And so towards year-end and a juicy Christmas present for you this week, dear Upsider. In an unprecedented act, we are going to tell you about a piece we haven’t even published yet.
With the decade about to turn, there have been a slew of articles about how terrible the 2010s were, sort of like the 1970s with extra carbon dioxide or the 1340s without the plague.
Ever one to champion the underdog, we asked Guardian writers to look for the silver lining and pinpoint the super-trends of the twenty-tens (for that is what they are called) that were full of progress, promise or at least didn’t result in people calling each other rude names or telling barefaced lies.
The answers in no particular order: renewables, streaming, veganism, environmental activism, poverty reduction, smartphones, mental health awareness, trans issues, anti-plastics, women’s sport (particularly football).
Read the full piece on Friday 27 December. After two days of Christmas, you’ll want something to cleanse the palate.
Back to the here and now. As this is our last newsletter of 2019, we thought we’d do two lists: the best pieces of the week, and the best pieces of the year.
So without further ado, this week we gave you:
• The simple fix that helped end the world’s first climate change war. Three-minute read
• Dreaming of a green Christmas. Four-minute read
• We opened our doors to a Syrian refugee family. What happened next? Two-minute read
• An entire series on how to be hopeful. A lifetime’s work
• How I escaped the vicious cycle of homelessness. 90-second read
And this year, we particularly enjoyed giving you:
• How to play cricket with only one arm. Five-day test
• The kindest thing I ever saw. Five minutes of life affirming joy
• The rise and rise of Bangladesh. Three-minute read
• The age of the four-day week? Four days
• How to plant billions of trees. Ages
Lucky numbers
There has been a sharp fall in the number of journalists killed worldwide this year, though 49 is clearly 49 too many.
Meanwhile, most indicators affecting the poorest people on the planet are moving in the right direction, according to the World Bank.
What we liked
A new collaborative US project to examine the homelessness project and tease out solutions.
This short piece from CNN on the 71 species discovered in 2019.
And the New York Times listed its five heroes of 2019, sort of the Greta Thunbergs you probably haven’t heard of yet.
Oh, and this was very Christmassy and uplifting, and nicely written too …
What we heard
Last week we asked for your highlights of 2019. Here are a few:
When my 11 year-old granddaughter finally reiterated one of my constant comments about (how we should) care about the environment to save it for her children and grandchildren. Unfortunately (her plan) was that she was not going to have any children because of what’s happening today! Fiona Gray
It’s been a sublime to ridiculous year for me. Wonderful and a little terrible. My youngest child left home and my son is in London so I sold up, and left Wellington, New Zealand for … Wellington, Somerset.
I was invited by NHS for a routine breast screen about three months after my arrival. I’m careful of my health so along I went. They found a cancer. It’s treatable, I’ve had a small surgery and am now having chemotherapy. It’s not fun. I will need radiation after that. However, work (I’m a mental health nurse) has accommodated me with flexible hours, reduced patient contact and alternative administrative type work. People have been kind and supportive.
I facilitate a therapy group at the hospital and now more than ever I’m practicing what I preach – staying in the moment, self soothing, fully participating in whatever I am doing, radical acceptance. By focusing on others I keep my spirits up. I am so grateful! Thanks NHS! My care has been exemplary.
I came across this quote just after my diagnosis: “The Buddha called sickness, ageing, and death ‘heavenly messengers’ because they can powerfully guide us toward awakening.” I look forward to the end of my treatment , and the spring, and 2020! Jennifer Davidson, who wins the hole punch prize for best email
My first granddaughter was born! Vilma Kalman
And finally, we are indebted to Huw Morgan for sending us four Christmas carols, rewritten for an environmentally anxious age. Here is a sample:
TO STOP THE WORLD FROM WARMING
(to I SAW THREE SHIPS)
Climate change is here to stay
This Christmas Day, this Christmas Day
What can we do in our small way
This world of ours it is warming
Ignore the web on Black Friday
On Black Friday, on Black Friday
Ignore the web on Black Friday
To stop the world from warming.
Ignore the sales on Boxing DayOn Boxing Day, on Boxing Day
Ignore the sales on Boxing Day
To stop the world from warming
Reject the two for one displayIt goes away, it goes away
Reject the two for one display
To stop the world from warming
Let’s buy local is what we say
It is the way, it is the way
Let’s buy local is what we say
To stop the world from warming
Buy second hand is one small way
Day by day, and day by day
Buy second hand is one small way
To stop the world from warming
Buy too much food will cause dismay
Gets thrown away, gets thrown away
Buy too much food will cause dismay
To stop the world from warming
Let’s try these things without delayOn every day, on every day
Let’s try these things so we can say
We stopped the world from warming
Thanks Huw – don’t give up the day job just yet.
Where was the Upside?
All across this great, good earth, where the vast majority of people lead wholesome, unremarkable lives in the hope that tomorrow will be a bit better than yesterday.
