A good way to say goodbye to 2023, is to honor her with a balanced picture of what happened and by that I mean, all the good that happened this past year.
Here is a selection of 66 big good news events that happened in 2023, just a sample, because there is so much more than 66. It's from a new publication called futurecrunch.com. ( https://futurecrunch.com/goodnews2023/ )
After you read the above new publication, remember there is also The Good News Network as well as The Optimist in the Washington Post. Also I subscribe to and it's free to read Reasons to be cheerful -- a publication started by the muscian artist David Byrne.
These should help to balance our view of the world, along with our twice weekly Zoom Circle of Light that you can drop in via Zoom without notice. In 2024, we are meeting most Mondays at 10 am EST and Wednesdays at 7 pm EST. Check the Circle of Light thread in the forum each week to be sure we are meeting.
I encourage you to post any good news you read from these or other publications so the rest of us can stay in tune with the REAL WORLD, not the bad news world.
Happy New Year.
So I will start with the positive news. But first, the words of Angus Hervey from futurecrunch.com introducing their good news publication:
The news is supposed to tell us what's happening in the world. It doesn't. It tells us what's going wrong. Thanks to a combination of commercial pressures, cognitive biases and cultural habits, news organisations have become modern-day doom machines, showcasing the worst of humanity, without highlighting any progress, healing or restoration. Yes, journalism is supposed to hold truth to power and when terrible things happen we shouldn't turn away. But when we only hear stories of doom, we fail to see the stories of possibility. We deny ourselves the opportunity to do better. -- Futurecrunch.com
In the field of public health, I (Jeanne Mayell) can attest to the fact that there is very good news regarding so many diseases being eradicated and the increase in public health overall. Hervey begins with a list of good health news for 2023.
This is just a snippet out of the 66 good news events, which are themselves just a fraction of the good things that happened:(You can read details on each of these in the linked article).
1. A record number of countries eliminated diseases this year.
2. Cancer mortality rates have fallen in Europe, the U.S. and in Australia.
3. Malaria vaccines are arriving in Africa.
14. The greatest year ever for clean energy.
15. Solar installations are up 58% and show signs of rising much higher.
16. China's carbon emissions are likely to fall next year. This is HUGE news. (read more about it in Futurecrunch.com.
17. There was a green manufacturing boom in the U.S.
20. Electric vehicle sales are not slowing down. (Even though fossil fuel companies are doing their best to slow them down).
22. Raw materials for sustainable energy are on the rise.
30 Suicide rates are falling. (I am so glad to read that one.)
33. Crime plummeted in the U.S.
44. The U.S. pulled off an economic miracle. Everyone said there'd be a recession (except our Read the Future predictions did not show it- ha ha!), but it didn't happen.
50. One of the greatest ever declines in deforestation happened last year. Yes. Yes. Yes.
56. A banner year for ocean protection.
@bluebelle @cc21 @deetoo @lovendures @Andrew @teriz @tonyaw @seaholly @Baba @vestralux @journeywithme2 @dannyboy @unk-p @busysmiling @raincloud @lynn @lowtide @tgraf66 @saibh @kmac @Lawrence @April @coyote @ghandigirl
I just have to add this one about lost wallets and human nature. It's a huge study I found that fits others I've read about that when people find a wallet with significant money in it, they try to return it to the owner. 17,000 wallets were placed as lost in countries all over the world and the results are not only interesting because they vary by country, but they do show what so many articles in the Good News Network show, that people are good and want to be helpful to others.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/20/science/lost-wallet-what-to-do.html
We've been reading for five years about nasty politicians and brutal terrorism, and that is real, for sure. But most people are good and studies show this.
To add to good news stories
I thought most of us were going to die from the climate crisis. I was wrong
In an extract from her book Not the End of the World, data scientist Hannah Ritchie explains how her work taught her that there are more reasons for hope than despair about climate change – and why a truly sustainable world is in reach
The article is worth a read and possibly her book as well
Regards to all
Matildagirl
@jeanne-mayell I love this thread! I think it is the *perfect* way to start the new year and recenter ourselves on hope. I just subscribed to FutureCrunch - thanks!
I also have been getting the Nice News email for several years now (may have heard about it on this site, actually.) It is also a great pick-me-up on new technologies, positive stories, etc.
@cc21 Thanks for the Nice News--I subscribed and will look forward to it brightening my day!
This is a great topic.
We see the world that we feel. We are bombarded with stories that feel scary, hopeless, and make us feel lost.
We forget to look for the good in ourselves, each other, and the larger world.
Thanks for the reminder. Focusing on good brings more good things. Joy seeks to repeat itself.
This is a great topic.
We see the world that we feel. We are bombarded with stories that feel scary, hopeless, and make us feel lost.
We forget to look for the good in ourselves, each other, and the larger world.
Thanks for the reminder. Focusing on good brings more good things. Joy seeks to repeat itself.
This is poetry and wisdom.
@jeanne-mayell Jeanne, so glad you started this topic. Lately, in spite of everything, I just can't shake this feeling of impending Joy. Like in that song Cloudbursting by Kate Bush: