Ggids

 Finding new species seems wondrous! Several scientific organizations working around the globe searching all continents and oceans have done just that. The California Science Academy reports finding 72 new species of wildlife, plants and even bugs, including a translucent one, as well as a new species of sunflower, which doesn’t look like a sunflower but which DNA shows it is.  Other worldwide groups report over 1300 mammal species over the last 20 years.  Some of the species seem offshoots of others, but in the main they are new, show mammal diversity and how the species interact with their environments. The scientists say it matters because conservation efforts cannot occur unless there is first identification and documentation of the species which need attention.  So far, the good news is that discoveries outpace extinctions. Of course it does advance human knowledge.

I wanted to share this for another reason. We so often forget how much we do not know, and can be so complacent about our own ignorance, that just the simple fact so many new species have been discovered makes us pause and ponder and marvel and be both more aware and more humble.

Imagine being alone and feeling isolated? Would a kind message make you feel better? It usually does and that is why Wildly Kind is beginning to place booths at festivals and fairs and other such gatherings. Anyone can go into the booth leave a kind message for someone who will need it.  Kayla Lamoureux the founder of Wildly Kind started it as a sort of free mental health resource. She began it in 2022 during the pandemic, and attracted a group of ambassadors who engage in doing kind things, for example give flowers to a stranger. The booths which first appeared in Portland where Lamoureux lives are an expansion of the organization’s work. With the first booths people could leave notes or even videos. They are now equipped with a land line where people can record a message to a stranger who may be struggling. They have appeared in several cities in other states and more are planned.

 I’d suggest you’d cheer the idea but I suspect that’s redundant, you already do. What I hope you will add to your cheering is how many people care about each other, strangers included, how many people want to help and how much good that represents.

For many of us the past year wasn’t easy and the status quo may persist in the coming one. Despite it, however, I do believe we can thrive. There’s so much good out there, good that for whatever reasons we just overlook. It could just be a child’s smile, someone letting us go ahead in a line, a warm hello from a friend or stranger. It can be the good in our friends, the inspiration of those who overcome odds and challenges, those who make discoveries for the good of all. It can be so many other things. May I suggest noticing  it? Perhaps at times focusing upon it? I can assure you it makes a huge difference.

As long as there’s good somewhere down the line, we can triumph!  And I know you won’t be surprised when  I also suggest that in the new year we  Keep Good Alive!

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year!