The Chicago Cubs World Series win is the election distraction America needs.

Sometimes we just need moments of pure joy.

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It had been 108 years since the Chicago Cubs won the World Series — the longest championship drought not just in baseball, but in all of U.S. pro sports.

On Wednesday night, the team defeated the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series, becoming champions for the first time since Roosevelt was president (Teddy, not Franklin).

The Cubs celebrate their first World Series in 108 years. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.

As a whole, the series — which saw Cleveland jump ahead to a three-games-to-one advantage before Chicago came back to win three in a row — was an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride.

It was also exactly what America needs right now.

Cubs fans celebrate outside Wrigley Field in Chicago. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

This year's presidential election has been brutal, seemingly endless, and inescapable. The World Series was the perfect distraction from it all.

Odds are that if you're planning on casting a ballot on Nov. 8, you already know who you're going to vote for. At this point, no amount of talk of which candidates sent what emails or who grabs women where is likely to persuade you. Still, the next several days will be full of these messages, perhaps even more intense than ever before.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.

It's exhausting, it's anxiety-inducing, and it's stressful.

Short of turning off your TV, unplugging your computer, avoiding newspapers, and logging out of your social media accounts, there's not much you can do to escape it. That's why life's little joys — even something as simple as a baseball game — are so needed right now. Sure, it's temporary relief, but it's meaningful.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo celebrates a run in the fourth inning. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.

Joy helps us navigate the world in trying times. It doesn't erase the bad, but it provides needed balance.

"At its best, sports provides a glimpse of us at our best — fair competition among companions for glory of something larger than ourselves," tweeted Ana Marie Cox, a journalist who has been covering the presidential campaign for MTV. "But even the greatest moments in sports don't undo or cancel out or counter us at our worst. And there's a lot of worst going around [right now]."

Just a day earlier, Cox published a heartfelt message about how this year's campaign — and more specifically, the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency — led her to question her religious faith. In trying times, there's nothing wrong with escaping into a world of temporary joy. Joy gives us relief. Joy gives us perspective.

Actor and Cubs fan Bill Murray reacts on the field after the Chicago Cubs won Game 7. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.

Even if you're not a Cubs fan, a baseball fan, or even a sports fan — this joy is for you, too.

We've earned it. We've all earned it. We shouldn't need to be made to feel perpetually anxious, and if reveling in a baseball game helps break that cycle, that's wonderful.

Maybe your joy comes from something else, like a favorite movie, a book, or a song. If that's the case, try to take a moment sometime in these next few days to let yourself experience what it is that brings you joy. You've earned it.

Find your joy, whatever it may be.

All the Way

Today is our day. #FlyTheW

Posted by Chicago Cubs on Thursday, November 3, 2016

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A 15-year-old interviewed her mother with a disability. Here's their powerful exchange.

There are no rules as to what makes up a loving family.

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Meet Bonnie Brown. She's a single mother who works at Wendy's to help support her teenaged daughter. She also has a disability.

Recently, Bonnie was interviewed by her 15-year-old daughter, Myra, for a StoryCorps video where she opened up about what it's like to be a single parent who is intellectually disabled.

Amazingly, this conversation manages to put that sometimes indescribable bond between a mother and her daughter into words. It also highlights the protective nature of their relationship.

"There were times when we would go out, and people would just blatantly stare, and I would say something," Myra says in the video.

Every mother-daughter relationship has its ups and down, of course, just like any other relationship. But for this pair, Bonnie's disability is just one of the things that makes up who they are. We all have stuff to carry, and this is something they both carry, together.

Watch the moving conversation between this mother and her daughter in the video below:

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Hi, coffee lovers! A new app helps you buy a cup for friends, family, and strangers.

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There's just something innately special about a hot cup of coffee.

Mmmmmmmm. Image via Camila Tamara Silva Sepúlveda/Flickr.

(Or a cold one! Iced lattes are awesome too, if that's more your speed.)

Coffee obviously picks you up when you have a case of the sleepyheads. But if you think about it, it picks you up emotionally as well. I mean, why else are coffee breaks and coffee dates a thing?

And remember that story about the Starbucks employee paying it forward and giving free cups of coffee to Chelsea first responders? Surefire pick-me-up!

Well, one savvy entrepreneur is looking to blend the special something that coffee brings into an amazing app.

It's called Nack and it lets you buy coffee for anyone, anywhere. It's the brainchild of Paul Haun, a Rhode Island native who quit his job in finance to grow his new innovation full-time. He credits his cousin, former NHL player Tom Cavanagh, who sadly passed away in 2011, for inspiring him to pursue his passion.

Interestingly enough, he came up with the idea for Nack thanks to — you guessed it — a coffee run.

All images via Nack, used with permission.

"I would always think to grab a cup of coffee for a friend, assistant, or client, but asking and remembering how they like it is a hassle," says Haun. "By the time someone responds to a text or a quick call, it’s too late."

After noticing this gap in the market, Haun set out to create an app that saves your coffee preferences for those exact kinds of moments. But something was still missing. Haun was looking for a better hook to make Nack a bigger part of anyone's sacred coffee routine.

The idea? Why not offer free coffee? And even better, why not be able to send it to anyone?

Nack is all about spreading kindness and supplying random acts of coffee.

The app allows you to send coffee to a friend, family member, or coworker — all you do is pay for it in the app and the recipient can claim their coffee from select partners based on their preferences. The app also allows you to leave random coffee for anyone to claim or even send one to a complete stranger. Haun describes it as sort of a digital way to buy coffee for the person behind you in line.

"Say you're in the drive-thru and you say, 'Hey, I'll grab this guy's coffee.' Doesn't matter if the guy's driving a Mercedes. You just feel like, 'Hey, this guy doesn't know what's coming. I'm just going to perform this random act of kindness,'" Haun describes.

"Well, in the app, you can perform a random act of coffee and we have an algorithm and it goes to a random Nack user and you’re told when and where that coffee gets redeemed."

The best part? You can even include a little message from the heart.

Thanks to tech like this, it's now that much easier to brighten someone else's day.

"We’re going to start to eventually give users some more options where you could say, 'I want to gift a random coffee to a person in this state, a random male or female,'" says Haun.

But Nack isn't stopping there.

"We’re working here now in my hometown in Rhode Island where now users are going to be able to gift a coffee to a random teacher, a random police officer, a fireman. We’re working with the city departments now to make that happen," adds Haun.

"It’s all about sharing random acts of kindness."

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Have 5 minutes? Playing with these apps actually makes other people's lives better.

An artist made a two-sided painting, strapped it to a truck, and drove it to Trump Tower.

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Artist David Datuna isn't the only American who's sick of this election, but he might be the only one who's taking matters into his own hands by strapping two giant paintings to a trailer and driving them all over the country.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

The title of the piece, which has made appearances in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., comes from a combination of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's campaign slogans — and is the message Datuna hopes to send to voters: Make America Stronger Together.

"I couldn’t keep silent anymore," Datuna wrote in a statement. "My 10-year-old son is watching, the children of the world are watching and we deserve better. After this election is over we must Make America Stronger Together by coming together as one."

The truck's first stop in New York City? Trump Tower.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

Datuna also brought the piece to Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C., in addition to the National Mall.

On one side, a series of plastic hands form the letters "SOS," representing a nation in distress.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

On the other, the hands make the word "ONE," which Datuna describes as a call for unity.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

Datuna, who was born in Soviet Georgia, explained in his statement that while "art and politics have always had a storied relationship," the current political climate put him in a dark place emotionally.

The sculptures were, in part, an attempt to generate hope from that darkness, by reminding Americans what they have in common.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

Datuna plans to continue touring and expanding the piece. On Halloween, he did just that, flying by the Statue of Liberty on a plane painted with images of Clinton and Trump.

Which raises the question:

After all we've been through this year, can a piece of art really bring us together?

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

Americans seem more divided than ever. It's hard to imagine a couple of paintings and an SUV will make the difference. But Datuna is trying to find out.

And that's far better than the alternative.

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The Maoris just took Standing Rock solidarity up a notch with their viral war dance.

This is the time for war cries.

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A recent wave of support seems to be reviving spirits in Standing Rock, North Dakota, as pipeline protests continue.

Photo by Robyn Beck/Getty Images.

Since Aug. 22, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, along with many protestors, have stood their ground protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline — a 1,172-mile pipeline that will pump oil dangerously close to the tribe's water supply. Despite the fact that protestors have by and large remained peaceful "protectors of the water," authorities have injured many and arrested hundreds.

But the world's been watching, and people across the globe refuse to just sit by and witness the inhumane treatment these protestors are experiencing simply for trying to protect their land.

Support is being sent in many forms — from the tangible to the virtual.

Photo by Robyn Beck/Getty Images.

In just the past week, hundreds of thousands of people on Facebook "checked in" to Standing Rock to help protect protestors from possibly being tracked by law enforcement. A crowdfunding campaign to help with legal and camp costs that had a goal of $5,000 just broke $1 million. Actor Mark Ruffalo delivered solar panels to the protest grounds so they had access to sustainable energy.  

One of the more resonant reinforcements to date, however, was a powerful, visual message of solidarity from the Māori — the indigenous people of New Zealand.

Māori people performing the haka at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Photo via Tylee Hudson/Facebook, used with permission.

These Māori people are doing a haka — a dance and war cry traditionally performed on the battlefield, but it is often done today as an expression of pride, unity, and strength. According to Tylee Hudson who shot the video, this group was doing an Utaina haka, which specifically symbolizes working together for the greater good.

He said he hopes the haka will remind his indigenous brethren that they're not alone in this fight. The video has more than 900,000 views. Other similar videos, like one of a man performing a haka on the front lines at Standing Rock, have started popping up too.

The message of unity across tribes has been sent loud and clear.

And thanks to Facebook groups like Haka Standing with Standing Rock, with its over 27,000 members, that message will continue to reverberate around the world. As their haka declares in its first line, "The challenge has been laid down." Now it's time for others to pick up the gauntlet and join the fight.

But the haka is more than just a battle cry and more than just a powerful expression of solidarity. It's a whole culture of people standing behind a cause that's all too familiar to them.

Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images.

The Māori tribes, like so many tribes in America and around the world, have experienced oppression akin to what the Sioux are going through at Standing Rock.

Hudson is a member of the Ngati Awa and Tūhoe Māori tribes, which he says are no strangers to government pushback.

"Our role as kaitiaki, or guardians of the land, and tino rangatiratanga, the right to self-determination, is forever contested and challenged by the government," Hudson wrote in an email. Māori tribes often debate settlements with the government over land and rights, a common tale for most indigenous people.

It's one reason so many different indigenous tribes have joined the Sioux in their fight at Standing Rock. They, more than most, know what it's like to have their rights ignored and ultimately overthrown.

Photo by Jim Watson/Getty Images.

There is, however, a sliver of hope in all of this unfair treatment.

Efforts made by the Māori recently resulted in a settlement with the New Zealand government wherein human rights were granted to the Te Urewera rainforest. It's just one example of a government recognizing the importance of the land not only to the people living on it, but to the world as a whole.

It will be much tougher for the Sioux to gain ground against Energy Transfer Partners, the private company funding the pipeline. But, they've got an army of support that is fed up with this injustice and growing stronger by the day. In fact, a $2.5 million donation was reportedly just made by an anonymous donor to release everyone who's been arrested at Standing Rock.

There are many ways you too can show support without heading to the front lines.

Photo by Jim Watson/Getty Images.

You can sign this Change.org petition to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. You can donate to the Sacred Stone legal defense fund, as the legal battle over DAPL is ongoing. You can also send specific, much needed supplies to the campground. Or join the Haka Standing with Standing Rock group to find out more and to enjoy the performative spirit of those uploading their own haka to show support.

The Sioux, like the Māori, and indigenous people all over the world, are fighting a war they've been fighting since colonization of their lands began. It's the fight to be treated fairly rather than pushed aside as they have been for centuries.

It's time for all of us, indigenous people or not, to stand behind them in any way we can, and shout to the powers that be with all our might — this is not how you treat people, is not how you treat the land, and this is not how you treat a culture.

There are few battles that warrant impassioned war cries more.

Watch the full Māori haka here:

Māori Solidarity with Standing Rock Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi #standingwithstandingrock

Posted by Tylee Hudson on Saturday, October 29, 2016

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Unimaginable trauma and cruelty didn't break them. Their letters will tell you why.

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When it comes to sending a message to someone you love, nothing lasts like a letter.

Notes that are written by hand, that we can hold in our own, are so powerful. We can feel the weight of the paper, the texture of the ink, and see the emotion carried through the pen from the hand of the person who wrote it. This is especially true with a message of peace.

Earlier this year, the Paper and Packaging — How Life Unfolds^TM campaign reached out to people across America who had endured unimaginable trauma and cruelty. They survived terrorist attacks, school shootings, and the horrors of human trafficking. One was bullied relentlessly for much of her young life. Another lost a family member to suicide. They faced devastating, life-altering challenges and somehow came out with their faith in humanity intact.

Each of these survivors was asked to handwrite a one-page letter to the world, sharing their story — and their message of peace.

Watch the powerful, emotional video here:

Hardly anyone grows up expecting to endure hardship and tragedy. Asia Graves never did.

From ages 16-18, she was sold in cities along the U.S. East Coast, a victim of human trafficking. Though she eventually escaped and worked with the FBI to bring some of her attackers to justice, the pain, anger, and trauma remained. "I always thought that no person on this planet would ever love me and that I was worthless in the eyes of everyone around me," she writes in her letter. "But when I started to love myself, flaws and all, I was able to recognize the love and compassion in others."

For years, Jodee Blanco was continuously bullied and ostracized by her classmates for being different.

Jodee Blanco. All images via Letters of Peace/YouTube.

Through forgiveness and reflection, she's learned to welcome those same people back into her life. "I learned the ability to forgive is the greatest gift you can give yourself and others," she writes. "If there's a painful memory you can't erase, instead of letting it consume you, turn your pain into purpose."

Cliff Molak, whose younger brother David committed suicide to escape cyberbullying, agrees.

"The only way to end suffering in this nation ... is not to highlight differences between groups of people, but to focus on the importance of accountability and character."

Anti-bullying activist Cliff Molak.

Heather Egeland, a survivor of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, experienced grief and depression for years. Remembering that our world is interconnected helped bring her back.

"I believe that if we took the time to notice, we'd see we're infinitely more connected by our similarities than divided by our differences," she writes. "The truth is none of us are alone. All we have to do is take notice."

Patrick Downes was at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon when the first bomb exploded. He lost his leg as a result of the explosion, but not his faith in the world.

Boston Marathon bombing survivor Patrick Downes.

"Some might say that we in Boston were victims of violence, but I see us as ambassadors for peace," he writes. "The smallest and largest signs of peace send a message that peaceful and caring societies will always triumph over those who attempt to break us apart."

This year, especially, when so many dark moments seem to drown out the bright, sharing handwritten letters from the heart can make a difference.

If you are inspired by these stories, please share your own. Find a quiet corner, a fresh piece of paper, and a pen, and sit down to craft your own handwritten letter of peace to the world. Send it to one person or the world, sharing on social media with the hashtag #lettersofpeace.

As Patrick Downes powerfully ends his letter: "Hate will always fall victim to love. My town, family, wife and I choose love.”

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