{"id":343,"date":"2020-03-25T08:56:09","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T16:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/?p=343"},"modified":"2023-01-27T14:00:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T22:00:41","slug":"thriving-during-coronavirus-reading-the-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/thriving-during-coronavirus-reading-the-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Thriving during Coronavirus: Reading the News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">March 25, 2020<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Finding Balance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019ve been keeping up to the hour with the news,  the world might seem pretty dark and hopeless right now. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;What I\u2019ve been reading lately has mostly inspired impatience, anger, fear, and a peculiar quality of dispiritedness. &nbsp;Mostly, it hasn\u2019t been fun or elevating.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reading good news has helped.&nbsp;&nbsp; I found that I needed to search for it though \u2013 it wasn\u2019t grabbing the headlines of the NY Times.&nbsp; But it\u2019s out there and no surprise &#8211; good stuff is going on all around us.&nbsp; Of course it is, and reading about it creates a realistic balance for the troubling news, which I\u2019ll keep reading because I value being informed.&nbsp; I\u2019ll share a few news stories here that you might find elevating or make you laugh.   Restore the balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Acts of generosity?&nbsp;&nbsp;\nA plane carrying 31 tons of medical equipment and supplies arrived in Rome\non March 12 to help Italy out.&nbsp;&nbsp; A team\nof 9 medical experts arrived with the shipment to lend a hand.&nbsp; Italy had asked its neighbors in the EU to\nhelp out with equipment and supplies during the crisis, but other EU countries\nwere also feeling the pinch of scarcity (can you blame them?) and declined to\nhelp out.&nbsp; &nbsp;China stepped in &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-italy-respirators\/china-sends-medical-supplies-experts-to-help-italy-battle-coronavirus-idUSKBN2101IM\">https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-health-coronavirus-italy-respirators\/china-sends-medical-supplies-experts-to-help-italy-battle-coronavirus-idUSKBN2101IM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is it about Penguins?&nbsp;&nbsp; Why do we enjoy watching them waddle along?&nbsp;&nbsp; Some aquariums have released their penguins\nto roam the spaces that humans have vacated and lucky for us they also released\nthe videos &#8211; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Penguins openly explore aquarium closed due to coronavirus\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DVfTGFBJ8a8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Penguins at the Saint Louis Zoo Take a Walk Outside in the Snow Flurries\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aCtX5M_BGwE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p> It\u2019s clear that we\u2019ve needed Mr. Rogers lately \u2013 Hollywood has brought him back to us in a documentary and a couple of movies, and people have flocked to see them.  A quote attributed to Fred Rogers goes like this: \u201cWhen I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp; Here\u2019s an NPR story about helping &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kuow.org\/stories\/finding-support-and-kindness-in-the-coronavirus-neighborhood\">https:\/\/www.kuow.org\/stories\/finding-support-and-kindness-in-the-coronavirus-neighborhood<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A law student in S. California created a volunteer\norganization to provide groceries and supplies to the elderly,\nimmunocompromised and others in need &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/2020\/03\/20\/kindness-during-coronavirus-yes-and-its-contagious\/\">https:\/\/www.ocregister.com\/2020\/03\/20\/kindness-during-coronavirus-yes-and-its-contagious\/<\/a>&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Acts of kindness in London.&nbsp;&nbsp; A distillery switches to making hand\nsanitizer;&nbsp; Musicians stream\nperformances;&nbsp; Food delivered to the\nhomeless &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/lfpress.com\/news\/local-news\/coronavirus-london-acts-of-kindness-in-a-public-health-emergency\">https:\/\/lfpress.com\/news\/local-news\/coronavirus-london-acts-of-kindness-in-a-public-health-emergency<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Articles about neighbors volunteering to help neighbors\nabound &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfaa.com\/article\/news\/health\/coronavirus\/random-acts-of-kindness-going-viral-too\/287-1db051a3-6e1f-47a5-982a-b84f386ae0ac\">https:\/\/www.wfaa.com\/article\/news\/health\/coronavirus\/random-acts-of-kindness-going-viral-too\/287-1db051a3-6e1f-47a5-982a-b84f386ae0ac<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve no doubt that similar acts of kindness are underway in all of our communities.&nbsp;&nbsp; A search for \u201cacts of kindness during coronavirus\u201d will return page after page of results.&nbsp; If you have some unexpected free time on your hands and feel inspired to help out, there\u2019s lots of science based evidence (and longstanding folk wisdom evidence, too) indicating that you\u2019ll benefit along with the recipients \u2013 perhaps even more so.&nbsp;&nbsp; Here\u2019s a behavioral science article about that \u2013 \u201cCan Random Acts of Kindness Increase Well-Being?\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/positivepsychology.com\/random-acts-kindness\/\">https:\/\/positivepsychology.com\/random-acts-kindness\/<\/a>.&nbsp;&nbsp; It includes some inspiring ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, I re-learned a lesson last night: I shouldn\u2019t read the news as the last thing I do before I go to sleep.&nbsp; Last night it was just too dispiriting.&nbsp; Instead I\u2019ll focus on Three Good Things, gratitude, and the funny way that penguins walk.&nbsp;&nbsp; Much better.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got a story to share?   How about leaving a comment to lift us up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 25, 2020 Finding Balance If you\u2019ve been keeping up to the hour with the news, the world might seem pretty dark and hopeless right now. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;What I\u2019ve been reading lately has mostly inspired impatience, anger, fear, and a peculiar quality of dispiritedness. &nbsp;Mostly, it hasn\u2019t been fun or elevating.&nbsp; Reading good news has helped.&nbsp;&nbsp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-tips","category-well-being"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":418,"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions\/418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenshostek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}