Grateful Labs is working to help the mental health of many through technology, art, and gratitude at A Street-Art Installation & Wellness Festival in Tel Aviv. This installation was live from March 25th, 2022, to April 9th, 2022, at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square.
Two weeks really doesn’t seem like a lot of time to achieve a lot, however they had over a thousand visitors to their festival and gratitude wall. Packed with community-based events for everyone, the event was a gigantic success. There was yoga, music-based healing, meditations, art, wellness, and gratitude practices, all taking place by the wall. This was the first of many Gratitude Walls that will be installed in a variety of locations in the coming year.
During the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic, and all the lockdowns and restrictions have negatively impacted the well-being and mental health of so many people around the world. Max Marine, CEO and Co-Founder of Grateful Labs realized mental illness was ravaging through the pandemic and decided to create something that has never been seen before, to help people all over the world. Marine and his team created the first of its kind Street-Art installation to bring communities together, to remind people that gratitude is important. It is scientifically proven to raise happiness levels and improve overall well-being.
Following the success of their installation, the company is looking at more sites for walls soon. Grateful Labs chose a Giraffe to be the focus for this installation because of the Giraffe’s symbolism, representing the balance between the heart and head. In addition, the company is turning their success into an NFT and wellness program to be launched this June. This NFT and many more will be available for purchase on their website. Marine chose to turn it into NFT, because the NFT community is a very tight knit and caring group that is supportive of social causes.
Marine combined art, technology (AI), and the practice of gratitude to install happiness and well-being back into people’s lives. The practice of gratitude has been around for centuries. According to Positivepsychology.com: “Every time a person expresses or receives gratitude, dopamine releases in the brain. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, is produced in two areas of the brain: the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental. The former has to do with movement and speech, the latter with reward (Carter, 2009).”