The Seastar of Spreading Goodness & Stroke Surviving; Anna Dravland

Anna Dravland is an incredible woman, survivor, and inspiration to all people. When Anna was 34 she suffered from a stroke that would change her life as she knew it. The same year of her stroke, just a few months before, she had launched her own non profit called Spread Goodness Day. Spread Goodness day happens the second Friday of every March, every year since 2018. The Seastar Goddess Tribe (The community this podcast supports) is 100% on board for getting involved with @spreadgoodnessday and we are looking forward to March more than ever now! It is a day to pick your favorite cause and do good around it.

Anna's gigantic heart and tenacity for taking what life handed her and allowing it to guide her, not destroy her, should be a message to us all in the time of covid. Spread goodness' tag line is "We're making the future so bright, you're going to need shades!" Being a young stroke survivor opened Anna's eyes to the misconceptions around disability for stroke survivors within the medical world and society, and since she was blessed enough to receive back her speech in her recovery, she's devoted to using her voice to spread awareness and kindness in all sorts of ways. We are thankful for her voice today and the amazing awareness she has brought to this podcast and our lives in just one conversation. Just because someone looks like they are not disabled, doesn't mean you can dismiss the needs that they communicate to others. Listen closely, humans, this might be more aligned with our current state of the planet than you may think.

Anna's mentality, daily posts of her dancing to stop suicide (suicide rates are double for survivors of brain injuries), and her amazing sense of understanding and compassion, are traits that we could all use a little more of in covid and during the holidays. This conversation is so inspiring it might bring you to tears or move you to action...hopefully both! We can't wait to see what is in store for this Seastar. Motivational speaking seems to be not only her calling but her soul purpose. For this disabled lady who doesn't let it diminish her light whatsoever, the sky is truly not even a limit! This holiday season, let this be a reminder that there is a lot to be grateful for, things can change forever in a single instant and to be kind to others.

Correction: The actual numbers for US jobs lost in September were 865,000 for women and 216,000 for men.

Anna recommends picking up the book Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolt Taylor or check out her Ted Talk here. She also recommended the film My Beautiful Broken Brain available on Netflix. Try using Overdrive to read for free. All you need is a library card! Write down and download all the book recommendations in this podcast for continued listening and exploration of this topic. Also head over to melrosemoney for the financial blog on this topic as well. Blog post numbers align with Podcast episode number.