Curated Inspiration: Beauty, Kindness & Courage from around the Web

Kind, courageous and wonderful people. It’s time for a new feature: a write-up of inspiration, insightful and useful things from around the web including delightful poetry, a kindness podcast gorgeous art, insightful articles, things to watch and uplifting (springy) quotes.

Tell us what you liked best, or what’s inspiring YOU in the comments below!

A Poem for Spring

I loved this beautiful poem by Adrienne Maree Brown: Murmurations: A Spell for the Spring Equinox

It starts:

Let us remind the world
How many shades of green there are…

The Anatomy of Kindness

The University of Sussex (in the UK) in conjunction with BBC Radio 4 launched “The Kindness Test” in 2021. Believed to be the largest kindness study ever carried out, over 60,000 people from 144 countries answered a survey exploring ideas like: What are the most common acts of kindness that people carry out? What are the barriers to being kind, both externally and internally? How does kindness affect our wellbeing? And many more.

The results can be listened to on the BBC Radio 4 Series The Anatomy of Kindness (episodes are 25-40 minutes each).

Of no surprise to you dear reader is that “the results suggest that people who receive, give or even just notice more acts of kindness tend to experience higher levels of wellbeing and life satisfaction.”

You can also read all 10 learnings from this kindness study in the corresponding article here >>

Sojourner Truth

Our courageous woman this month is Sojourner Truth: born into slavery in in 1797 in a Dutch-speaking area of New York, Isabella Bomfree—who later chose the name Sojourner Truth—was one feisty woman. Nearly 6 feet tall, she was bought and sold four times and had five children before she ran away from her slave master after he refused to free her as promised (apparently she said “I didn’t run, but walked away by daylight”!).

Later, she campaigned extensively for the emancipation of women and slaves and she is known for her famous speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” which she delivered in 1851. This picture was taken in 1870.

Learn more about Sojourner Truth at Women’sHistory.org >>

Listen to modern Afro Dutch women reading Sojourner Truth’s speech here >> (8 women, each speech is about 2 mins long!)

A Powerful Documentary

The IF Project

There are 6.8 million people incarcerated in the US, and women are the fastest growing segment of the prison population. This documentary is about one police officer, and a project that grew out of a writing workshop at a maximum security women’s prison. Based around one powerful, yet simple question: “If there was something someone could have said that would have changed your path, what would it have been?”

A powerful example of kindness, compassion—and courage.

Rent & watch The IF Project trailer on Vimeo here >>

A Thought-Provoking Movie (Comedy/Satire)

Don’t Look Up

And if you haven’t watched Don’t Look Up yet (link is to IMDb), I highly recommend it. It’s a comedy/satire on our culture, the media and our government, as a giant meteor rushes towards earth to obliterate it. It’s also a commentary on populist politics, how we divide ourselves into “Yes” and “No”s, monetise everything, how we allow ourselves to be swayed by fame and technology—and more. It’s also about what, ultimately, matters most… Meryl Streep is awesome as usual, as is Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Inspiring and Interesting Articles

1) Get inspired

• 20 Incredible Women on what They Wish they had Known at 20 from Net-a-Porter (the focus is on women in fashion and the arts)

2) Have a laugh!

• Wait, but Have You Tried— From Michelle Rial at The New Yorker: A humorous look at our capacity to give advice (and I must admit, it has helped me think twice before I make a friendly suggestion!)

3) On a more serious note

• Our New Year’s Resolution for 2022: to rise up and fight back A more serious article from Bernie Sanders on The Guardian about why we should be rising up (and that collective action is more successful that the media and our governments want us to believe).

4 and 5) And for those with a business

• From Dave Pell at The Atlantic: The Internet’s Unkillable App (it’s the humble newsletter by the way). This article is all about why, if you have a business, you should have a newsletter!
• And you may also like this short rant from a writer (who draws) called Austin Kleon, begging you to have an email list: Please, for goodness’ sake, start a mailing list

The noisier our digital lives get, the more popular the humble newsletter becomes. Dave Pell

Visual Inspiration

Harmonia Rosales’ Birth of Osho (Venus reimagined)

Harmonia Rosales gorgeously reinvents the classics!

I love Harmonia Rosales’ incredible, courage and inspiring work. An Afro-Cuban American artist, Harmonia re-imagines classical paintings with people of colour instead of white, and women instead of men. She redefines power, beauty and black femininity.

See Harmonia Rosales’ portfolio here >>

Replacing the white male figures—the most represented—with people I believe have been the least represented can begin to recondition our minds to accept new concepts of human value. …If I can touch even a small group of people and empower them through the power of art, then I’ve succeeded in helping to change the way we see the world. Harmonia Rosales

Gorgeous Wildlife Pics

Can you ever go wrong with pictures of animals and nature?

Check out the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (people’s choice) from Dec 2021. So many beautiful pictures. I loved the Tapir, the two lions nuzzling, the breath of the arctic fox and the eagle eyeing the bear asleep up a tree.

Some fun and laughter

The Awkward Yeti

We’ll start with the fun. Many of you know I love The Awkward Yeti comic strip. In particular “Heart and Brain“.

These short, colourful, sometimes silly, often poignant and ‘right on the nose’ comic strips are guaranteed to make me chuckle.

Beautiful Spirit Animal Oracle Cards

I absolutely love these gorgeous Spirit Animal Oracle Cards. For a lift, just look at the beautiful images. Or connect to your subconscious by drawing cards, and seeing what deeply resonates in the card and description. Also, at her website, scroll down to draw a card for day digitally! Spirit Animal Oracle Card Deck from Colette Baron-Reid

Lastly, 6 Inspiring & Uplifting Quotes for Spring

1. “Spring is the best life coach: It gives you all the energy you want, all the positive thoughts you wish and all the boldness you need!” Mehmet Murat ildan
2. “Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!'” Robin Williams
3. “Spring is the time of plans and projects.” Leo Tolstoy
4. “Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.” Bishop Reginald Heber
5. “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” Margaret Atwood
6. “Oh, Spring! I want to go out and feel you and get inspiration. My old things seem dead. I want fresh contacts, more vital searching.” Emily Carr

Wrap-up

Inspiration is what sparks our energy, fire and creativity. It helps us take action to create the life we want, grow our businesses and/or change the world.

So I hope you enjoyed these inspirations of courage, kindness and beauty (balm for the soul).

I wonder: Would you like to see more of these articles? What would you like to see me share in them?

I’ll leave you with a brand new (to me) quote to ponder:

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. Louisa May Alcott

If you liked this article full of inspirations and energy, you may also like:

• Get Motivated: 6 Super Ways to Energize, Refocus & Lose those Blahs
• 30 Fabulous Inspirational Quotes to Get You Fired up and Back on Track!
• An Easy Way to Feel Good: Wear ONE Thing You Love EVERY Day!