DIANE SHIFFER: EPISODE LINK

BOOK: LINK

TRANSCRIPT:

Colleen: Welcome back, everybody. It is season eight, and we could not think of a better guest to start our

show than Diane Shiffer

Your chubby vintage nana. Welcome to the show.

Diane Shiffer: Thank you so much. I’m so excited to have this chat

with you gals.

Colleen: Well, we’ve been enjoying your social media presence for several years now.

And you have a book called The Smallest of Joys, How to Create Your Own Magic. Let your best be

enough and find contentment exactly as you are. And Bridgett and I both read the book in one

sitting. It’s just. Just so many beautiful pearls of wisdom in the book.

And my first question to you, because I think it’s a great story, is how you weren’t exactly

completely knowledgeable on social media, but you it’s your first chapter. You just got started.

Can we talk about how you got started?

Diane Shiffer:  Well, I’ve been on Instagram for many, many,

many years. OK, but I had the very typical. you know, mom boomer type account.

And back at the very beginning of the pandemic in spring of 2020,

I hit a thousand followers, like 1000, right? Four digits,

right? And so I posted a video or not a video.

I did a post, you know, very self-deprecating, like, wow, I’ve hit the big time, four digits,

you know, thank you to all the little people and like that. And A friend of mine,

whose husband is a big YouTuber, he has millions of followers on YouTube,

she messaged me and she said, I know that you were joking, but I think you really could be

successful on social media. And she encouraged me to… start

up a TikTok account, I didn’t even have one, and start doing videos.

And she said, do a video every day for the summer. And I was like,

well, I can’t do a video every day, but I could do every weekday, right? So that’s what I did.

I put up my first video the next day. It was a gripping shot of a  mason jar of lavender

lemonade on my porch, right? And I think I got 237 views or something like that.

And I thought that was amazing. I was ecstatic, right?

And so I’m sort of sitting on my laurels all day long. And then back,

 later that day,

I realized, oh my gosh, I have to do another video tomorrow morning, right? And,

you know, so much for content planning. And my son was taking me out for ice cream.

I was sitting in the front seat of his truck and he had run back into the house for something as

I’m frantically scrolling through my phone looking for any scrap of video I could put up.

And I came across a video of myself doing my hair.

A friend had asked me if I could videotape myself doing my hair so she could. trying my hairstyle.

I had accidentally shot it in time lapse. And so it was short enough, right?

So I put that up. And as I’m sitting in the front seat

of the truck, waiting for my son to come outside, I’m doing the voiceover, just doing the

voiceover. One take, you can hear the car radio in the background.

You can hear at the end of it, you can hear the screen door slam as my son runs out.

right? And anyways, I just put it up and was happy I had something to put up.

And that post, for some reason, you know how you never know what’s going to hit,

right? And that post hit and it got millions of views.

And so that was the start. So I was very, very fortunate in that because it gave me like 50,000

followers immediately. And a very kind and tolerant viewership.

Bridgett: I was trying to think when I came across you the first time.

And I don’t know if it was, maybe it was that hair one, or it could just be your dresses or your

clothes. Something just struck me and it could have been just something that I needed.

It could have been one of your jadeite cups of coffee. I don’t know what it was,

but something just struck me that, oh, I need this right now. And it could have been the time to

like 2020 was an odd time, but it really struck me.

And I think it’s your voice. It’s your voice is so soothing. Have you always spoke like that?

Diane Shiffer: You know something? My voice to me is actually rather irritating.

I never thought of my voice as anything even remotely unique at all.

And like my daughter has a friend who loves listening to my… my content uh before she goes to

sleep at night she listens to it as she goes off because of my voice and she said something to my

daughter, my daughter said “I don’t know, it’s just my mom’s voice you know it’s nothing special it’s

just my mom’s voice” so yeah.

Colleen: well i think 2 million plus people would disagree with that.

Bridgett: It’s like the storytelling though. It is the storytelling and the, and the words you use.

And you were a teacher. I was a teacher. Maybe that it’s, but I think it’s just,

well, 2 million people, you know, it definitely filled some need that people,

that people have.

Diane Shiffer: I’m very, very fortunate in that.

The people that follow me are almost universally just the kindest, sweetest,

most wonderful people. And they have encouraged me.

I often say, you know, like with the book and things like that, my name is on the cover,

but it’s really everybody that has carried me through this whole time,

this whole endeavor.

Yeah, it’s just, I’m very fortunate. I’m very, very fortunate and very blessed.

And I know it. I know it. Grateful.

Colleen: You do say in the book that some of your family was like,

you know, I’m not sure that you want to step into this because of the negative commentary that you

get, a lot of the criticism. But your audience has really been, other than a few outliers,

very sweet and almost saying, I need this right now. Thank you for filling a void in my life.

And did that surprise you?

Diane Shiffer:  It did surprise me because I went into it and,

you know, like everybody does warn you and they all those warnings were very kindly meant.

They all had my best interest. You know, they know I’m a softie. Right. And they sort of

thought that. You know, there’s a lot of things to make fun of about me.

You know, I’m old. I’m chubby. I have a missing tooth on this side. I get mixed up on which side.

But, you know, I’ve never had the even the unkind comments that I’ve had have never been anything,

any of those things. Right. The things people get. And I understand why they get upset,

but like I’m very vocally anti-Trump,

very vocally pro-LGBTQIA+ issues and advocacy and other things in that vein.

And so a lot of traditionally conservative MAGA type people get very.

very upset by my content. And I think they feel, many of them feel sort of tricked or betrayed

because they tune into my content and they see me looking the way I look,

you know, this chubby old white lady in my little vintage house. And so they assume that I am

conservative. And so when they realize I’m not,

they… become a little upset.

Bridgett:  yeah yeah , you know I look like I wear my Lilly Pulitzer

clothes and people think that I’m a certain way and so I completely understand that, but I think

that’s what even made you even more endearing was We see this, but then we see you straightening

out your Pride flag with a broom. And then, you know, we see your Black Lives Matter button on.

And it just kind of, I don’t know, to me, personally, it brought more warmth to me. So like you

said, you’ll have the outliers. And one of them that touched me, there’s so many things you put up

that have really I just need this at this time. When you took Millen to vote and you said

we’re voting for kindness.

That that one really touched me because that was that was just like at the root of everything was

we just want some kindness.

Diane Shiffer: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And ironically, that was one of the posts that I got

the most.

negativity for. Really, a great deal of negativity so yeah and a lot of you know people even

like tried to report me for not taking proper care of her and stuff like that, which oh my gosh,

didn’t go anywhere of course, but still, you know people get very threatened You know,

especially when it’s somebody that they assume feels a certain way and then they don’t,

they can become very threatened. And I think they’re frightened and, you know,

that kind of thing.

Colleen: So you do talk about you have a whole chapter on how to address meanies,

mean people. And, you know. what I liked about it was yes you approach them with

kindness because that really takes them off guard because if you are truly sharing light and

happiness usually there’s something in their life that they are angry about and they can’t relate

to so it takes them off guard but you also say sometimes you’re just gonna get angry and that’s

okay.

Diane:  yes yes I do. One of the things I say is when I look at something online, is I assume

positive intent, you know, no matter what, how I’m reading it,

I try and take it back and assume positive intent and start there as the as the base from which to

formulate how I’m going to respond.  But the other side of the coin is,

you know, I am like I said before, I am a softie, but I also have

A spine like a cast iron skillet. You know what I mean? And so I will be kind and I will be

understanding and all of those things. But I also do have my boundaries.

 And that’s one of my videos. I talk about that. One of the videos I call it,

my kids call it my purge video. It’s another one where I’m doing my hair and I’m saying, you know,

there’s a lot of new people here. And welcome, you know, and I’m so happy you’re here.

But a lot of you are taken aback by, you know, you’re surprised to see my progressive views because

of the way I look. And, you know, in that video, I say,

you know, I can’t allow unkind talk or,

you know, like All Lives Matter and things like that. I can’t allow that because it wounds my

friends. And I won’t allow that here. And, but the way I addressed it,

I didn’t say, you know, get out, hit the road. I said, you know, if you, if you’re uncomfortable

with that, I completely understand and feel free to unfollow me, you know, you know,

and if you, you know, if you can live within the boundaries that I’ve laid out, then gosh,

I’m so happy you’re here, you know?

Colleen:  Yeah. So that, that kind of,

that kind of space in between the kindness and assuming positive intent and the,

the very firm boundaries. And I think that actually makes people feel safe.

Bridgett: Yeah. And I need to hear that. I forget that space between sometimes that I,

I need to do that, but that was something just throughout your whole book was also allowing

yourself, forgive yourself for things because nobody’s perfect right we all we all do things that

we regret and your in your book also just addresses like you know there’s times that when your

children were younger that money might have been tight and just finding the pleasure in little

things you know can you talk about some of the things that brought pleasure uh to you and your

children?

Diane Shiffer:  Well, maybe those situations were tight. Yeah. Yeah.  I remember one, the

situation that comes to mind at the top of my head with that was.

There’s a chapter about it called Potato Week. And we had,

you know, money was tight. And my daughter, Millen, was in the Special Olympics.

So we went to watch her. We were in the bleachers. And we were going to stop on the way home and do

the grocery shopping. So in my bag, I had my little envelope with $108,

which was my food budget for the week. And my meal plan on one side and my groceries.

list on the other. Well somebody took it out of my bag while we were at the Special Olympics and so

I was you know, what am I going to feed my kids all this week. Well I also had some vouchers from the

for the local farmers market that were um some kind of a promotion you know from the county

agricultural board or something I don’t even remember what it was but um So I took those vouchers

to the farmer’s market and I’m just looking for what can I get that’s going to have the biggest.

volume right and is going to be able to work for a whole week and I got like a 50 pound bag of

potatoes or some massive it was massive right and we ate potatoes all week  but we had so much

fun.  We tried to make it so that we did not eat the potatoes the same way more than once. We

had casseroles and potato pancakes and potato soup and all kinds of things like that.

And I took little scraps of, you know, a little bit of the end of a cheddar cheese that I had in

the fridge and applesauce from the cupboard.

That is one of our family’s favorite weeks. Like we’ll all be every,

you know, I would say every time we’re sitting around and just kind of reminiscing, one of the kids

will say, remember potato week, you know, and, and yeah. So it started out as a disaster,

but. It was wonderful.

Bridgett: Yeah. Made the best of it.

Diane Shiffer: Yes. Yes,

exactly. Made the best of it. That was it. Yeah. It didn’t take away the pain of having somebody

steal our money. It didn’t take away any of the difficulties,

really. But we made the best of it. And it turned out being just fine.

Colleen: You know,

you talk in the book, you have it divided into four seasons. So we talk about summer,

spring, winter, fall. And in each of those, you have such beautiful little tidbits of wisdom and

things that really kind of, you’ll be telling a story and then all of a sudden the sentence just

kind of hits and you’re like, oh, okay. That, you know, how to build joy in your life. How, you

know, you make a little list about that. How to kind of, you know. Your junk drawer can be a memory

drawer and creating that box of memories in your head. And because of that, I think it resonates so

much with everyone. It doesn’t really matter your political affiliation, your religious

affiliation. Kindness surpasses all of that. And I think people see that in you and feel that from

you. From a very young age, you felt different. Like all the things that are now your superpowers

were not superpowers as you were growing up. How did you come to discover that they were in fact

making you such a joyful person?

Diane Shiffer:  You know something? That’s a really good question.

I don’t think anybody’s ever asked me that before. I think it has been. You know,

having children myself was very transformative. I think any parent will tell you that,

right? But it made me, like, I was able to look at my children. And when we look at our children,

they’re so beautiful. They’re so wonderful. And it’s not that we’re not seeing their flaws, right?

We see their flaws perhaps more clearly than anybody else because of our concern for them and our

hopes for their future, right? But that seeing their flaws does not impact at all on their beauty

and their preciousness and, of course, the love we have for them. And I think that for me was very

transformative in how I began to look at myself, you know, instead of,

you know, I gradually not it wasn’t like some big, you know,

overnight thing. But I think gradually I was able to see myself not as graciously as I see my

children, but more in that direction, right? And ironically,

making the videos and having people be so kind and warm to me has been very affirming because you

know, all of my little quirks and things like that, that those have become the things that people

fall in love with.

Bridgett: Right. Absolutely.

Yeah. I mean, I think that’s what did it for me to just watching and, you know,

everybody has different stories, just watching what you do. And I think things that you have.

strike up childhood memories and I think that does that for so many people my parents were quite a

bit older.  I’m one of 12 children so I was I’m number 11 so it’s like you know my mother was 40 my dad was

46  when I was born and it just the jadeite cups that I was just looking at your windows and I said those windows

remind me of the windows in the house where I grew up and I think it’s just something about your

you. The robes and the blankets and that has always been something that you like, the

the napkins and the things that’s always something that you were attracted to. Did either of your parents, did they like that, or was there just something you

were attracted to?

Diane Shiffer:  it was just something I was attracted to. My parents were not particular they  They liked beautiful things and quality things, but not particularly.

They did like antiques, you know, like things that were hundreds of years old. But the sort of

vintage-y things was not something that they were particularly drawn to. And I honestly,

you know, there are some things I can think like a little picture book that my dad had as a child

that I was able to read. when I was a child, that the aesthetic and the illustrations were very

charming, always very charming to me. And my grandmother,

my nana, was a seamstress and she made beautiful,

you know, all of her entire wardrobe was gorgeous, handmade things, which always sort of veered

towards the… 1940s 50s styles even though it was 20 years later but yeah so those are things that

contributed to it, but I honestly don’t know what it was that like absolutely made me so passionate

about that.

Colleen:  yeah right and I do another kind of theme that resonates in the book is that as

you got older, and Bridgett and I talk about this all the time, that aging kind of frees us from a

lot of “what are other people going to think if I do this?” “ What are other people’s opinions?”

And we find that we don’t really, it’s none of our business what other people’s opinions are of us,

but our 20-year-old selves would not have felt that way. And do you feel like… Age combined

with now being a grand fluencer, that that gave you the freedom to kind of, because also you talk

about it being a simple joy. You don’t even have to leave the house. If you want to wear a vintage

dress, it’s for you. It’s not for anybody else. And do you feel like that kind of gave you

permission to step into that?

Diane Shiffer:  I know a lot of people, and it is true,

absolutely, 100%, that with aging comes a freedom. That is true.

But I also think that I have always been an outlier.

You know, I’ve always been an outlier. And so I’ve never I never had a lot of anxiety about being

different. Right. I mean, in my teen years, it was difficult.

Because that is such a closed social circle. My school was very small.

We had I think I had 24 kids in my graduating class. So it was a very small,

very tight little bubble. And so who’s in and who’s out is very clear.

And I would not ever want to act like I was, you know, 100 percent confident through my teen years

because I was not. But yeah, I think that,

when you’re somebody who always finds themselves sort of being an outlier,

sort of finding yourself, you’re always sort of outside of what people normally do,

right? That you do have to come to a point where you make peace with it you either you or I guess

you have a choice you’re either going to make peace with it and move forward or you’re going to um

um suppress those parts of yourself and yeah I never  was one to suppress

who I am.

 Bridgett:  And, you know, I think that was part of reading your book,

too, where embracing your weirdness. And it’s kind of also like some people

don’t need permission, but some people feel like they need permission to do that. But reading your

book almost, it’s like it was freeing. Like, there’s nothing wrong with me liking this or loving

Dolly Parton or whatever. You know, something like that. It doesn’t.

And how that just makes you happy when you embrace that.

And I, you know, I think that comes through in your video and definitely in your, in your videos

and in your book as well. It, it just kind of comes through the, it’s authentic that you really

love this and it’s making you happy. So it’s encouraging other people like,

well, go ahead and embrace what you really love and who cares what anybody else, if they like it or

they don’t. Yeah, that I wanted to bring another thing in your book that just,

it was a video that I saw. And I think you mentioned it in your book as well. Our, our family home

was being sold. And I lived there my 18 years, my family owned it since 1960.

And I think you put up about the lake, the lake cabin. Yes. Yeah.

Yes. I’ve shared that. I think this was a few years ago when you put it up. And I copied that and I

sent it to all my sisters. It was like, everybody, we need this right now.

But just, you know, things like that do happen. You do talk about changes.

Diane Shiffer: Yes.

And that was really hard because we’d been there for so many years. And we used to every,

I mean, I know a lot, most families don’t do this, but every month. we would take a weekend and we

would all go there every month and all through the year. So, yeah.

And so, but it became no longer safe for my mother. She’s very, extremely frail and elderly and it

just wasn’t safe for her anymore. So we had to, you know, let it go. And yeah.

Bridgett: It’s very hard because they tore down the house and it makes me so sad.

Yeah. Yeah. So it was very sad. And we, after my father passed,

my mother moved out, but she rented it to a family and, you know, it sold.

And so it was just like hanging on, but it does also, it’s hard emotionally,

but also makes me think that is a thing.

Even though the house seemed like a person to me, it tries to put it back in the perspective that

that’s an object and the memories are still there.

Diane Shiffer: And I think that’s part of it,

too, is looking when you’re looking ahead, realizing that the wonderful,

beautiful things that are behind me, there are wonderful, beautiful things ahead of me as well.

You know, you’re on the journey and it does hurt to let those things go,

but to try instead and shift your focus into looking ahead and being prepared and excited and

waiting for those wonderful things when they do come into your life.

Colleen: That kind of leads me into the

happy traps. You talk about in the book and videos. Can you talk about happy traps and why they’re

important to have?

Diane Shiffer:  OK, well, I was I started having doing the happy traps thing when and most of

those these things that I did are just there are things that when I was battling with depression

and anxiety and extreme overwhelm, there are little things,

little coping mechanisms that I made up right to get me through my days.

I remember doing happy traps, starting that thought when I was working as an administrator for,

I won’t mention the name of it, but a national preschool program. And it was,

administrating is not my gift. It’s not my gift. That’s okay.

I’m great with the kids. I’m great with the moms, the families, all that kind of stuff. But

administration is not my gift. So it was not a real good fit for me job-wise and it was so

stressful right so stressful and I remember the first one was I had this huge meeting that I had to

go to and present all this stuff and I was a nervous wreck about it right and so I queued up

 on my computer a video that I wanted to watch when I got home right, and so I kind of set that

for me so that when I walked in the door I could turn that on and just sort of let myself relax.

I knew that I would enjoy it you know, and um and as I was in that stressful meeting, I would

remind myself you know what you’re okay you get through this you’re going to get home and be able

to veg,  you know watch your video and it was so helpful. So I just did that in

a lot of other ways you know, like putting a little treat in the in my mitten,

 and then putting my mittens away. And then, you know, a week later when I take the mitten

out, there would be a little piece of candy in it or a little note or a little, you know, little

pin or sticker or something. Right. And it’s sort of a way of short circuiting that anxiety spiral.

Bridgett: Right.  Just the sit and stare time, too.

Diane Shiffer: Yeah. Which I love, too, because that’s the gift of the morning.

That was during that same period of time. And I remember the very first time that I did,

of course, sit with my coffee and stare blankly into space. I’ve done it for years, right? But to

actually make something of it, I got to work,

delivered all the kids at their various, you know, daycare and all this kind of stuff. And I think

my 14-year-old was crying about something and my one-year-old was crying about something else.

And it was one of those mornings, right? And somehow managed to get to my office about five minutes

early. And I’d gone through the drive-thru and I had a cup of coffee and it was raining and I’m

sitting there. And instead of just grabbing my coffee and my briefcase and running in, I thought,

I’m going to sit out here. And I sat, held my coffee and I watched the raindrops coming down the

windshield and how they would, you know, join together and then separate and join together and

separate. There was a tree there. So behind the tree,

the green leaves. And I just kind of lost myself in that beauty.

And that feeling of comfort from the warm cup and the scent of the steam coming up and the,

you know, the rain and the, and I just lost myself in it for just those few minutes.

 And somehow it talk about short circuiting that anxiety spiral.

It just kind of everything just calm down. And,

and. Like I mentioned before about the happy trap when I was in the middle of the meeting,

reminding myself, oh, I have that to look forward to. That day when I was,

you know, during the day as I would have times of tension or whatever, I would remind myself,

I have beauty, you know, there’s beauty, there’s comfort, there’s time that I have peace,

you know. And somehow, and I don’t know, people ask how,

and I don’t know how, but somehow it gives you that strength, right?

Bridgett: Yeah,

like almost a regulating, like self-regulating, like when people take deep breaths or things like

that to kind of reset. I think just hearing that and remembering you can do things like that.

And also when you mentioned those in the book, it just, it. gave me the opportunity to look at

things that were beautiful, to maybe notice them a little bit more than maybe I wouldn’t have if I

were in a rush or if I just had to move, move, move. It kind of gave me that opportunity to notice.

I think we had a guest once, Colleen, was it not the actor Maggie Smith, but it was author Maggie

Smith and she called them “beauty emergencies” that she and her children saw something,

they’d stop and say  “I’m sorry. it’s a beauty emergency.”

Diane Shiffer:  Oh, I love that. I love that.

And the thing is that we are, we get so, you know, caught up in the urgency of life and our lives

now are so urgent all the time, right? That it can be easy to feel like our lives are bereft of

beauty, but there is literally beauty everywhere. You know, one of the things I talk about,

you know. as looking for beauty is like looking down just even the stitches on your cuff right

there’s beauty everywhere but you know just noticing it is sometimes hard to do

Colleen: and you

talk about that also about the seasons of life are in and you had five kids and it was much harder

when they were younger to stop and appreciate small beauties but they really can make a big

difference and I think you’re your theme of kindness and small pieces of joy,

because people think it has to be a wedding or, you know, graduation, but celebration can be a very

small act. And I think you highlighting that is so important, especially nowadays.

Diane:  Yeah.

Yeah. I think, you know, one of the things it was kind of like a moment of realization for me and,

you know, and I think I start my joy essay by saying, I think joy gets a bad rap.

You know, that we think of it as these huge magical moments.

Right. You know, but and that those are joyful and those are wonderful.

But joy is also this other thing, these little fleeting, flickering moments. And,

you know, when you think about it, what is the most beautiful,

valuable, treasured kind of chain? It’s a chain that has the tiniest.

tiniest links those are the ones that are considered the most precious and so you can when you when

you notice all the tiny little joys you know the breeze blowing through your window or the way

your kitten is laying on a pillow and those kind of things and you store them up and you can

make your for yourself this little beautiful joy chain that you can string around your neck and it

can give you sustenance and reason for living and all kinds of things.

 Bridgett:  I mean, that’s such a, that’s such a pretty way to put it too.

Colleen: Exactly. Yes. You know, I guess one of my last questions is you’ve got this huge platform now and

you, espoused kindness and which is so important because people really can’t argue against kindness

like there’s no stance you can take on I don’t want to be kind and sound good but where do you see

any different directions that you’re going to take this platform do you see different things beyond

the book?

Diane Shiffer: I do not to be honest. I do not. I don’t that’s another question nobody’s ever asked me. I mean,

people are asking me about another book. I have no, you know, sometimes I feel like,

you know, I’ve expressed all the wisdom that is within me already.

I don’t know. And I, you know, like, I think one thing in the book has been wonderful.

And this whole season with the book is one has been wonderful. But the thing that it has made me

realize more than anything else is how much I value my plain,

quiet life.

I’m really, really enjoying my life being quieter again.

I’m really enjoying being able to take time to savor and enjoy my days.

And I’m enjoying being able to create content that,

you know, videos and things like that, that are just fun for me to create. Because I’ve always

said, like, my videos, my social media. is my art form.

Colleen: and that’s okay. Sometimes you just get that seatbelt on and you ride it and you see

where it goes.

Diane Shiffer:  Yeah. I think if I were 20, 30 years younger,

it would be different. You know, I’m going to be 70 this year. So I don’t want to do anything that

I don’t want to do.  If I was younger, I would be like, yes, I want to make the most of this.

I want to, you know, just really pour myself into it and everything. And I do pour myself into it.

I spend probably 60 hours a week on my video, on my content, things like that. So it’s not like I’m

being lazy or anything.

Bridgett: which there’s nothing wrong with taking that rest,

which you point out. And that is another important thing that comes across in your videos as well.

But yeah, it’s such a talent. It just touches people. And I think I love to see somebody like you

get, I feel like rewarded by this kindness back at you. I like to see somebody like you have that.

And I just have to say, you got to go to the White House.

Colleen: Oh, right. That was wonderful.

President Biden, yeah.

Bridgett: Yes, yes. I just thought, well, I’m so thrilled when I see people like you

that get rewarded like that. One of our friends, two of our past guests,

and it’s a friend of mine that I knew in high school, was actually one of the plaintiffs in the

Marriage Equality Act. So she, yeah, she and her wife were the two plaintiffs.

And I just think this little girl from Kentucky that grew up on a farm went all the way to the

Supreme Court. So when I see people like you and I see people like her, “hi, Tammy, “get that kind of

recognition. It makes me just feel better about the world. So I just,

you know, I’m like, I cry.

Diane Shiffer:  It makes me feel better about the world, too, because it’s like it’s I

just have pure gratitude towards it. It’s just such the most incredible gift of my life.

Absolutely. One thousand percent.

Colleen: Thank you for all that you are doing because it’s taking people a moment to stop and notice and

notice the small, you know, I don’t even like to use the term small things. It’s just those moments

of joy that in your day you might miss. So that alone,

if your platform remains that, it’s such a gift.

It’s more than enough. Thank you so much, Diane. We’ll make sure all the links are in our show

notes. It’s just been such a pleasure speaking with you today. Oh, it’s been a joy speaking with

you as well. I thank you so much for such a sweet, kind interview and so many nice questions.

Well, you are a joy to speak with.