365 Squarey Monsters: A Simple Antidote to the Winter Blues

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By now, winter is probably wearing on you. If you're in the Northeast like me, those long stretches of sub-freezing temperatures can test anyone's patience. Even if you live in a warmer climate, winter still has a way of lingering with short days that no 72-degree day can shake.

This stretch can weigh on our mental health. Scientists call it seasonal affective disorder, but most of us simply know it as the winter blues. It feels heavier against the backdrop of a broader loneliness epidemic, as our digital lives increasingly leave many with fewer close friendships.

The encouraging news is that relief does not require a dramatic overhaul. It often begins with a simple act of kindness, such as making a phone call just to check in, sending a note without occasion, holding the door, or buying coffee for the person behind you in line.

Gestures like these may seem small, yet they can interrupt isolation and restore a sense of connection. In a season marked by cold and early darkness, kindness creates a warmth that builds gradually and reaches farther than we expect.

A week to put kindness to the test

This week gives us a timely invitation to practice kindness: Today (Feb. 15) marks the start of National Kindness Week. Since 1995, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has encouraged people to see what happens when they choose generosity on purpose.

Science supports the instinct. Research shows that people who act kindly — motivated by a genuine desire to help — report greater happiness and self-esteem, along with lower stress. For those navigating anxiety or depression, shifting attention toward helping others can interrupt cycles of rumination and restore a sense of agency.

The Mayo Clinic notes that acts of kindness activate the brain's reward systems while also easing loneliness, which is an essential step in confronting the broader isolation many communities are experiencing. Decades of research affirm that strong social bonds are closely linked to longer, healthier lives.

The lighter side of the season

Some of the most enduring acts of kindness come from people we never get to know. They just choose to help, without any expectation of recognition or return. What they offer lingers far beyond the encounter itself and is remembered long after the moment passes.

Barbara recalls slipping on an icy sidewalk during a winter storm years ago. "Just before a face plant, two people grabbed my arms and pulled me back," she wrote. "I never even looked at my helpers." She walked away unhurt — and still grateful.

Mary was going through a painful divorce when her water heater broke. Standing alone in a hardware store parking lot, she wasn't sure how she'd get it home. "A kind gentleman saw what I was doing," she said. "He offered to deliver it inside my garage. He wouldn't take money — only my prayers."

Sandra experienced kindness in the middle of crisis. While on vacation, her car broke down and caught fire in an unfamiliar city. "A lady coming out of a store asked what she could do to help," she wrote. That stranger called the fire department, arranged a tow, and drove Sandra and her husband 20 miles to their hotel. "She was our guardian angel."

Kindness, paid forward

Kindness rarely stops where it starts. Given freely, it has a way of circling back — sometimes through another person, sometimes through a moment that feels almost impossible to explain.

Julie remembers stepping in at a crowded grocery store when a woman's debit card was declined. "I leaned over and told the cashier to add everything back and that I would pay for her order," she wrote. The next day, the woman appeared at Julie's home with flowers and a treat for her cat. "She said she was going to pay my kindness forward."

Cathy remembers helping a coworker in a wheelchair during a stormy commute. "I have difficulty walking myself," she wrote, "but I stopped to try and help him." At the time, it felt small, but later she realized how much it mattered. "It made me want to do good at all times."

The momentum of kindness

The ripple effects are what make kindness so powerful, especially in seasons when the days feel heavy or the world feels divided. None of it requires perfect timing or grand gestures. It simply requires seizing the opportunity to be kind.

When we choose to show up for one another, a burden grows lighter and someone feels less alone. That small shift can begin a chain of generosity we may never see unfold, yet it continues to carry the spirit of the original act forward.

Kindness reminds us, again and again, that we're more connected than we realize.

All the best,

What happens when heartbreak becomes clarity, and resilience becomes a calling?

In this episode of Celebrate Your Story, Emily Goodson shares the journey that led her from a childhood brain injury to becoming an author and advocate for disability inclusion. She reflects on what it meant to grow up in a body that felt different from those around her, the years wrestling with self-doubt, and the moment she chose to speak openly about dating.

Her 2022 Los Angeles Times essay about dating as a disabled woman sparked a powerful response and ultimately became a book that is already resonating with readers who see themselves in her story. Emily talks openly about the work of self-acceptance, the courage it takes to be vulnerable in relationships, and the responsibility she now feels to be the voice she once needed.

This conversation also speaks to the universal desire to be valued and understood. It reminds us that purpose often grows from the experiences that challenge us most.

If you've ever wondered whether your own experiences could help someone else, you'll find encouragement here. Emily's story is a reminder that when we show up honestly, we give others permission to do the same.

This week's episode of Power & Impact is a wide-ranging conversation with Perry Ellis International CEO Oscar Feldenkreis about immigration, entrepreneurship, family legacy, and how businesses adapt across generations.

During our conversation, Oscar draws on his Cuban-American roots and a family history shaped by displacement and resilience to reflect on how that background continues to inform his definition of success, leadership, and responsibility.

He traces the evolution of his business — from early efforts to serve the Hispanic consumer with culturally specific shirts like guayaberas to building and repositioning globally recognized brands such as Perry Ellis. Along the way, Oscar shares candid lessons from navigating public markets, activist investors, and the decision to take the company private.

50 Years In: A business built on kindness

As 1-800-Flowers.com marks its 50th anniversary, I've found myself thinking less about milestones and more about moments — the small, human ones that explain why our story is still being written. In the spirit of this week, here's a story about kindness.

When I look back on five decades in business, several themes stand out — resilience, relationships, and innovation. Woven through them all is kindness: the care our customers share with loved ones and, at times, the generosity of the people who help deliver it.

I think about the early days, not long after we began using the 1-800-Flowers number. In the thick of Valentine's season, I went searching for Gloria, one of our call center supervisors. She looked exhausted. For three hours, she'd been trying to deliver flowers to a customer's sick aunt in a small town outside Pittsburgh. There were no florists able to make the long drive.

Gloria didn't give up. She tracked down the local police officer — who also happened to own the town's hardware store. He told her the woman lived near his uncle's farm and agreed to deliver the arrangement himself. We had the bouquet sent to the police station, and he took it from there.

The next day, we received a note from the recipient: "You didn't just make my day or my week or my month. You and my wonderful nephew made my whole year!"

That spirit hasn't changed.

Not long ago, a customer ordered one of our tabletop holiday trees, not realizing it was a floral arrangement rather than a live tree. When it arrived, they were disappointed. The florist could have pointed to the product description or explained the misunderstanding.

Instead, the florist went out, purchased a real Christmas tree, and delivered it the very same day. "That's not something we expect," florist relations director Julia Schramm told me, "but it says everything about the people behind our brand."

Honoring the caregivers in our community

National Caregivers Day, observed this year on Friday, Feb. 20, offers an opportunity to recognize the millions of people quietly caring for loved ones every single day. Caregiving is often invisible work, yet it sustains families and communities across the country.

Recent data show that tens of millions of Americans are providing unpaid care to aging parents, spouses, children with special needs, and other family members. As our population ages and people live longer with chronic conditions, caregiving is becoming a defining experience for an entire generation.

When I spoke with caregiving adviser and author Debbie Howard about her own experience caring for her mother, she described it as both life-changing and profoundly demanding. Even with a plan in place, she and her sisters found themselves navigating emotional strain, physical fatigue, and financial pressure.

Today, Debbie works to shift how we talk about caregiving, encouraging employers to build more flexible workplace policies and urging communities to better support those carrying this responsibility. Caregiving deserves more than a single day of recognition. It deserves ongoing understanding, practical support, and gratitude all year long.

A Valentine's visit to Good Day New York

Valentine's Day may be behind us, but I'm still thinking about a great morning on Fox 5's Good Day New York, where I joined Rosanna Scotto and Teresa Giudice to talk about this year's gifting trends and what makes the holiday so meaningful.

During the segment, I shared a quick demonstration on caring for the roses many of you received last week and reflected on five decades in the flower and gifting business. We also chatted about how Valentine's has changed over the years, and why the desire to connect never does.

Sunday, February 15, 2026

A Simple Antidote to the Winter Blues

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