In the late 1970s, there was a young girl living in communist Poland who felt hope and the possibility of change in the midst of fear and uncertainty. She attended demonstrations with her father, and through the eyes of a precocious ten year old, she witnessed an entire population defiantly marching in the streets despite the threatening presence of the military and water cannons. She watched her mom approach men in police uniforms as if they were regular people, and she recalls her ability to go straight to their hearts, puzzling and dismantling everyone’s perception of them as the “other”.

One morning, these police officers were in her home, ready to search every nook and cranny for evidence of her father’s involvement with the Polish Solidarity Movement against the communist government.  In open view next to her parent’s bed lay confidential documents for an underground newspaper run by her father. In response to the fearful situation, her mother asked the police officers, “You know it’s so early in the morning, I bet you haven’t had breakfast yet. Why don’t you join us for breakfast?”

Her mother’s act of courage and kindness in the face of fear completely disarmed these government officers. Letting their guard down for a moment, the young girl was allowed to “change her clothes for school”. Inspired by her mom’s actions, she sneaked into her parent’s room and hid those critical documents underneath her sweater, before smuggling them out of the house. She saved her father from years of imprisonment, and she experienced an incredibly empowering moment that shaped her own path.

Her father’s underground newspaper was a symbol of hope, essential to so many in the Solidarity Movement during an oppressive period of martial law. And the Solidarity Movement was integral to ending the Cold War and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.


The girl that saved her father and his underground newspaper, Ilonka Wloch, grew up to witness the negative ripples of September 11, 2001. Before the constant replay of the crumbling Twin Towers numbed the world, she had serendipitously come across something curious in the UK called Positive News: Inspiration for Change. It’s no wonder that soon after, Ilonka was encouraged to create the American edition of Positive News, a non-profit publication that reports the uplifting and inspirational stories often found in the midst of turmoil. On our July 7 Forest Call, she expressed,

“As a young girl, I witnessed so much social and political change, and that instilled in my heart a sense of what is possible and that we really can change the world. As an adult, I was reading the mainstream news almost everyday, but I realized that it made me feel hopeless and disempowered. Our vision for Positive News is to bring hope into the world, exemplifying solutions, and inspiring people to action.”



What exactly is “positive news”? Is it an unrealistic approach to information, saturated in naiveté? Is the world supposed to ignore our day to day realities, which are often infiltrated by violence and anger? In fact, Ilonka explained that Positive News highlights “negative” news all the time, spinning seemingly disempowering information on its head, and offering a solution. In a world where it seems that our society has become addicted to negative information tainted in anguish and a “throw your hands up” kind of despair, Positive News aims to create a balance by addressing problematic realities through the lens of possibility and change. The publication creates a complete paradigm shift that has ripples far and wide.

For example, in the Winter 2012 edition, Ilonka published a story about the Occupy Movement, the police raids, and “A Fierce Kind of Warrior”, which challenged readers to think about a compassionate solution that united the 99% and the 1% “other”.



And at a more local level, Positive News introduced readers to a nonprofit organization that transforms “food waste” into food abundance, and cares for elders through Respecting Our Elders. This article introduced thousands of new readers and food donors to the lovely couple, Curt Kinkead and Ruth Schwartz, who work tirelessly to provide quality food to the elderly population in Marin County. (You will have to listen to the audio recording to hear the wonderful story of how Ilonka met Curt while hitchhiking, which is one form of her community building "strategies":).



The reality is that positive news empowers the reader to think about and be proactive about actual solutions. In contrast, mainstream news has a tendency to present one negative piece of information after another, resulting in a “numbing effect” that is both disempowering and disengaging. Clicking through one negative news headline after another ends up becoming a disturbing form of entertainment or an intellectual exercise, instead of serving the original purpose of news, which is to be informative and empowering.

“There are some horrific things happening in the world and we want people to do something about that but what I have noticed, and this is backed up by research that I have followed over the years, is that when we are exposed to hurtful information, certain part of our brains literally shut down. We cannot take it anymore and it creates overload and indifference. When exposed to hurtful information, I want people to not shut down and be able to process the information in a constructive way that leads toward creating change.”

Once while Ilonka was attending Presidential impeachment proceedings, she noticed that everyone in the room was frustrated and upset. She decided to ask a Senator, “In light of the situation, what do you find hopeful in the world today?” The Senator created a beautiful vision for what he would like to see happen in the world, shifted the dynamic in the entire room, and his vision ended up becoming the headline for all the local newspapers.

Other individuals, such as a 93 year old woman that had been an activist her entire life, sent a handwritten note with a check for $1000 to Positive News, when she learned that it might not continue due to financial challenges. On top of the large check, she included a smaller amount for her own bundle of Positive News, which she distributes in her neighborhood!

“I think I have one of the best jobs in the world because seeking out and writing about positive news also impacts my own consciousness on a daily basis. When I first started to publish Positive News, I wasn’t sure how I would fill up the paper, but now I see that there is so much positive news out there, one of our biggest dilemmas is actually how to fit it all into our newspaper! Because of this practice, I have fine tuned my antenna towards the positive and it’s just flowing in all the time.”

In fact, the creation of Positive News every quarter is a form of spiritual practice for Ilonka, tied with her relationship to money. She explained that whenever she is really intent on doing something, she just throws herself into it, not really thinking about whether there is enough money to do it. Ilonka has faith that if this something is really useful and meant to happen, the universe will make it easy and possible. She says this even as she experiences the edge of living without financial security on a daily basis. But positive ripples result from her faith in the positive. At one point, she didn’t think there would be enough money for the 2012 Fall edition but now there is. It just works out “somehow”.

Ilonka’s relationship to money is indeed unique. Viewing it as another form of energy, instead of arm twisting people into paying for advertisements in her paper, Ilonka coaches them to follow their hearts and say no before they are sure if they want to say yes! So when she approaches individuals about placing ads, she never has an attachment to their response, whether it’s positive or negative.

Following her heart is how Ilonka has lived her entire life and it has caused ripples upon ripples. Her dream the night before the Forest Call was about becoming friends with a stranger who initially seemed intimidating and scary.

“I woke up with that strong sense in my heart that our whole life, in this waking or dreaming world, is just like that. If you just remember to lighten up, that in some sense this is also a dream, anything is possible. One of my favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein, and he said that, ‘The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe’. I come from the perspective that there is a lot of friendliness around. Even in the face of animosity, I go for friendliness.”

Indeed, because of gifts like Positive News, people are inspired to view the universe through a lens of friendliness more often than not:).