+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy
Joy

Guy caught dancing while litter-picking is a sweet reminder that every effort counts

Sometimes it really is the little things.

guy dancing in the street
YouTube

An unknown man vent viral for his lively dance moves while picking up litter

True
Barefoot Wine - Beach Rescue

Have you heard the story of the girl throwing starfish back in the ocean?

It's a parable about how some people will scoff at others trying to help because it won't solve the entire problem. The moral of the story is that being a useful person isn't about being able to solve entire crises, but doing your bit of good in the ways you are able and how that multiplies when many individuals do the same.

We focus so much sometimes on the hugeness of the issues in front of us that we forget we can (and should) do things because they are the right thing to do.



We can just do a little bit, and it adds up.The Avalon Theater's surveillance camera in Milwaukee snagged footage of this unknown guy delightfully dancing down the street, picking up trash as he goes. An employee decided to set it to music and do a little zoom work (full video below).


He's not solving all the world's ecological problems here.

He's just doing a bit of good in his corner of it and enjoying himself while he does.

Feeling inspired by his dancing good deed? Here are three ways we can do the same.

1. Sign up to do a little bit of beach or ocean cleanup.

I've done this before with my daughter at Lake Michigan. It's a great way to spend a free morning on a weekend, do a little good for your environment, and commune with nature.

You won't get the whole beach clean, but you'll be a part of the solution. Image by Angie Aker, used with permission.

2. Be "that weirdo" who cleans things up when you see litter.

Be the friend that makes it a point to stop and throw things away when you see them. Tell people when you see them litter why it's not cool. I told a friend that once when she threw something out the window, and she said my vehement reaction to what she did stuck with her the rest of her life and changed her habits.

3. Use your free time to give the Earth a little love.

Going for a hike or rowing around the lake? Bring some trash and recycling bags and stop at common picnic spots. You'll be sure to find things you can throw out, and you don't need to sign up for any official expedition to make yourself useful.

It just might put a jaunt in your step and inspire you to dance some litter over to a wastebasket near you.

Change what's within your arm's reach, and you just might change the world!

This article originally appeared on 06.28.16


From Your Site Articles
best of humanity
Badge
Visit Sweden
Visit Sweden
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)

Keep ReadingShow less
travel
Family

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.

Canva

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
kids
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.

Keep ReadingShow less
wedding album mistake
Identity

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.

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash, @JillHannaA/Twitter, @KateGrand/Twitter

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
aging well
Mental Health

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

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.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trending Stories