Happy Tuesday and welcome to Positive DONUT. If you’re one of the many, many Americans experiencing a winter storm, I hope you’re staying warm, safe, and cozy.

After another week of heavy news, I want to share this quote:

• “What do I do with all of this terrible news? Today, I will let it inflate my capacity to love. I will allow my heart to expand beyond what it’s grown accustomed to. My love will know no bounds. I will flood this new space with their stories, their cries, their songs, and in response, will do what love requires. I will go where love sends me. I will bring love back home. I will stay soft, and tender, and pliable. I will let this swelling heart make something new out of me.” –Danielle Coke Balfour​

I hope you're able to take a moment to find the little joys and feel the love—that’s what Positive DONUT is all about.

Have a fantastic week! 🥰

–Kailyn

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter should be a ~3.51 minute read (934 words).

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I exhale doubt. I breathe in peace.

In Los Angeles, a new kind of fire crew is fighting wildfires long before smoke ever hits the skylineby doing something surprisingly unglamorous: landscaping.

Meet Crew 4, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s first full-time, paid crew focused almost entirely on wildfire prevention. The team was created after the devastating 2025 fire season, which killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of homes in the area.

• Instead of racing toward flames, Crew 4 spends its days cutting them off at the source.
• Their work involves clearing brush, trimming back trees, and removing dry vegetation from high-risk areas to reduce fuel that can cause small sparks to turn into fast-moving infernos.

It's a different form of firefighting. Armed with chainsaws, hand tools, and wood chippers, Crew 4 takes on dense vegetation packed close to homes, roads, and hillsides. 

• Crew members complete a demanding training academy and train daily to stay ready for steep terrain and extreme conditions.
• The goal is simple: make it harder for fires to spread once they start.

If a wildfire does break out, Crew 4 shifts into response mode, digging fire lines and supporting active firefighting efforts. 

But LAFD leaders say their biggest impact happens long before sirens sound, through the slow, physical work of reshaping the landscape itself.

To get lasting results, for many, the solution is pairing medication with proven weight loss practices. Noom makes it easier to access clinician-guided weight loss medication online, and users lose 48% more weight with Noom Med than medication alone*.

You’ll get a personalized plan, ongoing clinician oversight, and simple tools to track progress — including in-app check-ins and expert-led lessons on mindful eating and goal setting. Treatment options start at $149, with micro-dose programs available from $99 for the first three weeks. If prescribed, medication can be shipped to your door in as little as 7 days.

A friendly robin made itself right at home on top of UK photographer Fay Wadworth’s camera during a chilly day at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

Fay initially thought the bird had gotten stuck in her hair and camera strap, which was why it didn't fly away. But after carefully untangling the robin, the little one stayed put for an impromptu photoshoot.

👶 A mom and her baby boy survived a high risk ectopic pregnancy with little complications, after their odds were pegged at “far, far less than 1 in a million.”

🎸 Trees damaged in last year’s Eaton Fire are being transformed into limited edition Fender guitars, with four to be auctioned off to help rebuild homes in the affected community.

☮️ Oxford Children’s Word of the Year for 2025 is "peace," in response to votes from ~5,000 children across the UK.

🦅 Just because it’s cute… Check out this video of a very excited California condor chick experiencing rain for the first time.

Practicing mindfulness doesn't need to take up much of your day; even just a few one-minute chunks can help establish the power of simple repetition.

Let’s give it a try. This TIME article outlines the simple practice of Active Noticing, a ~60-second mindfulness practice for when you need some grounding.

A step by step guide:

1. Pause and take one slow breath, extending the exhale.
2. Notice three things you can see, without labeling them as good or bad.
3. Notice two physical sensations in your body (such as your feet on the floor or the weight of your body in a chair).
4. End with a grounding statement: “This is what’s here right now.” Or: “This is what I notice right now.”

And that’s it! Give it a try now, and notice how different you feel after. Bonus points if you try it multiple times throughout your day.

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Welcome to What’s Your Win, the section of the newsletter where we celebrate all of the good news happening right here in our Positive DONUT community.

Check out the wins we received this week!

🥹 Allison G from Pennsylvania is proud of their son:

• “Every so often I get a reminder that I'm doing a good job parenting. My son, Frank, came home from school one day to tell us that a new student was starting in his grade (4th) the following day. He said that the new student uses a tablet to communicate with other people. Then, he said, ‘I want to talk to him and be friends with him. You know, make him feel welcome.’ He didn't see any issue with a different form of communication, he just wanted the new kid to feel comfortable. As a bonus, the next day he said all of his classmates ran up to the new boy during recess to ask if he wanted to play with them. I love how children so often just want to form new friendships and that they look out for each other, no matter what differences there are.”

🦷 Sie H. from Virginia is taking care of their health:

• “Finally got my wisdom teeth out after knowing it needed to be done and having some trouble for the past few years. Surgery went super well and recovery has been much easier than I expected!”

❤️‍🩹 Megan H is hopeful for their dad:

• Back in October 2024, I shared my win regarding my father’s health and his selection for a clinical trial. When I originally submitted that win, we were hopeful the trial would slow the progression of his disease. Unfortunately, over time my father’s condition continued to decline—slowly at first, and then rapidly during the holidays. He went from using supplemental oxygen occasionally to requiring it 24/7, and everyday tasks that many of us take for granted became increasingly difficult. With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, the scarring of the lungs is progressive and irreversible. As the lung tissue hardens, oxygen is no longer able to properly enter the bloodstream. My father reached end-stage lung disease, and our spirits were understandably low as the clinical trial and other treatments were unsuccessful in slowing the scarring. Today, however, everything changed. My father was officially placed on the waiting list for a double lung transplant. After months of uncertainty and heartbreak, we now have renewed hope. This moment reminds us that even during the darkest times, good things can still happen. Because of this opportunity, my dad has a chance to live a fuller, more meaningful life—and to return to doing the things he loves most.”

Even if you've been celebrated before, we'd love to keep receiving good news from you, so please don't hesitate to participate!

✍️✨ Got the journaling bug? What if I told you committing to it for just five minutes/day could change your life? More gratitude, deeper mindfulness, higher self awareness… meet the 5 Minute Journal.

📧💡 Your inbox deserves a breather. Meet Stretch Break, InHerSight’s wellness newsletter filled with cozy reads, creative resets, and zero doomscrolling. Take a break with us.

💡 In partnership with our friends at InHerSight

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1. What surprising characteristic is shared by bananas, watermelons, pumpkins, avocados, and tomatoes?
2. What was the first Pixar movie ever released?
3. True or false: A sloth can hold its breath for up to ~40 minutes

(Keep scrolling for the answers)

Whether you had an energizing conversation with a friend, beat a sickness, met a milestone at work, or even just booked a dream trip, we want to hear about it.

There is always something to be grateful for, and no win too small. And who knows? Sharing a bit of positivity from your own life could inspire someone else to recognize the good in theirs🥰.

Submit your wins here for a chance to be featured in next week's newsletter. We want to celebrate you!

Share your accomplishments—big and small—here.

1. They're all technically classified as berries, because they develop from a single flower with one ovary and typically have several seeds.
2. Toy Story, which premiered on November 22, 1995.
3. False, though it's a common myth; the actual figure is ~15 minutes or less.

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