National Network for Equitable Library Service

Let go of negativity. Start seeing the good in the world to become the good in the world. Today's climate constantly bombards us with all the reasons why we're doomed. From politics to business to current events and more, there's always the inevitable headline of bad news. Combined with the challenges and obstacles that each of us face as we journey through life, it's enough to create a cloud over our world, affecting how we approach the people around us, as well as the goals and dreams we have for our lives. Yet every movement, invention, solution, or positive change started with the belief that there's something better out there. Through her story of overcoming personal challenges that threatened to derail her family's future, author and speaker Jess Ekstrom shares with readers how she learned to focus on the good in the world, even in the midst of circumstances that make most stop trusting, stop risking, and stop imagining the best for themselves. Chasing the Bright Side is Jess's story of how she learned to anchor herself in optimism, treating it as a trained muscle, in order to start trusting again, start taking risks again, and start reimagining the best for herself and the world. All of this led Jess to see a need and meet it, creating the Headbands of Hope, which has given away headbands to children with cancer in every hospital in America and in fifteen countries since 2012. It's Jess's hope that her story and what she's learned along the way will inspire readers to lean into optimism, reimagine their purpose, and go forth to create more good in the world.