Happy stories to beat the doom and gloom

Could not find anywhere to post this story, so decided it might be time for a happy thread. Please only post things that can give us a lift and not anything about covid and vaccines, there is enough of that already, thanks.

9 comments

Farmer Becomes YouTube Star at 84-Years-old With His Softly Spoken Words of Wisdom  In the words of William Shakespeare, “Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. And some have greatness thrust upon them.” The same might be said for Internet fame.

Just ask John Butler, an 84-year-old former farmer from Derbyshire, England.

Riding a grownup tricycle, sporting a neatly coiffed beard, and often wearing a jaunty Oxford-blue beret with matching gloves, the unlikely senior citizen social media sensation has almost unwittingly become a peaceable guru to a devoted and growing legion of adoring fans.

Butler, an early advocate of organic farming, is a longtime practitioner of meditation. As part of his spiritual journey, he began recording inspirational messages in hopes of imparting the lessons he’d learned to others.

The tranquil tone, calming presence—and per one listener, “a voice like a warm glass of milk”—with which Butler delivered his home-spun advice online soon struck a soothing chord with the rising tide of viewers struggling to decompress from  day-to-day anxiety.

Spiritual Unfolding

To date, his YouTube channel Spiritual Unfoldment with John Butler currently boasts 182,000 subscribers whose far-flung global locales definitely put the “world wide” in the world wide web.

Butler’s rise to fame began with a 2016 BBC interview showcasing his mindful take on life.

After the episode aired, he was singled out by members of the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) community as someone worthy of note not just for what he said, but the manner in which he said it. (Devotees of ASMR take pleasure in the calming influence and accompanying tingling sensations triggered by whispering or other soft-spoken forms of expression.)

From there, almost like a new-age Bob Ross minus a paintbrush, the octogenarian’s popularity spiraled—but no one was more surprised by his newfound notoriety than Butler himself.

Having always considered himself something of a “misfit,” prior to his ongoing video project, Butler says he’d never heard of YouTube and had little working knowledge of the Internet.

But no matter how his karma unfolded, Butler feels blessed to be able to provide a steadying influence for folks just doing their best to cope with modern-day life.

“So many people have this problem with an agitated mind, a restless mind, and because one instinctively seeks for some sort of balance, people look for rest or peace don’t they?” Butler told the BBC.

“If something in my voice conveys that restfulness then thank God for that. I don’t know quite how it happens… but I’m just quietly glad to be able to share what I love.”

 

Thanks for drawing attention to John Butler's message. Just watched "The Truth of Who You Are" on

YouTube. Beautiful. Like the quote "Silence speaks louder than words". Thanks again Incognito!

 

 

Fabulous wildflower season in WA this year.... a sight for sore eyes!

A banksia coccinea flowering in Stirling Range National Park.

Credit: ABC

A spider orchid in the Stirling Range National Park.

Spider Orchid

A flower with a mountain in the background

Rare wildflower from the Stirling Ranges (ABC)

 

 

Ah!!

Looks as if spring is near by  :)

 

Yes...it is well and truly showing up in WA!

Thanks Sophie, such beautiful blooms.

Mother nature is giving birth early -- what magnificent details in those flowers -- ain't nature grand!

I agree....nature is certainly grand!

Enjoy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19T26Qunxf8

Sophie, that was a great show -- I watched it on Tuesday ABC 8 pm there will be another 7

Life Illustration Aeppol

Sometimes, in the rush to be seen, to be popular and to feel loved and accepted by others, we forget about the simple but fulfilling joy of solitude (Korean artist Aeppol)

 

Nothing is better than solitude,  I love it always have

The story behind how Hansle Parchment won gold in the men’s 110m hurdles in Tokyo thanks to a volunteer after he went on the wrong bus to the rowing venue by mistake.

Jamaican sprinter Hansle Parchment has shared the sweetest story of the Tokyo Olympics with the woman that saved his Games.

Truth behind viral selfie is the best story of the Olympics

What a lovely story ... thanks Farside.

Yep, great story!

Glad to see this competitor got a new gold medal after the mayor attempted to sink his teeth into what was not his, hope he got some broken fangs!

Image: Takashi Kawamura gold medal bite

Mom’s Zoo Pic is Adorably Photo-bombed by Stingray With Remarkable Resemblance to Her Daughter 

A mom’s photo was amusingly photobombed by a bemused stingray—pulling the exact same face as her baby daughter.

41-year-old Wendy Armstrong regularly takes her young daughters, two-year-old Aurora and six-month-old Daisy, for a day out to the Lake District Coast Aquarium in England.

During one visit, Wendy noticed a stingray was taking a particular interest in Daisy… and that both were pulling the same forlorn facial expression.

Nurse Wendy and her power plant worker husband, Mike Armstrong, said Daisy has been a very serious baby.

The mom-of-two from Workington in Cumbria said, “It is definitely up there as one of our favourite pictures that we have of our kids.

“I had my phone out, and when I saw they were both pulling the same miserable facial expression I burst out laughing and took a photo. Thankfully Daisy is much happier now!”

Thanks for bringing a big smile to so many faces, Daisy.

 

 

Black cats may have the reputation for being bad luck, but don’t tell that to the owner of one ebony feline who helped save her life.

Piran the kitty lives with his cat mom in a rural area of Cornwall, England. When the 83-year-old Bodmin woman went missing, neighbors launched a search party, scouring the nearby countryside, but she was nowhere to be found—until searchers caught sight of an agitated Piran, mewing loudly by a cornfield gate.

“The cat is very attached to her, and he was going back and forth in the gateway and meowing, so I decided to go and search the maize field,” searcher Tamar Longmuir told Sky News.

With the crop standing seven feet tall, the going was difficult. Keeping to the perimeter, Longmuir skirted the field, calling out her neighbor’s name. She’d reached the bottom of the field when she finally heard a faint response.

To Longmuir’s dismay, she realized the elderly woman had taken a tumble down a steep, 70-foot ravine, and after passing through some barbed wire, had finally come to rest in a stream.

Although Longmuir was able to make her way down to assess the situation, and thankfully, learned her neighbor lady had sustained no major injuries, it’s believed the octogenarian had been stuck there for several hours.

 

9 comments



To make a comment, please register or login

Preview your comment