GALLERY: ‘Somebody always needs to hear it:’ IU student leaves encouraging notes for students

GALLERY: ‘Somebody always needs to hear it': IU student leaves encouraging notes for others

Published Feb. 15, 2022

Photos by Hali Tauxe

htauxest@iu.edu | @HTauxe

Written by Lauren McLaughlin

lrmclaug@iu.edu | @l_mclaughlin8

Web development by Cate Charron

catcharr@iu.edu | @catecharron

TOP: Senior psychology major Noelani Edwards prepares to leave a message she wrote on a lightpost in the heart of campus Jan. 17, 2022.

BOTTOM: Edwards poses for a portrait outside the psychology building, where she takes classes to become a therpist, Jan. 17, 2022.

Positive messages began to appear consistently around IU’s campus in January. Some were handwritten on orange sticky notes, while others were printed on white paper. None had the same message, and not all were taped to the same location, but each note ended the same way: “Love, Lani.”

Lani, better known as senior psychology major Noelani Edwards, is on a mission to spread joy.

“My whole thing is spreading love and positivity,” Edwards said.

In spring 2021, that meant buying flowers at Kroger and handing them out to people near Dunn Meadow next to a sign that said, “Take a flower if you need a smile!!” This semester, it means leaving encouraging messages to students in various spots around campus.

Read the full story here.

Senior Noelani Edwards prepares to leave a a note for her fellow students outside the psychology building, where she studies to become a therpist, Jan. 17, 2022. “I think everybody should go to therapy," she says, "and if they can’t maybe these will help!”

Edwards prepares to leave a note in the heart of campus Jan. 17, 2022. She started the Love Lani Project this semester after being inspired by anonymous love notes she saw posted around New York City.

Edwards walks through campus Jan. 17, 2022 posting messages of positivity for her fellow students. Here she pauses at a crosswalk on Tenth Street to check on a note she'd left the previous week. Self-care, she says, is more than just a bubble bath. It’s about knowing how to check in with yourself, and how to get your needs met, whether that’s surrounding yourself with people who care or asking for professional help.

a woman pushes the sticky note on the pole

Edwards leaves a mesage for her fellow students on a Post-it note at a bus stop Jan. 17, 2022: "The world is so beautiful if you choose to open your heart and eyes to it. Love, Lani"

Edwards takes a photo of a note she's just posted for the Love Lani Project's instagram page.

Edwards holds a note she wrote to her fellow students as she walks through campus Jan. 17, 2022, looking for a place to hang it. Her messages often come from a notebook of advice she collects throughout the year.

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