A break from bad news

We're surrounded by news of murders (Aurora), political polarities, economic woes, starvation, wars, you name it. Sometimes our spirits need the sweet air of good news or something to look forward to.
Here's one: the Olympics in London. The opening ceremony is tomorrow night, though some events have already begun. In talking with some people at work, I realize many people aren't as interested in the Olympics as I am. You, too, may consider them overhyped, boring, involving weird, uninteresting sports. One office co-worker said, Why don't they play football. They do, of course, but he meant American football, not what we call soccer, the most popular sport in the world.

I may not like all the Olympic sports, but I enjoy most of them, and I admire all the athletes' abilities, which far surpass mine. I also like the fact that the Olympics at least try to be international and nonpartisan.
The triple jumper Voula Papachristou was kicked off Greece's Olympic team for her comments on Twitter mocking African immigrants and expressing support for a far-right political party in Greece. One can argue free speech, but I'm glad the Olympic spirit opposes such jingoistic prejudice.
Another headline in today's paper was, "Nine Olympians suspended." I'm glad the Olympics at least tries to uphold standards of fairness and punishes doping.

I'm glad we myopic Americans obsessed with football, Nascar and golf get exposed to other sports. My favorite is track and field, but I also will try to catch table tennis, badminton, tennis, soccer and as much else as I can.

Another bit of good news: An article in the July 30 issue of Time (its Summer Olympics Special) looks at "The Undroppables," a social media campaign that plugs staying in school.

Documentary filmmaker Jason Pollock is gathering video testimonials from students who have decided to stay in school, despite difficult obstacles. Kayla Webley writes that Pollock "is trying to harness the power of social networks to keep an estimated 1.2 million students from dropping out of school each year." He points to the success of campaigns such as It Gets Better and wants this project to have as great an impact on young people's lives. The tagline for the campaign is "I am undroppable."

In June he uploaded short clips of 70 or so students who have decided to stay in school or go back to school. The bulk of the proceeds from his documentary will go to charity.

Both the stories Pollock presents and the campaign itself are good news.

As we slog through the toxic political speech of this season and the plethora of bad news in our world, let us take time to breathe the fresh air of good news. That air can give us energy to face the injustices around us with greater hope.

Maybe the Olympics don't lift your spirit as they do mine. OK. Find something that does.