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Heart to Heart Stories: A Real Secret Santa Delivers
Not enough years ago, I was sitting outside my second story apartment on the stairs outside my door. It was late on Christmas Eve. My son...
HA Staff
Dec 8, 20212 min read


Gather Around the Storytelling Radio
One big lesson we learned early on in the pandemic was how much we missed being together with other humans in those everyday social...

Steven Hansen
Dec 1, 20213 min read


Caution: Buying Art May Be Addictive
For less than the price of a pack of cig’s, you can own an original painting by a noted artist. Or a piece of handmade jewelry, a...

Steven Hansen
Oct 25, 20212 min read


A New Ritual is Born in Denmark
The stunning new public library building in Aarhus, Denmark, seems to float above the shining sea of the city’s revitalized waterfront....

Steven Hansen
Sep 9, 20211 min read


142 Days on the Appalachian Trail
In early spring of 2018, St. Louis-area business attorney Evan Schaeffer decided it was time to go outside and take a walk in the woods –...

Steven Hansen
Sep 6, 20213 min read


Banksy’s Summer 'Spraycation'
Sure, he’s subversive, political, and anti-art-establishment, but England’s mysterious and often-maddening street artist Banksy can sure...

Steven Hansen
Aug 16, 20211 min read


8 Minutes of Joy: Firefly Sanctuary
Follow adventure traveler Mike Corey into the Magic Forest near Nanacamilpa, Tlaxcala, Mexico, to see one of the most amazing sights of...

Steven Hansen
Aug 9, 20211 min read


Concrete Zen Moments
When you see a fire hydrant or mailbox or trash can magically highlighted by waves of concentric painted ripples, you do take notice --...

Steven Hansen
Jul 12, 20211 min read


Old School Cool
Maybe you think about it once a year – that first blistering day in June that catches you off guard, before you’ve put the AC units back...

Steven Hansen
Jun 30, 20213 min read


Heart to Heart Stories: Going Home
Home. You can go back home, no matter what the tropes say. You can have laughs and yummy food and good conversations and hugs. You can...

Deena Ebbert
Jun 22, 20211 min read


There are Nests in These Library Branches!
One thing we’ve learned to appreciate over the past year is the nurturing need to nest. Not just the act of staying safe and healthy at...

Steven Hansen
Jun 9, 20212 min read


Heart to Heart Stories: A Father's Love
Nate, a high school student in Michigan at the time, sent this letter to FCKH8.com, an activist organization for gay youth, who posted it...

Steven Hansen
Jun 2, 20211 min read


The Boy Who Can’t Stop Doodling
“My favorite things to doodle are monsters, aliens and food,” says 11-year-old Joe Whale, aka “The Doodle Boy,” the creative wunderkind...

Steven Hansen
May 19, 20212 min read


55 Seconds of Joy
When Omarr K. Rambert, a recent UCLA School of Law graduate, found out on January 8 that he had passed the California Bar Exam, he was...

Steven Hansen
May 13, 20211 min read


Uncorking Messages from the Past
Singer-songwriter Clint Buffington didn’t write Jim Croce’s 1973 hit “Time in a Bottle.” He wasn’t even born yet. But it could easily be...

Steven Hansen
May 11, 20212 min read


Sidewalk Splendor in a Flash
For the past six years, the floral design team of Lewis Miller has installed startlingly beautiful “flower flashes” on street corners,...
Happiness Archive Editor
Apr 30, 20211 min read


2:25 Minutes of Joy: Trumpet Giveaway
“To all the youth in New Orleans, Bring me a gun and I’ll give you a trumpet, no questions asked. I’m doing this until I run out of...
HA Staff
Apr 27, 20211 min read


Tim Takes the Reins, Technically
If you don’t know about Tim Tiller, you’ve missed out on one of the few honest-to-goodness treats to come out of an otherwise dark...

Steven Hansen
Apr 17, 20211 min read


Pink See-Saws at Border Wall Win Design Award
The “Teeter-Totter Wall,” which bridged across the border wall at El Paso, TX, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, for a brief 40 minutes, has won...

Steven Hansen
Apr 12, 20211 min read


Heart to Heart Stories: A Moment of Comfort
I was on the 15L bus in Denver, Colorado, on my way home from work. The 15L was the East Colfax bus, meaning it didn't serve the fancy,...

Steven Hansen
Apr 6, 20212 min read
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