sew swag

Did you hear the news?

You may or may not have heard yet, but all over the world, people are showing each other love, lending a helping hand, committing selfless acts of kindness, and fearlessly pushing society forward.

No, it's true. I swear!

In fact, here are 12 things that happened recently that will definitely make you feel good about the world.

1. Best family reunion ever? These orphaned siblings live in separate foster homes, but hopefully not for long.

Bradley, Preston, Layla, Landon, and Olive were recently featured in the Kansas City Star under the headline "Family Wanted." Shortly after their heart-wrenching story reached the public, the state's adoption service had to take down the family's profile due to overwhelming interest.

Hopefully the three brothers and two sisters will be together again under one roof real soon.

2. When a passenger wearing a headscarf was harassed on the subway, this Chinese Peruvian woman Shut. It. Down.

Tracey Tong confronted the harasser (who was berating a fellow passenger on the crowded train) in both Spanish and English, telling her: "I'm asking you to please respect her. In Spanish, in English, in Chinese, in French, whatever language you want me to say it, I will say it to you."

3. A moving campaign by Jews in Tucson, Arizona, raised a ton of money to replace some vandalized Qurans.

Someone broke into a local Islamic center and destroyed over 100 copies of the Quran, the Islamic holy book. So some members of the nearby Jewish Community Center started a campaign to raise money for replacements.

So far, they've raised over $9,000 — enough to replace the books and help the center install better security.

4. Only a couple of hundred years late, this old "boys only" golf club is now allowing women to join.

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers has been around for nearly 300 years but is just now getting around to allowing female members. It only seems fair since, you know, some of the best golfers in the world are women.

5. This adorable young girl wants to teach you about sharks (and life).

Olivia is a 9-year-old girl who's obsessed with sharks, books, and sharing her wisdom and passion on her blog, The LivBits. Following her is a guaranteed way to brighten your day and feel inspired about the next generation of humans.

6. We finally have proof that the five-second rule might be real.

A study out of Aston University finally confirms what we have all known (hoped?) to be true our entire lives:

"As long as it's not obviously contaminated, the science shows that food is unlikely to have picked up harmful bacteria from a few seconds spent on an indoor floor," said the study's author, Anthony Hilton.

7. The Oxford comma, at long last, got its due.

The lack of a comma in a key document passage sparked a legal battle between dairy drivers in Maine and their employers over whether they qualified for overtime pay. The judge in the case said that without an Oxford comma, the text in question was too ambiguous and open to interpretation.

Boom. History has spoken.

8. This teenager is completely reimagining donated clothes for underprivileged youth, and it's making a big impact.

Dillon Eisman, a junior at Malibu High School in California, believes kids in poverty shouldn't have to only wear people's baggy unwanted sweaters and old hole-y jeans. So he started the nonprofit Sew Swag to upcycle them into pieces kids could feel confident in, and his work is remarkable.

9. A heartbreaking photo of a selfless dad looking on as his daughters enjoy a meal went viral, and now people are stepping up to help.

After a local man took a powerful photo of a hungry father looking on as his girls ate at a fast food restaurant in Manila, it went massively viral. People from all over the world have offered donations to make sure the family can all eat together for a long time to come.

10. The people have spoken, and Monopoly might be getting a T-rex piece.

Monopoly held a vote to replace some of its iconic game pieces, and if they honor the results, we can officially say goodbye to the shoe, wheelbarrow, and thimble (by far the most boring game piece of all time) and say hello to the Tyrannosaurus rex, among others.

See? Change isn't always bad.

11. This news anchor fired back after a viewer criticized her "revealing" wardrobe.

Anchor Toya Washington of WISN-TV in Wisconsin received an anonymous letter chastising her for "exposed skin" and suggesting that maybe she was starting to "feel her age."

Washington responded perfectly in a Facebook post, writing, in part:

"If 'feeling my age' is in reference to still being able to effectively slay at work and at home as a wife and mother, then yes...I feel star-spangled-banner good for 'my age.'"

12. And this common-sense bill in Oregon that would help transgender people make changes to their legal documents is gaining momentum.

According to KXL, many transgender people in Oregon have difficulty buying homes, getting health care, and applying for jobs because their birth certificates and other vital records don't accurately reflect their identities.

Oregon is trying to make it easier for those people to make changes without having to go to court, and the proposal cleared the Oregon House just this week.

Woohoo!!

See, good news is all around us, even when things feel bleak or scary or trying. You might have to look a little harder for it some days, but I promise you, it's worth it!