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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.

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Education

Sweden’s landmark new proposal will stop the world from mixing it up with Switzerland

Honestly, do you know the difference?

True

After over a thousand years of peaceful relations, European semi-superpowers Sweden and Switzerland may finally address a lingering issue between the two nations. But the problem isn’t either country’s fault. The point is that the rest of the world can’t tell them apart. They simply don’t know their kroppkakor (Swedish potato dumpling) from their birchermüesli (a Swiss breakfast dish).

This confusion on the European continent has played out in countless ways.

Swedish people who move to the United States often complain of being introduced as Swiss. The New York Stock Exchange has fallen victim to the confusion, and a French hockey team once greeted their Swiss opponents, SC Bern, by playing the Swedish National Anthem and raising the Swedish flag.

Skämtar du med mig? (“Are you kidding me?” in Swedish)

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Mom comes out to her 7-year-old as a sexual assault survivor. The discomfort was worth it.

Sometimes speaking our truth can help history from repeating itself.

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Almost all the important conversations are uncomfortable

Sarah Shanley Hope's story is frighteningly common.

As a kid, she went over to her neighbor's house one day to play with her best friend. While there, her friend's older brother sexually assaulted both of them.

Hope was only 6 years old.

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Humor

Woman shares wedding album her mom made that’s making people crack up

The photos were beautiful, but there was something hilariously wrong with the captions.

Niki Hunt|TikTok

Woman's wedding gift from her mom is making people laugh.

There's no denying that a wedding day is a special memory most people want to hold onto for the rest of their lives. It's the reason people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on wedding pictures and hand out disposable cameras to guests—to capture memories from all angles, including behind-the-scenes moments that you may forget due to the nerves beforehand.

One mother of the bride decided to take her daughter's beautiful wedding photos and create a special personalized photo album. But upon further inspection of the gift, the bride noticed that something was amiss. Niki Hunt, told Good Morning America that when her mom, Sherry Noblett, gave her the wedding album at brunch, she admitted she may have messed up.

"She’s very crafty, so usually when she says something like that, it’s something really small. I'm thinking some of the pictures are askew, or whatever," Hunt explained to GMA.

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A woman requested inspiring middle-age success stories, and the internet delivered—big time

There's nothing magical about "making it" in your younger years.

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It all can happen at just the right time.

Media outlets love to compile lists of impressive people under a certain age. They laud the accomplishments of fresh-faced entrepreneurs, innovators, influencers, etc., making the rest of us ooh and ahh wonder how they got so far so young.

While it's great to give credit where it's due, such early-life success lists can make folks over a certain age unnecessarily question where we went wrong in our youth—as if dreams can't come true and successes can't be had past age 30.

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The danger of high-functioning depression as told by a college student

Overachievers can struggle with mental health issues, too.


I first saw a psychiatrist for my anxiety and depression as a junior in high school.

During her evaluation, she asked about my coursework. I told her that I had a 4.0 GPA and had filled my schedule with pre-AP and AP classes. A puzzled look crossed her face. She asked about my involvement in extracurricular activities. As I rattled off the long list of groups and organizations I was a part of, her frown creased further.

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Her boyfriend asked her to draw a comic about their relationship. Hilarity ensued.

The series combines humor and playful drawings with spot-on depictions of the intense familiarity that long-standing coupledom often brings.

All images by Catana Chetwynd


"It was all his idea."

An offhand suggestion from her boyfriend of two years coupled with her own lifelong love of comic strips like "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Get Fuzzy" gave 22-year-old Catana Chetwynd the push she needed to start drawing an illustrated series about long-term relationships.

Specifically, her own relationship.

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