Special Short: Adults Only Disney Moments
Consider The creative adult is the child who has survived. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin Each month, Succeed and Soar shares a short video chosen to lift the heart and spirit, awareness and humanity. This select video [below] presents surprising adult themes slipped into Disney children’s films. In preparation, here are reflections on adulthood, The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.~ Alden Nowlan A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.~ Thomas Szasz We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we have stopped saying ‘It got lost,’ and say, ‘I lost it.’~ Sydney J. Harris Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.~ Walt Disney Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould FordPresenting art to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thing and inspire. Comment Click Here to View. 10 Disney Moments Only Adults Will Understand7 Minutes Fine Art America Buy beautiful and inspiring prints, framed, canvas. Also fleece blankets, journals, greeting cards, clothing, totes, phone cases, towels, bedding and much more. This week, consider mugs with Succeed and Soar art and themes. Details: See All Mugs Shop All Collections HERE. Thanks for your support!
Art for Healing
How Arts Create Healthier Communities Click Here to View According to thousands of studies, researchers have determined that involvement in the arts can improve public health and promote healing from illness, as well as protect against such problems as cognitive decline, heart disease, anxiety and depression. Length: 6 Minutes See Also: Consider But the real secret to lifelong good health is …Let your body take care of you.– Deepak Chopra Succeed and Soar‘s Thrive! presents practices that can improve life. This post explores how creative activities [like cooking and gardening or dancing and writing] can help health and wellbeing. The PsychologyToday post “Creativity,” states, An act of creativity can be grand and inspiring, such as crafting a beautiful painting or designing an innovative company. But an idea need not be artistic or world-changing to count as creative. Life requires daily acts of ingenuity and novel workarounds; in this sense, almost everyone possesses some amount of creativity. How does creating art help? The PsychologyToday.com post “How Art Heals” explains that. To become more creative, first understand three, key brain networks. First is the default mode. It controls when daydreaming, resting, reflecting on the past and future. The second, the executive control network lets people, “plan, monitor, and execute their goals.” Finally, the brain’s large salience network detects, filters then determines, how to respond to events and ideas. “It scans for relevant signals, whether they contain sensory, cognitive, or emotional information.” “Eureka moments” are those amazing times when exceptional ideas arrive. It’s when a “blockbuster notion breaks through in a flash of insight that’s as unexpected as it is blazingly clear.” Why? While in restful, default mode [perhaps while washing dishes or bathing], the “conscious, methodological, concerted problem solving” brain fit random, ‘puzzle pieces’ together. To maximize these opportunities, the PsychologyToday “Creativity” post suggests, Definitely consider the Live Well Lived sketch journal offered with this post. Increase arts funding. Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould FordPresenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. This post’s resources:
Seedlings
I have great faith in seeds.Convince me that you have a seed there,and I am prepared to expect miracles.— Henry David Thoreau What joy when I went to water dirt Wednesday morning and discovered tiny, delicate, determined plants. Those bits of green reminded what a marvel gardening can be. Last autumn, narcissus bulbs were buried in a nearby, community planter. How delightful to ride past and see those yellow flowers atop the green stems, keeping their spring time promises after months of winter. Here are more thoughts on seedling magic, It’s good to leave each day behind,like flowing water, free of sadness.Yesterday is gone and its tale told.Today new seeds are growing.— Rumi Once in a golden hour, I cast to earth a seed,And up there grew a flower,That others called a weed.– — Alfred Lord Tennyson I would like to believe when I die that I have given myself awaylike a tree that sows seed every spring and never counts the loss,because it is not loss, it is adding to future life.It is the tree’s way of being.Strongly rooted perhaps,but spilling out its treasure on the wind.— May Sarton Every moment and every event of everyman’s life on earthplants something in his soul.For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds,so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitalitythat come to rest imperceptiblyin the minds and wills of men.— Thomas Merton We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it.Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness.Tear out arrogance and seed humility.Exchange love for hate—thereby, making the present comfortableand the future promising.— Maya Angelou While some start seedlings in December, time remains. Here are some how-to videos: Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould FordPresenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. Journals Record your dreams, hopes, plans and achievements in these beautiful, inspiring notebooks. Details: 6” x 8, spiral notebook 120 pages, ruled on both sides Art printed on front Cover is thick paper stock.Back cover is medium gray Inside front and back covers have pockets for storing extra paper and pens View All Notebooks Thanks for shopping!
Rich Words: Late Heavy Bombardment
Click Here to View Origins of Earth’s Water 4 minutes, 30 seconds See also: Trauma is not the bad things that happen to you. But what happens inside youas a result a result of what happens to you. — Dr. Gabor Maté Succeed and Soar’s “Words”, explores concepts that could help better appreciate human experiences. This post’s words are: Late Heavy Bombardment. NASA reports, “Around 4 billion years ago, our young inner solar system underwent a cataclysmic pummeling by asteroids … Early Earth suffered constant threat of attack from leftover planet-building material [and] … failed planets.” Earth’s assaults, “came from the movement of the giant planets [Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune], which sent debris raining down on the smaller rocky worlds.” Further, “while giant impacts bring with them the idea of impending doom, other studies show that life could have still survived — or even flourished — in microbial form. Underground microbes would have flourished as their habitats increased thanks to the impacts … “When it comes to space rocks slamming into Earth, two stand out. There’s the one that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago … a mere 10 kilometers in diameter. The impactor that formed the Moon, see National Geographic video, may have been about the size of Mars. But between the gigantic lunar-forming impact and the comparatively diminutive harbinger of dinosaurian death, Earth was certainly battered.” Succeed and Soar’s first “Words” series began by exploring “Traumatic Wisdom” on January 29, 2022. As stated by the web site Natural Instinct Healing, By redirecting your pain towards something constructive,preferably something that affects the lives of others in a positive way.It can enable you to search and find true positive meaning in your life.As well as ultimately become better versions of yourself. True, Earth endured awful experiences. The planet also survived, continuing on to produce life and a beautiful world. As actress Mary Pickford said, “The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.” Come what may, Succeed and Soar!Sandra Gould FordPresenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. Radiant Tree Books Wise Ways shares observations and meditations on how to make the most of each moment. Topics range from time management strategies to handling Sub-Optimal decisions a/k/a mistakes, fearful situations and more. This book is beautifully illustrated, encouraging and offers lots of inspiration. Call 412-731-8482 or write to arrange either in-person or virtual workshops. Details: View All Notebooks Thanks for shopping!
Authors Speak: Myriad
It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish. ~ S. I. Hayakawa The Succeed and Soar Authors Speak series invites writers to answer questions about their artforms and special inspirations. Welcome Joshua David Bellin Josh, what phrase inspires your writing and life? I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles. Shannon Hale Josh, share how these words helped your writing, your life. Oftentimes, it’s the overly high expectations we put on ourselves as writers that prevent us from getting started. What Hale reminds us is that our first efforts are only the beginning of a process of shaping and refining. We have to start somewhere, and if we’re not willing to accept the messy beginnings, we’ll never reach the end. Myriad Sample Text: Thursday, August 31, 2017 I hear the sound of fireworks, crack crack crack. Except it’s not the Fourth of July. I know because Daddy took me and Jeremy to the parade in Lancaster the month before we moved to our new house in Pittsburgh. Is this the way they do it in this place? Is this how they celebrate the start of school? My teacher moves quickly to the classroom door, pulls the black blind and turns the lock. She opens the side drawer of her big wooden desk, scrabbles through it as if she’s trying to find something, then closes it and edges the desk in front of the door. When she shuts off the lights, there are shrieks of surprise. She spins toward us, her face twisted in fear. Review Miriam Randle works for LifeTime, a private law enforcement agency that uses short-term time travel to prevent crimes from happening. Though a seasoned time traveller, she is continually haunted by the death of her twin brother, whose murder remains unsolved years later. … FanFiaddict Myriad is a relentless time-twisting thriller filled with surprises, invention, and a killer ending. It’s the wildest of wild rides, and lovers of time travel are going to want to strap themselves in for this one. … About Joshua David Bellin Pittsburgh native Joshua David Bellin has worked as a teacher, umpire, miniaturist, and groundskeeper. He is the author of numerous works of science fiction, including the time-travel thriller Myriad, the Survival Colony novels, and the Ecosystem Cycle. Web Site Keep in mind, Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary. – Jim Rohn Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould Ford Presenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. COMMENT. Beautiful and inspiring Succeed & Soar art can be purchased as posters, framed, metal and canvas. Art also available as puzzles, totes, blankets, mugs, greeting cards, notebooks, phone cases, pillows, towels, clothing and more. Shop All Art HERE. Collections change. Visit often. Thanks for your support!
Special Short: DJ Sadhu’s “Moonlight”
Consider The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty,to think, feel, do just as one pleases. – William Hazlitt Each month, Succeed and Soar shares a short video chosen to lift the heart and spirit, awareness and humanity. Each year, one DJ Sadhu creation is presented. This select story short [below] is about journeys. Here are encouragements, The end of a journey means the start of another one.– The Book of Felicity, 1582 Sometimes the longest journey we take is the sixteen inches from our heads to our hearts.– Elena Avila To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.– Ralph Waldo Emerson To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.– Chinese Proverb Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould FordPresenting art to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thing and inspire. Comment Click Here to View. Moonlight Visual poetry set to music A beautiful, refreshing balloon ride, 5 Minutes Shop Inspiring Succeed and Soar Art on Coffee Mugs. Also buy beautiful and inspiring prints, framed, canvas. Plus, fleece blankets, journals, greeting cards, clothing, totes, phone cases, towels, bedding and much more. Great gifts. Coffee Mug Details: See All Mugs Shop All Collections HERE. Thanks for your support!
Thrive! Memory Health
See also: Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things. Cicero Thrive! offers insights into practices that can improve life. This post explores memory. Harvard Medical School explains, “memory is our ability to recall information,” in these two ways. Short Term holds facts needed for a few seconds [like traffic before crossing a street]. Long Term keeps the data “that makes you you,” like loved ones and home location. The Harvard post adds, Like the rest of our bodies, our brains change with age, meaning that most of us will find ourselves struggling to recall newly learned information or even to think of words we know well. … With age, both the brain’s chemistry and the structural integrity of the neurons’ wiring deteriorate. In “Memory Loss: 7 Tips to Improve Memory,” MayoClinic.org suggests: Healthline.com adds “14 Natural Ways to Improve Your Memory,” including, When considering memory supplements, WiseLifestyle.com cautions that some companies make “exaggerated claims … not all of which are likely.” The site notes “Warning Signs of Potential Scams, when to expect results, and top picks for 2025. The article also lists and explains these five, must-have ingredients for memory supplements: Keep in mind, The most beautiful things are not associated with money;they are memories and moments.– Jean de Boufflers Memories are the key not to the past,but to the future.— Corrie ten Boom We didn’t realise we were making memories,we just knew we were having fun.— Winnie the Pooh Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould FordPresenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. I’ll be glad to schedule a Zoom chat this topic. COMMENT. Radiant Tree Books Beyond the Sky’s Limits shares encouraging wisdom and uplifting images about going beyond boundaries and making dreams come true. This Succeed and Soar book shares “Life Well Lived” words of wisdom and uplifting images. Contact to arrange in-person and online Illustrated Wisdom and Writing workshops. Details:* 36-page, 5×8, soft cover, $11.50 Preview / Purchase* 48-page, 8×10 Illustrated Sketch Journal, soft cover,, $20 Preview / PurchaseView All Radiant Tree Books Thanks for shopping! Share This Post
Rich Words, Event Horizon
May your dreams defy the laws of gravity. – H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Click Here to View “What Exactly Is a Black Hole Event Horizon?” [12 Minutes] See Also: What if You Fell in a Black Hole? [5 Minutes] What Happens at the Event Horizon [19 Minutes] Succeed and Soar’s first, the 2022 “Words” series explored phrases that could help appreciate and heal human experiences. The 2025 theme is astronomy. Event Horizons border Black Holes. NASA describes them as an, “object with a gravitational pull so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.” While the sun is about 864,000 million miles wide [109 Earths could line up across the center], the Milky Way galaxy, and others, have remnants of stars 100,000 to billions of times larger than the Sun. When huge stars collapse, they become “singularities,” Black Holes bordered by Event Horizons. Inside, time and space is different. A rocket must fly at over 25,000 miles per hour to escape Earth’s gravity. Light travels at at 670,616, 629 miles per hour yet is not fast enough to escape Black Holes. Once crossing an Event Horizon, nothing returns. That boundary separates the known ways the universe works from what is not knowable. Of Event Horizons, educator Patrick Overton said, “When you walk into the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand upon or you will be taught to fly.” Overton wrote Rebuilding the Front Porch of America “Going into the unknown is how you expand what is known,” says Julien Smith, business management coach and author of My Morning Routine. Annette White, author of Bucket List Journeys adds, ““Each time you try something for the first time you grow—a little piece of fear is replaced with empowerment.” The nearest Black Hole yet discovered is “1,560 light-years from Earth.” On Earth, Event Horizons are much closer. Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould Ford Presenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire. I’ll be glad to schedule a Zoom chat this topic. COMMENT. Wise Ways shares observations and meditations on how to make the most of each moment. Topics range from time management strategies to handling Sub-Optimal decisions a/k/a mistakes, fearful situations and more. This book is beautifully illustrated, encouraging and offers lots of inspiration. 5×8, 36-page Pocket book $13.00 Preview-Purchase 8×10 64-page Sketch Journal $20.00 Preview-Purchase Through March 26, 2025, all books 15% off with Discount Code INSPIRE15. Additional savings available starting with purchases of 10, 20 and larger quantities. Contact to arrange In-Person and On-Line workshops. Thanks for shopping!
Special Select Story: Obstacles Overcome
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. — Henry David Thoreau Each month, Succeed and Soar shares a short video chosen to lift the heart and spirit, awareness and humanity. This select story short [below] is about the meaning of obstacles. Here are more encouragements, Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, of time. — Marabel Morgan Never, never, never give up. — Winston Churchill Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. — Napoleon Hill I can, therefore I am. — Simone Weil Click Here to View. 2 Minutes Succeed and Soar! Sandra Gould Ford The Best Journey presents wisdom for a well-lived life. The book is illustrated with vibrant photographs taken at Latrobe, Pennsylvania’s Amtrak station. The book is also a journal with space for personal notes. For groups, Illustrated Wisdom journaling workshops are available either in person or online. Preview this book. See all Radiant Tree Books Thanks for your support!
Story Talk, First Books
A book is a magical thing that lets you travel to far-away places without ever leaving your chair. – Katrina Mayer Succeed and Soar seeks to lift hearts and spirits, awareness and humanity. Because books help fulfill that mission, this post offers a few favorites that launched 2025. If you’ve read, reply and let me know your thoughts on these books. Otherwise, consider adding to your reading list. A Woman of Endurance Publisher’s Weekly calls Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa’s novel “intense and bittersweet.” The poignant story follows a woman who lost her: Mother-given name, Keera Freedom and faith when stolen from Yorubaland then renamed Pola ability to care after this slave breeder repeated loses babies before she can know them. The novel contains magnificent characters like the stoic Simón who Pola wounds while he prevents her suicide. And the wise woman who helps Pola heal physically and emotionally. The story also contains anti-heroes. Beyond slave catcher and owner callousness and brutality, Llanos-Figueroa also presents damaging effects black people rank themselves by darkness. A key question is: Can Pola overcome abuse and bitterness enough to love again? Text Sample Audio Sample Brown Girl Collective interview My Sister the Serial Killer The main question in Oyinkan Braithwaite’s debut novel is: How long will Ugly Duckling Korede keep cleaning up after her beautiful sister Ayoola’s murder of men enthralled by her beauty.Set in Nigeria, the novel opens, Ayoola summons me with these words—Koredi, I killed him. I had hoped I would never hear these words again. The story studies family dynamics and loyalty. Here, the dutiful Koredo must decide whether to continue protecting her younger sibling. Or, keep a good-hearted doctor from prison after defending himself from Ayoola’s fourth attack.The book shows how manipulative an innocent-seeming, attractive person can be. A valuable reminder. Audio Sample Harvard Crimson Review BBC Africa Book Club Interview Remarkably Bright Creatures Marcellus is a giant Pacific octopus. He’s displayed at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Nearing the end of his life, the highly-intelligent, soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusk has found ways to escape his tank and enjoy culinary delights swimming in other enclosures. The aquarium’s widowed, nighttime cleaning lady never understood how her son and only child vanished during a boating accident. Marcellus has the decades-old clues. Can he help Tova find peace of mind, even happiness before he dies and/or she retires? Kirkus Reviews calls Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel, “a charming, warmhearted read.” Sample Text Audio Sample Talking to Strangers This enlightening book is scholar Malcolm Gladwell’s follow up to Tipping Point, Blink, Atomic Habits , David and Goliath and more. Of Talking to Strangers, the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Gladwell has again delivered a compelling, conversation-starting read… At a time when the world feels intractably polarized, a book examining the varying ways we misinterpret or fail to communicate with one another could not feel more necessary.” Gladwell’s eye-opening research was prompted by Sandra Bland’s 2015 arrest and subsequent suicide because she lit a cigarette to calm her nerves. Gladwell then shows how Cuba duped United States intelligence, Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky practiced pedophilia for years, Hitler misled world leaders, and more. The book’s subtitle is important: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know. Gladwell Discusses Book: NPR Review Audio Sample The Knowledge Lewis Dartnell’s intriguing book opens, The world as we know it has ended. A particularly virulent strain of avian flu finally breached the species barrier and hopped successfully to human hosts. The contagion spread devastatingly quickly in the age of high-density cities and inter-continental air travel and killed a large portion of the global population before any effective immunization or even quarantine orders could be implemented. This scenario is followed international tensions creating the nuclear winter that decimates all life The third wipeout suggested is a meteor strike like the one that caused Earth’s previous mass extinction. The fifth both wiped out dinosaurs and let mammals grow. Should these situations occur, The Knowledge explains how scattered human populations could—over generations—reboot civilization. First, the book recommends scavenging a surprising array of items [like golf cart batteries] and abandoning cities. Dartnell explains how soap, even photography materials, can be made. He reminds that small groups could build communities for mutual defense and to manage plant life. Fascinating. Book Reviews Lewis Dartnell presents at Google The Reversal From best-selling author Michael Connelly’s “Lincoln Lawyer” series, The Reversal features Mickey Haller’s return. This defense lawyer conducts business from his Lincoln car. Here, he’s asked to switch sides and prosecute Jason Jessup. He’d been convicted of a brutal child kidnapping and murder then released on DNA evidence. While free, Jessup presents a healthy, all-American innocence when cameras are recording. At night, troubling behaviors convince Haller’s team that re-conviction is essential. One challenge: Despite the prosecution’s best efforts, a single juror—one with a hidden grudge against law enforcement—can set Jessup free. Of The Reversal, a Booklist Starred Review reported, “Reading this book is like watching a master craftsman, slowly and carefully, brick by brick, build something that holds together exquisitely, form and function in perfect alignment.” More Reviews Michael Connelly describes The Reversal Full Audiobook [free] Shop Succeed & Soar Throw Pillows As well as tote bags, tee shirts, journals, puzzles, phone cases, ornaments, face masks, towels, blankets, cups, posters, shower curtains and more These pillows add a stylish statement to any room. Details: Fabric: 100% spun polyester poplin Reversible, same image printed on both sides A concealed zipper Choice of over 70 background colors Removable insert can be requested Pillow sizes: 14×14, 16×16, 18×18, 20×20, 26×26 and 20×14 Prices from $20 to $50 See All Throw Pillows Thanks for your support!