1 . Macaire Kverett, 14, and her 9-year-old brother, Camden, discovered a unique way to entertain themselves. When bored at home, they began to draw impressive, colorful and imaginary chalk art in their neighborhood. After they completed each chalk art mural (壁画), Camden would lie on the ground to become part of each adventure scene for photos. Their drawings soon grew into massive murals that attracted crowds of neighborhood onlookers. Neighbors would enthusiastically gather to view and take pictures of each new imaginary design.

Their imaginative art collaboration (合作) took their minds off world troubles and transported them to an exciting, imaginary world. Hie great adventures were brought to life through their chalk drawings, including Camden dancing in puddles, zip-lining and floating away with a bunch of balloons. The incredible drawings also had Gamden traveling to the Great Wall of China and Times Square.

Macaire enjoyed collaborating with her brother so much on the creative project that she continued it for 100 days.

“My brother and I talk about ideas a lot during dinner. He likes to ‘travel’ so it’s fun to take him to places,” Macaire explained.

Once they agree on a design, the process takes Macaire two to four hours for smaller drawings and up to six hours for larger murals.

They received such a positive response from their creative artwork that they shared their drawings on social media. Macaire then compiled the artwork into her first book, The World from Our Driveway. They have since published a second book, Cum and Hopper Travel the World.

2 . I enjoy throwing stuff away. I’d love to go full minimalism (极简主义), but my wife and two teenage kids do not share my dream of a house with almost nothing in it. I have tried. When the kids were little, I taught them my two favorite games – “Do We Need It?” and “Put It in Its Place”– and made them play every few months. Their enthusiasm never matched mine.

If I’m going to be honest, my own tidying skills are not as great as I’d like. My “discarded” pile is never quite the trash mountain I want because I make up excuses for why things are useful. I consider this unhealthy. I want to be better at moving on.

So, this time I found help – the classics for people like me: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. Kondo’s commitment to her craft is astonishing. Her philosophy is only to keep things you love. Can I go full Kondo? I will try. One central idea is to clean by category. You start by collecting all clothes and gathering them together for consideration. It makes you rethink how you organize. Next, hold each item and ask if it brings you joy. This way you’re choosing what to keep. And that’s how I find myself with all my clothes on my bedroom floor. My wife walks by and gives me a look that says I’m nuts. She’s probably not wrong.

Somewhere near the bottom of this chaos is my special jacket. I move through the pile: pants, shirts, suits and shoes. Then my last category: jackets. I haven’t worn the thing in about 30 years. Somehow, it has survived. Now that I’m striving to follow Kondo – surely, its time has come?

I hold it in my hand. There is a tear just below the collar that widens as I hold it. It’s literally falling apart. Will I ever wear it again? Not a chance. Does it feel good to wear? Does it bring me joy? Actually, yes. At this moment, my daughter walks in. She asks about the jacket. I tell her the story. She thinks I should keep it. It’s cool and unique and full of memories. She is arguing that nostalgia (怀念) is the very reason.

I’m not entirely convinced by my daughter’s arguments. I believe in looking ahead, not backward. Nevertheless, sometimes it’s hard to let go. So I gently place the jacket on the “keep” pile.

3 . Last night at work, a girl came in and sat at the bar. She asked for a cup of water and a menu and eventually ordered a bacon cheeseburger which costs roughly $12 at my restaurant.

After eating for a few minutes, she asked me for a napkin (餐巾) and a pen. I saw her writing on the napkin but didn’t think anything of it. When I turned around, she was gone. As I went to clear her plate, I noticed that she had left a $100 bill along with a note that read, “Today marks my 14th day of chemo (化疗) along with my 26th birthday. Life’s been good to me so far, and I think I will pass my luck on to someone else. Have a great night!”

I have never been so touched by a stranger in my entire life. About 3 months ago, my own mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, so this hit very close to home. Having just witnessed my mother completed her first 5-week cycle of chemo, I know the pain and exhaustion this young woman is feeling. On top of the chemo, she was selfless enough on her own birthday that she gave a stranger a gift.

This young woman has completely touched my soul and has affected my life in a way that I will never forget. I hope to see her again one day, so I can tell her how much her random act of kindness has touched me and finally changed my life.

Thank you for being such a beautiful person and I pray that you get well.

Thank you for making the world a better place.

5 . Sam was a fifteen-year-old boy living with his little sister, Julie. Their parents had passed away long ago. Sam had taken care of Julie by himself.

One day, Sam woke up at three in the morning as usual. When Julie was sleeping alone, Sam left their little house to send newspapers. When he found an old man sitting in front of their house, Sam was so surprised that he stopped to look at him closely. It was an icy morning and he looked very cold.

The poor old man didn’t have anything to cover himself with. Sam went into his house to get the old man a blanket (毯子). However, there were no extra blankets, so Sam thought hard and took his father’s coat. It was the only thing of his father’s that he had left. Sam wrote a short note. “Sir, I found you sleeping in front of my house. This is my father’s coat. I hope it fits you well.” He put the note in a pocket of the coat, and covered the old man with the coat. Then he went to work. When he came back three hours later, both the man and the coat were gone. Sam thought that it was the best thing he could have done with his father’s coat.

That afternoon, Sam hurried home after school because Julie was at home alone. However, Julie and the old man were standing in front of the house, and Julie shouted to Sam, “Brother! He’s our grandfather!”

The grandfather smiled and said, “Sam, thank you for giving me the coat and letting me know how good my grandson is. This coat was the one that I gave my son a long time ago!”

6 . We stopped to choose a cake for our daughter. We’d passed several other elderly customers but our daughter Norah seemed drawn to (被吸引) a man. Her face lit up like the sun and she waved excitedly saying, “Hi, old person! It’s my birthday today!” “Hello, little lady! And how old are you today?” He asked. They chatted for a few seconds.

We said goodbye and carried on shopping. A few minutes later, Norah asked me, “Can I take a picture with the old man for my birthday?” I thought the old man couldn’t have gone very far. So we quickly found him. “Excuse me, sir? She’d like to know if you’d take a photo with her for her birthday,” I asked. He looked surprised and then happy. “A photo? With me?” He asked. “Yes! For my birthday!” Norah cheered. And so they posed together and then they hugged each other like they were long lost friends.

We thanked Mr. Dan for sparing a few minutes of his day with us. He was moved to tears and said, “No, thank you. This is the best day I’ve had in a long time. You’ve made me feel so happy and valuable, Ms. Norah.”

Now, Norah and Mr. Dan often visit each other. While they don’t, Norah makes sure to call him at least once a week. Norah worried about Mr. Dan being alone and brought Mr. Dan a dog on his 82nd birthday. Mr. Dan said that his meeting with Norah helped to heal (治愈) his broken heart as he was having a difficult time before he met Norah that day. Sometimes talking to strangers turns into the most beautiful thing in the world.

7 . On the day he almost died, Kimbal Musk had food on the brain. The Internet startup talent and restaurateur had just arrived in Jackson Hole from a conference where chef Jamie Oliver had spoken about the benefits of healthy eating. This made Musk think a lot—how he might make a difference to the food industry—but beyond expanding his farm-to-table movement along with his restaurant, Musk hadn’t yet broken the code. Then he went sailing down a snowy slope (坡) and fell over, breaking his neck.

Musk eventually made a full recovery, but it involved spending two months on his back, which gave him plenty of time to come up with a plan. Since then, he has launched an initiative to put “learning gardens” in public schools across America; attracted Generation Z to the farming profession by changing shipping containers into high-tech, data-driven, year-round farms; and this year, is kicking off a new campaign to create one million at-home gardens.

Aimed at reaching low-income families, the Million Gardens Movement was inspired by the pandemic, as both a desire to feel more connected to nature and food insecurity have been at the forefront of so many people’s lives. “We were getting a lot of inquiries about gardening from people that had never gardened before,” says Musk. “People were looking to garden for a bunch of reasons: to save money on groceries, to improve the nutritional quality of their diets, or just to cure the boredom that came with the lockdown.”

The program offers free garden kits that can be grown indoors or outdoors, and will be distributed through schools that Musk’s non-profit, Big Green, has already partnered with. It also offers free courses on how to get the garden growing and fresh seeds and materials for the changing growing seasons. “It’s not difficult. Anyone can do this, no matter where you come from, no matter where you live. We are all able to grow something,” says Musk.