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10 things that made us smile this week

Four-year-olds doing cute things, animals making epic comebacks, and music, music, music.

happiness

Joy can be found high in the sky or low on the ground.

Happiness is not something our survival-centered brains naturally gravitate towards. We all need help once in a while to shift our mindset with reminders of just how wonderful, hilarious, magical, endearing and truly awesome life on this blue planet can be.

Luckily, there are countless sources of joyful inspiration out there, both IRL and in the virtual realm. At Upworthy, we like to make collecting those uplifting gems just a little bit easier for you with these weekly round-ups. And the funny thing is: week after week, the world provides.

Here are 10 smile-inducing things we've discovered this week. Enjoy!

1. Life is beautiful. Just take it from Scooter, "The World's Ugliest Dog."

If Scooter, a bald 7-year-old Chinese Crested dog with backwards facing hind legs can not only escape certain death to be in a loving home, but make an epic comeback by winning the "World's Ugliest Dog" competition…then perhaps there's hope for us all.

2. Her name is Van Van. She likes to rap. At 2 o'clock, she takes a nap.

See on Instagram

Can you believe this impressive word play is being effortlessly spewed by a four-year-old?! The adorable march and dad's hype up take it to next level sweetness too. Van Van has way more raps where that came from.

3. Wild buffalo returning to their natural habitat on Blackfeet tribal land is a breathtaking sight.

'Absolutely epic': Blackfeet Nation releases wild buffalo on tribal land, returning free-roaming buffalo to their native habitat https://t.co/79S1RiUFbC
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) June 28, 2023

A win for nature. And a win for Indigenous groups. Huzzah.

4. As it turns out, Beyonce's "Single Ladies" is the perfect Blink-182 song

It's the Blink style "na na na"s in lieu of Beyoncé's "oh oh oh"s for me. This diddy is brought to you by Alex Melton, who has all kids of Blink-182 covers. And they're all bangers.

5. May we all enjoy life as much as this 41-year-old at her first ever hip-hop class

It's never too late to try something new.

6. Guy ends up being the only one on his flight, so he decides to party with the crew

@phil.stringer
18-hour delay turned this flight into a private party! ✈️🥳 Watch how the amazing crew and I made the most of it! #americanairlines #flightattendant #airplanetiktok #privateparty #FlightFun #delayedflight #fyp #viral

After a near 18 hours delay, everybody except for Phil Stringer had given up on a flight heading from Oklahoma City to Charlotte. Did that stop him from having the time of his life? Hell no. you can read the full wholesome story here.

7. Gorillas, lemurs and more beat the heat with Pride-themed rainbow ice pops

Happy Pride to humans and animals everywhere. Stay cool, y'all.

8. The family that sings together, stays together.

New Jersey's Sharpe Family Singers wowed the "America's Got Talent" crowd with a sensational cover of "How far i'll Go" from Disney's Moana. But even more inspiring than their talent is the sheer amount of fun they have together on stage.

9. Friends come in all shapes and sizes…including hummingbird size.

You know how they say you attract more bees with honey? The same could be said for nectar and hummingbirds. That's why this clever 4-year-old girl hid herself in a nectar suit to get up close and personal with some bird friends. The sweet experiment proved a success.

10. And last but not least: when anxiety levels are too high, follow this dog's lead and take a chill pill

@barstoolsports Little man is somewhere else 😭 @Son of a Boy Dad ♬ original sound - Barstool Sports

Of course, in this pup's case…there can be too much of a good thing. But even his hilarious "melting face" is enough to put a smile on ours. How about you?

These before-and-afters will make you question everything about how our economy works

You'd think it was some sort of natural disaster. Nope. Totally man-made.

Images via GooBingDetroit.

Yup. These images were taken only two years apart. And what you're seeing was not an accident.

When the economy crashed in 2008, it was because of shady financial practices like predatory lending and speculative investing, which is basically gambling, only the entire economy was at stake.

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Teacher brilliantly turns getting her period in front of her class into a teaching moment

"That boy who emailed...his parents must be incredible."

Emily Elizabeth|TikTok and Cliff Booth|Canva

Teacher starts period in front of class, turns into a lesson

Teachers are almost always teaching even when it's not in their lesson plan.

Those that were born to be teachers find teachable moments everywhere and one woman found herself in one of those moments. Though this one was likely just a bit more personal than she probably would've liked.

Emily Elizabeth posted a TikTok video about how she found herself in a predicament in front of her classroom full of 10 and 11-year-old kids. The teacher explained that she was noticing a lot of commotion and whispering among the little girls in her class while she was wearing white pants. After reminding the girls to stay on task, the whispering continued, prompting Emily to be more direct.

That's when one of the girls asked to speak with her privately dropping the bomb that no one that gets periods wants to hear in public.

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teacher starts period

These doggies' faces completely change after hearing ‘good boy,’ and it’s so stinking cute

Who doesn't love some praise?

via Peli.roja.pets/TikTok

Riley's face lights up after being called a "good boy."

A TikTokker named Peli Roja (redhead in Spanish) runs a doggie daycare in the Boston, Massachusetts, area where she cares for an adorable group of four-legged friends. Her super-sweet videos have earned her nearly 350,000 followers, and a recent video is so sweet it’s received over 13 million views.

In the video, the dogs dramatically change their facial expressions after being told they’re a “good boy.” They go from having resting dog faces to appearing to be proud and happy. The video has undoubtedly brought smiles to millions of human faces, and it’s a great reminder to tell your dog they’re a “good boy” or “good girl” whenever you can.

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Woman explains what dry cleaning actually is and people are legitimately shocked

“They really take the buttons off of every shirt?”

Melissa Pateras TikTok screenshots

Melissa Pateras explains how dry cleaning works.

Have you ever wondered what happens at the dry cleaners? Or are you like me, who just assumed the people at the dry cleaners were wizards and never questioned their magic? Turns out, dry cleaners aren't magic and there's actually a pretty interesting explanation of how they came to be and what they do.

Melissa Pateras is known on Tiktok for her laundry knowledge. Seriously, her ability to fold laundry is hypnotizing. This time, she created a video explaining what actually takes place at the dry cleaner and the internet is aghast.

Before Pateras explained what happens in the mysterious world behind the counter of a dry cleaner, she asked a few of her friends what they thought dry cleaning was. Their answers were...interesting to say the least.

One friend surmised, "You put it in a box, right...and then you let some wind, really fast wind, blow around on your clothes and it wipes off all the dirt." The friend, whose username is @unlearn16, continued with her working hypothesis, saying that the clothes are then blasted with infrared heat to sterilize the garments. While that is certainly an interesting theory, that's not what happens.

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dry cleaning explained