She wrote about wanting a baby in a coffee shop journal. A month later, her entry was flooded with replies

Every person on this planet has a story — while some are living their best days, others are struggling to simply go through life. A unique café in Korea has taken the initiative to help, support, and encourage customers by incorporating memoirs and journals, which they can revisit and build social connections over. Janice Jeong — who goes by the username @haitsjanice on Instagram — visited the coffee shop, where she saw a couple of notebooks, drawings, and other trinkets laid out — some by the café itself, while others were left by people from all walks of life, representing them or their grief. When she opened one of the journals, she was overwhelmed by what she saw and thought of giving it a try herself.

The Los Angeles-based couple, Janice and her husband, visited Seoul, Korea. There, they came across the Gorani Coffee Club, which they loved not only for the coffee but also for their unique initiative to support visitors. Customers were encouraged to leave memoirs like their drawings and other trinkets that represented them, or anonymously write their grief in journals and leave them for others to read, and drop positive comments to encourage their recovery. Janice read through some of the journal entries — upon realizing how uplifting they were, she was highly inspired and decided to participate too.

After 4 years of trying to be parents, Janice and her husband failed to get pregnant naturally, so they opted for their last resort — IVF, or In Vitro Fertilization, a treatment for which they visited Korea, as it is very expensive in the US. Janice wrote her story in one of the journals, "We've been wanting a baby so badly... and we don't know if it'll work out this time, but I want to feel at peace knowing we've done everything we could in our power. And even if we don't end up getting the results we want, I want to be able to live happily with my husband. Wish us luck!" A month later, she was overjoyed to see the unexpected responses from people — one wrote, "It seems like the beautiful angel is taking a while because he/she is preparing to show mom and dad a lot of things," while another wished, "I hope the path you two walk together is full of flowers.”

Stories like this make us believe in the kindness of ordinary people and the magic it holds in healing a struggling person. While we know enough about how amazing and empowered receiving kindness makes us feel, a study by Lee Rowland and others proves that simply engaging in acts of kindness can also help us feel happy. Furthermore, Jennifer Mascaro shares how compassion can impact the world, in her findings: when compassion becomes a "social norm," it results in "an upward spiral of interpersonal trust and cooperation.” Therefore, it is essential to be kind and compassionate to the people around us because that's what makes the world thrive.

The wholesome post attracted a lot of commenters — @juliajjoung expressed, “Oh my God, I'm crying first thing in the morning because of this... reading it in Korean was somehow even more beautiful and heartwarming. And they are right; your baby just has a lot of skills to acquire first.” @philana.kwan jokingly shared her feelings, “Crying for strangers on the internet is my profession,” while @thegummysmileshop wished for Janice, “I am crying. May that baby come to you at the right time. And when they do, they will be the biggest blessing.”

You can follow Janice Jeong (@haitsjanice) on Instagram for more wholesome content.