Dear Friend,
Happy Monday.
In the northern hemisphere, Spring is coming.
It’s hard to believe with the weather we’re having, but I’m seeing signs.
Little buds that give us hope.
That’s the aim for these letters too, finding the small little moments of joy that can help foster our optimism and encourage positivity.
The world continues to feel overwhelmingly dark, but small moments of greatness litter our lives, and when we focus on them, I believe, we might be able to change our overall outlook.
We can’t ignore what is happening at large, but we can filter it through a more positive perspective - with a little help.
So here’s some reasons to be optimistic:
Big Reasons
Greece legalised same-sex marriage. When love wins anywhere we all win!
The World’s Forests are doing much better than we might think. A few of the key stats from this great article by Bloomberg (annoyingly subscribe-walled I apologise):
More of England is covered in forest now than at any time since 1350.
The UK as a whole has nearly three times as much forest as it did in 1900.
Since 1992, China has expanded their forests by an area equivalent to the size of Ukraine (607,000 square kilometers).
In the EU new forests cover an area equivalent to Cambodia (181,000 square kilometers).
The worlds forests are absorbing about 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year, which now counteracts the carbon emitted by deforestation.
Not only are these incredible figures on their own, but they show that when we put our minds together we are able to reverse the damage of industrialisation, and if we can do it for our woodlands - we can do it for everything else!
African elephant populations have stabilised in their southern heartlands after a century of decline. Read more about it here.
Scientists may have discovered a new antibiotic which can kill drug-resistant bacteria! More here.
Little Reasons
You may remember in my last letter I spotlighted that wonderful photo of a young man and an older woman wearing the same coat on the street and beaming at eachother. Well, a few days later I saw someone wearing that exact coat In Real Life! It brought me lots of joy so I thought I’d share:
I’ve been thinking about how many things people do just for the sake of being nice. Like those cute comments teenagers leave eachother on ‘study’ playlists on YouTube which basically just say “whatever you’re going through, and whatever you’re working on - you’ve got this!” Maybe they’re also partially doing it for likes, but they get likes because it’s nice and it helps. It’s nice that people help other people even when they don’t know what they’re helping with.
On the same theme, this cute compilation of humans being delightful:
In Japan, an A.I. system designed to distinguish croissants from other pastries turned out to be capable of identifying cancer cells. If you want to find out more about this wonderful unintended consequence read here.
Jack Black being Jack Black:
Soundtrack for Optimism
“Nature Boy” by The Nat “King” Cole - a warm hug of a song!
“Lemon Tree” by Peter, Paul and Mary - the harmonies plus the lyrics and the fact this is one of my mum’s favourite songs make this such a special little ditty.
“Raindrops Keeps Fallin’ On My Head” by B.J. Thomas - you’ll know the tune but have you listened to the whole song? It’s a delight.
“Les Champs-Élysées” by Joe Dassin - a song about community and chance encounters and loving where you live, I enjoy the fact this is a cover of the song “Waterloo Road” by Jason Crest, but the French version has outlasted and massively outperformed its predecessor. Bonus fact, there’s also a Slovenien version by Majda Sepe called “Šuštarski most” which is about Shoemakers bridge in Ljubljana.
“Brimful of Asha” by Cornershop - an energy boosting bundle of happy.
“Esa Noche” by Café Tacuba - A song about resilience, independence, and choosing yourself that fills me up like a warm cup of something yummy.
Looking for a playlist for your week, look no further - here’s all the songs I’ve shared so far in one handy list (The Time of Your Life remains the point that it gets more energetic). Also, for the Apple Music listeners among you here’s the Apple Music Playlist.
As we’re building a little community I’d love to know what signs of spring you’ve seen - what little parcel of joy has made you more optimistic this month?
Thank you as always for your time, wishing you a joyful start to Spring.
With optimism,
Catherine
Love the Spring hits of optimism. I have been enjoying watching the daffodils I planted as bulbs grow on my balcony. We’re nearly there!!