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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

From awesome kiddos to delightful doggos, here's this week's roundup of joy.

10 things that made us smile this week

10 snippets of delight from around the internet.

Hi friends!

Spring is finally springing, thank goodness. We've had some weirdly late wintry weather the past couple of weeks where I live, so seeing the daffodils and tulips bursting into bloom is refreshing. "Earth laughs in flowers," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. So succinct and so true.

Every season carries its own delights; we simply need to look for them. The same goes for all of the spaces we inhabit, from our homes to our communities to the big wide, world. It's a basic, fundamental truth that when we look for joy, we will find it. It might be buried under a bunch of detritus, and we may have to wade through some much and mire to find it, but it's there. Always is and always has been.


Pulling together these smile-worthy finds each week feels like gathering a bouquet of flowers. Such a simple act—to find beauty and take the time to hold and appreciate it—is often underestimated. Maybe it's not earth-shattering or life-changing, but it's good. And sometimes good is more than enough to bring some much-needed joy to our hearts and smiles to our faces.

With that, enjoy these 10 things that made us smile this week:

First, a happy hello from Boomer the "land cloud." 

Isn't "land cloud" the perfect description of this doggo? (And more importantly, how did they get Boomer into that backpack?)

Four cellists play Ravel's Bolero on a single cello and WOW.

"Bolero" is known for its insistent, repeated snare drum rhythm and for building tension with the addition of more and more instruments in the orchestra as the piece progresses. Playing it on one instrument seems impossible, and yet, here we are. Amazing. Read more about this fabulous collaboration here.

Man shares a heartwarming letter thanking a neighbor for letting him pet sit two dogs and a cat. 

"They motivated me to restart my life again." So beautiful. Read the full story here.

The evolution of motherhood laid out in this one panda video.

1.) Awww, she's so gentle with that tiny baby!

2) Oh, she's still picking him up by his head!

3) "Mom, I'm way too old for this!"

The personality of a cat summed up in one video.

"I know this is clearly where you eat, but I've decided it's my bed now and I'm not moving."

Watch how this sweet doggo shares his treat with a friend.

That little reassuring paw pat, though. "Hey buddy, you good." So darn sweet.

And then there are the goofy things humans do for fun.

Movies like to portray girls at sleepovers having pillow fights in their underwear, but this video is much closer to reality.

Woman gets invited on a sleepover by her 92-year-old grandpa who was feeling lonely.

Welp, I'm gonna need a tissue now. What a precious thing. Read the full story here.

Neighborhood kids teaching a boy how to ride a bike is just pure childhood goodness.

@heressometlcfoya

This made my heart melt. ❤️

This is what community looks like. Love to see it.

Kid comforts and peps up his teammate who was feeling inadequate.

Best teammate ever, indeed.

Hope that brought some sunshine to your day! Come back next week for another bright bouquet of the internet's best.

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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Health

Amanda Bynes is on a 72-hour hold: What that means and why fans are applauding her

"The fact that Amanda Bynes flagged a car down, told them she was having a psychotic episode and called 911 herself actually gives me a lot of hope for her well-being."

Amanda Bynes is on a 72-hour hold.

It's not a secret that celebrities are just like everyone else and sometimes struggle with mental health concerns. Amanda Bynes is no exception, and she has been quite open about her mental health struggles over the years. In 2013, Bynes was placed under conservatorship after a few mental health crises that put herself and others in danger.

Since the conservatorship was ended in 2021, Bynes has remained essentially out of public view and was scheduled to appear with her "All That" cast members at 90s Con. But recently, Bynes went in for a 72-hour psychiatric hold after experiencing a psychotic episode that led her to walking around downtown Los Angeles without any clothing. During a moment of clarity, the 36-year-old actress flagged down a car and called 911.

While walking around a busy city naked can certainly qualify as risk of harm to oneself, Bynes' actions after regaining a sense of reality are important. There are two types of psychiatric holds: voluntary and involuntary. Clearly, a voluntary hold is more desirable and shows promise for marked improvement because you're the one recognizing the need for psychiatric care. Bynes making the phone call herself shows that she knew, in that moment, her behavior was unsafe and she needed help.

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A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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Family

Dad had no idea he was auditioning for 'Britain's Got Talent.' He brought the house down anyway.

His two little girls called him up on stage to perform the song he wrote for them.

Nick Edwards had no idea he was going to be singing for Britain's Got Talent until his mom and daughters showed up on stage.

We've seen some moving America's Got Talent stories before, but a recent viral audition absolutely requires a tissue warning. I tried to steel myself in preparation when I saw the "Admit it, we were *all* in tears after this" caption on the Facebook share of it, but I failed.

In a video that's been shared more than 95,000 times, the "Britain's Got Talent" audition shows two tiny little girls onstage with their grandmother. They introduce themselves as "Cally" (age 4) and "Savannah" (age 3) and "Nanny" (their "daddy's mummy") then the girls share that they are there to surprise their dad.

Dad—also known as Nick Edwards—is sitting in the audience. He thought the family was there to watch the audition on a fun outing; he had no idea that they had arranged a surprise audition for him, so when his girls and mom showed up on stage, he wondered what was going on.

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Family

Woman shares sweet exchange with 92-year-old grandpa who invited her over for 'sleepover'

“We can order food and watch a mystery show. Love, grandpa.”

via Pexels

A grandfather and granddaughter holding hands.

Loneliness is one of the most dangerous health problems in the United States, although it’s seldom discussed. Psychology Today says loneliness has the same mortality risks as obesity, smoking, alcoholism and physical inactivity.

A meta-analysis from Brigham Young University found that social isolation may increase the risk of premature death by up to 50%. The problem with loneliness is that people suffer in silence and it afflicts the ones we don’t see.

A TikTok user who goes by the name Megan Elizabeth recently shared a touching story on social media about how her grandfather was feeling lonely so he reached out to her. The story shows what can happen when one person is brave enough to confront their social isolation and the important role grandkids can play in their grandparents’ lives.

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Jason K. Pargin shares his controversial theory on lobster.

Novelist Jason K. Pargin has inspired an online food fight after his video about lobster received over 500,000 views on Tiktok and nearly 6 million on Twitter. Pargin believes that we’ve all been tricked into liking lobster and that people only like it because it’s considered high class.

Pargin is the author of the “John Dies at the End” and “Zoey Ashe” series and the former editor of Cracked.com.

"I don't think anyone actually enjoys eating lobster. I think they've just been convinced that it's a high-class food for a really specific reason,” Pargin says in his controversial video. He then describes how just a few centuries ago lobster was once used as prisoners' food and ground into fertilizer.

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