When Arsh was a young boy, his parents, Divya Pal and Sanjeev, signed him up for extracurricular activities such as piano, karate (空手道) and gymnastics, but he preferred art. When Arsh turned 8, he received a watercolor paint set as a birthday gift. He spent all his spare time painting. That’s how he started painting.

Around the same time, Arsh often visited a local nursing home, where his mother works. Spending time there inspired him to start selling his art for a good cause. “I want to help people in need through my paintings,” he said.

And so began his fundraising (筹款) program, which he called “Art by Arsh”. He sold his paintings at local art shows, restaurants and libraries, as well as on his Instagram account and Facebook page. He donated his first $1,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2018, and has since reached various other charities.

Arsh, now 12, mostly makes commissioned (委托创作的) pieces, and several of his customers have come back wanting more. That includes his neighbor, Jolene Schaver, who has five of Arsh’s creations hanging in her home and has bought many more for friends and family. “I was amazed at how talented he was at such a young age, without any formal training,” said Schaver.

Along with selling his paintings to benefit nonprofit organizations, Arsh now also teaches art lessons at the local nursing home. And he thought about accessibility, and realized not all people have the resources (资源) to make art—which has the capacity to comfort and heal (治愈). “One of my future goals is to make art accessible for kids who want to express themselves,” Arsh said. He has already started offering free art lessons to local children, and he hopes to expand (扩展) his classes further in the future.

My daughter is a middle school student who still plays with her American Girl dolls. Dolls have been a huge part of her life ever since she was a baby. When she got her first doll at the age of 5 she spent hours brushing its hair and changing its clothes. Some people think my daughter should stop doing that as a teenager. But I think quite differently.

Considering the less attractive activities that are out there and what else she could be doing, I find playing with dolls seems like a nice choice. It’s better than playing computer games or something alike. I’ve also noticed it doesn’t make any difference to her social life. She has her friends and spends time with them.

Playing with dolls is helpful for my daughter. “When I play with them,” my daughter told me, “it makes me feel that I can express problems going on in my life and that I’m not the only one who has those problems. They’re in their lives, too, and they have to live with them.” I’m glad she finds a safe place to stay when she faces school tests, changeable social groups, and a changing body in middle school.

Moreover, the girl dolls can be hortatory. Most come with an amazing back story. For instance, Luciana becomes interested in science and technology and wants to become an astronaut because of them. How cool it is to set an example for kids!

Amy, a day old, was abandoned at a police station in Seoul. Her birth parents couldn’t afford to give Amy the appropriate healthcare then. She spent her first three months in an orphanage before she was adopted. “I always thought, why should I be more thankful to my adoptive parents than the next person?” she says.

In 2011, Amy reconnected with her birth mother in South Korea, her adoptive mum by her side. “My Korean mother took my American mother’s hands in hers and said with tears, ‘Thank you.’ After that, my whole world changed,” Amy says. At the time, she was working in the e-commerce sector and struggling with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder. Reconnecting with her birth family, however made her feel like the luckiest person in the world and she wanted to actively share her good fortune. That year, she quit her job and co-founded the Global Gratitude Alliance, which partners with grassroots organizations to create community-led solutions or social and economic change.

Since then, a reflexive sense of thankfulness has become Amy’s frame of reference for work, relationships and daily life in general. She tried to rethink her world view, appreciate the little things and make connections with others. For Amy, the attitude shift helped her overcome health issues—she didn’t need the drugs any more after she returned from Korea.

Those positive effects inspired Amy to share the experience with others. Through a partnership with a home for orphaned children in Nepal, the Global Gratitude Alliance provided teachers with workshops that concluded with a ceremony of giving thanks. The participants used those techniques to help their students and community after the destructive earthquake of 2015. Children from the school recently visited a local seniors’ home to build relationships with the residents there. “Gratitude creates a cycle of giving and receiving,” Amy says.