Hi! Thanks for subscribing. I’m so happy you’re here! If you’re new to us, welcome! If you’re an old friend, welcome back! Good Things is your weekly solution to the weight of the world. There’s so much goodness out there, but sometimes in our quest to find it, we get stuck in comment sections and lost on a rabbit trail of posts about the latest happenings around the world, and how it’s all going down hill.
Look - we love good journalism. And we need quality news! But also, let’s have some perspective and set limits for our minds. There’s very little we can do from our beds first thing in the morning, or our makeshift home offices on a work break while we telecommute for the foreseeable future. So let your mind take in plenty of the good, and scroll down!
Ready for some good things?
“The news is stressful but space is not,” according to Wired. I’m inclined to agree; there’s nothing like leaving the confines of Earth and focusing on the Universe outside of our little blue and green marble to give us a different perspective. Not to lessen the importance of what’s going on down here, but just to take our gaze upward for a bit. These space photos that Wired put together are gorgeous and mind-reeling. They’ll make you want to spend your time online digging deeper about these crazy space phenomena, like what’s going to happen when the penguin and egg galaxies finally collide.
PS: I recommend scrolling through these photos while listening to a funky meditative album like Deuter’s Garden of the Gods. It feels like the type of music that would be played alongside these images in a planetarium presentation.
(Image credit: Wired)
Did you know that there are people out there helping out our population of seniors by simply connecting and saying hi? With Letters of Love, you can write a letter to a senior citizen to let them know they’re not alone. With ElderServe or Eskaton, volunteers can give seniors a phone call and check in. A lot of us are at home more than usual these days, so picking up the phone to call an elderly person is an effortless way to connect and share love.
(Image credit: Letters of Love)
It’s a good moment in conservation news, as black rhino numbers are on the rise! The animals are still in danger, but their numbers are increasing by 2.5% each year. It’s taken a lot of work to heal a population that’s suffered greatly due to poaching, but the efforts are not in vain for these beautiful creatures. Read all about this over at The Guardian.
(Image Credit: The Guardian. Counter-poaching troops are transporting a black rhino from South Africa to Malawi.)
In more good news for the animal kingdom, this park in Thailand is cancelling elephant rides and tricks! Forcing elephants to do tricks and give rides to humans has long been known to be a cruel practice, so it’s encouraging to see a park owner admitting that and sharing that she’ll be letting the elephants roam free and focusing her programs on educating tourists about elephant welfare from now on.
We’re not including an image for this one, because we don’t want to showcase elephants being ridden even in the capacity of discussing why it’s a cruel practice.
Here’s a fun place to lose yourself on the internet: the Farmer’s Almanac. There are easy and fun garden projects for the whole family, simple recipes made with seasonal ingredients, and more info than you knew you wanted about the moon and gardening by its phases. I may form a habit out of checking the site for their daily folklore and puzzle during these quieter days.
Image Credit: The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Kid’s Corner
(because let’s face it - your kids are breathing over your shoulder anyway)
Many of us are finding ourselves in a homeschool situation now that we were not prepared for! It’s a good time to teach your kids (and yourself) meditation so that they learn things like calming breaths, perspective, and self-control. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has blessed us with a true gift. They’ve released a guided meditation voiced over serene video of jellyfish floating around. It’s about 10 minutes long, so hopefully the right amount of time to grab their attention and let everyone re-center for a few minutes. The video ends with really good lessons about dealing with fear and tensions that will be helpful for both kids and adults. And if you like that, their Youtube Channel has more “meditOceans” and live cams to check out!
My good friend Caroline (the other half of Good Idea Girls!) and I have been discussing how to talk to our kids about social distancing. We want them to understand that at this point in time, they have to remain a certain distance away from people who don’t live in their home. But we also don’t want them to lose their natural joie de vivre! We want them to continue to excitedly greet their friends and family, and to not grow afraid of social interaction and connecting with people. So when I saw this video on IG Stories (shoutout to my friend Amanda for always featuring stellar content) I had to get the link! It’s the perfect level of fun and goofy for young kids, and it will probably be stuck in your head all day. It teaches about the virus and social distancing on a very young and positive level. But they encourage us to continue to greet people and be excited and show love. And of course, everything is set to a fun tune so that the social distancing guidelines lose that element of fear.
That’s it for this week! Thanks for tuning in to Good Things. If you have any feedback, I’d love to hear! Shoot me an email at hannah@goodideagirls.com, or find me on Instagram @hannahpremaratne. If you’re enjoying Good Things, I’d love if you shared it with a friend!
In the meantime, I’ll be rotating between finishing Tiger King and losing myself in the live shark cam at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. See you next week!