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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy.

joy smile

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.

Can we bring back some 50s fridge features, please?

There are very few things that would make people nostalgic for the 1950s. Sure, they had cool cars and pearl necklaces were a staple, but that time frame had its fair share of problems, even if "Grease" made it look dreamy. Whether you believe your life would've been way more interesting if you were Danny Zuko or not, most would agree their technology was...lacking.

All eras are "advanced" for their time, but imagine being dropped off in the 50s as someone from the year 2023. A recent post by Historic Vids on Twitter of a 1956 commercial advertising a refrigerator, however, has some people thinking that when it came to fridges, maybe they were living in the year 2056. I don't typically swoon over appliances, yet this one has me wondering where I can purchase a refrigerator like this.

Of course, there's no fancy touch screen that tells you the weather and asks how you'd like your ice cubed. It's got more important features that are actually practical.

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Couple investigating noises accidentally awaken a bear.

It's not uncommon to hear something outside of your house, especially if it's close to trash pick-up day. Raccoons and stray cats treat an overflowing trashcan like a holiday dinner, and even if you weren't sure if you heard something or not, the torn trash bags confirm your suspicion.

This is a pretty universal experience in America, so hearing a rustle under your house typically conjures images of a trash panda that got stuck. But for one family, the noises weren't coming from a raccoon at all. In a viral video on TikTok that has over 10 million views, a couple is outside looking for the source of the noises they've been hearing. The woman is filming at a fairly safe distance, while the guy investigates their crawl space.

Everything is going well. They hear what sounds like a hiss and with relief exclaim that it's a raccoon.

They were wrong. Like pee your pants, everyone for themselves, wrong.

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Australian comedy group Axis Of Awesome

Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was found not liable on April 4 in a lawsuit where he was accused of stealing elements of the Marvin Gaye classic "Let's Get It On" for his 2014 hit, “Thinking Out Loud."

The case called attention to the fact that there are motifs and musical structures common in pop music that no one owns, and all are free to use. When it comes to chord progressions, the 12-bar blues and basic I, IV, V, I progressions you hear in country and folk have been used and reused since people first picked up the guitar.

In the wrong hands, the progressions can result in music that is boring and formulaic, but in the right hands, they can be a springboard for fresh ideas.

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Pop Culture

What Hollywood gets wrong about corsets, and how the Victorians actually got a tiny waist

Bernadette Banner, a content creator focused of fashion history, breaks down how Victorians were "masters of illusion."

Bernadette Banner/Youtube

You'll never look at a corset with disdain again.

Usually when we think of corsets, the words suffocation, fainting and shifting organs probably come to mind.

This is certainly what Bernadette Banner has come across in the comments section of her Youtube channel, where she shares all kinds of fashion history education. The general consensus is that Victorian women were either all incredibly tiny or that they went to extremely dangerous lengths to achieve the highly exaggerated signature silhouette of the era, which was to have the bust 10 inches larger than the waist, with the hips 15 inches larger. 34-26-36, for example.

This notion is certainly backed by Hollywood, where we normally see women of that time period being laced up so tightly they can barely breathe, suffering under the crushing weight of whalebone and the patriarchy.

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Ted-Ed/Youtube

Technology isn't everything.

Crooked teeth is a very, very common occurrence in our modern world. Nine out of ten people have at least some misalignment going on in their mouths. Over 4 million people wear braces in the United States alone. I don’t know about you, but I can still feel the utter sticker shock from my own teeth-straightening journey. (I call it a “journey” so it feels a little more whimsical and less devastating.)

And yet, this is not something our ancestors dealt with. Like…at all. How could it be that no one experienced this normal modern-day conundrum in a time when we had exponentially less technological advancement?

As it turns out, technology might be the culprit, and a video from Ted-Ed explains it all.
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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy

Lots of joy and laughter in this week's list

Hey ho, happy humans!

Whether you're feeling stressed over end-of-the-school-year chaos, depressed over the challenges our world faces or refreshed by the beautiful spring blossoms blooming everywhere, you can surely use some extra doses of joy.

In this week's list, we have some delightful interactions between parents and young adult children, a hilarious take on millennials getting older, some helpful and entertaining animals, a throwback to one of the most iconic (and earwormy) jingles of all time, a photo that has been blowing people's minds and of course, some utterly adorable toddlers.

We hope these little nuggets brighten your day! Enjoy!

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