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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy.

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10 snippets of joy to bring a smile to your face.

There are so many ways humans experience and express joy.

Smiling is one way, of course. But joy can also cause us to giggle gently or laugh out loud. It might make us sigh with contentment or cry when our heart starts to overflow. We might jump for joy or dance when we're delighted.

But no matter how we share it, joy is arguably the most desirable human emotion. Is it possible to experience too much joy? Naturally, we can't expect to be in a constant, unshakable state of joy—nor would that even be healthy—but most of us want to infuse our lives with as much joy as possible.


And there are a million ways for us to do that. We might find joy in quality time with our families and friends. We might find it in nature as we soak in the wonders of our world. We might find it in the arts—painting, pottery, plays or poetry. We might find it in a baby's giggle or a child's curiosity or our favorite person's smile.

We might even find it in silly memes and adorable dog videos on the internet. It's all good. Joy comes in all shapes and sizes, and unless it's causing someone hurt or harm, joy should not be judged.

So kick back, relax and enjoy these 10 things that made us smile this week.

The energy and enthusiasm of this Texas A&M physics professor are absolutely infectious.

Dr. Tatiana Erukhimova teaches at Texas A&M University and she clearly loves her subject. See more of Dr. Erukhimova's educational and entertaining demonstrations here.

Watch how these two took the traditional father-daughter dance to a whole other level.

@bnrevell

Reason number 1838329194920 why I love my dad. 🫶🏼🥹 #thatdougietho #fatherdaughter #weddingtok

Oh. My. Goodness. Could not love this more. Read the full story here.

This decades-old outtake from 'The Carol Burnett Show' is laugh-out-loud hilarious.

It's always funny when the actors themselves can't keep it together. But what's even funnier here is that Carol Burnett had specifically told everyone to stay in character—then she was the first one to lose it. Vicki Lawrence's perfectly timed a-bomb knocking them flat was just icing on the cake. Read the details of how this scene came about here.

Grandpa's candid reaction to his first FaceTime call with his grandchild was so wholesome.

Aw, gotta love a good Gramps.

Seeing little Black girls see themselves in Halle Bailey as 'The Little Mermaid' is everything.

“https://t.co/zR9QLNuSkG”

Representation really does matter. See a whole roundup of these sweet reactions here.

Best doggo politely wipes his face after drinking water.

The most brilliant dog training idea ever.

Cat really, really wants to bite something, but mommy says no.

Such a good kitty!

Patagonia founder just gave away his $3 billion company to help fight climate change.

patagonia

Patagonia founder is giving the company away to help save the planet.

Wikipedia/Patagonia

Patagonia was already known for doing good. But now Yvon Chouinard, the 83-year-old founder of the outdoor clothing and camping gear company Patagonia, has given the $3 billion company away to a charitable trust and environmental nonprofit so that all of its profits will go toward fighting climate change. Amazing. Read more about the hows and whys of this move here.

Random New Yorkers stop to help a woman with a baby put together a new stroller.

New York gets a bad rap for being unfriendly, but those who've lived there know that kindness trumps surface manners. Love seeing humans show up for perfect strangers.

Let's leap into the weekend with the confidence and grace of this floofball.

Hope that brought a grin to your chin and a yay to your day! (Wow, that's a bit yikes, isn't it. Sorry, friends. I'm running out of ways to say I hope this post made you happy. I really hope it did.)

Keep finding joy wherever you go, and come back next week for another roundup of delights from around the internet.

Our home, from space.

Sixty-one years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to make it into space and probably the first to experience what scientists now call the "overview effect." This change occurs when people see the world from far above and notice that it’s a place where “borders are invisible, where racial, religious and economic strife are nowhere to be seen.”

The overview effect makes man’s squabbles with one another seem incredibly petty and presents the planet as it truly is, one interconnected organism.

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The “Chili’s (Welcome To Chili’s)" singers putting it down.

Few jingles get stuck in your head as easily as the Chili's "Baby Back Ribs" song, officially known as “Chili’s (Welcome To Chili’s),” which was first broadcast in 1996. The music starts with a deep-voiced man singing, “I want my baby back, baby back, baby back,” and builds from there to a sweet and tangy crescendo of “I want my baby back ribs!”

Guy Bommarito, the songwriter who wrote the jingle, says that Chilli’s execs weren’t initially too excited by his creation. "The response was, 'Yeah, that should work.' Nobody was blown away or overly impressed," he told Delish. "But it could've been my singing."

The song was later rerecorded in 1998 by a team of studio pros who took it to the next level with their soulful professionalism. The recording session video was shared on YouTube by singer Alvin Chea, and there’s something so satisfying and nostalgic about watching these guys put it down together at the same time.

In the new version, the iconic “baby back” bassline is sung by Alvin Chea, the bass singer for Grammy-winning gospel a cappella group Take 6, who also sang on Michael Jackson’s “This is It.” Dorian Holley, in the vest and tie, sang harmonies and also worked with the King of Pop as a background singer.

Oren Waters takes the lead on the “Chili’s” line and is part of the Waters family who sang background on MJ’s “Thriller" album. Louis Price sings the “barbeque sauce” line and was the lead singer of The Temptations from 1977 to 1980.

@keepingalfoatwiththejoneses/Instagram

Inexpensive and tranquil…what's not to like?

Saving money and living comfortably don’t always go hand in hand, but people do find ways to accomplish it. Sometimes all it takes is thinking a little outside the box—getting a job that allows you to travel the world or swapping out a traditional mortgage for more creative, less costly home ideas.

Take this couple in North Carolina, for example, who gave up living on land to move into a floating cabin and apparently saved $27,500 annually by doing so.

According to Good News Network, Sarah Spiro, 27, and her boyfriend, Brandon Jones, 40, break down the math: Their one-bedroom floating home, which they bought in March 2021, originally cost less than $30,000. The pair then spent two months and $23,000 renovating, for a total initial investment of less than $50,000. And now, they pay $2,500 a year to live on the lake. Yes, you read that right. $2,500 a year. They used to pay that much per month on their combined individual rents.

Obviously, it was a “no brainer,” said Spiro.

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ACUVUE launches a new campaign to inspire Gen Z to put down their phones and follow their vision

What will you create on your social media break? Share it at #MyVisionMySight.

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If you’ve always lived in a world with social media, it can be tough to truly understand how it affects your life. One of the best ways to grasp its impact is to take a break to see what life is like without being tethered to your phone and distracted by a constant stream of notifications.

Knowing when to disconnect is becoming increasingly important as younger people are becoming aware of the adverse effects screen time can have on their eyes. According to Eyesafe Nielsen, adults are now spending 13-plus hours a day on their digital devices, a 35% increase from 2019.1. Many of us now spend more time staring at screens on a given day than we do sleeping which can impact our eye health.

Normally, you blink around 15 times per minute, however, focusing your eyes on computer screens or other digital displays have been shown to reduce your blink rate by up to 60%.2 Reduced blinking can destabilize your eyes’ tear film, causing dry, tired eyes and blurred vision.3

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Joy

Viral song hilariously imagines naming other things the way we named 'pineapple'

A clever, catchy and slightly chaotic take on the English language.

Would you like to slice some hotdoglemons into your morninggravel?

The way words get added to a language is an endlessly fascinating topic. Most English root words originate from Latin and Greek, but we also excel at borrowing from languages around the world.

Some of our words are just weird, though. For instance, "pineapple." Rather than calling the delicious yellow fruit with pokey leaves "ananas" like most of the world, our ancestors apparently took a look at one and decided, "Eh, kinda looks like a pinecone. But it's clearly a fruit. How about we call it a 'pineapple'?"

A video creator who goes by @thejazzemu made a hilarious song exploring what would happen if we named other words the way we named "pineapple"—by combining two words with "minimal conceptual link"—and it's a silly feast of musical and etymological brilliance.

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Pop Culture

Special ring that tells people you're single created for folks tired of dating apps

The Pear ring is a new "social experiment" trying to connect folks IRL, not online.

Dating never stays the same.

Why, it feels like it was only yesterday when dating apps were the shiny new trend in the singles world. However, with life becoming increasingly more virtual, many people are looking to become less dominated by screens. As a result, folks are once again hoping to find love from an authentic connection IRL. Swiping just isn’t as romantic (or cutting edge) as it used to be.

That’s where the Pear ring comes in. Self dubbed as the “world’s biggest social experiment,” this $25 brightly colored blue ring offers something classic, with a twist. Basically, folks wear it out to signal they’re single and ready to mingle. Almost like the opposite of an engagement ring, really.
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