optimism

The Importance of a Desk

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It’s been a while since I’ve taken part in this blog tour. I just couldn’t always find the motivation to find positive stories to share all the time. But this month I’m back with something that’s sure to life your spirits this Friday.

This post is part of the We Are The World Blogfest which happens at the last Friday of the month. Bloggers gather together to share some optimism and positivity, and I think that’s really necessary these days. Click here to view all the other blogs taking part in this tour!

Today I wanted to share a story about a couple who saw a need that existed in their community and worked together to come up with a solution. Jessica and Al Berrellez realized that kids who were working remotely didn’t always have a space to do their schoolwork at home. Sometimes it was relegated to a temporary space like a kitchen table or a coffee table, or sometimes it was juts done on the floor. So they decided to help.

Together they began a project called “Desks by Dads” to help gather and make desks for low income members in their community. They’ve made at least 29 desks so far and are working to provide more. What’s even cooler is that they’re doing workshops and sharing tools and methods so that others can start up a “Desks by Dads” group in their neighborhood.

Check out the full article here, or go straight to their Facebook group!

Looking Back with Positivity

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It’s the end of January and I’m back with another We Are The World Blogfest post! On the last Friday of the month we post up positive stories that we’ve found to share with our readers.

Around the turn of the new year, everyone talked about how glad they were that 2019 was finished and that they were looking forward to 2020. Many were willing to put the past year behind them and move on. Well I found a fantastic post where illustrator the_happy_broadcast created graphics for some of the positive things that happened last year!

I’m Honestly Fed Up With All The Bad News, So I Illustrated 50 Of The Best Ones from 2019

Here is one of my favorites!

View this post on Instagram

Chemical pesticides have turned out to be another man-made disaster, as its effect on humans and the environment has been found to be as deadly as on pests. So some farmers in China, Japan, France, and other countries looked back on the traditional way of controlling pests and found using ducks, to be the most effective way. This method of integrated farming, i.e. ‘rice-duck farming’ has been documented 600 years ago. Apart from eating the pests, the wading or waddling of the ducks through the mud oxygenates water and stirs up layers of soil. Their droppings act as a natural fertilizer. All these benefits make these ducks a viable alternative to pesticides! Source: Eco Friend (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #positivity #happiness #happy #motivation #friends #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #future #art #artist #goodmorning #positivenews #life #duck #rice #farming #china #japan #pesticides

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Fashion Can Be Empowering

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I’m back again for another We Are The World Blogfest post! On the last Friday of the month (or in this case, close to it!) we post up positive stories that we’ve found from the past month to share with our readers.

When I first started cosplaying back in 2015, I was incredibly shy and nervous. I didn’t know what I was doing but I really wanted to try. When I was dressed up and walking through the hotels of DragonCon, I was thrilled with how excited people would get about my character. When I was myself I was super shy, but when I was in character I got to try out the shoes of someone else.

The Atlanta area is such a great place for cosplayers and nerdy culture. Between all the fan conventions and the booming film industry, cosplay has slowly grown from a marginalized group to being mainstream. I’ve slowly started seeing the same popularity grow for the fashion industry here.

It started when I was at our local Starbucks and I overheard someone talking about preparing for a fashion show only a few miles away. I was surprised, I didn’t realize that the fashion industry was growing. Then today, I read about a fashion show for people with special needs called: Johns Creek Fashion Speaks on the Creek.

The models are escorted by members of the Johns Creek Police Department and “Star Wars” characters. Of course!

The article describes how the fashion show helped an autistic man gain confidence. The age range for the show ranges from 5 years old to 83. The event pushes participants outside their normal boundary lines, allowing them to build confidence and to participate in a way they might never have thought possible.

“When those models walk that runway, they shine. I invite everybody to come see the magic, because that’s what it really is. These models are so inspiring, your heart grows 10 times its size … from the time you walk in those doors to the moment you leave.”

Linda Hickey, president of Jonny & Xena’s Spread the Words Foundation

I knew exactly what that felt like. I knew how being around so many people cheering you on and applauding your abilities felt. It’s amazing how just being given an opportunity can be so incredibly life changing. It’s so wonderful to see people be given their time to shine and to share their creativity.

Check out the articles below to read more!

Fashion show empowers people with special needs – AJC
Fashion show to feature models with special needs – Gwinnett Daily Post

Be Kind and You Will Receive Kindness

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It’s the last Friday of the month, which means I’m back with another We Are The World Blogfest post! This month I stumbled across a post that was dated from 2018, but it still absolutely warmed my heart.

The woman in the post talks about how she runs what she refers to as an “anarchist co-op coffee shop” (more on that later), and that several of the homeless kids in the area knew that she would slip them free food and things to them when they came by.

Most would think the story ends there, but this gets even more heartwarming.

The kids go out of their way to help her out. They organized to make sure that at least one of them stayed with her all night when she had a late night shift by herself. And then another time, they —

Well, you’ll just have to read for yourself…

Isn’t that just so great? Now it gets even better.

A friend of mine is the one who brought my attention to this post. He explained that he knew the woman personally and that she was the sweetest woman he knew. The coffee shop was joint owned, so there was no top-down hierarchy for the store. Each of the owners put in an equal amount of work into the shop, and each split the profits.

So that’s why the woman in the post never got in trouble. She was one of the owners so she helped make the rules.

Isn’t that fantastic? I wish more places could do this sort of thing to help out homeless kids in their neighborhoods. I hope you enjoyed this post! Be sure to check out the other heartwarming stories on today’s blog hop.

The Same Experience as Everyone Else

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What a difference it can make just to know that someone cares.

I read this story earlier this month on Facebook from a post made from the Kindness Factory’s page, a non-profit organization.

A man explains that he goes in to pick up his Frappuccino from his local coffee shop, but since he’s deaf, he usually has it written on his phone and just shows it to the barista so they know what he wants. He goes there just about every day, so most of the employees know his order by heart anyway.

Then one day, he showed his order like normal, and the woman named Krystal Payne handed him a note that read:

“I’ve been learning ASL just so you can have the same experience as every one else.”

Then she started using sign language with him, explaining that she had spent hours practicing it on Youtube just to be able to have a conversation with him. They only talked for about two minutes, but he said that “he had never felt “so equal in all of [his] life.”

Now if that doesn’t restore your faith in humanity, I don’t know what will.

I just love Krystal not only having the idea to do this for him, but also her determination to spend hours making sure she could actually talk with him. She absolutely didn’t have to do it, but the fact that she went out of her way to make him feel like any other customer just makes your heart melt.

You can read the full account on Facebook here. It honestly needs way more attention.

If you enjoyed this story and would like to read more positive tales that have been collated over the internet, check out the We Are the World Blogfest on Facebook. That way you can read all of the incredible acts of kindness that is just the explosion of positivity I need at the end of the month.