In this final week on the theme of BLISS, I like to share a few stories that I came across. As I read or heard each one, my heart went through a roller coaster of emotions: empathy, horror (Pelicot case), anger, joy and above all, admiration at how they each chose to forge their bliss through their different circumstances.

Knight of the Legion of Honour

For nearly a decade, Gisèle Pelicot lived unknowingly at the centre of one of France’s most harrowing crimes. Drugged by her husband, Dominique Pelicot, she was repeatedly raped first by him, then by dozens of strangers he invited into their home in Mazan. The abuse was meticulously documented, hidden in folders labelled “work,” and only uncovered after Dominique was arrested for upskirting women in a supermarket.

Rather than retreat into anonymity, Gisèle chose visibility. She demanded a public trial, not for spectacle, but to ensure that shame no longer clung to the victim. Her presence in court watching each of the 50 co-defendants receive guilty verdicts was rooted not in shame, but in her own dignified presence.

This July 2025, France awarded her the Legion of Honour. Not for what was done to her, but for how she stood. For how she spoke. For how she made space for others to speak too. She didn’t choose what was done to her, but she chose what to do with the truth once it surfaced. She refused to carry a shame or stigma that was never hers. It’s not the kind of bliss we’re taught to chase but one that is forged.

Morgan’s Wonderland

When Gordon Hartman saw his daughter Morgan born with cognitive and physical disabilities shunned at a hotel pool, it made him sad. Unable to find a place where she could play freely, he sold his homebuilding business and began building one himself.

Three years later, Morgan’s Wonderland opened in San Antonio, Texas: the world’s first ultra-accessible theme park, where every ride, every path, every moment was designed with inclusion in mind. A carousel that welcomes wheelchairs. A splash park with warm water and air-powered chairs.

Admission is free for anyone with a physical or cognitive disability, they don’t ask for proof just trust in the honesty of those who come seeking for joy.  One third of the park’s staff are individuals with special needs, a testament to its ethos of embodying inclusion.

This year, Morgan’s Wonderland celebrates its 15^th anniversary with new rides, deeper community ties and a commitment to radical inclusion. Since opening in 2010, it has welcomed over three million guests from all 50 U.S. states and more than 120 countries.

The Glory Hole

The Glory Hole Café is found in a quiet corner of San Telmo, Buenos Aires. It doesn’t have tables, menus or baristas in sight.

Instead, the café serves specialty coffee, smoothies and pastries through a small hole in the wall.

The café is created by Rodrigo, a former neonatologist from Corrientes, Argentina, who left medicine to follow his passion.

The concept was born from a moment of quiet revelation, watching food shared around a friend’s table and realizing he wanted to build spaces that felt that open, that integrated.

The café’s name and design are a deliberate nod to queer history. Rodrigo, part of the LGBTQ+ community, wanted to honour the clandestine spaces where queer joy once had to hide. Inspired by Japanese cafés and the rawness of brutalist architecture, he shaped a wall with an irregular hole, finger-painted typography, and no visible baristas.

One Curly Cord at a Time

How many of you remember calling your classmate on a landline? Well, in South Portland, Maine, Caron Morse, a mother and mental health provider decided to gift her daughter a landline instead of a smartphone. What followed was a ripple: nearly 20 families joined in, forming a “landline pod” where tweens call each other on real phones, no screens, no filters, just voice and presence.

The shift wasn’t just nostalgic, it was intentional. Parents noticed their children becoming better listeners, more empathetic, and more confident in conversation. Playdates were arranged without apps. Sick friends were checked on with sincerity. And the phone, often placed in a central room, became a shared portal, not a private escape.

What began as one mother’s creative idea has grown into a neighbourhood movement to let childhood unfold without the constant hum of digital urgency. 

A Boy and A Shirt

He loved the University of Tennessee (UT) but didn’t have a real shirt. So he made one, an orange tee with a hand-drawn UT logo taped to the front ready to show up for College Colors Day. He told his teacher about it days in advance. He was proud and excited.

At lunch, some classmates laughed at him. He came back to class in tears. But his teacher saw the courage in his creativity and shared the story online. The ripple was instant.

The university turned his design into an official shirt. Over 100,000 were sold. Nearly $1 million was raised for anti-bullying. And UT offered him a full scholarship for the class of 2032.

At his mother’s request, his name was never shared and he stayed anonymous. He’s in middle school now. The shirt isn’t sold anymore but the ripple of goodness remains.

Gifting New Beginning

My friends’ daughter decided to fulfil her dream of motherhood in spite of the concerns and objections raised by those round her. She is single and has a previous medical condition. But she is financially independent and has a heart filled with love. She chose to adopt a 6-year-old girl who came from a troubled past – unknown dad and a mum with drug addiction.  

This young girl has been shuffled between foster homes and been through a lot. People advised her against adopting a child with such a troubled history but she went ahead with the arduous adoption process. A joyous day when the adoption was approved. My friends now have a new granddaughter  who they adore lots.

The young girl is blossoming under the loving energy of her adopted mum and extended families of grandparents/ cousins. She has a new beginning in life, thanks to my friend’s daughter who decided to pursue her dream of motherhood.

Brutal truth, hole in the wall, wonderland, landlines, hand-drawn t-shirt and motherhood; we met those who shaped joy on their own terms.

If bliss isn’t something we’re handed but something we can shape, what might yours look like?