The normal way this monthly shot of good news is supposed to work is I say some witty things and point at a story I found in the news that’s uplifting and then everyone goes away happy.
I’m going to shake things up a bit this month because reasons.
I don’t have feelgood story to share this month. That’s not necessarily because there’s nothing good going on in the world, I’m sure plenty of people had great days, many kisses were exchanged, and at least one person decided to not scream at that jackass in the Prius who was going way too damned slow and get in the slow lane that’s what it’s there for jerk. Instead, he took a deep breath, turned up the music, and sang along with the Hilltop Hoods.
I’d like to point something out. There’s this prevailing philosophy among Americans that things were better in “the good old days”, back when everything was shiny and new and things were just better, gosh darn it. It’s utter hogwash, if you ask me. The “good old days” were really only good for a certain pale-ish, male-ish segment of the population; everyone else got the shaft. Those days were marked by a lot of social upheaval and violence. Go back even further and you’ll find pestilence, war, famine, crime, disease, you name it.
The point is, it’s easy to look around and say everything sucks. There certainly is a large amount of suck still lurking in the alleys and under the beds of the world, but there’s less suck now than there was. So, why do people pine for the “good old days” when things really aren’t that bad right now?
When I worked at Kinko’s (yes, I did once answer the phone with, “Thank you for calling Kinko’s, your new way to evil), we had to go a week-long brainwashing training session in the basement of the main Albuquerque Kinko’s. I remember two things about that: 1) I hate basement corporate brainwashing events, and 2) people tend to focus on the negative things.
That’s why we like to think things suck ass nowadays, because we perseverate on the bad stuff and ignore the cool stuff going on all around us. We live in a magical time where you can access all the information in the world from your phone, or reach out and communicate instantaneously with people on the other side of the planet, or learn a new language in your pajamas.
So, to help focus on the good things, here’s a list of bad stuff that’s not as prevalent as it used to be. Sure, the world’s not a perfect place, but it gets better bit by bit as long as we let it.
Just to shake up WATWB a bit further, you’re gonna get some homework. Spend a little time thinking about some good stuff and leave it in a comment. Rather than finding the traditional feel-good news story, let’s create our own feel-good stories.
If you’d like to connect your blog and help spread a little joy (or snark, like I do), it’s easy to sign up. Just ask and ye shall receive. Or go check it out here: here.
Our co-hosts for the month are the lovely and talented:
Peter Nena, Andrea Michaels, Inderpreet Kaur Uppal, Shilpa Garg and Damyanti Biswas
~~~GUIDELINES~~~
1. Keep your post to below 500 words, as much as possible.
2. All we ask is you link to a human news story on your blog on the last Friday of each month, one that shows love, humanity and brotherhood.
3. Join us on the last Friday of each month in sharing news that warms the cockles of our heart. No story is too big or small, as long as it goes beyond religion and politics, into the core of humanity.
4. Place the WE ARE THE WORLD Badge on your sidebar, and help us spread the word on social media. Tweets, Facebook shares, G+ shares using the #WATWB hashtag through the month most welcome. More Blogfest signups mean more friends, love and light for all of us.
5. We’ll read and comment on each others’ posts, get to know each other better, and hopefully, make or renew some friendships with everyone who signs on as participants in the coming months.
6. To signup, add your link in WE ARE THE WORLD Linky List below.
This is a Blog Hop!
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Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
And now, your moment of Zen.
Eric Lahti 
Smooooooth – thanks Eric! Have a great weekend!
Hi Eric,
I just posted the link to a heart-warming post today, for the first time after I was introduced to #WATWB by another blogger. I am listed at 61, in the Linky List. I shall follow up on the other details in the guidelines soon, and try to popularise the the WATWB concept.
One thing I noticed in the Linky List is that most people have posted the link to the Home Page of their blog rather than to the heart-warming post they are sharing this month. Don’t you think we should share the link to the post, rather than to the home page of the blog? That way, I am taken directly to the post.
Regarding this particular post of yours, I fully agree with you. There are many wonderful, cheerful stuff that we all get see every day, all around us. The latest blog post of mine, is on a similar topic. Do have a look, when you get time.
Thanks for the wonderful initiative.
Have a cheerful day.
Pradeep
I don’t think the linky list changes all that much over time, so having a link to the main landing page is easier to maintain over time.
Welcome aboard WATWB, I’ll go check out your post!
The phrase “good old days” is an urban legend. Adults living now look back and wish for “good old days”, wondering how things could have gone so wrong. But the kids growing up now will look back to these very days and say “good old days” when . . .
It is very funny when you look at it like that. There are never any good old days.
I’m with you Eric – the “good old days” are a useless vortex of meaninglessness, most likely mis-remembered and certainly capable capturing you and keeping your head pointed backwards, which is not a very helpful direction. So yay for now and all the good things we can create, we can witness, we can celebrate. For my good “now” day, I’m about to head out and gather up an armload of flowers from my garden, declare my work done for the day, and start a very long weekend filled with writing, reading, and joyful relaxing. And continued watching of that fabulous GIF you shared. I’m going to have to practice that sweet move of a leg twist that sends eavesdropping roombas on their merry way.
In response to the homework assignment: I am very humbled and awed by the leadership and community of people in my church. They truly love others. The church opens its doors to the homeless on Sunday mornings and feed the needy on Thursday afternoons. They offer a week-long arts camp, free of charge, once a year for children in the community. They raise funds to help families during the Christmas holiday. And much more. The people I know through Mission Church are not perfect, but they are some of the most loving, devoted, and non-judgmental people I know. I hope that never changes.
As for the good old days, I think they’re really good now. If TV would report on only the good news for one week, I think we’d all be astounded at what’s out there.
It bears thinking about why (certain) people hanker so ardently for those ‘good ole days’. To be tastelessly blunt, if one is a train robber, one would most understandably hanker after the Wild West days without the FBI and DNA and CCTV to cramp one’s style, yes?
Moving on to the feelgood stuff. Last night, over dinner, a rescuer friend and I were talking about—well, rescue. Specifically, the homelessness and neglect issue here in Curaçao. And that got me thinking. Yes, of course it’s bad, and of course there’s much, much room for improvement, but in the fifteen years I’ve lived on this island, I’ve seen some radical leaps of progress where animal welfare is concerned. Even eight years ago to now marks a BIG difference, and it mostly has to do with awareness. More people are now refusing to turn a blind eye. More people are reporting abuse or neglect in their neighborhoods. More people boycott pet stores that sell animals. More people adopt from shelters or rescue organizations instead of buying from even ‘respectable’ breeders. More people understand discriminating by breed is nothing less than racism.
So, yeah. This is progress. And it gives me hope that we’re on the right track. Maybe in, say, fifty years, us rescuers will finally be out of a job 🙂
Great, GREAT post for WATWB. I heart snark!
Guilie @ Quiet Laughter
The cats are a riot. I would say there was bad stuff in the good old days but there has been some pretty major bad stuff lately too. It can be overwhelming and very disheartening, let’s face it downright depressing, to read about it in my daily news sources. Your graphs were good. I like the idea instead of everyone focusing on the terrible things that are happening, we try to come up with constructive solutions. I think many of my posts for WATWB are about what people are doing to make things better or solve problems. This is what the world needs to do, try to find constructive solutions. 🙂