Short Version
Assholes can make life depressing, but kind people can help make life better. It'll probably make us happier to focus on examples of kindness than to fixate on instances of assholery (no matter how scandalous or terrible or titillating they might be).
This site collects stories of kindness to remind us that not everyone is an asshole. You can contribute by submitting your own story of kindness to the site!
Long Version
During a completely mundane day, I listened to Donald Trump spew ridiculous hate speech, read vitriolic comments on a local newspaper site, saw that someone had left a heap of gross crumbs all over the last seat on the bus, and found out that a colleague stole a project of mine and passed it off as her own.
"Egads!" I thought. "What is up with all of these assholes? Is it just me or are they out of control? How many more do I need to put up with before they just chill and give everyone a break?"
I did some quick calculations in my head* and determined that, in a feasible best-case scenario, I'd probably live another 47 years, which means I am likely to encounter another 68,620 assholes (at a minimum) before I bounce into eternity, assuming it's completely normal to encounter at least four instances of assholery per day.
That number is, frankly, discouraging, so I got a bit mopey and melodramatic and began asking (or wailing, but just a tiny bit), "how can I possibly live in a world like this?!!"
Fortunately, I remembered two key things:
- I don't know about you, but being alive is awesome!
- Though it may be easy to forget, there are actually lots of very nice people in this world who do very kind things.
So I had to quell the mopes and think of ways to cope with it. It occurred to me that it would be beneficial to turn my attention to the kind things that other people do - in fact, I think that is something that will also be beneficial to you!
And guess what? I'm not the only one who thinks so. Research in Positive Psychology demonstrates that gratitude is connected to happiness. Simply listing things that we are thankful for or that make us happy is beneficial to our mood.
However, let's be honest - do you keep a gratitude journal? Like, for real? Well, maybe you do, but I sure as hell don't.
Why is it so hard to list all the good things we've seen or all the people we appreciate? Unfortunately, we have our own cognition working against us; it's been demonstrated by research that we remember negative experiences more strongly than positive ones (head's up - that last link will auto download an academic paper). I'm sure some people are predisposed to ruminate over bad experiences more than others, but in general, it's easy to get caught up and dwell on bad events.
So, this website is an effort to make positive thinking easier for us: I'll share some stories of kindness, you'll share some stories of kindness, other people will share stories of kindness, and then -BAM!- just like that, without much effort, we'll have a sizable collective journal of gratitude, kindness, and all that joyful stuff.
I'll read it when I get the mopes. Maybe you will, too.
=8-D
*I lied; I used a calculator.
And guess what? I'm not the only one who thinks so. Research in Positive Psychology demonstrates that gratitude is connected to happiness. Simply listing things that we are thankful for or that make us happy is beneficial to our mood.
However, let's be honest - do you keep a gratitude journal? Like, for real? Well, maybe you do, but I sure as hell don't.
Why is it so hard to list all the good things we've seen or all the people we appreciate? Unfortunately, we have our own cognition working against us; it's been demonstrated by research that we remember negative experiences more strongly than positive ones (head's up - that last link will auto download an academic paper). I'm sure some people are predisposed to ruminate over bad experiences more than others, but in general, it's easy to get caught up and dwell on bad events.
So, this website is an effort to make positive thinking easier for us: I'll share some stories of kindness, you'll share some stories of kindness, other people will share stories of kindness, and then -BAM!- just like that, without much effort, we'll have a sizable collective journal of gratitude, kindness, and all that joyful stuff.
I'll read it when I get the mopes. Maybe you will, too.
=8-D
*I lied; I used a calculator.