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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy

librarian sharing a story, kid reading and drinking tea, teacher sharing a story
Mychal Threets/Instagram, @alissa360style via Upworthy Instagram, Matt Eicheldinger/Instagram

10 reminders of the good in the world

Hey, all!

It's 10 things time! Every week, we pull together a collection of heartwarming, wholesome and hilarious content to give us all a boost of serotonin and faith in humanity. Some of these smileworthy finds are light and silly and some are deeply touching, but they're all reminders of the good that's all around us.

We hope this roundup of joy hits your heart in all the right places. (Don't forget to pass it along—joy is meant to be shared!)

1. A good reminder that love is quiet, but oh so powerful

Just a lovely description of how love looks all kinds of ways, and we see it everywhere when we look for it.

2. Young librarian shares heartwarming story of an encounter between three kids and three grown-ups

YES. Library kids will change the world! Read the full story here.

3. Mom draws her son a picture on the fridge every night and it's a win-win

First of all, what even is that refrigerator? I want a draw-on fridge now. And secondly, love that she gets as much out of this tradition as her son does. Those are the ones that stick.

4. Husband's explanation of his wife's 'true beauty' is winning hearts all over the place

@chrissyjpowers

Sunday Sermon: How the patriarchy makes women question their beauty and then makes money of their insecurities. #realbeauty #aginggracefully #embracingaging #consciousrelationships

Yep, he's a keeper. Read the full story here.

5. Woman asks for a mental health day and her managers exemplify workplace support

This is what caring for your employees looks like. "We got you." Love it.

6. Dad reserved a room for him and his 'kid' and the hotel hilariously delivered

@lifewithacole

Kindersley Quality Inn and Suites out did theirselves! This is the funniest things I have seen on the road from a hotel crew! #fyp #canadatiktok #canada #alberta #edmonton #kindersley #saskatoon #saskatchewan #lovinglife #livingmybestlife #hotel #qualityinnandsuites #funny #funnymoments #prank

Nobody's too old for a bed fort and a teddy bear. Nobody.

7. Grandpa-in-a-kid's-body enjoys his cup of tea and a good book at 6:30 a.m.

He's already got retirement figured out. Go, little fella, go.

8. Doggo with anxiety calms right down when her owners sing the 'so brave' song

@macrosbymel

sorry if it gets stuck in your head #rue #ruetok #ruetherescue #dogtok #rescuedog

And now the song has become an anthem for both dogs and hoomans everywhere. See how people are repurposing the jingle for themselves here.

9. Teacher shares the sweet reason his student always rubbed his necklace when he talked to people

Such selfless compassion in a sixth grader. These kids are alright. Read the full story here.

10. Dance your way through the weekend with all the energy of high-waisted pants guy

@djjazzyd

Friday is here #Friday #fridaynightfunkin #djjazzyd50thbirthday

Hike up the pantaloons and move those feet, friends!

Hope you enjoyed this week's roundup! If you'd like to see more posts like this without having to search for them, sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.

uplifting
Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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friendship
Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

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money
Family

Woman bakes cheeky curse word pies for her grandma and it becomes a quirky holiday tradition

2023's pie is an homage to her favorite word to use while stuck in traffic.

Canva

You never know where a holiday tradition will come from.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

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humor
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

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education
Pop Culture

Pianist uses every part of the instrument in this joyous performance of Toto's 'Africa'

"Not sure I can comprehend what just happened! Unbelievable."

via Peter Benace/YouTube

Peter Bence's piano cover of "Africa" by Toto

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa'' is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

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music
Joy

Family posts a very chill note to neighbors explaining why their dog is on the roof

“We appreciate your concern but please do not knock on our door.."

via Reddit

Meet Huckleberry the dog.

If you were taking a stroll through a quiet neighborhood and happened to catch a glance of this majestic sight, you might bat an eye. You might do a double take. If you were (somewhat understandably) concerned about this surprising roof-dog's welfare, you might even approach the homeowners to tell them, "Uh, I'm not sure if you know...but there's a...dog...on your ROOF."

Well, the family inside is aware that there's often a dog on their roof. It's their pet Golden, Huckleberry, and he just sorta likes it up there.

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dogs
Family

12 hilariously relatable comics about life as a new mom.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.

Some good not so good moments with babies.



Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.

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