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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy

dog waking up, story on Twitter, bumble bee in flowers

If you're looking for a reason to smile, we've got 10 for you.

Bees and babies and bears, oh my!

This week's list of 10 things that made us smile is full of wee ones and wild ones, and they're all here to bring us joy. We've also got some Elton John awesomeness and a groom raising the bar with his bride gift, so take a scroll and share the smiles!


1. Baby discovering the magic of ice cream for the first time is all of us

Oh yeah. Definitely feel that, little one.

2. In animals-helping-humans news, watch this bear fix a toppled traffic cone

I mean, that definitely looked deliberate. Thanks, Mr. Bear!

3. And in humans-helping-animals news, watch this one-winged bumble bee get to live its best life

BEEautiful indeed.

4. Marvel at the musical genius of Elton John as he makes up a song on the spot

Unreal talent from Sir Elton. Read the full story here.

5. A tale of two beaches is a beautiful reminder that life is how we view it

Tweet screenshot

Life is all about perspective.

@DavidSHolz/X

Learning this lesson at 14 is a gift. (via @DavidSHolz on X)

6. Doggo wakes up to the smell of a strawberry, then snacks in his sleep

@kelly_blackheart

Just immediately falls back asleep like sleep eating is a normal thing. #rescuedog #rescuedogs #dogsoftiktok #rhinothepup #dogs #enrichmentmeal #americanbully #bulliesoftiktok #asmr #dogseating #dogseatinggently #dogasmr

Taking notes. Why wake up fully to eat if you don't have to?

7. Mom handcrafts a hearing aid for her son's Woody doll and the result is awesome

Representation matters. Read the full story here.

8. A brief vision of the world we all want to live in

Singing with strangers at stoplights. It's all we really want.

9. Groom gifts his bride a photo album to go through with her girlfriends on their wedding day

@chlobellexx

Take notes gentleman 🥹💍👏🏼 Delivered with the sweetest love note I have ever read. I cannot express how much these meant to me! #weddingmorning #groom #weddingtips #weddingideas #giftsforbride #weddinggift #weddingday #theknotweddings #weddingtiktok #weddingtok

This guy raised the bar in the best way. Read the full story here.

10. May we all have the perseverance of this little one learning to sit in a chair

We all do things wrong when we're learning new skills, but the key is to keep trying—and to be super cute while doing so. :)

Hope this week's roundup made you smile! If you'd like to get these posts in your inbox, sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.

Science

A juice company dumped orange peels in a national park. Here's what it looks like now.

12,000 tons of food waste and 21 years later, this forest looks totally different.


In 1997, ecologists Daniel Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs approached an orange juice company in Costa Rica with an off-the-wall idea.

In exchange for donating a portion of unspoiled, forested land to the Área de Conservación Guanacaste — a nature preserve in the country's northwest — the park would allow the company to dump its discarded orange peels and pulp, free of charge, in a heavily grazed, largely deforested area nearby.

One year later, one thousand trucks poured into the national park, offloading over 12,000 metric tons of sticky, mealy, orange compost onto the worn-out plot.

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via @5kids5catssomedogstoo/TikTok

Lynalice Bandy shares what her home looks like after working six 10-hour days and getting no help from her husband.

A viral TikTok video highlights an extreme version of inequality that many wives and mothers in heterosexual relationships face. However, the mom in this story hit her limit and won’t deal with it anymore.

Lynalice Bandy, who goes by @5kids5catssomedogstoo on TikTok, posted a video that showed her home looking like a disaster after she worked six 10-hour days straight while her husband did nothing to help.

Her time-lapse video shows every room in the house completely trashed, with toys, food and laundry scattered everywhere. "Shampoo on the carpets in the girls' room, nail polish all over Nugget covers, hair, and carpet. Scissors were used to cut hair, the down comforter, the mattress cover, and two Nugget covers," wrote the mom.

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All GIFs and images via Exposure Labs.


Photographer James Balog and his crew were hanging out near a glacier when their camera captured something extraordinary.

They were in Greenland, gathering footage from the time-lapse they'd positioned all around the Arctic Circle for the last several years.

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Humor

Woman sends her mom pictures of random babies in an effort to get her to an eye doctor

The series went on for a full week before the new grandma got suspicious.

Woman pranks mom with pictures of random babies

Every once in a while it's fun to play pranks on people you love so long as they're harmless and everyone gets to laugh, including the person being pranked. It can turn into a funny story to share with other people or you can accidentally start a never ending prank war. It's a toss up really but one that will certainly cause belly laughs.

When Emily Haswell had her first child a little over a year ago, she noticed that her mom seemed to need glasses but refused to see the eye doctor. Instead of nagging her mother who visits weekly to see her grand baby, Haswell decided she would pull a prank designed to force her mom to admit she needed glasses. The new mom decided to share the results of her prank on her social media pages.

Haswell admitted to her followers that her mother not only visited once a week to see the baby but would ask for daily pictures of her new grandchild. But instead of sending pictures of her daughter, Sadie every time, Haswell started sending pictures of random babies she found on the internet to see how long it would take for her mom to notice.

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Grizzly Bane attempts yoga with a Bernese Mountain Dog.

Anyone who has a dog knows that they will never leave you alone when you are exercising. When you pull out the workout mat, the dog knows you’re about to get active and absolutely has to be involved. They see you stooped down to their level and assume you've stooped to their level and it's time to wrestle.

A TikTokker named Grizzly Bane, 27, showed how much dogs love to play with us while we’re trying to exercise in a clip where she has to fight a Bernese Mountain Dog off her yoga mat. Her efforts are unsuccessful, but the video is adorable. The video also gives her a great excuse next time she doesn’t feel like like working out: “My dog wouldn’t let me!”

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The phrase that will shut down your passive-agressive coworker.

Dealing with passive-aggressive people, whether at work or in family life, can be very frustrating. It's like trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces. Their indirect communication and subtle digs force you to guess what they mean, turning simple conversations into a minefield.

It's draining because you're always on edge, trying to decode hidden messages or intentions, which can create a tense atmosphere. It's tough to have to go through all the extra work when you're just trying to get along and keep things smooth.

It also means that passive-aggressive people can take shots at you that you can’t defend because they hide behind the plausible deniability that they were just being helpful.

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