(To keep getting 8 Good Things, please add explorer@sojourn-intl.com to your email contacts.)

Here is this week’s 8 Good Things. This newsletter is my year-long weekly gift containing everything from articles to books to quotes to videos that are meant to be helpful, inspirational, aspirational, informational, and just fun to read! Make sure to scroll all the way down to see our upcoming expeditions, programs, and nonprofit causes we support!

1) Did you know giant tarantulas keep tiny frogs as pets? Insects will eat a burrowing tarantula’s eggs so the spider protects the frogs from predators and in return the frogs eat the insects.

MOTHER NATURE NETWORK

2) 9 life lessons from rock climbing. Remember rule number 5, “know how to rest” and number 9, “know how to let go.” Balance Rules!

TED2009

3) As the Youngest Woman to Fly Around the World, Shaesta is Inspiring Girls to Soar. Amelia Earhart would be proud.

LIGHTWORKERS

4) Two experts, Daniel Goleman and Richard J Davidson, a psychologist/journalist and neuroscientist famous for making “emotional intelligence” mainstream, discuss the science behind why meditation works. See what they discovered after scanning the brains of Buddhist monks. How Does Meditation Work?

BIG THINK

5) How Does Valuing Money Affect Your Happiness? Money can’t buy you love…or, happiness. The research is out: “look inside of yourself, not your wallet, for happiness.”

GREATER GOOD SCIENCE CENTER

6) Scientists have found an exciting new clue about how ‘super-agers’ stay sharp as they age. How people over 80 retain certain cognitive abilities that are similar to those in their 50s. On their list of ways to stay sharp, I would include meditation. It increases our brain’s gray matter, which shrinks with age.

BUSINESS INSIDER

7) The Future of Storytelling. TV titan Shonda Rhimes of Grey’s Anatomy speaks. “We’re in this Wild West period. You can put stories anywhere. If we can get storytelling and technology to meet, the possibilities are endless.”

TED2017

8) Great!! writing advice from my friend and New York Times bestselling, Martin Dugard. “Commit. A writer must fully commit to his characters, going down the rabbit hole with them, whether into the darkness or the light. Buy the ticket, take the ride, or nothing you write will feel believable to the reader. One cannot tell a story properly by standing two steps back.” Marty’s latest New York Times bestseller is out now; about the Revolutionary War “explained like never before.” It is the seventh in the Killing series that he has penned with Bill O’Reilly. Number eight is already in the works. Yeah! Marty!

KILLING ENGLAND

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi

Sojourn Expeditions

In partnership with
Great Plains Conservation’s Wild Studio

Photographic Safari and Mindfulness Workshops
Kenya, November 23rd – December 2nd, 2017 | March 3rd – 8th, 2018
Botswana, Inquire About 2017 Dates | March 21st – March 28th, 2018

Great Plains Conservation’s Wild Studio was started by award-winning National Geographic filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert. Whether you are a pro or an amateur, you will have the extraordinary experience of photographing lions, leopards, elephants, and buffalo. Best part is that there will always be a veteran wildlife photographer there to give you tips on getting great shots. Leave with an amazing portfolio of your wildlife adventure. Africa has long been my favorite place in the world, and I look forward to sharing it with you. Please join the Wild Studio Team and me on a uniquely curated safari that will tap into your true inner-photographer.

View Kenya View Botswana

Greek Islands, May 25th – June 2nd, 2018 | Memorial Day Weekend
If you romanticize sailing and hiking the islands in the Aegean, then come along with me. Explore, meditate, do restorative yoga, energizing breathwork, eat great food, dance. Find your inner Zorba. Opa!

Learn more

Sojourn Programs

Happiness: The Art of Life Balance (Beta)
I am committed to helping those who sit in the overwhelm, continually feeling out of time, and always stressed. As a longtime TV producer, I have been there many times over and have spent the last eleven years studying what to do about it. My promise is to get you out of the crazy and into the happy. To do that, I have put together a program that can fit into anyone’s schedule and can be joined anytime. For a complimentary consultation, please contact me.

Learn More Book 50-Minute Phone Consultation

Personalized Teaching
Offering sessions in Mind-Body Centering (includes Restorative Yoga), Mindfulness Meditation, Primordial Sound Meditation, Prayer of the Heart Meditation. Available in-person or on Skype.

DETAILS CONTACT ME

Sojourn Cares

Puerto Rico Disaster Response | Global Communities, Partners for Good
This is a call for support. Drawing on a decade of experience in partnering with communities to recover after natural disasters, Global Communities has staff on the ground in Puerto Rico to provide limited emergency assistance while assessing immediate and longer-term needs resulting from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. They are seeking up to $10 million in resources to deliver significant, tangible reconstruction assistance warranted by the scale of the disaster. These funds will allow them to rebuild homes, local infrastructure, and livelihoods across an estimated twenty communities. To join their effort, please contact Ann Nicocelli-Bailey, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, 301.587.4700 | abailey@globalcommunities.org

Camino de Santiago Fundraiser | UCLA Neurosurgery
I recently returned from my sojourn along the Camino de Santiago. I did the last 100kms of the French Way as a fundraiser in support of UCLA Neurosurgery. It was a walk I have wanted to do for a few years, and fantastic in so many deeply meaningful ways.

Whether you can donate $10 or $100, it all counts. All funds are distributed through the Network For Good and the UCLA Foundation.

MORE DETAILS PLEASE DONATE

Happy Weekend! Love,
Maria and Team Sojourn
Learn More About Us | +800-869-0538

Follow Sojourn Explorers

Follow Picture Happiness