These videos make us smile.

And cry...sometimes sobbing uncontrollably with hiccups.

And as we hit send to share with our friends, we wonder why do I love these viral moments so much? These mentor encounters with big names and young fans - why do we love them?

And the answer I come up with is simple: They bring joy.

Thirty seconds of unvarnished joy as eyes widen and water when a teen or pre-teen realizes she is seen. An icon she admires has stopped on her way to the locker room, the red carpet or the stage, and looked her in the eye.

A girl is seen and her goals are encouraged - this is a moment of joy.

Take, for example, when Ruby from Cambridge, Illinois held up a sign for basketball star JuJu Watkins that said "JuJu I want to be like you." When the University of Southern California point guard (who as of last week is the only NBA, WNBA or D-1 men's or women's player this century to have a game with 35+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists) saw Ruby and stopped to talk to her, it made her year. "It just gives me hope," Ruby wrote on Instagram, "that someday I'll have the same experience with a fan."

It gives us hope too.

So, joy and hope. What else?

These videos leave us with awe. When Phoebe and Ava Siegel approached Cynthia Erivo on the Grammy Award Red Carpet, it was easy to assume they were simply fans of the Wicked star. They gushed tearfully over Erivo's talent and heart, and it was several minutes into the conversation before Erivo learned that the girls had just won a Grammy for Best Children's Album! The respect on her face said everything, and the size of Phoebe's smile when she sees it too leaves us grinning with unadulterated awe.

Joy, hope, awe...oh, and gratitude.

When 11-year-old Audrey described a lemonade stand she started to help her community because "I just want everyone to feel supported," we were grateful for her heartfelt empathy. When she named Katy Perry as her all-time favorite singer and CBS ushered Perry in behind the scenes, we were grateful for their efforts (and for Audrey's mom for holding it together when she sees Perry before Audrey does). And when Perry starts to sing and bends to hug a weeping Audrey we are overcome with gratitude to the star for taking the time...and suddenly we all have something in our eye.

This is why these videos go viral on our feeds - joy, hope, awe and gratitude.

The efforts undertaken by the next gen to meet role models, and the instant understanding by those role models that the moment matters. They stop on their way to the locker room and encourage rising athletes. They hold off other cameras on a red carpet to speak to starstuck musicians. They find their way through the chaos of a concert to hug a fan who was 40,000th in line.

Joy, hope, awe and gratitude - four things it feels like we need right now.

Press send and share.

Looking forward,

Illana