Wow James. This was fun. It's nice to be uplifted. It's a better way to start the day than endless doom and gloom. I always enjoy your posts but this one was special.
Youtube restores my faith in humanity. Whenever i need to do something outside of my skill area i turn to youtube and find a human being who has taken the time to make a “ how-to” video. I have changed the lock on my door, cooked dinner, repaired clothing,, and learned many other skills from youtube. Thanks, everyone.
I learned to paint in oils from an artist on YouTube, Mark Carder, who shares his entire teaching experience in his videos - and all are free. I am so thankful for his generosity.
Hi Nadina. FYI: Did you know if you use DuckDuckGo as your search engine, which is imho a MUCH better alternative to Google, you can watch the same YT videos with their DuckPlayer instead of having your info scraped for AI
Who doesn't suffer from bad news overload...?! Thank you so much James for this beautiful positive post, just what we all need. 💖 😘 There is kindness and positivity everywhere in my experience, you need to actively CHOOSE to avoid being sucked in this seemingly endless tornado of negativity. It takes energy but it benefits you health. 😊
Eva, I truly agree with you. And I am also not going to allow the present hate in the political situation turn my mind into a place my soul does not want to connect with, I need to cultivate kindness and love within myself and others.
Thank you Jacqueline, I am so glad that my reply resonated with you. 😊 I wish you well on your journey of avoiding hate and negativity, instead developing kindness and love. ❤️
Thank you, Eva, it is the best way to take care of myself as well. Positive thoughts turn into positive behavior, such as being kind and loving to myself and others! ❤️
Wonderful post-- hopeful and positive but real, and not sentimental. All of these people did the hard work that goes beyond simple optimism-- planting, nurturing, listening, welcoming. I'm never quite sure which comes first-- the right attitude or the right actions. Not sure if it matters.
This was such a beautiful read. Brought tears to my eyes to see such good out there. It’s a good reminder that even though there’s an onslaught of horror, gloom and doom, there are also many, many examples of goodness, kindness and hope. May we all remember and exude this light during dark, uncertain times.
Did not expect to sob at a Substack article today, but my heart was so deeply stirred and moved by this. Especially the GG Bridge story, which immediately put me in tears. Thank you for sharing this reminder of how good humans are. And anyone who references LOTR is golden to me, hehe. 🩷
This was sincerely one of the best articles I have read on Substack, James. I knew any article that started out with that Two Towers film quote from Samwise Gamgee was bound to be great!
Thank you for these beautiful stories. I'm a Nigerian and reading your piece at this time feels like a divine message is being directed at me.
There are many good deeds I've experienced. But one that comes to mind at the moment is the story about a journey I understood. After roughly 14 hours of traveling by road, my co-passengers and I finally arrived at our destination. It was already close to midnight and even in broad daylight, insecurity is usually loud. There was this man in the bus that made sure all the ladies got cabs to their destinations. I remember how he helped me to bargain with the driver, warned him against any strange plans, and took a picture of the license plate. When he had ensured that the women were taken care of—to the best of his abilities, he turned to other men and announced it was time to take care of themselves.
I don't think I'll remember what he looks if we met again. But I've never what he undertook, even though he was not obligated to.
That is very inspiring and that man not only had love in his heart, but he cared completely that these women have the best treatment on their journey. What a memorable man and story.
That was admirable behaviour and all the rest of the men learned from him, and most, like you yourself, will never forget that experience. Thank you for sharing💚🌺🇦🇺
Thank you very much for this post. Refreshing, comforting and encouraging.
🫶
Wonderful post -- and stories. Thanks for passing them on.
Thank you for your kind words.
Lovely. I did not know about Bill Murray and the painting, "If this girl in the painting can keep going, maybe I can too".
Visiting museums, wondering at monuments or landscapes does us a lot of good.
🫶
Wow James. This was fun. It's nice to be uplifted. It's a better way to start the day than endless doom and gloom. I always enjoy your posts but this one was special.
Love hearing that! Thank you so much, Lee.
Youtube restores my faith in humanity. Whenever i need to do something outside of my skill area i turn to youtube and find a human being who has taken the time to make a “ how-to” video. I have changed the lock on my door, cooked dinner, repaired clothing,, and learned many other skills from youtube. Thanks, everyone.
I learned to paint in oils from an artist on YouTube, Mark Carder, who shares his entire teaching experience in his videos - and all are free. I am so thankful for his generosity.
Hi Nadina. FYI: Did you know if you use DuckDuckGo as your search engine, which is imho a MUCH better alternative to Google, you can watch the same YT videos with their DuckPlayer instead of having your info scraped for AI
Thank you for this, we need these every week as its a struggle to read the news every week
I couldn’t agree more.
Who doesn't suffer from bad news overload...?! Thank you so much James for this beautiful positive post, just what we all need. 💖 😘 There is kindness and positivity everywhere in my experience, you need to actively CHOOSE to avoid being sucked in this seemingly endless tornado of negativity. It takes energy but it benefits you health. 😊
Eva, I truly agree with you. And I am also not going to allow the present hate in the political situation turn my mind into a place my soul does not want to connect with, I need to cultivate kindness and love within myself and others.
Thank you Jacqueline, I am so glad that my reply resonated with you. 😊 I wish you well on your journey of avoiding hate and negativity, instead developing kindness and love. ❤️
Thank you, Eva, it is the best way to take care of myself as well. Positive thoughts turn into positive behavior, such as being kind and loving to myself and others! ❤️
Atta girl❣️ And thanks for following me. 😍
I just followed you too. 😊
Tree by tree, art by art, listening on the bridge - hope in the repeated little practices and seemingly random intersections.
Thank you for this. The most important words were from my mother, many years ago. "Allow for the passage of time. Wait."
Wonderful stories and they recharge me. Thanks for sharing all of them
My pleasure!
Wonderful post-- hopeful and positive but real, and not sentimental. All of these people did the hard work that goes beyond simple optimism-- planting, nurturing, listening, welcoming. I'm never quite sure which comes first-- the right attitude or the right actions. Not sure if it matters.
I’ve always felt that attitude blooms from action. The mindset appears once we begin.
Well said!
This was such a beautiful read. Brought tears to my eyes to see such good out there. It’s a good reminder that even though there’s an onslaught of horror, gloom and doom, there are also many, many examples of goodness, kindness and hope. May we all remember and exude this light during dark, uncertain times.
Did not expect to sob at a Substack article today, but my heart was so deeply stirred and moved by this. Especially the GG Bridge story, which immediately put me in tears. Thank you for sharing this reminder of how good humans are. And anyone who references LOTR is golden to me, hehe. 🩷
Thank you so much for sharing this. LOTR rules.
This was sincerely one of the best articles I have read on Substack, James. I knew any article that started out with that Two Towers film quote from Samwise Gamgee was bound to be great!
Thank you James Lucas! All of your work and posts collectively do exactly what you are illustrating in this post. Thank you for being there.
Thank you so much, Robert. It means the world to me.
This article did some good today.
That’s exactly what I was hoping for.
Amen to that.
Thank you for these beautiful stories. I'm a Nigerian and reading your piece at this time feels like a divine message is being directed at me.
There are many good deeds I've experienced. But one that comes to mind at the moment is the story about a journey I understood. After roughly 14 hours of traveling by road, my co-passengers and I finally arrived at our destination. It was already close to midnight and even in broad daylight, insecurity is usually loud. There was this man in the bus that made sure all the ladies got cabs to their destinations. I remember how he helped me to bargain with the driver, warned him against any strange plans, and took a picture of the license plate. When he had ensured that the women were taken care of—to the best of his abilities, he turned to other men and announced it was time to take care of themselves.
I don't think I'll remember what he looks if we met again. But I've never what he undertook, even though he was not obligated to.
Thank you, Aruna. How kind and creative of that gentleman.
That is very inspiring and that man not only had love in his heart, but he cared completely that these women have the best treatment on their journey. What a memorable man and story.
That was admirable behaviour and all the rest of the men learned from him, and most, like you yourself, will never forget that experience. Thank you for sharing💚🌺🇦🇺