April May Gems - Dec 31 2024 ep40 - Happy New Year! 2025, It's Great to be Alive! But is it really?

Wars, rumours of wars, economic crisis and unrests around the world, personal and financial hardships, stress and mental illness at an all-time high, confused and angry kids, controversial curriculums in schools, heightened crime, constant government changes, protests, Artificial Intelligence, radical offence, people being cancelled... Are you curbed to the idea that this life, in 2025 is NOT a great time to be alive? Well, I think it depends on what you’re looking at. Do you remember the kaleidoscope? That toy with the magical displays of different colours. You could spin it around and new patterns would emerge and it was just so mysteriously wonderful! You know, it’s just a cardboard tube that’s full of lots of shiny bits of plastic and little mirrors but its beautiful because of all the light bouncing off of it all. One can truly be so mesmerised by these magical moments of wonder. I feel like a child sometimes, in a world that’s full of big, mean people - with no control, over a lot of what’s going on around me and soon enough I can feel like things are looking, pretty dark - but then I remember that I can choose to look at the colourful things instead, all of the sweet patterns, the good things that other people are doing, creating or difference-making in the world, to make life, better. I can choose to look and see where or who the light is bouncing off of. Honestly, if you look... they’re everywhere.