Earlier this 12 months, a Goats and Soda reader wrote in with a quote from Garth Stein’s The Artwork of Racing within the Rain: “The automobile goes the place your eyes go.”
“It is so vital, particularly because the information cycle is stuffed with cruelty and struggling, for us to rigorously select what we learn, hearken to, take note of,” wrote Naomi Krokowski of Berthoud, Colo. “The automobile, my mind, goes the place my eyes go — so I have to maintain taking a look at hopeful artwork and search for pleasure within the youngsters I like and remind myself to maintain awaiting good issues.”
It is easy to catalog the 12 months’s grim lowlights – its wars, disasters and protracted crises getting worse. But it surely’s value taking time to show our eyes again to the tales this 12 months that gave us causes to hope, from “seashore day” in Mogadishu to the wonders of elevating chickens.
In international well being and improvement, the place the challenges are overwhelming and the battle a relentless one, it is particularly vital to dwell a bit bit on these optimistic moments. They, too, are a part of the story.
Listed here are a few of the tales from 2023 that gave us cause to be hopeful in 2024.
How do you keep optimistic regardless of all of it? 6 hopeful souls share their secrets and techniques
They’re activists and advocates from Brazil, Colombia, India, Kenya, Lesotho and the U.S. We needed to know: How do they keep optimistic within the face of the world’s many issues and woes? Revealed April 21, 2023
We requested, you answered: What’s your secret to staying optimistic in gloomy instances?
From watching the solar rise — yeah, it is a cliché however it works! — to dancing to techno music to doing good for others to simply plain smiling, readers share what offers them optimism in instances of hassle. Revealed April 30, 2023
Friday on the seashore in Mogadishu: Optimism shines via regardless of Somalia’s woes
One of many world’s poorest nations, Somalia is dealing with battle, a historic drought and a devastating meals disaster. However there’s one other aspect to the nation. Simply check out the capital metropolis on seashore day. Revealed January 20, 2023
You do not want phrases to calm a grumpy child. Dad and mom world wide use a magic contact
Fashionable dad and mom are informed to TALK with an agitated child to enhance their temper. However in lots of cultures, mother and pa go for a soothing caress to induce tranquility. Neurologists clarify why it really works such wonders. Revealed November 12, 2023
Wed as teenagers, they renew vows 71 years later — and share secrets and techniques to eternal love
On her grandfather’s ninetieth birthday, Kamala Thiagarajan attended a celebration as he and her grandmother renewed vows — a Hindu customized. She needed to know: What’s their recommendation for a wholesome marriage? Revealed July 16, 2023
I acquired 15 mail-order chicks. They ended up altering my life
Our correspondent determined to arrange a hen coop, and populate it with 15 mail-order chicks. She had a way that elevating chickens might have psychological well being advantages. She had no thought what epiphanies awaited. Revealed April 28, 2023
A lullaby actually can work magic. Science tells us why and the way
Typically the appropriate lullaby sends my youngsters off to dreamland so quick it makes me really feel like I’ve a parenting superpower, writes NPR correspondent Selena Simmons-Duffin. It seems, the marvel of lullabies is confirmed by scientific analysis. Revealed June 2, 2023