly found happiness in certain places: Hawaii, Paris, my family farm in Georgia, on set filming. The time I am the happiest is usually when I am with my kids, though. They make me happy in a way I’ve never felt before because I’ve never loved anything the way I love them. The trick with happiness is trying to not allow it to be dependent on outside circumstances. Again, happiness is an inside job. Wherever you go…there you are. So, you really have to do the work. I’ve been happy in some of the most painful situations.