There's bad in the world, always has been, always will be. Things seem to be focused on the bad these days. People do terrible things and that's all you hear about for weeks on end, one horrible act after another. We escape however we can. If we don't happen upon good stuff we never even hear about it. But there's plenty of reasons to be hopeful, and right now I want to share the good I've found lately. Two short films I caught lately.
First is a documentary about Sister Helen Travis, a late-to-the-calling nun who founded a recovery center for men in the Bronx:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/200691
And then is the story of Tom's Shoes, a company that gives a shoeless child a pair of shoes for every pair someone buys:
http://www.toms.com/corporate-info/
http://www.hulu.com/for-tomorrow-the-toms-shoes-story
These two stories alone can pick your head up if it's down and be outright inspiring if you're already okay. A coworker used to call me "Rebecca of Darkstar Farm". I'm not known for being optimistic. But damned if these stories didn't throw me out of the "That comet can't come fast enough" mode.
MYSTERIOUS GARDEN
10 months ago
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Indeed, we hear bad more and more. Fear sells. When fear started outselling sex it caused me great concern. You do a service finding good, finding heroes. They're out there, not just in rare news stories but in everyday situations being courteous, considerate --maybe simply returning a smile. Little heroic acts in defiance of a jumpy, peevish world.
Sometime in the sixties (I think) a good news, newspaper was started up. No-one was interested and it didn't survive.
Just the same, it is the random acts of kindness that can lift a mood, a day, a life out of despair.
Thanks for the reminder.
About a year ago I decided to stop watching the news. I could not stand the constant repetition of all the awful things that are going and the graphic detail that the media wanted to show. Everything was about sensationalism and the worst the story, the better. I get my news now through other sources and pick and choose what I think I need to know. I think I heard about Tom's Shoes on the wonderful program Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. It is an uplifting, interesting show that tells the small, mostly positive, stories that are going around us every day. It always ends with a wildlife clip narrated by only the sound of nature. There are no need for words. I learn more from that program than a months full of Action News and that sort. The world is full of wonderful people and things, we just have to look for them. Bad has always sold, but good adds to the quality of our lives.
Thanks for starting my day out well.
Humans are getting kinder and less violent than ever before in history (from author interviews and documentaries I've been watching), but you wouldn't know it from the news. It's not all bad, no.
Okay, I guess the comet can wait a little while longer.
The Comet?
Have you heard something that indicates its imminent arrival? Do share please, I've got a list of things i want to do, People I want to meet, and a liitle list that require premature execution.
Geo.- Anytime we do one good, big or tiny, it makes things better.
EC- it's a shame that good things go unnoticed and bad things make headlines. We need random kindness in this often cold world. Keep it up.
Arleen- My pleasure. More's the pity that there's only one Sunday Morning program.
Boo- Humans are trying, at least some of us. Yes, the comet can wait. ;)
TSB- Even if the comet doesn't come in our lifetimes, it's wise to do those things. You really never know when your last day is Your Last Day.
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