a rebellious little list of good things
For several years, I used to do a feature on this site that I called “This Was a Good Week,” where I would share interesting links that I’d found during the previous seven days. Over the last 10 months, I fell out of practice, mostly because I was writing. But now that the manuscript is in, I’ve become increasingly interested in looking around not just for good things that happened in the previous year, but just … well, good things. So I figure it’s time to reinvigorate this practice — but this time, focusing on stories of people who are doing unexpectedly joyful, or generous, or creative, or beautiful things. Because these days, stories like that are downright counter-culture. Rebellious, even.
So let’s begin, my friends. Here’s a rebellious little list of good things:
• Ron Finley is one of my favourite troublemakers: he turns public spaces in food deserts into vegetable gardens (and has gotten arrested several times as a result). Love it.
• I’ve always been a fan of Norma Kamali — her fashion is always so cutting-edge. So this article about her long-term plans for her business (not to mention meeting her soulmate at 65, and getting married in a couple of weeks at 77!) just disarmed me.
• This creative way to help the loss of the bee population — by turning bus stop roofs into little green bee and butterfly gardens — is a wonderful lesson in innovative problem-solving.
• Angela Álvarez made Latin Grammy history on Thursday by winning the award for best new artist at age 95. Just in case you’re ever worried about running out of time.
Some joy in a good week.