I recently read an article on a site that I should know better than to read (Ravishly).
It was titled 8 Things to Make You Feel Better About How Terrible The World Is.
In typical fluff piece fashion it included things like babies and puppies (yes, seriously). In delving for more emotional depth it cited clean water, food, and the internet (well duh, privilege of any kind is a creature comfort when times are scary), and then it got desperate and started listing things like full jars of nutella and leggings (dear god could we stop assuming all women want to do to feel better is binge eat their feelings?).
Now that I've pissed off a ton of people who love Ravishly, puppies, and cookie dough for dinner, I would like to counterpoint with 8 real things to make you feel better about how terrible the world is.
I'm going to avoid the obvious things like food, shelter, and family, because they are not givens for everyone, and even people who don't have the luxury of affordable healthy groceries and who might have to feed their kids mac and cheese, or people who had to move back in with their parents because they lost their jobs, or people who don't speak to their families due to abuse and trauma, or flat out loss, deserve to feel better during a time period when it seems like every adult I know has abandoned reason and logic and decided to hide under the bed.
1. People Are Actually Helping People
There are a shit ton of people supporting the effort to stop the DAPL.
If you would like to feel a little better about the world and can afford to donate, this is a great link to do so
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/help-standing-rock-sioux-dakota-access-pipeline_us_583480c9e4b000af95eca013?
If you are not in a position to afford to donate take a moment, realize that there is a multi-billion dollar corporation trying to do something truly horrible. It is being supported by the local law enforcement, BUT IT IS STILL BEING FOUGHT. The little guy, the guy who just wants clean drinking water for his family and respect for his sacred land, is standing tall right now and refusing to back down, and people are FLOCKING TO AID THE LITTLE GUY. If you can't be one of the flock, then appreciate that even though times are scary, people are still bonding together in the face of evil. This is a brave and beautiful example of human courage.
Take ten minutes, close your eyes, sit in a quiet room, and send them good vibes.
It may sound silly, but it's not. The people fighting the DAPL need good energy as much as they need everything else we can send them. So take a part of your day and direct good energy to them. It is a real, non-monetary, viable way of helping, and it should make you feel better too.
2. We Are Making a Difference
China is reducing it's air pollution.
This may sound distant and unrelated, but think about it.
Bejing has consistently ben reported to have the worst air quality in the entire world, but in 2015 there was a 16% drop in the most deadly air pollution over the city.
Read more in this article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/china-air-pollution-2014_us_568e592ce4b0a2b6fb6ecb73
I find this heartening because if we can reverse something as precious as the poisoning of our air, then we can reverse a lot of environmental damage.
The point is to contribute to the solution a little bit, every day, not to contribute to the problem.
It doesn't matter where you live, but do your part.
Recycle your recyclables.
Walk distances shorter than a mile rather than driving them (and as a bonus, save on gas, and get a wee bit of fresh air!)
Turn off your lights and electronics when you aren't using them.
Compost if you can, and if you don't have the yard to do so, find out if there's someone in your neighborhood who needs compost, or if there's a community garden to which you can bring your compostable waste. If you're as lucky as I am, perhaps your town has a community compost pick up that you can sign up for.
It's small, but it's helping, and helping makes us feel less powerless, and when we feel like we can make a difference, we feel less afraid.
3. Body Positivity is Hitting the Mainstream
If you've read anything on this blog, you know I am a huge supporter and proponent of the body positivity movement.
I believe, (shockingly, radically) that people (especially women who have historically been conditioned to hate their bodies) are not allowed to love themselves at any and every incarnation of their health and size, but they SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO LOVE THEMSELVES PERIOD.
Why make this my business?
Whose business isn't this?
Sorry about the double negative there. What I mean is, if you have a body, you deserve to love it. You deserve to feel good about that body. You deserve to care for that body, to give it pleasure, and to experience everything the world has to offer you through that body.
The hatred most people internalize toward their physiques is not natural. It's only been thanks to the advent of modern advertising to sell us the notion that our bodies and lives are lacking unless we purchase products that has undermined several generations of people from enjoying any sensual pleasures their body can provide.
Until now that is!
This article cites how body positivity is gaining momentum and hopefully predicates a return to people just loving the shit out of themselves for who they are, to which I say HIP HIP FUCKING HOORAY!
http://time.com/4437468/women-body-image-obesity/
If you want further inspiring proof of BOPO gaining momentum, check out
http://www.themilitantbaker.com/
http://www.ashleygraham.com/
http://www.refinery29.com/2016/09/123724/afropunk-topless-woman-double-mastectomy
4. This Election Was An Old Man's Game. The Future Looks Better.
Hey, we know you're depressed about the President Elect. So am I.
But it was overwhelmingly the baby boomers who came out and put their ballots toward the fascist cheeto.
Millenials showed a strong Democratic majority with 1 in 10 18-29 year olds placing a third party vote.
This means that in the years to come, as the racist dinosaurs die out (and no, I'm not hating on baby boomers at large, just the overwhelming majority of them that put that troglodyte on the path to the white house), our generation will take the majority, and the stats say that we're all a hell of a lot more interested in a better future rather than a "great" regression.
And remember, millenials already outnumber baby boomers population wise so if we can nut up and show up in 2020, we can get back on a path that makes sense for this country.
Read more about it here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-09/what-this-election-taught-us-about-millennial-voters
5. There's More Coverage, but Violent Crimes Are Actually in Decline
It's easy with facebook's evil little headers, and the huffpo's leading headlines, along with the constant connectivity of modern life to feel overwhelmed by the violence and awfulness in this country, but homicides have actually declined in the last twenty years.
This is in no way supposed to overshadow or "make up for" the number of police brutality deaths, the misuse of power, the number of murders, or any time a human has used a gun to take the life of another human, but this article put things into perspective.
I don't know about anyone else, but back in the 90's the news was on in my house for an hour every night, and it was scary, and it was dark, but after that hour, we turned it off, and carried on with our lives.
I can't comment on whether or not it's better to be in the dark about the state of the world or whether blissful ignorance is a better state of being, but I can say that my parents were no less informed during that time period, and they weren't being bludgeoned by headlines designed as "clickbait" every time they turned the tv on. Every website, every social media outlet we log into, is trying to sell us the newest, freshest most dramatic horrible thing it can come up with, and if you're logging into a site several times a day, you're getting hit with horrible news that many times, so is it any wonder that we feel like things are so much worse than they really are?
I repeat, I'm not downplaying any of the violence that is or has occurred this year, I am only offering this article as a means to pose the idea that maybe things aren't the worst they've ever been, and we can take a breath.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/08/why-america-feels-so-violent-right-now/
6. Last Year Americans Were Record-Breakingly Generous
It may be a goofy thing to take note of, but in 2015 Americans were the most generous and charitable they had ever been.
https://givingusa.org/giving-usa-2016/
I don't know about you, but when I feel like all hope is lost, I like to see that people are still taking care of each other. While I know it's easy to say, "If I were rich, I'd give away tons of money," and it's much more difficult to reach into your pocket when you're say, clipping coupons, living paycheck to paycheck, or waiting on unemployment, but the fact of the matter is, it makes us feel good to help one another.
I've been truly inspired by folks who, rather than greet hatred with justifiable rage, are doing incredible things like buying dinner for their bigoted neighbors and then signing the check with their wishes for them to be more tolerant.
It's easy to get angry. It's easy to let a situation escalate, but the sourness, the leftover anger, and the wave of nauseating fear and guilt (just me?) that follows an altercation is never something that leaves us feeling better about the world.
If we show we can rise above, and keep looking out for one another, our moods alone will be brighter, more optimistic, and hopeful, and not only that, but perhaps we'll have made a difference to someone who was really struggling.
7. We Live In The Future
It's easy to take for granted.
iphones, iwatches, livestreaming, skype and facetime, online shopping, fitibits, and many other technological advances that are the norm today were inconceivable twenty years ago.
Maybe it's because I'm in my thirties, and I am dreading the day my kid looks at me and says
"Wait Mom, YOU WERE BORN BEFORE THERE WAS THE INTERNET?"
the same way I said to my parents,
"Wait, YOU WERE BORN BEFORE THERE WAS TELEVISION?"
It's crazy, but I say it, and I believe it. We live in the goddamn future.
If you take a look at any of the pop culture future touchstones of my childhood (Star Treks: Voyager and Deep Space Nine and Back to the Future), the crazed imaginings of those tv shows and films included things that seem ludicrous and funny now.
If you were to travel back in time to say 1996, however, and show the average person your iphone, they'd lose their mind!
A camera, phone, voice recorder, alarm, calendar, camcorder, stereo, digital library, with voice command and access to the worlds most expansive database?
They'd burn you as a witch in no time.
Every so often, think about that little flip phone you had about ten years ago. You know, the one that cost thirty cents a text, and think about how far we've come in just a decade.
It's pretty magical.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2016/08/03/the-top-7-technology-trends-dominating-2016/#5b9bd961de34
8. Modern Medicine Has Never Been More Effective
Back in April, doctor's discovered a new drug that could help target cancer cells in Leukemia patients without also wiping out healthy cells and thusly making the patient horribly ill while undergoing treatment for their cancer.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/DrJohnson/story?id=117508&page=1
Along with this stunningly wonderful news 2 days ago this article was published in which scientists reveal they may have finally figured out a way to suppress the viral load in HIV positive patients to almost undetectable levels.
http://www.itechpost.com/articles/57635/20161124/cure-hiv-reduction-through-wonder-drug-now-possible-help-semen.htm
It will never cease to amaze me the leaps and bounds science takes every year in its efforts to treat the horrible diseases that plague we fragile humans.
It used to be a death sentence when the doctor gave you a cancer or and HIV diagnosis. I am so ecstatic to see the progress we are making against these illnesses. It seems not impossible that we will see viable cures within my lifetime, and that is something worth celebrating.
BONUS REASON:
Your Tribe Exists
This last one is a little hokey, but thanks to the magic of social media, and the somewhat endearing transparent trend of "letting one's freak flag fly" there is no reason why you, yes you, the person who feels incredibly alone and thinks there's nobody else out there like you in the whole wide world, can't find your tribe.
With the world wide web at your fingertips you can enter any interest you have and immediately be launched into a million different discussions about the finer points of your passion.
Before now, if you admitted you liked something gauche, you had to risk that you were going to get laughed out of the party by the neanderthals. But with the rise of popularity in things like Comic Cons, Horror Cons, hell even Rennaissance Fairs, and Rocky Horror fan clubs, there is no reason you can't get together with likeminded folks and revel in your collective weird.
I am not passing one iota of judgement.
In fact, if I had the time, I'd go to a couple of the events on this magical list:
http://costume.org/conventions.html
The point being, we live in an amazingly accepting age, with support, common interest groups, and conventions to suit every possible collection, hobby, tv or comic fandom, and enthusiast in existence.
In conclusion,
Here you have eight truly relevant reasons to be glad you live where you live right now in the time you are living.
It has never been a healthier, more friendly, generous, self accepting, hopeful time to be alive, and that's with all the stuff that people tell us is crappy going on!
Take heart, my friends.
We're all going to make it through this to that.
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