10 things that made us smile this week
From tickling elephants to a delightful proposal to the pure love of kids watching their parents dance, here are 10 tidbits of joy to share.

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy.
Do you ever look around and marvel at the things humans can do?
Like, yes, there are a lot of terrible and tragic things out there, and we could easily spend all of our days focusing on them. But today I was looking at my living room rug and thinking about the fact that some fellow human being designed its floral pattern and coordinated the colors in a way that brings me joy. And some other human or humans, way back when, figured out how to turn sheep's wool into fibers in order for this rug to be possible in the first place. Some other humans created machines to manufacture, wrap up and ship it. Some humans invented the vehicle that transported it to my house, and a friendly human from UPS smiled at me as he delivered it to my front doorstep.
And that's just a rug. If we look around, we see signs of human ingenuity and creativity everywhere. It's incredible what our species has figured and how we've consistently coordinated with one another to make seemingly impossible things a reality. (I mean, this computer I'm typing on? Incomprehensibly incredible.)
I like to remember such things when headlines or social media toxicity starts to seep into my psyche. We have our flaws to work out, for sure, but people are truly amazing beings with mindblowing abilities, not just for invention but for compassion, connection and delight. Yay us.
So join me in celebrating humanity with these 10 joyful reminders of our awesomeness—with a couple of adorable animal videos thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!
1. Baby elephant won't stop tickling a local Kenyan reporter as he tries to tell a serious story about wildlife conservation.
Gotta hand it to him for lasting as long as he did before breaking. And honestly, this delightful moment probably did more than any somber warning could do to get people to care about how human actions were affecting wildlife. Read the full story here.
2. Parents ask their kids to record them dancing, but capture the kids' reactions instead.
@thechavezfamilyy The end 😭😭 why am I bawling at this trend?! He’s SO CUTE #momsoftiktok #momtok #toddlersoftiktok
The pure love and joy in that face! What a cutie. This is one TikTok trend worth watching, and we've got a whole collection of these adorable videos here.
3. Two cockatoos play peekaboo, giggle and … smooch?
\u201chttps://t.co/JnMwLvuK3Q\u201d— Animales y bichitos \ud83d\udc3e\ud83c\udf0d (@Animales y bichitos \ud83d\udc3e\ud83c\udf0d) 1668422869
How delightful is that? Cockatoos are freakishly smart, so it's not so surprising that they would find fun in the same kinds of games we play with human babies.
4. The way the 4-year-old imagination can make up whole entire lives.
Scroll through these stories. Absolutely hilarious. The imagination of the average preschooler and their willingness to follow wherever it takes them are unmatched.
5. This pizza maker's skill with his dough is the stuff of legend.
\u201cAcrobatic pizza\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udf55\n\n\u201d— Tansu YE\u011eEN (@Tansu YE\u011eEN) 1668451351
Give him about 30 seconds to warm up, and then holy cannoli. That's a guy who takes pride in his work. So impressive.
6. Bruce Springsteen shared an incredible story about being invited to a fan's house and surprising his mom.
\u201cIf you ever met your hero you\u2019d hope they\u2019d be as cool as this!\n\nBRUCE SPRINGSTEEN tells GRAHAM NORTON about the time he made a fans\u2019 dreams come true.\u201d— James Leighton (@James Leighton) 1668333261
Can you even imagine? You're just out at the movies and you run into a mega rock star? And then you invite him to sit with you and he says yes? And then you invite him to your house, and he says yes?!? There are so many fun details to this story. Read the full story here.
7. The unbridled joy of a left-handed person finally getting a pair of left-handed scissors.
Who knew cutting things could be so fun? Scroll through. It's the simple things we take for granted sometimes.
8. The actor who played Biff in 'Back to the Future' wrote a hilarious song about all the questions people ask him.
\u201cTom Wilson (Biff Tannen) was asked the same questions by BACK TO THE FUTURE fans so often, he wrote a song answering them. This is that brilliant song.\u201d— All The Right Movies (@All The Right Movies) 1668272400
Tom Wilson has been doing standup comedy and music for the past several decades and this song is one of the staples in his show. He also has a card he created that he can hand out to people answering all of the usual questions he gets asked. Check out the full story here.
9.Coach proposes on the sideline and the football team's reaction is everything.
Clearly, this is a coach with a strong connection to the kids on his team. What a fantastic celebration.
10. Let's strive to live life with the perseverance of this playful kitten.
\u201c"Your attempt to win this game shall prove futile, human" --Kitty, probably\u201d— Madeyousmile (@Madeyousmile) 1668456584
Hope that brought a few smiles to your face! Come back next week for another collection of smileworthy finds. And if you want to get this post in your inbox each week, sign up for Upworthy's free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."