As self-isolation and shutdown start to become reality here in Blighty, I'm having to focus hard not to get caught up in fear, scaremongering and dramatic memes. I've been focusing on my utopia book writing today and wrote a Patreon post about how my utopian fantasies seem to be mirroring aspects of reality currently, albeit somewhat unexpectedly.
I focused on real life examples of things that make my utopian seeking heart sing - and after all, the inspiration for both utopia AND dystopia in my book are all based on life as we know it. Donald Trump and Boris Johnson are surely caricatures from an HG Wells novel?
Watching videos of these real life examples of hope and beauty and the human spirit reminded me of a few things.
How little 'mainstream' news I consciously choose to watch to try not to get bogged down in a small selection of (mainly depressing) news stories
The evidence that optimists live longer!
A subscription that someone bought me a few years ago to a positive newspaper and the impact it had on my daily life
The UK newsreader's attempt to end news broadcasts with something positive and how that resonated with me at the time as I could literally feel the shift in my energy
So today LemonAid is offering up a few suggestions to keep yourselves in that higher energy, positive mindset, a mindset that could well be the key to lowering stress levels and keeping you healthy through pandemics and beyond!
Positive News is the subscription based online or paper newspaper featuring interesting and obviously positive news stories from around the world. As I found, it makes a lovely gift and is great for kids.
The Bright Side is an email newsletter delivering positive news stories and links to your mailbox every Tuesday. It's cute but it is from the Daily Telegraph so don't expect too many LGBTQ love stories!
The Good Stuff is a weekly Saturday online newsletter from CNN (so a more US focus) bringing you "big headlines that make you smile, plus stories of fascinating discoveries, everyday heroes, inspiring movements and great things happening right in your backyard"
We'd love to hear about any cool positive stuff going on near you, come chat to us.