Good news Friday: On dirt, bees and summer

On Good News Friday we build into our community some of the happy, playful joie d'vivre of the villagers of Ordinary. Here are three of my faves this week. I invite you to share some good news or a feel good link of your own in the comments section below.

Dig in soil, get happy--Better still, get smart

Planting a garden
© ThroughWaters
Creative Commons 2.0

One of my favorite bloggers, Paul Lambert whose blog is titled Wondering!, recently posted Dirt, Dust, Happiness and Smarts, regarding reports on two scientific studies that show how gardening is good for your mood. We all knew that, right? It's nice to have science back us up though. Turns out there's a bacteria, Mycobacterium vaccae, in the soil that makes us happy. What's more, the bacteria in soil appear to make us smarter. There's a catch: The smarts don't last. You have to keep innoculating yourself through regular contact with the soil and the outdoors. No wonder gardeners are such cheery, lively people!


New bee species makes nests of flower petals

Flower petal egg nest
Image courtesy Jerome Rozen
American Museum of Natural History

In a serendipitous coincidence, on exactly the same day, in two different countries, independent teams of scientists discovered a new species of bee (Osmia (Ozbekosima) avoseta) that makes nests of flower petals, according to NPR. Mama bee makes a separate, delicately colored nest for each egg, leaving behind a slurp of nectar and pollen before depositing the egg. When it hatches, it feeds on the meal, wraps itself in a cocoon and waits for spring to emerge. The article includes several fascinating images of the nests and the bees.


Celebrate life, community, summer

Community, sharing, dance, good food, giggles, outrageous happiness--these are some of the things that make being human so much fun. If Ordinary were real today, a celebration of life and summer there might look a bit like this one in Santa Rosa's Harmony Village.



Feeling good about something? Share it here!

Spread some good cheer! If something struck your fancy this week, and you'd like to share, please tell us about it in the comments section, along with a link. If the link is to one of your blog posts, all the better. Do keep it upbeat, family friendly and in the spirit of building a world more like that of the Village of Ordinary.

What are you feeling good about today? Share it below, won't you?

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None of the web sites featured today solicited promotion, nor do I receive anything for mentioning them here, other than the pleasure of knowing about some folks who are working hard to make the world a little more like Ordinary.

This post updated 7/9/2010 because I posted from my mobile last week and omitted the intro to the video and all of this last section. Still working on getting the hang of mobile blogging!

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.

TGIF: Good news Friday

© L. Kathryn Grace

Good news Friday is about building some of the happy, playful joie d'vivre  of the villagers of Ordinary into our community.

During the week, whenever I find good news, a delightful tale or something that pulls a full belly laugh or a giggle, I grab the link and save it to share here on Friday. Because we're all so busy, I limit my share to just three. That way, we'll all have more time to read some of your glad finds, which I invite you to share.


Get in on the fun--Spread some good cheer!
If something struck your fancy this week, and you'd like to share, tell us about it in the comments section, along with a link. If the link is to one of your blog posts, all the better. Do keep it upbeat, family friendly and in the spirit of building a world more like that of the Village of Ordinary.


My three top feel-goods this week

Dance. "I love dancing. I think it's better to dance than to march through life." Yoko Ono


Walking through Worlds. "Imperiled by the business of healthcare, our modern society is desperate for solutions that will allow us to begin discovering a new story about how we care for ourselves and each other." So say the producers of Walking through Worlds, a documentary film adventure. It hasn't even been made yet, but I can't wait to see it. The director and producers are examining the healing practices of cultures around the globe with the intent of changing--for the better--everything we know about healing and health care. The film will help us:

Discover our options, raise our awareness and change our myths about health care, medicine, and healing. This film will change the discussion about what health care is and should be--in the U.S. and globally.

Walking through Worlds , (pdf) p.3

Lighting the way. In answer to a prophecy, thirteen indigenous grandmothers, representing the four corners of the earth, came together in 2004 to heal the earth and all her inhabitants and to lead the way to a more peaceful, more just world. Have you met them? If not, perhaps this will spark your interest.



Learn more about the film and the what brought the grandmothers together.

What are you feeling good about today? Share it below, won't you?

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.

TGIF: Good news Friday!

"Amanda" by sculptor Sy Meadow
on Amanda's Trail in Yachats, OR
Image courtesy Greg Scott

Good news Friday is about building some of the happy, playful joie d'vivre  of the villagers of Ordinary into our community.

During the week, whenever I find good news, a delightful tale or something that pulls a full belly laugh from me, or maybe just a giggle, I'll grab the link and save it to share here on Friday. Because we're all so busy, I'll limit my share to just three each week. That way, we'll all have more time to read some of your glad finds, which I invite you to share.


Get in on the fun
Spread some good cheer! If something struck your fancy this week, and you'd like to share, please tell us about it in the comments section, along with a link. If the link is to one of your blog posts, all the better. Do keep it upbeat, family friendly and in the spirit of building a world more like that of the Village of Ordinary.


My three top feel-goods this week

Amanda's Trail.  Two divergent cultures meet on the Oregon Coast to build a trail in the bloody footsteps of a young blind woman and her people. The sculpture in the image above is a tribute to that woman, Amanda, a member of the Coos Tribe. The story of the new trail, the tribute and the work to heal a 146 year legacy of suffering is the feel-good part. Here's Amanda's story, but I warn you, it doesn't feel good.


Morning Earth and artist Andy Goldsworthy.  Grab a cuppa and spend a few minutes with the tantalizingly fleeting artworks of Andy Goldsworthy, a Morning Earth artist/naturalist. If  you like what you see, treat yourself every  morning to a joyous celebration of earth and life through the poets and artists of Morning Earth. John Caddy, Morning Earth creator, says, "We all arrive equipped to create art. Art-making is as natural to our kind as spirit." This treasure included with gratitude to Twitter's @jbiesenberger (Josef Biesenberger).


Need a boost? Watch Nick Vujicic.  Sometimes the seeming futility of working every day, using my limited talents and abilities to change massive world problems sucks the passion right out of me. Sometimes the cruelty in the world eats at my heart. A quick dose of Nick Vujicic's smiling face, which we first viewed here, sets me to right in no time. I give gratitude to Twitter's @Elder_Nurse and @KatieBichon for pointing me to Mindfully Change and this new video that had me sobbing out loud--in a good way. All I can say after watching it is, How dare any of us waste our time and energy thinking we're not good enough, we have nothing to contribute and the world can't be saved? Next time you're feeling low, watch this and get moving.




What are you feeling good about today? Share it below, won't you?

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.