After I got my Echo some four and a half years ago, I developed a bedtime routine of playing the “Flash Briefing.” What that entailed was Alexa would play the latest NPR hourly news update followed by the latest news update from WGBH (the Public’s Radio didn’t interface well with the device at the time; can we also discuss how Rhode Island’s public radio brand doesn’t start with the letter “W”? What is up with that?).
At the time, this ritual served two purposes: allowed me to keep up with local news (too bad I missed the news of my murdered landlord) and also the NPR newscaster all have amazingly soothing voices. Oh, how I missed those days when I would lightly chuckle at the events before drifting off to bed. When the news is light, there would be a shade of snark in the scripts. Now the news update is a constant, desolate wasteland.
In times like this, I have to remind myself a little quote from Mr. Rogers:
“My mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”
It’s so easy, in the ugliness of this world, to not look for the beauty in things. It’s so easy to see the violence and havoc, rather than the unity and hope. It’s so easy to find the disrupters and not the helpers of the world. I want to choose to see more of the beauty in this world. After all, it’s the only one we have.